Wake Me Up It's Hockey Season ~ Pre-Season Expectations Part 1 By: Jennifer Kate

Well, guys, it's been a while since there has been any hockey content, but don't worry because hockey season is back, and with pre-season starting within the next week or so, I'm happy to be back with hockey blogs again. If you need to know who I am, I'm Jennifer Kate, a producer for Fruity Serial here on the Empty The Bench Podcast Network. Now let me explain how these blogs work because there will be multiple. I will be breaking down each Division and then each team within that Division.

Let's start with the Western Conference and the Central Division. Now, that Division will be as interesting as it is every year. Now, if you need to know the teams in this Division, let me tell you. Let's start with the Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, and last but not least, the Winnipeg Jets.

Let's go in order of the list I gave above, and I'll start with my opinion of the Arizona Coyotes. They will not be a competitive team and end up at the bottom of the Division and the entire NHL. But they have a few big names: Clayton Keller, Matt Dumba, and former Toronto Maple Leaf Alexander Kerfoot. I like Kerfoot. He was decent with the Maple Leafs and can be very good with a change of scenery. I will probably get a lot of hate for that take, but it's worth it. But overall, they aren't going anywhere this season and aren't going to be a well-talked-about team.

Let's move on to the Chicago Blackhawks. Many of you probably heard about them because Connor Bedard went there in the NHL 2023 draft. Now, the Blackhawks also have some big-name players who have been around for as long as i can remember, and they are as follows: Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, and Seth Jones. I don't know what to expect out of the Blackhawks. They can be good if they work hard enough, but they will not be as impressive as people think they might be.

Onto the Colorado Avalanche, they will be the most competitive team in this Division by far. They have the most recent Cup out of all these teams. They also have some excellent talents on their team, and they will probably go deep into playoffs again, so I'm excited to watch them again this year. But let's name a few big names on this team: Kale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, and Former New York Rangers Backup Goaltender Alexander Georgiev. They are going to the playoffs.

And now to one of my favorite teams in this Division, the Dallas Stars. They went to the playoffs last year and did well, so I can easily see them re-creating that run again this year. The Dallas Stars were such a fun team the previous year. I'm sure they will be as fun and competitive this year with some big names such as Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, And Joe Pavelski.

Let's move on to the Minnesota Wild, who also were a sneaky good team last year, and they will go to the playoffs this year. The Minnesota Wild have some big names as well, and some of these guys i personally really like, and I'm excited to watch them play as I am every year. Some of these big names are Marc Andre Fleury, Patrick Maroon, and, last but not least, former New York Rangers right-winger Mats Zuccarello.

We are now on the second to last team in this Division, and they are another fun team to watch, and they are the Nashville Predators. I am still determining what they will do this year, but they will not be last in this Division because that spot belongs to the Arizona Coyotes. But again, as I said, all the teams i named above have big names as well, and they are as follows: Roman Josi, Ryan O'Reilly, and another former New York Rangers Defenseman, Ryan McDonagh.

And last but not least, we have the Winnipeg Jets. I'm not big on the Winnipeg Jets because, in recent years, all the Canadian teams have been very disappointing, which has lessened my view of them. But they will probably get close to playoffs but choke right before they make it there. Big player names are Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, and Kyle Connor.

Well, that wraps it up for this Division. Let me know your thoughts on social media, but stay tuned for more blogs cause we have another division to go through before we move on to the Eastern Conference. Thank you so much for reading I hope you enjoyed and I will catch you guys in the next one.