And in this the final season before Disney's multi-billion dollar NHL television rights contract swells the coffers of ice hockey's traditional also-rans, few if any harbour realistic hope of sipping bubbly from the Stanley Cup.

The Western Conference's newly formed Northwest Division should clearly illustrate that fact. Even though coach Marc Crawford's dramatic fall from grace culminated when Colorado blew a 3-1 lead to Edmonton in the first round of last year's play-offs, the Avalanche should easily win this race, even with virtual unknown Bob Hartely at the reins.

The Mike Keenan-led Canucks' most notable off-season move was in the front-office where they welcomed ex-NHL vice-president Brian Burke back into the fold as general manager. On the ice they will be led by an obviously ageing Mark Messier and the ever-mercurial Alexander Mogilny, with Russian phenom Pavel Bure unlikely to end his contract holdout before being traded.

To contend, Oilers general manager Glen Sather will have to continue to pull the proverbial bunny out of the bowler, but Sather never ceases to amaze.

With the off-season loss of goalie Curtis Joseph, much of Edmonton's ability to compete may depend on signing holdout centre Doug Weight. Their leading scorer last season, Weight has been reportedly asking a prohibitive US$6 million a year over three years from the fiscally challenged club.

Calgary, who kick off their season on Friday against San Jose in Tokyo, will again rely on rookies and mighty mite Theoren Fleury, who remains absent while trying to renegotiate a new contract in American dollars. Second-year coach Brian Sutter will continue to insist on a stellar work ethic from his charges, but they should be out of the picture by Christmas.

In the Pacific Division, the Dallas Stars probably made the off-season's most notable acquisition when they signed ex-Blues sniper Brett Hull.

Last season, when NHL hit man Brian Marchment put the Stars' Joe Nieuwendyk out in the post-season's first period, the die was cast for the workman-like franchise. Hull will add scoring depth and has shown uncanny pre-season chemistry with new linemates Jere Lehtinen and Mike Modano. The league's best regular-season team last year should not only handily win their division, they are this writer's pick to win it all.

Of the Pacific's remaining teams, the battle for second should be between the Los Angeles Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Kings have given All-Star defenceman Rob Blake much-needed blueline and power-play support with the off-season acquisition of Steve Duchesne from St Louis. The Kings are young, coached by patient Hall of Famer Larry Robinson and should get more offensive consistency from key second-line centre Yanic Perrault this season.

The Coyotes recently came to terms with captain Keith Tkachuk, which was critical to their 1998-99 aspirations.

Their blueline will also be buoyed by a full season from promising Russian Oleg Tverdosky and the acquisition of ex-Canuck Jyrki Lumme. The oft-injured Greg Adams should also add scoring depth to the forward corps even if he only plays 40 games.

While Anaheim will continue to showcase the remarkable offensive skills of Paul Kariya and 'Flying Finn' Teemu Selanne, the rest of their roster reads like a who's that of NHL hockey and they will continue to be vulnerable in their own end.

On the other hand, San Jose will struggle to put the biscuit in the basket. Off-season acquisitions Gary Suter, Ronnie Stern and Bob Rouse should add muscle, but little hope of a post-season appearance.

The Central Division will pit what on paper appears to be the NHL's best franchise against its worst. The league's newest club, the Nashville Predators, will be lucky to win 15 games this year. Stocked with players who are reputedly 'leaders in the dressing room', the Predators, under GM David Poile, should be hard pressed to transfer that leadership to the ice where it counts.

Conversely, defending Stanley Cup champions Detroit escaped the off-season with their core largely intact. The loss of veteran defenceman Slava Fetisov to the coaching ranks in New Jersey was more-than compensated for by the acquisition of the giant Uwe Krupp.

Despite rumours to the contrary, the peerless Scotty Bowman is expected back behind the Red Wings' bench and will once again be pulling the strings of the NHL's best system. The only question is can he continue to motivate a core of players that have largely already achieved hockey's Holy Grail? The fortunes of the Chicago Blackhawks are hard to predict. If longtime Hawk captain Kirk Graham can lead from behind the bench in his inaugural year with anywhere near his on-ice intensity, it could result in a benchmark season for the franchise that last season missed the play-offs for the first time in 28 years.

The acquisition of veteran Doug Gilmore from New Jersey should help fill any on-ice leadership void caused by Graham's promotion, as should new acquisitions Paul Coffey and Eddie Olczyk. But these players are getting a bit long in the tooth and Chicago's fortunes should be more closely tied to the production of talented banger Eric Daze and Russian Alexei Zhamnov.

The Hull-less Blues may struggle while having to count on playmaker Pierre Turgeon to up his goal-scoring production. Turgeon traditionally wilts under pressure and he is unlikely to get any assistance from the mercurial Geoff Courtnall or last season's surprise package Jim Campbell. The loss of Duchesne will hurt the Blues' power play. Although, Chris Pronger and Al McInnis will continue to be blueline stalwarts for St Louis, their lone off-season acquisition, Scott Young, is unlikely to fill the void left by the departure of the 'Golden Brett'.