The Score Sports Forecaster was first out of the blocks with their NHL Season Preview for 2008-09, and the good folks at Andrew's Dallas Stars Page has a quick review of the magazine's preview of the Stars, but also the projected playoff teams and where they'll finish the season:

Western Conference
1. Detroit Red Wings 2. Dallas Stars 3. Edmonton Oilers 4. San Jose Sharks 5. Chicago Blackhawks 6. Anaheim Ducks 7. Calgary Flames 8. Phoenix Coyotes

Eastern Conference
1. Philadelphia Flyers 2. Washington Capitals 3. Ottawa Senators 4. Montreal Canadiens 5. Pittsburgh Penguins 6. Carolina Hurricanes 7. New Jersey Devils 8. New York Rangers

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I'll have my projections by late September as we get closer to the season and we have a better idea of what the rosters will look like.

As for the Forecaster, you'll have to buy the issue (I don't get any kickbacks for this) to find out why they're ranking the teams as they have.

And since I'm going on vacation for a few days starting August 14th, this is as good a topic as any for you folks to discuss in the comments, and please, keep it clean!

The mid-point of an NHL season is usually the time when the gap between the potential playoff contenders and pretenders widens.

Not so during the 2007-08 season, for into the 30-game point and with mid-season less than three weeks away, the NHL standings remain as tightly packed as it was a month ago.

As of today, only the Detroit Red Wings have thus far established themselves as a dominant club, currently sitting over ten points over the San Jose Sharks, their closest rival in the Western Conference standings.

A mere ten points separates the second-overall Sharks from the 15th overall Los Angeles Kings. That means fourteen teams in the Western Conference are still jockeying for playoff position.

In the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators still rule the roost with 39 points, but a recent seven-game losing skid has New Jersey, Carolina and Boston - only four points behind - nipping at their heels.

Indeed, only 12 points separates the Sens from the 14th overall Sabres. Only the 15th overall Washington Capitals, with only 24 points, appear in danger of falling out of the race by the mid-season mark.

It's been a weird season, as only the Red Wings have maintained a consistent level of performance. Almost all the remainder have seen their respective performances rise and fall in the first two months of this season.

It remains to be seen how long this trend will last, but as long as the standings remain tight, the longer it'll take general managers to start spending their valuable salary cap space in roster-boosting or salary-dumping trades.

- Seems Rory Fitzpatrick's been catching some heat in the media over the fans write-in campaign to push him into the All-Star game. 

Yes, the campaign makes a mockery of the All-Star game, but considering how the All-Star game has been a joke for years, this campaign fits right in.

So some fans have found a way to exploit the inept voting system devised by the league to stuff the ballot box for an unknown for a laugh. The system's been ripe for exploitation, and the only surprise to me is that it's taken this long.

Oh, and Fitzpatrick doesn't deserve to be run down because of this. He didn't seek it and has handled the unnecessary publicity well.

The way I see it, if he gets voted in, it's up to him to decide if he wants to go or not. I don't care either way because I stopped caring about the farce that is the NHL All-Star game a long, long time ago.

- Darcy Tucker to Edmonton? Nope, they need a puckmoving defenseman. To Montreal? Uh-uh, not with the Leafs clinging to a playoff berth. Trades between the Leafs and Habs are scarce as hens teeth and almost never occur during the season.

My guess is the Leafs won't trade Tucker during the season. They'll try to re-sign him but if he proves too rich for their blood could try to peddle him by the June draft weekend.

- I wouldn't be surprised if teams are inquiring into the availability of Florida's Olli Jokinen, but they're not gonna land him, especially if the Panthers are still in the hunt for post-season berth by the deadline. I also wouldn't be surprised to discover he's got a no-trade clause that'll kick in at some point in his contract.

- The Anaheim Ducks are facing real adversity for the first time this season, losing goalies J-S Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov, forward Todd Marchant and defenseman Francois Beauchemin to injury.

This'll be a true test for a Ducks team that has pretty much owned the Western Conference since the season began. Fortunately Bryzgalov is expected back soon whilst "Giggy" is listed as day-to-day, but for now it's up to Michael Wall to get 'er done until one of these guys return to action.

- How dumb is the NHL's playoff seeding system? So dumb that the New Jersey Devils with 43 points get third overall in the conference because they lead their division ahead of the Montreal Canadiens, who have 49 points.

And to prove I'm not biased, the same problem exists in the Western Conference, where the struggling Vancouver Canucks with their 39 points get the third overall seeding ahead of more deserving teams with better records like Detroit, Dallas and San Jose.

I don't care where a team places in a division, if their record isn't good enough for third overall, they bloody well shouldn't be there ahead of more deserving teams. In some cases, it's rewarding ineptness. 

If there’s one thing that truly bugs me about the “new” NHL, it’s the league’s insistence for rewarding losers.

The whole purpose of introducing regular season overtime was to lower the number of tie games. There was a belief that late in a tied game too many teams resorted to a more cautious style, playing to preserve the point rather than going for the win.

The four-on-four, five minute overtime period helped a bit, but there were still too many instances of teams playing for the point even in overtime, so last season we got the introduction of the shootout to determine a winner.

