Puck dropped on nine-month NHL season

With postseason baseball flying through the air, it’s hockey time! The NHL has cranked it up for another nine – that’s right, sports fans -nine-month season.

Baseballs will still be flying when the Stanley Cup is skated next June, but it will be baseballs from a whole new season that will be approaching its All-Star break.

Every NHL season is a grind to make it to the playoffs, none more so than this year. The NHL will take time off for the Olympics in February, with NHL players competing for their home countries. That necessitated the compacting of the regular-season schedule so as not to extend the playoffs even farther into the summer.

Coaches will coach with that in mind. Star players will have ice times cut a bit and expect to see the big names sitting out more with “nagging injuries,” which you can read as, “needs some rest with the long season and all.”

For former Black Bear Paul Kariya, it will seem like an 18-month season. He is still with the no-too-mighty Ducks in Anaheim. They are a bad team , made worse with the salary dump trade of scorer Teemu Selanne. Former Maine defenseman Keith Carney will join Kariya on the left coast as the Ducks hope Carney can help shore up a leaky defense.

Kariya is caught in one of those ugly half-full, half-empty situations. He makes great money, gets to live in California and is one of the NHL’s brightest stars. However, he plays for a losing team that Disney is trying to sell and he plays in front of fans for whom the luster has long since worn thin.

Some are talking about this NHL year being interesting because many of the stars changed uniforms in the offseason. True, but it won’t change the cast of usual suspects being the favorites.

The Devils win the Atlantic Division with Philly in hot pursuit. The Islanders will be a tough team to play against, but they lack the depth to go deep into the playoffs they should make. Lindros and the Rangers struggle. Pittsburgh without Jagr is an older, more-injured Lemieux team that will have a rough year.

The Leafs take the Northeast Division, but the Bruins will be there. Ottawa will be a third strong division team.

The Bruins need to keep their emotional heads screwed on straight, especially Bill Guerin. This team, under control and playing for the long haul, is a good one. Martin Lapointe will help teach them that getting to the second season, the playoffs, is what it’s all about. He learned that in Detroit under Scott Bowman.

The Southeast is the NHL’s weakest division. Washington wins because no one else can. Jagr either really helps the Caps run deep into the playoffs or he implodes as he selfishly did in Pittsburgh.

Detroit is a walking NHL hall of fame with a goaltender, Dominik Hasek, the players believe in. They did not believe in last year’s goalie, Chris Osgood. St. Louis has the league’s best defense, but not a No. 1 netminder. These teams battle for the Central Division honors.

Dallas has a No. 1 goalie in Ed Belfour and they are deep at center. They will contend for the Cup. The Kings in L.A. will not repeat the wonderful ride they had last year. They have no depth.

Colorado is the cream of the West, with or without Peter Forsberg. The rest of the Northwest Division – Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, and Minnesota – is good and that’s where it ends.

The Flyers and Devils play for the Eastern Conference annointment. The Devils win. The Avs and Detroit go at it in the West. Colorado wins.

Come June, there will be a rematch of the Avs and Devils for the Cup, with the same result. This time we won’t have Bourque to watch skating around with Lord Stanley’s prize, but the Avs will have done it anyway.

As with all predictions in this column, they self-destruct on contact with any contrary reality.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and NBC sportscaster.