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Saints fans like Lcsolja are in a mood so expansive after their Breesy start they could wrap their arms around the Superdome.

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• Vote: Pick the Hart, Vezina, Norris, Calder and Jack Adams winners.
• Vote: Pick the division, conference and Stanley Cup winners.
• Your Power Rankings: Do the Penguins open the season No. 1?

Believe it or not, the start of the NHL regular season is just about a week away. No, seriously, we're not kidding. We know the leaves haven't turned and summer doesn't actually end until today, but what the heck, it's been, what, at least three or four weeks since the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, right?

Then again, maybe that short offseason helps keep the NHL fresh in SportsNation's mind. A year ago, voters correctly predicted the Red Wings to win the Western Conference and made the Penguins their second choice, behind the Red Wings, to win it all.

Blackhawks star Patrick Kane and ESPN.com writer Scott Burnside stopped by chat Monday to help SportsNation get its ice legs before jetting off to Europe (Burnside to Stockholm for the Red Wings and Blues and Kane to Helsinki for the Blackhawks and Panthers).

Jason (Ellicott City, MD)

You are only rated an 86 in NHL. What is up with that?

Patrick Kane

I think an 86 is pretty good to be honest with you. I think the highest are Crosby and 94 and Ovechkin at 92. I thought I'd be better than Teows, but I am still on the cover. I got him by that. Full transcript

AJ (Champaign, Ill.)

How do the Blackhawks avoid a lull in their performance after they return from Finland?

Scott Burnside

AJ; Good question. The European experiment has been decidedly mixed in terms of how it affects teams. All four coaches who went last year got fired although the Pens did end up winning a Cup. I think the 'Hawks' youth and the nice steady hand of head coach Joel Quenneville will keep them from going off the rails when they get back from Finland. Full transcript

Apparently it's Canada Day, albeit a week late, in SportsNation today.

Joe Sakic was pretty much the prototypical hockey star during his two decades in the NHL, which is probably why news of his retirement is getting such little attention south of the hockey border. After all, when Chad Ochocinco talks tweeting or Manny Ramirez gets ejected, why bother with Sakic? Maybe if he waited a few months and started dropping hints about a comeback with the Minnesota Wild ...

Sakic might not have been as much the face of a franchise as Jaromir Jagr or Steve Yzerman during the same era, but as some of the comments below suggest, even Red Wings fans liked the guy. And that's not something you hear a lot of Duke fans saying about Tyler Hansbrough or Colts fans saying about Tom Brady.

• The 'Nation says Sakic was better than Peter Forsberg at their Avalanche peaks.
• Vote: What's your take on Joe Sakic's Avalanche career?
• Fan groups: Go Avs | Hockey Fanatics | The Puck Stops Here!

“

One less wicked wrister in the NHL today. Hate the Avs, loved Joe Sakic. Thanks for the memories Joe. I will never forget a night against the Sharks when Joe had the puck in the corner, skated back and forth with the puck glued to his stick so quickly that he lost 3 defenders then fired a laser into the top far corner to score an eventual game winner. Absolutely ridiculous. Congrats Joe on a great career, 1st ballot HOF, number retired 1st game of next season if the Avs are smart.

” -- DiabloLucky13

“

awww Joe!! Burnaby Joe, as we liked to call him here in his hometown..:) nothing but huge respect for the man as a player and as a person, pure class alll the way.. we even named a street after him years ago, lol. hope Denver does the same!

” -- 1_canuckgrl

“

Joe Sakic was a great player, leader, and sportsman. My other favorite number 19. Sad to see him go, but glad that it's on his own terms. Next stop, HOF. Thanks letting us watch you play the game Joe!

” -- YzerWingsFan19

“

As a Wings fan, I have a huge dislike for the Avs, but I could never bring myself to dislike Joe. Congrats on a great career and thanks for making the Wings/Avs rivalry so great.

” -- squigs24

How big a move did the Blackhawks make in signing Marian Hossa? If Chicago lands the 2016 Olympics, Hossa will still have five more seasons to play for the team when the closing ceremonies wrap up in the Windy City.

After serving as a high-profile rental the last two seasons for the Penguins and Red Wings, Hossa is the proud, and wealthy, owner of a 12-year deal with a team on the rise. He's also the biggest impact player to change teams so far this summer, according to SportsNation voters.

But Hossa's deal was only one move on a busy day that also saw Marian Gaborik go to the Rangers, Nikolai Khabibulin go to the Oilers and Dany Heatley not go anywhere, despite the Senators working out a trade as he requested. No wonder SportsNation isn't sure it would want one of the game's most talented players.

• Cast your vote on some of the NHL open market's biggest questions.

