Well, it is the dawn of season 38 and most of the EIHLers are acting like they are doing something more important but have tomorrow's game at the forefront of their minds. Oh, its true. The following is a brief preview by your Olympic champion and most underrated bad guy in wrestling history..just watch some of my older clips on youtube and see the kind of heat I generate.

Canucks:
last season's champions may have a tougher time this year as it seems the Notorious DIP was more concerned with trying to become an honourary member of the Khan Khanna family than building a repeat champion. Seriously, Gogie as a first overall pick is totally understandable if he was even playing the majority of the games, but not in this case. Gurnek is always a wild card, JK is coming off a serious injury and Harvir has his work schedule to contend with.

Pros: out of all the captains, fridge is still the most talented player which gives the canucks an advatage right from the outset

Cons: he's also the most annoying and always seems like he's drunk

Outlook: 8/10 (with a full team). The hardest part for this team may be getting to the playoffs because of attendance issues; however, if they do get there and have their full team, they are among the favourites again, probably THE favourite. The only thing that may be their downfall is goaltending..dippy might regret not drafting one earlier.



Islanders:
Red Sukh begins his final season as captain before he gives up the title of Most Eligible Bachelor of County Court, Northwest Side. Next year, that title will belong to either Rajan or the weird gora that picks up our beer bottles. As usual, Sukh has quietly built a solid team. Poon is still the best player in the league and it always amazes me he's not an automatic first overall pick. I guess something about him rubs people the wrong way. Must be that violent temper.

Pros: great first line, Poon will get his points as usual, James is always solid in net, Ranjit might be the most underrated player in the league and apparently this new Ronny guy is going to set the league on fire. They also have 4 white guys (assuming Andrew is white..not too sure about that kid). Could have been 5 if you had drafted your brother Hillbilly Jin. Kudos for not being racist like all the other captains, Sukh, and giving the immigrants a chance. Just make sure you treat them the same...they're people too.

Cons: there are rumours of a minnesota vikings boat party being scheduled for around the time of the finals for Red Sukh..what will happen if they make it that far? Could we possibly have our first final on the ocean??? No, of course not. Jessie's too cheap to pay for that for us.

Outlook: 8/10. If they are firing on all cylinders and this new guy is that good, they could win it all. The top players will have to carry the load because they don't have the greatest depth.



Lions:
The Lions are back after a long hiatus. Will the second time be a charm? The captain certainly hopes so. Rumour is that he won't get married until he wins a cup as a captain. He drafted a pretty decent team with the crappy draft picks he had. Somehow Harman fell to 6th overall, got Rickey late in the second and W in the 3rd. Combined with some good depth and a solid goalie in Ragu, they may surprise.

Pros: they have good speed on the top line and will be able to run with any team

Cons: not a lot of size and they may have commitment issues (harman's injury, rickey and W have work/school conflicts). There's also the possibility that the captain may get murdered very soon due to an altercation last weekend..but other than that, they're pretty good

Outlook: 7/10. They might have a tough time competing with the bigger teams but then again maybe not...they have a lot of pests on the team and if they can work together, consider the Lions as a darkhorse team this year



Humberwood:
The Canes might be the most balanced team this season. They seem to have a little bit of everything. Habi surprised many by taking Sean early but with the way the rest of the draft went, it seems like a properly calculated choice.

Pros: they have a little bit of everything

Cons: they're not excellent at any one position; they will need Amit to show up or they're screwed; also, will anyone be able to play with the enigmatic neelish, who always seems to go lower in the draft than his stats say he should

Outlook: 7/10. For once Habi seemed to have a plan at the draft and not just take all his buddies...as a result, they might finally win it all..just don't bet on it



Rexdale:
Haddi takes over as captain for the first time this year and has his work cut out for him. He picked a solid top 3 and got Surba in net but depth may be an issue, unless this new charlie guy is good. They might have trouble generating offence from anyone other than obi and param. Getting dosanjh late could be a steal

Pros:
Good speed up front, good grit on the back end

Cons:
Manjinder is off for three games because james tried to punch jin's fist with his face. How does that make sense? Goalies...

Outlook: 6/10. The play of obi and param will determine how far rexdale goes but this might be a tough year for them. Manjinder will be back for game 4 where he will probably get suspended for the rest of the year during a fight in the second half of that game.



Mississauga:
Aman had a boatload of picks due to shipping everyone out last year and should have been able to build a powerhouse team. On paper though, this team doesn't look as scary as it could have. Atul may not be available for the playoffs. Cuz will be arrested for murder 1 shortly and shouldn't be picked that high anyway.

Pros:
Top goaltending which is good for a playoff spot usually. Good depth and size on the backend. Got Harj way too late..he will be a key cog in that D

Cons:
No true sniper, which they might need.

Outlook: 8/10. Good team and might win it all. They should have been a 9 or even a 10 with those picks though. Will be really hard to score on these guys.



Red Army:
Last, but not least, we have this year's trendy team, the Red Army. What did these guys do to become so fashionable? It seems as though everyone wants to play with them? Even me (anonymous as I am) also wanted to. Is it the youthful exuberance they play with that reminds us older folk of better days gone by? When we didn't have beer bellies and didn't feel bad about hitting on high school girls? (Editors note: manjinder said he still doesn't feel bad about doing that...sorry jin..bad reporting on my part). Well, a lucky (pun intended) few got the privilege of getting a roster spot with the kids. Mur and Rup will raise the average age of the team and Lucky will raise the average weight.

Pros:
Lots of speed, talent and now with the addition of lucky, they have a gritty element they never had before. He's made it clear that a personal goal of his is to sweep the season series with the Lions. Everyone knows he's in love with the lions captain though.

Cons: still not tough enough, though its no fault of their own..these kids are still growing...don't worry though, once they get too good, jk will disband them and throw them into the draft. Also, goaltending remains a concern.

Outlook: 8/10. A team full of nice guys added two more and then added the probably the meanest, nastiest (in a good way) player in the league. They have the most talented team if you think about it. Everyone knows Lucky's track record. They have Gurbir, who quietly led the league in goal scoring two seasons ago and is a bonafide sniper. They have Sabi who is good at everything and is only getting better (and bigger). If he ever develops a mean streak, he could be the next Teji, but even better. They remind me of the chicago blackhawks. The question is, are they ready to take the next step this year? I think after their own teams, the rest of the league wants to see the kids do well.


Predictions:
Rexdale and humberwood will miss the playoffs

Finals: canucks (after adding a goalie at the deadline) over red army

Let's hope this doesn't happen