With the NHL season starting today and the Sabres season starting on Friday (Ed Note: SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!) it seems like a good time to look at some season predictions. We'll check out some national (and international) media outlets to see what they think about Buffalo and the NHL at large.

Now these aren't meant to be concrete predictions, we're rounding them up solely to give you all an idea of what the national mood is around the Sabres at this time. Obviously, these things will change drastically - some will be proven right, and others will be laughably wrong, but either way it's fun to have a starting point. So here we go:

Let's start with the the Canadian side of things, since it seems only appropriate. TSN would like to think that Buffalo will finish sixth in the East,but things are a bit different inside the States. ESPN has a whole lotta faith in the Sabres, six of their eight analysts picking Buffalo to win the Northeast division. Sports Illustrated, however, was not so kind, picking Buffalo to finish third in the division with 96 points. Meanwhile the oh-so-wise users of Yahoo! Sports picked the Sabres to finish second overall in the Northeast to Boston, and the writer of Pro Hockey Talk didn't pick Buffalo to make the Finals.

The Hoceky Writers picked Buffalo to win the Northeast, but The Hockey News however, were not as generous - they picked the Sabres top finish fifth overall in the East, behind Boston and Philadelphia.

Where do you think Buffalo will end up?