First off...
What an incredible night in Vegas. The responders, the fans, the players, Engelland's impressive composure and words....It made me proud to call this sport my job and hockey fans everywhere are feeling the same sense of pride that our sport can really pull together to help beyond the ice when called upon. Vegas needed the Knights last night and the Knights were there...
Now back to the story at hand.
Yesterday I looked at the East, today the West...
Looking at my picks for the Pacific Division...
#1 Edmonton (Secondary scoring questions arise, but still high on Edmonton) (ranking my pick (8) #2 Anaheim (very slow out of the gate so far....) (6) #3. Calgary (after a rough game 1 they have looked really good...especially in goal (9) #4. LA Kings (they won't wow you with their exciting style, but Quick and team defense...) (9) #5 San Jose (I should have gone with my gut here I am afraid...these Sharks don't have it right now. (3) #6 Vancouver (I put them higher than most but they have looked even a little better than I thought) (7) #7 Arizona (like Buffalo, they might still need time) (9) #8 Vegas (3-0 is a shocker, but gotta love it... I wanted to put them ahead of AZ but chickened out.) (6)
Looking at my picks for the Central Division...
#1 Nashville (last night was the first time they looked like the Preds...fighting and winning late) (7) #2 Dallas (They are 1-2 despite not scoring like they should) (7) #3 Winnipeg (If they settle down the D and Goaltending I still see them here) (8) #4 Chicago (They came out of the gate very strong...could prove me very wrong) (5) #5 Minnesota (The Wild have struggled early...) (8) #6 St Louis (Here is a pick I would change...the Blues are a very strong team) (2) #7 Colorado (even though they came out strong I don't see them breaking into the top 6 (8)
Coming up...Habs continue to try to land scoring help...getting closer.
We will discuss all this and more on the Podcast at 1pm ET