The Mag's Predictions

Here's how The Magazine thinks the season will go. Next summer, the party's in Denver. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division 1. New Jersey Devils 2. Philadelphia Flyers 3. New York Rangers 4. Pittsburgh Penguins 5. New York Islanders Northeast Division 1. Toronto Maple Leafs 2. Ottawa Senators 3. Buffalo Sabres 4. Montreal Canadiens 5. Boston Bruins Southeast Division 1. Florida Panthers 2. Washington Capitals 3. Carolina Hurricanes 4. Tampa Bay Lightning 5. Atlanta Thrashers Western Conference Central Division 1. St. Louis Blues 2. Detroit Red Wings 3. Chicago Blackhawks 4. Nashville Predators 5. Columbus Blue Jackets Northwest Division 1. Colorado Avalanche 2. Calgary Flames 3. Vancouver Canucks 4. Edmonton Oilers 5. Minnesota Wild Pacific Division 1. Dallas Stars 2. Los Angeles Kings 3. San Jose Sharks 4. Phoenix Coyotes 5. Anaheim Mighty Ducks

When you love something, you overlook its faults. That why we, as hockey fans, turn a blind eye to the fact that the NHL's regular season is about 20 games too long and the league is about six teams too big. Call us fools, but we still love this game. With that mind, here are a few thoughts to begin a new season.

Expect to see a ton of penalties. The NHL has instructed its referees to crack down on slashing, which has unfortunately become an accepted part of the game. Ex-ref Andy Van Hellemond, the league's new Director of Officials, will be keeping a close eye on his zebras. He claims these penalties will be called and called consistently, regardless of the game situation. We'll see. We've been down this road before. The league touts changes, then relents. But Van Hellemond is credited with cleaning up the ECHL. Maybe this is the guy to get the job done. Hope so.

Up north, fans in Canada will take turns booing Ottawa's Alexei Yashin, who returns to the Senators after sitting out a year in an ill-fated attempt to renegotiate his contract. Human nature says if Yashin starts scoring and the Sens start winning, all will be forgiven. I say he finishes the season in another uniform. He could land in a big U.S. market like Chicago, Los Angeles or New York (Rangers).

While Yashin has returned, others have disappeared. Wondering what happened to San Jose's Owen Nolan? Or Buffalo's Mike Peca? Or New Jersey's Jason Arnott? They are Group II (restricted) free agents who've yet to sign new contracts with their clubs. Of course, you can't really benefit from being a free agent unless you get offers from other employers. In the NHL, Group II's don't get other offers. Competing clubs figure, why bother? The team holding the rights to a player can match any offer. So guys like Nolan, Peca and Arnott will wait and watch. If they wait long enough, they might get what they want. In Arnott's case, I suspect it will be a long wait for nothing.

Others in the Group II waiting room include Boston's Anson Carter, Calgary's Derek Morris, Los Angeles' Jozef Stumpel, New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer and Washington's Chris Simon. Oh yeah, Phoenix's Nikolai Khabibulin, who missed last season, is still hanging out. Khabibulin, like unsigned (and unrestricted) free agent Claude Lemieux, is waiting for Wayne Gretzky's group to take over ownership of the Coyotes.

Eventually -- one by one -- they'll all be back. Like us fans.

E.J. Hradek covers the NHL for ESPN The Magazine.