The season starts in alittle over 48 hours, the beer is being chilled, the Red Wings 2010-2011 roster is set, and opponents should already be pissing their pants.  So who made the team? 

Forwards - Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Todd Bertuzzi, Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, Mike Modano, Jiri Hudler, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, Kris Draper and Drew Miller

Defensemen - Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, Brad Stuart, Ruslan Salei, Jonathan Ericsson, and Jakub Kindl

Goaltenders - Jimmy Howard, Chris Osgood.

Jesus tapdancing Christ, is that a roster to fear.

As for those notable names missing, Kirk Maltby, who spent 14 years with the organization has cleared waivers and will start the season in Grand Rapids.  Rumor has it, however, that the 37 year old will likely retire and possibly join the Red Wings front office as a scout.  He has until tomorrow to decide.  Derek Meech has also cleared waivers and will be reporting to the Griffins. 

Not reporting to Grand Rapids is Mattias Ritola, who has claimed off waivers Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Because of his time in the Red Wings front office, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman knows Ritola well and while he didn't make the Wings squad, Yzerman will make sure he feels at home in Tampa.

Is it October yet? YES!

As we near the beginning of the season, its important to mention one thing - I'm third generation "I don't give a damn" when it comes to preseason hockey.  Sorry, I just don't care.  Other teams are trying to gel and figure out what combinations could propel them to the playoffs and the Wings, on the other hand, are just trying to not hurt themselves and getting their AHL players of NHL experience.  Both are fine but its boring, the scores don't count and its barely on television. 

The most relevant thing this time of year is the regular season roster and the line between those that will be playing at the Joe and those that will be playing in Grand Rapids (or simply just not playing) is being drawn.  After suffering a concussion in Saturday's preseason game against Chicago, the Detroit News reporters that enforcer Aaron Downey has been released.  I don't think anyone really expected him to make the team but it is sad to see a career likely end like that. 

On to Grand Rapids are forwards Willie Coetzee, Ilari Filppula and Jamie Tardif, defensemen Travis Ehrhardt, Sergei Kolosov, Sebastien Piche and Logan Pyett and goaltender Thomas McCollum.  None of these are surprises, though it would have been awesome to see iFilp play next to his brother in Detroit.  

The Wings currently have 40 players on their roster and will need to get to 23 by next week.  Some will be obvious (goalie's MacDonald and Pearce, defenseman Lashoff and Janik, forwards Raedeke, Minard, Owens and Andersson) but the Wings do have some tough choices to make.  Who stays between Eaves, Miller and Ritola?  Who is going to provide a defense with some smart, consistent play on the third line?  And more importantly, who's gonna stay healthy long enough?

Ok, maybe preseason isn't that boring afterall.

Is it October yet?  No, but it is September, which means it time for the preseason hockey and more importantly, a breakdown and prediction for what might be the toughest division in hockey – the Central.  Who will be playing in April and who will be golfing?  Well the more things change, the more they stay the same.

5th Place - Columbus Blue Jackets

After making the playoff’s in 2008-09, the Blue Jackets finished last in the Central the following year managing only 79 pts and 32 wins.  Will new head coach Scott Arniel be able to turn things around?  Probably not right away, which means another losing season for the Jackets.  With no major moves made in the off season, its up to Rick Nash, Steve Mason and R.J. Umberger to find a way to earn some points for this team.  Columbus fans may have a diamond in the rough with Nikita Filatov but is he ready to be the guy for a full season?  My guess is no.

4th Place – Nashville Predators

So why Nashville 4th, especially after coming off a playoff year and giving the Blackhawks all they could handle in the fourth round?  Mostly because I just don’t believe in this team.  Jason Arnott is gone so who fills his spot?  They bring back some great players like Weber, Hornqvist, and Dumont, as well as newcomer Ryan Ellis who is looking to make waves.  But again, Nashville needs to prove that they can play at the top of this division or they should simply go away.  The Norris is just too tough these days to be mediocre and with the return of the Blackhawks and St. Louis’ offseason moves, Nashville’s dance card will remain emply.

It doesn't get much better than this.  The Freep, along with others, is reporting that Mike Modano will sign with the Franchise later this week.  The deal is rumored to be around 1.25 million for 1 year and will bring the Livonia native back to Michigan to play in front of his home state. 

So what does Modano bring to the table?  He isn't in his prime anymore but he's arguably one of the best American players to play the game, a career 500+ goal scorer and has 800+ assists, will be able to guide and teach guys like Helm, Eaves and Abby, and will provide extra motivation and leadership to the Wings to win another Cup.  What exactly isn't there to like?!  Yes, we might have to dump Meech, Miller or Ritola but thus is life, not everyone can be a Red Wing.  In a salary cap era, to be able to bring in a guy like Modano and only potentially lose a prospect is pretty good.

In conclusion, our new third line is Hudler/Modano/Clearly and the fourth line is likely Helm/Abby/(Eaves/Miller).  Thats just delicious.  Thats taking a Jag and pimping it out with flatscreens.  October 8th can't come soon enough.

This offseason was going perfectly fine.  We re-signed Bert and Homer, got Miller and Eaves for great prices and talked Meech into allowing us to use him as trade bait.  The draft went awesome, the sunny was shining and the Blackhawks were imploding.  Then Mike Modano showed up and attempted to kill the whole damn thing.  See, Dallas informed Modano after the season that his services weren't needed anymore and after some high school-esque flirting, Modano stated that he would either play for Detroit or retire.  Then San Jose called, then Minnesota, then Chicago somehow got mentioned (Stan Bowman loves to make it rain with money he doesn't have) and now Modano is so confused that he can't make a decide until August.  At the earliest. 

August?!  Are you f-ing kidding me?!  I commend Mike for wanting to make sure that he still has the passion to play for one more year (he certainly has the ability) but it shouldn't take this long to make up ones mind.  If Kovalchuk can make a decision before you, you know somethings wrong.  So who wears the pants in that family?  My guess is his wife who I can only assume doesn't want to live in Detroit because if she was willing to, this decision would have been made already and Mike would be returning to the place of his birth.