Well my Leafs won't be going 48-0 after all. They look better then last year but still a struggle to make the playoffs even in this shorten season. Goaltending is very suspect right now, scoring should be fine, team touchness could be better, coaching looks better, and not having Burke making outrageous comments should help. The pipeline is looking better and they will have lots of cap space starting next year, so I think there might be light at the end of the tunnel (what's our chances of landing Perry and Getzlaf as free agents next year?)
Your Bruins should be favorities this year to go all the way. Rask looks really good in the early going and you remain one of the best defensive teams in the league.
Sabres added some grit, but Miller killed us again in the nets, but I don't think they match up well with the Bruins. Ottawa looks good to me so far, Montreal is a disaster (especially if they don't sign Subban), Rangers and Philly took a step back in my opinion. Pittsburg looks great, and I can't guage Washington in the early going.
Good luck and look forward to talking hockey in this shorten season.
P.S. I find the format here a bit annoying, particularly when you reply to previous posts, having to look at the whole chain of responses. Oh well. Still enjoy reading NAS, StanleyCup is funny as always, BadHab even with the all that leaf hate :), Chowdahkid (good insight on the junior circuit), perrysound, shuperman (one of my favorites reads), BookBoy, SanDog and a bunch of others that I've forgotten at the moment.
