HCP's First Ever Podcast! Recorded on the 1st!

Holy shit, it's a podcast.

That's right. The Half Court Press has dropped its first ever podcast. You also might notice that the date is October 1st, and that the subject is on the upcoming hockey season. It's taken us lazy/less than technically savvy guys here at the HCP a month to post the discussion we had before the start of the season about the NHL betting odds. Laugh awkwardly along with us as Sam and I run through our first podcast, featuring a special, completely unplanned guest.

For those of you more interested in non-completely irrelevant news, we plan on recording another next weekend. Stay tuned.

And yes, that's Lloyd Banks. We make no apologies.

First Round Predictions For Playoff Contenders

Western Conference

1) Sharks

8) Avalanche

The Sharks will choke... in the 2nd round. But they're too good to lose to a slumping Colorado team even with Anderson doing his best "Kipper in '04" imitation. Sharks in 5.

2) Blackhawks

7) Predators

Despite the Hawks shaky goaltending, they are simply too talented at every other position for the Preds to have a chance. I predict Rinne and Hornqvist will play as well as they always do, and that they will be discussed by someone outside of Nashville for the first time this season. Preds always hang tough so this'll go 6.

3) Canucks

6) Kings

Despite the 8-3 shellacking that the Canucks received a week and a half ago, they are strong favourites here. Better offense, better goaltending and more experience should lead to a 4-1 series win. Since it's the Canucks, it'll go 7.

4) Coyotes

5) Red Wings

If I hadn't spent the past week sacrificing neighbourhood cats so that the Canucks wouldn't have to face Detroit (you're welcome Vancouver fans) then this would have been a tough match-up to predict. The Wings at full-strength, in the "real season" and with solid goaltending are just too much for Tippett, Bryzgalov, Doaner and the rest of this rangy bunch to handle. Wings in 6.

Eastern Conference

1) The Capitals

The East just sucks.