The Hockey news recently unveiled the latest in their on-going series of regular season predictions. Today the 13^th place position was posted and the Winnipeg Jets are the “lucky” recipients of that number. You can find the article here.

I believe this as about right. The Jets have a few negatives to deal with this season. They are in a very tough division that improved this off-season, they have an ugly travel schedule, and their top two lines may not be the best in the division. On the plus side they have very good goaltending, one of the deepest core of defensemen in the league, and the intangible of playing in front of an audience that can only be assumed will be a near religious experience.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get off to a great start similar to last season and then fall back to earth a bit. No one wants to see their team lose, but it may not matter this season. It will take a while for the focus to change from "can you believe they are back" to the actual on ice performance. Another high draft pick wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for this team moving forward.