The puck drops in a little while, so here is the Western Conference Preview and Stanley Cup predictions from the man who was Canadian in a previous life:
1)Colorado- because St. Patrick told me so
2)Detroit- can repeat if Stevie Y returns in top form
3)Dallas- lost Belfour and added Guerin..team improves, while crazy player quotient remains the same
4)LA Kings- old crest returns just in time
5)San Jose- nice deal to get Sykora
6)Phoenix- Sean Burke playing for Whaler pride
7)St. Louis- will rise if Fred Braithwaite plays more
8)Vancouver- needs some better tending to compete
9)Edmonton-Salo just misses final playoff spot
10)Calgary-Drury and Iginla are dynamic duo
11)Anaheim- whole lot of Kariya from Oates
12)Nashville-home of the Grand Ole 5-Hole
13)Minnesota- no clutching and grabbing = less wins
14)Chicago- complete mess of an organization

Big weekend in college football. I see Miami and Oklahoma both winning this week, but think that the Sooners will lose once in the Big 12. Miami should be in the BCS Championship against........Air Force- just kidding. Actually I think it will be Oregon getting through this year. My Heisman top 5 right now: 1) Willis McGahee 2) Charles Rogers 3) Seneca Wallace 4) Byron Leftwich 5) Maurice Claret

Waiting for the Knicks to pull the trigger on a Spreewell deal....maybe Philly can offer up Van Horn for Spree. Either that or the Knicks will acquire Brian Grant and Rod Strickland so they can have 5 point guards and 4 under-sized centers on their team. The NBA is fantastic.