Starting with the Ottawa Senators fans and team, it is good to see a Canadian team in the finals.  The finals will be worth watching to see if the Cup will go to a Canadian team.  I would like to see the finals with Detroit versus Ottawa just so I get to see in my lifetime a Canadian team fight for the trophy with the Red Wings.  If it is Anaheim then Senators all the way. 

     About game five so the Ducks won.  And I read that this is a seven game series.  We have known that but Ducks fans seem to think the series was won then.  That the Red Wings have nothing left.  But there is some good defense being played by the Red Wings right now in the second period.  It will be interesting to see the Wings come back to Detroit in game 7 if they win tonight.  Right now the Ducks are ahead by one goal.  A short handed shot from Pronger deflected off Rob Niedermayer.  Hasek and Gigeure have played to the highest level of skill that has been demanded from each goalie.  The Wings did this against Kiprussoff and Nabokov and won.  Yes in six.  But if the Wings win this series it will have through three rounds in these playoffs of getting past three amazing goalkeepers.  If the Ducks win the same can be said of Hasek when so many people wrote him off for the bus to the old folks home instead round three game six against the Ducks.

     Dominik Hasek has gone against Jerome Iginla, Joe Thornton and Jonathon Cheechoo, Teemu Selanne now will he have the chance to keep Daniel Alfredson out of the goals scored column.  Time will tell.  Some team will be playing golf.  Now it is 2-0.  It looks like the only thing preventing the answer here is time and plenty of hockey left to be played.

     If I had to pick a player from Anaheim to be MVP it would be J S Giguere for Detroit Dan Cleary or Dominik Hasek.

  Olli Jokinen of Florida Panthers has a reputation for being the player to count on for the team, he comes up with timely score and pass.  During the 2006 Olympics held in Torino, Italy, on team Finland he was a player who could dominate on both sides of the action.  For the Florida Panthers to win games this year they need a healthy Olli Jokinen and for the rest of the team to help in the crucial areas of scoring and defense.  He is a player to watch for his quick decision making he knows what he wants to do before the defense can stop him and if he is traded to another team looking to make run in the post season then look for him to contribute immediately.  He likes to win.

  The Phoenix Coyotes have the player of all time to watch Wayne Gretzky, head coaches a roster that returns Jeremy Roenick to the team.  The team will be better for that then there is the player who was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1995, Shane Doan.  The leader, go to guy, and all around complete game; the rest of the league takes notice when he skates and works hard for his goals.  He is ready to win and take the Cup on a victory lap, he is my seventh player to watch, his skill demands it.

  Another memeber of team Finland at the Torino Olympics, Teemu Selanne he has been a star since his rookie season when he set records that still stand for rookie scoring.  Honored with the name "The Finnish Flash" for his quick feet and ability to shoot the puck past a goalkeeper in a quick second he is a player to watch as he was once again scoring and skating at peak level, he is a dangerous player that will be a player that is determined to pass and shoot and help the team win.  He is a leader that excelled with the Ducks, he will this year barring injury.  And with the addition of Chris Pronger the Ducks will not look odd on the frozen pond of Arrowhead.  They will be serious about winning and getting to the playoffs.

No introduction today.   A list and series of players to watch are not predictions but a guide to the players in this sport who like to win and live for the start of the hockey season.  This  writer eagerly awaits the ice and intensity at the computer.