The puck is about to drop on another NHL season. And while the lights finally went on after a bizarre half hour delay for the first ever games in London over the weekend between defending champ Anaheim and Los Angeles who split wins, the other 28 teams officially get underway the next couple of nights.

So, what’s in store for this season? Let’s find out:

Eastern Conference Rankings

+*1.Senators

*2.Rangers

*3.Hurricanes

4.Sabres

5.Devils

6.Penguins

7.Flyers

8.Maple Leafs

9.Panthers

10.Capitals

11.Islanders

12.Lightning

13.Thrashers

14.Canadiens

15.Bruins

+Conference winner

*Division winners

Analysis: Predicting the East is very tough because there are a few teams who could be ready to make the playoffs. Let’s break it all down.

On The Rise: With the Panthers adding a No.1 goalie in Tomas Vokoun, they could be back in the postseason for the first time since 2000.

Meanwhile, the Caps are banking on key additions Michael Nylander, Tom Poti and Calder hopeful Nicklas Backstrom to get them back in the mix. If their D and Olaf Kolzig hold up, there could be excitement in the nation’s capital.

Heading The Wrong Way: Offensive minded teams such as the Thrashers and Lightning could take significant steps back due to questionable team defenses. Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella can’t even decide on a netminder. His team will score plenty of goals but who’s keeping them out? By midseason, Corey Schwab and Daren Puppa might be better options. The early loss of All-Star defenseman Dan Boyle will also hurt.

Is Bobby Holik who you want captaining your team? Only Atlanta coach Bob Hartley can answer that one. Offense won’t be a problem but unless Kari Lehtonen carries this team, it could be a tough year.

Despite losing Ryan Smyth (Colorado) and Jason Blake (Toronto), the Islanders might still be better than the bottom of the conference like most are predicting. They won’t miss Alexei Yashin who apparently was sent to Siberia by Carol Alt.

The additions of Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko and new captain Bill Guerin will comprise their top line. The pressure is on. Andy Sutton replaces Sean Hill. As long as Rick DiPietro stays healthy, Ted Nolan’s club should remain competitive. The question will all the changes work?

Golf Anyone:  It’s hard to see either Montreal or Boston having much of an impact in this deep conference. Both Original Six clubs are very flawed and don’t seem to have improved much.

The Canadiens are hoping to get a spark from former No.1 pick Carey Price who backstopped their AHL affiliate to a Calder Cup. It’s tough to throw a kid into the fire. Especially when your D lost Sheldon Souray (Edmonton) and replaced him with Roman Hamrlik. Andrei Markov is very good all around. Mike Komisarek is improving. The rest of the D is scary. Cristobal Huet must return to form.

Up front, Chris Higgins, Tomas Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse must continue to progress because relying on Alexei Kovalev to score consistently is like asking Jim Dolan to fire Isiah Thomas. Saku Koivu must lead and Michael Ryder must score. Bryan Smolinski is a solid vet. Steve Begin is a solid penalty killer.

It’s hard to see this team scoring a lot or keeping enough pucks out.

As for Boston, they picked up Manny Fernandez from the Wild this summer to assume the No.1 role in net. He’s never started more than 58 in a season. So expect him to split time with Tim Thomas.

The problem for either is outside of Zdeno Chara, the Boston D isn’t scaring anybody. Aaron Ward as your second defenseman? Say it ain’t so. On the plus-side, Dennis Wideman should do okay and Andrew Ference will play tough. If they need someone to beat up the opposition, there’s Andrew Alberts.

They won’t have trouble scoring with Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron, Glen Murray, Marco Sturm and second-year forward Phil Kessel. Peter Schaefer for Shean Donovan was a smart move. The ex-Sen will improve their penalty killing and should work well with PJ Axelsson.
But what are the secondary options if Chuck Kobasew and Brandon Bochenski fail?

There’s always the Celtics.

In The Mix: Teams such as the Devils and Sabres were hit hard this past offseason and will each have to overcome key defections.

Buffalo lost Chris Drury (Rangers), Daniel Briere (Flyers) and Dainius Zubrus (Devils) to Eastern competitors. However, they still have new top line pivot Derek Roy who looked sharp in preseason with Thomas Vanek and Maxim Afinogenov. Jason Pominville could see a drop in production but a healthy Tim Connolly should help as will a full season of Drew Stafford.

With Brian Campbell and Henrik Tallinder anchoring the blueline and Ryan Miller still in net, the Sabres should be back in the playoffs. They’ll also get veteran leader Teppo Numminen (heart surgery) back at some point.

