The Fischler Report: So, You Want To Pick A Stanley Cup Winner?

So You Want To Pick A Cup-Winner? The Maven Dares You To Pick Among The Defending Champs in Vegas, Boston, Colorado and Rangers.

I dare you.

Make that I double-dare you; and even will up it to a triple dare.

Try and pick a Stanley Cup winner today when the Final Round is a good seven months away.

Of course it's a legitimate impossibility right now because four clubs are so tightly matched you'd need a gross of crystal balls and no less than a dozen Ouija Boards to come distantly close.

But, let's have some fun -- and see if we actually can finger a winner.

For starters, you must adhere to the rules of the game. That is the annual maxim -- don't bet against the Champs. (Actually it works for all sports, but rarely works, so forget that I even brought it up.)

As a matter of fact, why don't we conduct this major experiment "behind-ways-first" and start with V as in Vegas.

Usually, I'd say that Champs rarely repeat but Vegas lucked out last spring when coach Bruce Cassidy was forced to insert Adin Hill in goal. Pressure should have killed him and instead it was a preview of "A Star Is Born."

At last look, he's got Vezina written all over him. Then examine the core of champs and it's tough to deny Hill  and The Golden Knights the favorites once this derby gets serious. If g.m. Kelly McCrimmon's one real loss was losing backup Jon Quick to the Rangers.

Speaking of the Blueshirts, they look well-balanced top to bottom and with the good kids maturing. But there's always that "Unseen Hand" -- call it a curse, if you will -- that always does them in; and there's no such thing as "Curse Busters" available on Seventh Avenue.

A slight epidemic called panic enveloped Beantown when the Bruins dropped three straight. The loss of Bergeron and Kreci hasn't hurt much now but will long-term. Plus, something is intrinsically wrong when a club does a first-round playoff dive. Maybe captain Marchand will prevent it this time but I doubt it.

The Maven says that if Vegas does not repeat, Colorado will capture Stanley. Cale Makar is at his career peak; ditto for Nathan MacKinnon and coach Jared Bednar knows what winning is all about. My only concern is Al Georgiev in goal and I'm not nuts about backup Pavel Fracouz. But there's enough substance up and down the line for Al and Pav to be carried all the way.

P.S. My sleeper is Dallas.

* Ottawa should not be playing under-.500 hockey. I sense an awakening.

* And when I hear coach D.J. Smith lament "We weren't ready to play," it must mean something.

* It means that for Christmas D.J. should buy his boys, two dozen wind-up alarm clocks, three dozen NHL schedules and four dozen maps leading to Canadian Tire Center!

* Warning, D.J. You're treading on this ice when you say, "We gotta change something."

* The new Senators owner may decide it's You!

* The return of Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov's firepower should mean that the Bolts must be taken seriously. Then they lost 8-1 to Dallas and I stopped thinking.

* Uncertainty about Steve Stamkos looking ahead to next season could be a thorn in the roster down the line.

* Then again, super coach Jon Cooper is not likely to allow any sniff of dissension to linger.

* Speaking of Coop, didja know he's now the NHL's longest-running coach? (He is; he is!)

* In the realm of career-turnarounds, you gotta like Noah Dobson on the isles defense.

* At last look The Maven has him pegged at sixth best in the league.

* My favorite awards race pits Quinn Hughes vs. Makar for the Norris.

* As for surprises, I did a double-take this week when I saw J.T. Miller's name in the runner-up spot in the points prize.

* Toughest call for a ref is "diving." When is it a dive and when is it for real? Acting is better than ever.

* I know Billy Guerin had to do something but, frankly, I hated to see Dean Evason get the hook in Minny.

* On the other hand, I've been a John Hynes fan dating back to his run with the Devils.

* When Brad Treliving described his Maple Leafs as "Hit Or Miss," he sounded a lot like the guy who preceded him in the Toronto g.m. chair.

* A tip of the fedora to a pair of worthies who played their 700th NHL game; Tom Wilson in Washington and Anders Lee on Long Island.

* I like the braggadocio of the Panthers since they got Mat Tkachuk.

* When he says "Teams don't want to play us," I believe the guy.

* It's possible that one Hughes brother could be named player of the month every month until spring.

* And nobody would beef about it.

* John Tortorella's work in Philly surprises no one who's Flyers-connected nor who worked alongside him at ESPN.

* One former tv colleague offers this: "Here's the best story waiting to be written. Should Torts pull off a championship in the next two-four years, the piece would be comparing Flyers Stanley Cup-winning coaches. It would be beyond gold!"