Patrick Kane: "C'mon, I look like I'm 12. Not guilty, your honor!"

Believe it or not, puckheads, the hockey season is only about a month away, so it’s time to make a concerted effort to get through the season preview examining the free-agent market in the NHL. I’ll delve into the Western Conference with this installment and start with the beloved Central Division.

Chicago Blackhawks: Go Hawks! As I’ve stated before, I’m fully on the Chicago bandwagon right now. Anyone who watched these guys in the playoffs last season, especially in the Vancouver series, knows that they’re fun to watch, dynamic, and can play any style. It seems that their old owner (who refused to televise games because he thought fans wouldn’t come to the stadium… uh, what?) dying was the best thing that ever happened to the team. Anyway, some readers out there may remember that I predicted at the beginning of the summer that the Hawks would lose either forward Martin Havlat or goalie Nikolai Khabibulin but not both. Sadly, I was wrong, and not for the first time believe it or not. The often-injured Havlat moved to Minnesota to help the Wild replace the often-injured Marian Gaborik (Nice work Minnesota, they’re asking for trouble here), and the “Bulin Wall” took off for “greener” pastures in Edmonton (Good luck with that, though, I don’t completely hate the Oilers this year). So, what did Chicago do to remedy this loss? They signed Marian Hossa to a 12-year contract… Yeah, case closed. Hossa is ten times the player Havlat is. What many folks don’t know is that Hossa had off-season knee surgery that will keep him out of the lineup for the first few months, but the Blackhawks have more than enough talent up front to weather the storm until he’s ready, including a certain cabbie-punching phenom (allegedly, Patrick Kane). Also, in goal they still have Cristobal Huet who actually played most of last year while Khabibulin recovered from injury, so they’re fine there. Now, some may point to the loss of defensive forward Sammie Pahlsson to Columbus as a big hole to fill. So, what did the team do combat this? They went out and grabbed John Madden (no, not the football guy) from Jersey and Tomas Kopecky from Detroit. Those guys more than make up for Pahlsson. The bottom line is that Chicago only got better, and I predict a second straight final four appearance this year.

Detroit Red Wings: The perennial favorites actually took some hits this off-season. Solid contributor Jiri Hudler took off (after much ballyhoo) for the KHL and equally-solid Mikael Samuelsson landed a nice deal in Vancouver. Needing some depth at forward all of a sudden, the Wings went out and hooked the troubled and much-maligned Todd Bertuzzi. However, he’s not the player he used to be, but I still hope nobody turns their back on him or they might get paralyzed. Regardless, Detroit has an incredible farm system and they’ll still be a top-shelf squad. Anyone who saw the play of guys such as Derek Meech and Justin Abdelkader knows this. So, the big red machine will still be right where they need to be.

Columbus Blue Jackets: The Jackets have been pretty quiet over the summer, and not surprisingly. Their biggest acquisition was actually the Pahlsson deal that I already addressed. Other than that, the only really mentionable signing was that of goalie Mathieu Garon from Pittsburgh to serve as the backup to reigning rookie of the year, Steve Mason. This could arguably give Columbus the best one-two punch in the league, as Garon is capable of starting on many teams. Columbus’ disinterest in signing anyone else is understandable. Coach Ken Hitchcock preaches team defense under a tight system, and last year the squad finally seemed to gel, notching their first ever playoff appearance (though, they got clobbered 4-0 to Detroit, but there’s really no shame in that). They didn’t really lose anyone this year and will get back talented youngster Derick Brassard from injury, so it’s certain that Hitchcock will be more than happy to build on last season and ride another steady wave into the post-season, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.

Seriously man, where else am I gonna go? Oh, and everyone please remember, the "T" is silent!

St. Louis Blues: This team may be a different story, however. Yes, I know the Blues have some talented young and veteran players and they somehow miraculously clawed their way into the playoffs last year, but I’m not so sure I see a repeat in the parity-driven, ultra competitive Western Conference. They managed to re-sign the 100-year-old Keith Tkachuk, but let’s face it, he wasn’t going anywhere, he’s far from the player he used to be, and other than serving as a leader, isn’t the answer to all of St. Louis’ problems. The only other notable new face is goalie Ty Conklin (from Detroit), who will probably battle Chris Mason for the starting job. I’m not sure how that will pan out, and quite honestly, I have no idea what’s going on with often-injured and old UFA Manny Legace. He may not find a home anywhere this year. This may leave the Blues short at goalie. Granted, Conklin is capable, but the team has plenty of problems on defense. Letting go of veteran Jay McKee was a mistake, as I also mentioned before. Getting young upstart Erik Johnson back from his season-ending incident with a golf cart last summer (nice work, kid) will help, but I still believe the Blues have too many holes to be relevant.

Nashville Predators: … Oh boy. Well, to say things aren’t going well in Music City would be an understatement. Owner William “Boots” Del Biaggio was recently sentenced to over eight years in prison for fraud in his desperate bid to gain controlling interest of the Preds… uh, wow. Even before the final verdict came down, all the turmoil has led to a mass exodus out of town (and I don’t blame them… probably a smart move at this point), including most notably, defenseman Greg Zanon to Minnesota, Scott Nichol to San Jose and Vernon Fiddler to Phoenix. Sure, they’re all role players, but Nashville is now somewhat thin. They quietly re-signed right-winger Steve Sullivan who, when healthy is an incredibly talented player, but the problem is he’s never healthy and time isn’t on his side anymore. They still have Jason Arnott (Yes, I’m still drinking the Arnott Kool-Aid. The guy doesn’t get the credit he deserves), and they’re hoping their solid D-man crew and young goalie Pekka Rinne will get them by, but we’ll see. I have serious doubts. Folks in Nashville should just stick to country music, and go to a Conway Twitty revival or something.