Why Hemsky should have an A, Predictions and More.....

    A couple days ago Smokin' Ray of Oilers Jambalaya wrote a piece on whether or not Hemsky should be one of the "A's" of the team. While I do agree with him when he says Gagner and Penner should have one, I'm not so sure about Whitney and leaving a letter off the jersey of the guy who has been without a doubt our best player the last 3 seasons. One knock against Hemsky is his work ethic, last on the ice and first off for practices, etc., etc. I for one am one of those people who could honestly care less what players like Hemsky do for game prep, as long as they show up and play to their best of their ability night in and night out. I think the time we should be concerned is when Hemsky, the guy who never plays healthy, stops trying and looks unmotivated, like Penner during the MacT era. All in all I see Hemsky as a player who might not try in practice, does give it 110% when it matters, if that isn't enough to retain the A on his jersey, especially on this team, I don't know what is.


Prediction Time....


With most of the rosters set I think now is a good time to start to look into the crystal ball and see how the 30 teams in the league will finish.

West
1. Chicago...Let's face it, are they really that much worse?
2. Los Angeles..... They are where Chicago was last year.
3. Vancouver.... Weak division
4. Detroit.... Somehow is always this good
5. San Jose.... Losing Nabokov will hurt them alot
6. Phoenix...... They seem to do things right?
7. Nashville.... Somehow always end up with 35 or so wins each year, I don't know how though....
8. Colorado.... Barring any "Sophomore Slumps" should be good
9. Calgary.... BAHAHAHAHAHAHA Jokinen...
10. St. Louis.... Will just miss the playoffs
11. Dallas..... Not quite a playoff team yet
12. Edmonton..... Not as bad as everyone thinks
13. Minnesota..... So Backstrom is kinda good, who else do they have?
14. Columbus...., What is happening there
15. Anaheim.... Losing Niedermeyer will hurt, alot


East
1. Washington.....They play in a very, very weak division
2. Pittsburgh...... Yeah....
3. Buffalo...... Miller and Meyers are just too good
4. New Jersey.... With Kovy they are a very good team
5. Boston.... Solid all around team
6. Philadelphia.... Goaltending may be an issue, but they still have CFP on D
7. Tampa Bay..... Stevie Y did wonders with this young team, will be the most surprising team in the league
8. Toronto..... Yes, they have good enough D to cover questionable goaltending and a decent group up front
9. Montreal..... Price just doesn't have what it takes to win enough games yet
10. New York Rangers..... yeah.....
11. Ottawa.... Alfie is getting old, they are nearing a rebuild I think
12. Atlanta....Terrible team
13. Carolina.... See Atlanta
14. New York Islanders.....Have they ever made a good draft selection, they have been in the top 5 alot
15. Florida...... Dale Tallon is going to make this team very good, eventually......


Stanley Cup Champs: Washington



Other things.......

• So apparently Souray takes back what he said 5 months ago, I wonder if he changed his mind watching the Big 3 play last night
• Of those Big 3, I do expect Paajarvi to have the best season and Hall to have the worst, nothing against Hall but Magnus has been playing against men for the last few years
• One player I expect to have a better year than last is Shawn Horcoff. He will regain his "Scorecoff" form and will be playing with one or two of the Big 3
• Linus Omark won't make the team, sorry to disappoint, but he will light it up in OKC and be the first call up for sure.