“

No need to hate on Hossa. He left the Pens for a cup. Didn't work out for him. Now he's left for security and a steady pay check. Lets not beat the guy up too bad.

” -- GoWings2008

“

Rangers shed themselves of one bloated contract, only to replace it with a bigger one. Gaborik has serious skills, no doubt, but his injury history would keep me from throwing that kind of money at him for 5 years. Typical Sather move, though.

” -- rog247

“

Not quite sure what Edmonton is thinking not offering Roloson more than one year, and signing Khabibulan. Fans thinking he's going to be some kind of savior for the Oilers is kind of making me chuckle a bit. It doesn't help Edmonton. They have other glaring issues. Goaltending wasn't the problem.

” -- kk1244

“

I'll say it again: Heatley deserves no slack. If a player requests a trade, he should automatically HAVE to waive any no-trade clause in his contract. The fact that Heatley can string up his team for a $4 million signing bonus and still get his way is ludicrous. But if Murray doesn't trade him, Heatley will just turn his petulant child act on the ice. A lose-lose situation for the Senators, and Heatley comes out of it grinning like a Cheshire cat.

” -- jenniejenniewho

The NHL offseason lasts about as long as it takes the teams that played for the Stanley Cup to get home and do their laundry for training camp (although after eight months of hockey, it takes a few rinses), so we've got to move quickly. Free agency, Hall of Fame, NHL draft; let's show some hustle here, people.

The new Hockey Hall of Fame class includes Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, Brian Leetch and Brett Hull. It doesn't include Alexander Mogilny or Dave Andreychuk.

Early results suggest SportsNation thinks Andreychuk will eventually find his way to Toronto, as will Mogilny, the high-scoring Russian who rocked on the NHL '94 on Sega.

Meanwhile, teams will soon be able to lure future Hall of Famers -- or Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, if you're the Rangers -- when free agency gets underway July 1.

• Are two Sedins better than one? Rank the best free agents.

It's been 25 years since a team that lost in the Finals the year before managed to win the Stanley Cup the next year. That makes it even more impressive that some of you predicted the Penguins would win -- in seven games.

Before the final series began, we asked you who you thought would lift Lord Stanley's Cup. 4everDetroit thought we'd all be wearing ice skates before the Penguins would defeat the Red Wings at home. But some of you brilliantly foresaw a Game 7 victory: sirdidymus01, Chucksracing, Fred Rice, Hcokeydude, John-Flores, Beldar1718, Bqthaman, Sportsperson107, fastwillie1212, Lone_wolf2006, Garwin7, Dragonswizdom, Aries.1994 and Perdegro.

See their original picks on the CommunityEds blog, where we, ahem, picked the Pens in seven, too.

Hmmm. Maybe if Marian Hossa had asked all of us ...

After two weeks of hockey in the Stanley Cup finals, we're right back where we started (not counting two weeks of playoff-beard growth). Before Game 1 in Detroit, 53 percent of SportsNation favored the Red Wings to win. Hours before Game 7 gets going at Joe Louis Arena, 51 percent of voters still expect the Red Wings to hoist the Cup.

Tuesday was a busy night. You had the Magic and the Lakers in the NBA Finals and the Penguins and Red Wings dueling for the Cup. There was MLB action like the Red Sox and Yankees and Mets and Phillies. And Spencer Michels was talking green energy grid on Jim Lehrer. There's only so much one DVR can hold.

So if you happened to miss SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays, we're there for you.

The best saves of the night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals might have gone to Rob Scuderi, a veteran defenseman whose one goal in 23 playoff games this season actually puts him ahead of his career scoring pace (three goals in 300 regular-season games). But despite coming to the aid of his goalie with three stops in the final 30 seconds of the Penguins' 2-1 win, Long Island's own will yield the battle of the crease back to goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood in Game 7.

A slim majority of voters think the Penguins will win on the road in Game 7 (although if you take votes from Pennsylvania and Michigan out of the equation, it's a 50-50 split). But do the Wings have the edge in net?

• Chat today at 3 p.m. ET: Barry Melrose takes your questions
• Chat today at 4 p.m. ET: Pierre LeBrun takes your questions

Last month we asked you which sport produced the best Game 7s. Most of SportsNation said the NBA, except for (interestingly enough) Pennsylvania and Michigan, which said they would take a Game 7 hockey match over basketball any day. Well Pennsylvania and Michigan -- wish granted! After a thrilling do-or-die Game 6 in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have kept this series alive and forced a Game 7 back in Detroit.

Now, if you can contain yourself from so much excitement in one blog post, hockey fans, we'd love to know which team you think will raise Lord Stanley's Cup this Friday.