As for the Devils, the more things change, the more they don’t. So they lost Scott Gomez (Rangers), Brian Rafalski (Red Wings) and Brad Lukowich (Lightning). They still have top scorer Patrik Elias, rising star Zach Parise, elite finisher Brian Gionta, Travis Zajac and added Zubrus to help offset Gomez’ defection to Broadway. They will miss Jamie Langenbrunner (hernia surgery) who could be out two months which might hurt the offense.
The bigger questions are will the blueline additions of Karel Rachunek and Vitali Vishnevski pay off? It all depends on how well they perform under new coach Brent Suter’s more aggressive system. They still have arguably the game’s best netminder Martin Brodeur to fall back on which is why anyone predicting their demise should seek immediate psychiatric help.

The Flyers should be back in the postseason thanks to the additions of Briere, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen and new captain Jason Smith. The D should be tougher to play against which could make Martin Biron’s life easier. So anyone expecting him to faulter might be surprised. Have you seen his pads? So much for form-fitting uniforms eliminating that issue.

Briere is a suitable top center who should mesh well with Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble. Expect bounce back seasons from Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.

Another team which should be back at the top of their division is Carolina. The addition of Matt Cullen should again boost their forward depth like it did two years ago when they won the Cup. Eric Staal should be better plus Cory Stillman and key defender Frantisek Kaberle are healthy. Cam Ward also is trimmer and re-focused. Peter Laviolette’s team should be a pain in the ass to deal with.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs are banking on new netminder Vesa Toskala to be worth a few more wins than Andrew Raycroft. GM John Ferguson better hope the ex-Shark performs better than preseason or he might want to dial up Felix Potvin.

Scoring shouldn’t be a problem with captain Mats Sundin back along with new linemate Blake, everyone’s favorite pest Darcy Tucker plus underrated forwards Alexei Ponikarovsky and Kyle Wellwood. They’ll need Alexander Steen and Nik Antropov to step up with Wellwood out indefinitely due to a sports hernia.

With Bryan McCabe, Tomas Kaberle, Carlo Colaiacovo and Ian White, the blueline will provide plenty of offensive support. Will they play enough D to squeak back in the playoffs?

Beasts of East: Most experts like the Rangers, Senators and Penguins to come out of the conference. All three should be formidable.

With the additions of Drury and Gomez to offset the loss of Nylander, the Blueshirts got younger and quicker at center. They also gained more leadership with the heady Drury, who is a good presence and also scores big goals. How will he mesh with captain Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka? The playmaking Gomez will start with Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan which is an upgrade.

What’s not being discussed is the Rangers’ depth which includes Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan and rookie Brandon Dubinsky who beat out Nigel Dawes for the last spot. Don’t be shocked if Dawes winds up here because he impressed while Marcel Hossa gets shipped out.

The defense has been questioned a lot but if Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi carry over their solid play from the Spring and rookie Marc Staal adjusts, it could turn into a strength. Henrik Lundqvist looks focused and could compete for the Vezina.
Ottawa is coming off a bit of a breakthrough winning the conference before a disappointing five-game result to Anaheim for all the hardware. With top finisher Dany Heatley facing the prospect of free agency, expect a monster season. Jason Spezza could compete with Sidney Crosby for the Art Ross. Daniel Alfredsson teams up to form arguably the most lethal line in the game.

Mike Fisher is the most underrated two-way forward in the game. Maybe this is the year he takes home a Selke. Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly also fly under the radar. Wade Redden is also up next summer and should bounce back. Anton Volchenkov is a beast and Chris Phillips is perhaps overlooked.

The Sens will start without Ray Emery (wrist) which means Martin Gerber must get off to a strong start. He should. How will they perform under new coach John Paddock who was promoted from Binghamton while Bryan Murray moved upstairs replacing John Muckler? They shouldn’t miss a beat.

Of the trio, the Pens might be the team who comes down. Outside of their four centers which include Hart winner Crosby, Calder winner Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Erik Christensen, the rest of the forwards are not great by any stretch. Free agent pickup Petr Sykora is already a question mark. Vets Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts could be Viagra spokesmen. Ryan Malone, Max Talbot and Colby Armstrong must perform well.

Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney will provide plenty of offense from the blueline. Darryl Sydor can help their second power play but is he reliable in his end at this stage of his career? Brooks Orpik must stay out of the box.

Marc-Andre Fleury had a good season. He’ll need to be even better without an experienced backup.

Playoff Crystal Ball

Conf. Qtrs

(1) Sens over (8) Leafs

(2) Rangers over (7) Flyers

(6) Pens over (3) Canes

(4) Sabres over (5) Devils

Conf. Semis

(1) Sens over (6) Pens

(2) Rangers over (4) Sabres

Conference Champion: Rangers

Coming later today: The West