Now I have no problem with the shootout, in fact, I consider it quite exciting, as apparently do the fans whenever the game goes to a shootout.

What I don’t like, however, is that even if a team loses in a shootout or even the overtime period, they’re still getting a point for doing so.

So even though a team will emerge with two points following an overtime or shootout win, the loser still gets a point.

So what, exactly, has the NHL accomplished with this system?

Looking at the standings, it shows columns for wins, losses and overtime losses, which look really no differently than columns for wins, losses and ties.

And there are still instances where it appears overmatched teams are quite happy to “play for the point” late in a game, uncaring if they win in overtime or the shootout.

There’s now talk of revamping the points systems, rewarding teams who win in extra time with two extra points rather than one.

Why not simply reward the team who wins two points, regardless of regulation, overtime or shootout victory, while the team that loses, regardless of when they lose, receive no points?

In other words, the standings should just reflect wins and losses, period. No ties, no point for losing in overtime or the shootout, no extra points.

Win, and you get two points. Lose, you get nothing.

How much of an effect will that have in the standings? It’s obviously too early to tell right now, but over the course of the season it could have a significant impact in determining team placement.

And no team should miss the playoffs because another team had the benefit of more overtime loss points.

Stop rewarding losers!

Heading into the final weeks of the 2005-06 NHL season, hockey fans are getting a great treat: a battle to the finish for the final playoff berths in both Conferences.

Actually, this is something of a tradition in recent years. The top four or five clubs in each Conference are usually all but assure a playoff berth by this point, with the final three or four berths left up for grabs heading down the stretch.

This season is no exception.

In the East, six teams are battling to nail down the final three spots, with only 9 points separating sixth from 11th. The Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens presently hold positions six to eight, but the Atlanta Thrashers are breathing down their collective necks.

The Canadiens are feeling the pressure most, holding a slim one-point lead over the Thrashers as of this writing, and cannot afford to suffer a letdown. Three of their next five games are against supposedly inferior opposition in the NY Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, but the Isles have nothing to lose while the Habs have yet to defeat the Pens this season. They've also got to face their long-time rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a back-to-back series in Montreal. With the Leafs battling for their playoff lives, it won't be an easy series for the Canadiens.

The Thrashers have a potentially tougher schedule, with three games against the Devils, Lightning and the Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes, and matchups against the struggling Boston Bruins and the Islanders rounding out their next five games. But if the Habs are swept by Toronto and lose to Pittsburgh, the Thrashers chance to vault past the Canadiens could improve if they can take three of the next five.

The Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers are five and six points behind the Habs, but still have an opportunity to make it if they can get hot during their remaining games and if those ahead of them should slump. That being said, they're going to have to play almost flawless hockey the rest of the way and can scarcely afford to lose many more games.

The Leafs have the aforementioned two-game series with the Habs in Montreal, but before that face the Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Following the Canadiens series they face the Devils and then next Tuesday the fifth place Philadelphia Flyers.

The Panthers meanwhile have a lighter schedule, facing the lowly Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and the all-but-eliminated Bruins,with their toughest games against the NY Rangers on Friday and the Hurricanes next Friday.

They'll have to overcome the temptation toward overconfidence against the Caps, Pens and Bruins to keep their playoff hopes alive, but if they can come out of this with at least three victories and the Leafs lose three of their next five, they'll still be alive in the East heading into April.

Over in the West, the race is even tighter, with only 6 points separating fifth from 10th. The Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings hold the final four positions, with the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks in 9th and 10th respectively.

There's little breathing space for the Avs, Ducks, Oilers and Kings, and it should get even more interesting this week.

The Avs have only one potentially easy game over the next five, that being the basement-dwelling St. Louis Blues. They've then got two against the surging Ducks, and two against the Oilers and Calgary Flames respectively.

The Ducks also have one potentially easy game over the next five, against the struggling Phoenix Coyotes. The rest of the way, they face the Avs twice, the Nashville Predators and the powerful Dallas Stars.

Edmonton and Vancouver could well decide their fates this week. They meet each other in three straight games, which should have the air of a playoff serie, then the Oilers face the Avs and the still-tough Minnesota Wild. After a draining series against the Canucks, it'll be interesting to see if they've got enough left in the tank for those two.

The Canucks and LA Kings are in trouble, sliding down the standings, with the Canucks already out in 9th and the Kings teetering on the brink in 8th. The Kings next five games are against teams four teams ahead of them, with one against the Canucks. Vancouver must win at least two of three from Edmonton and beat the Kings if they're to bounce back into the playoffs.

Finally, there's the surging San Jose Sharks, who could benefit from having the lightest schedule of the lot, with four games against clubs beneath them in the standings (St. Louis, Minnesota, Columbus and Chicago, although the Wild should still play them tough) and one against the Conference-leading Detroit Red Wings.

It's quite possible that by April 1, the Avs Oilers, Sharks and Ducks could potentially nail down playoff berths, with the Kings and Canucks falling further out of the race.

One thing is clear, there's a lot at stake between now and April 1st, and that'll give us playoff level hockey for the rest of the NHL schedule.