Presidents' Trophy

It'll be a riot if the Det riot Wings win and then lose the Cup

I can easily make a case for the top three teams here:

Detroit has a track record of winning the president's trophy, and the team is absolutely loaded. Assuming that the goal-tending can hold it, they are not a force that can be stopped easily.

The Sharks are just scary. They almost never lost on the road last year (I think only 7 all year), and has yet to lose at home this year... imagine if you combine those two...

The thing going for the Rangers is that they are playing in the Eastern Conference, and competition is not nearly as severe when you have chumps like Atlanta, Tampa, and Toronto to devour on (yes, the Leafs SUCK! :p) However, I don't like the make-up of that team... like many NY teams, they are over-loaded with over-paid talent, and the team chemistry is never great.

I like the way San Jose looks, they're an experienced, explosive team that finished second to the Wings last year. Unlike the playoffs, the regular season seems to suit them well. But I'm going with the Red Wings simply because they're a veteran, big-picture team that has won this award the past several seasons and now have an electrifying scorer in Hossa.

The Rangers, while a contender for the Cup, don't feel like THE team. They'll be two or three most likely, but not one. The others are solid teams riding decent streaks and stars that just don't have the combination of depth, drive, and quality for such a long run. Washington, for instance, just doesn't feel deep enough despite being held up by someone like Ovie. They'll be thinking about getting hot at the right time come Cup time.

And it's striking looking at the current standings: San Jose has 29 points on 18 games, the Rangers have 26 on 19 games, and Detroit has 25 on 16 games.