Hockey gears up for another exciting year
In the midst of October baseball madness, it is well worth noting that today marks the beginning of the NHL season. I take particular pleasure in this because it means that the Boston Bruins will officially be referred to as “Stanley Cup champions” or “defending champions” for the entirety of the regular season. After receiving some rather snazzy looking rings earlier in the week, the Bruins will hoist the 2010-2011 banner up into the rafters of the TD Garden tonight. This will be the final moment to celebrate their triumphant win over the Vancouver Canucks this past June. Then it will be back to business against the Philadelphia Flyers for game one of the 2011-2012 campaign.
The following represents my attempt to peg the top five teams in each conference. I’ve become more and more scared of writing these types of articles. In my experience, all I’m doing here is setting myself up for failure. But hey, let’s say I get all ten correct. Then how smart do I look? Exactly. Starting with the Eastern Conference in no particular order….
Boston Bruins
The Bruins are the odds on favorite to lead the Eastern Conference this year and why not? They are the defending champions and return this season almost entirely intact. Not surprisingly, the 43-year-old Mark Recchi opted for retirement. They also lost Michael Ryder to the Dallas Stars via free agency. Both players stepped up at key moments for the Bruins last year, but Captain Zdeno Chara still leads an essential core of players. New additions include veteran defenseman Joe Corvo. The Bruins hope he will help bolster a powerplay that struggled woefully at times last year.
Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand will again lead the offense, while Tyler Seguin looks to have a breakout year in his sophomore season. And of course, the legendary Tim Thomas still minds the net. As defending champs, they’ll be in the crosshairs of most teams, but that doesn’t change the fact that this squad has a very good chance of being the first team to repeat as champions since the Detroit Red Wings in the late 90s.
Washington Capitals
Call me crazy, but I think Tomas Vokoun is just what Washington needs to make the jump from “really good” to “great.” I’ve always thought this veteran goaltender has tremendous talent, but never really had good teams in front of him. As Thomas showed last year for Boston, a little leadership between the pipes goes a long way up the ice. As far as the rest of the roster, not much has changed here either. The Capitals are still loaded with offensive talent, both with their forwards and their defenseman. In my opinion, they’ve had and still have the best hockey player in the world in Alex Ovechkin.
The Caps seem to be suffering from an identity crisis. They know they can be far and away the best offensive team in the NHL, but they’ve learned that doesn’t necessarily translate into playoff success. That is why Bruce Boudreau had people calling for his job last season. It is also why certain players, namely Alexander Semin, have drawn the ire of the media and fans as well. The best thing about these problems is that they are fixable. Doing this will probably become a step-by-step process throughout the season, but it’s not going to stop this team from finishing high in the Eastern Conference. Once the playoffs start, it’s another story. But if they get it resolved, watch out.
Buffalo Sabres
For two years in a row, the Sabres have reached the playoffs only to be bounced in the first round. For this reason, it’s easy to forget about Buffalo, but that is a grave mistake in my mind. On paper, I think they are one of the best teams in the East and possibly in the entire league. Buffalo was very active in the offseason. First and foremost, they inked forward Drew Stafford to a long-term deal. The University of North Dakota product scored 31 goals last year and seems just to keep getting better. They also signed forward Ville Leino, who had a breakout year with Flyers last season notching 53 points in 81 games.
Stafford and Leino are part of a talented offensive core that includes Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, and Brad Boyes, whom the Sabres acquired at the trade deadline last year. Buffalo made a big splash by signing defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, who was key to the Canucks reaching the Finals last year. They also acquired veteran Robyn Regehr who leaves the Flames after 11 seasons. Those two will help bolster a defense core that struggled last season. And of course, the main stud on this squad is still goaltender Ryan Miller. New additions to an already talented team should vault Buffalo from “one-and-done” to “serious contender.”
Pittsburgh Penguins
Want to know what scares every team in the league? The Pittsburgh Penguins lost Captain Sydney Crosby for the second half of the season and it seemed to change nothing. Obviously someone with Crosby’s talent makes any team better, but last year we realized that this squad is still plenty good, even without him. They still finished 4th in the East and while they were eliminated in the first round, it was by the Tampa Bay Lighting in seven games. (They went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals). Crosby’s status continues to be up in the air, but we know now that won’t stop this Pittsburgh team.
Crosby or not, the Penguins still boast a solid offensive core that includes Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, and Chris Kunitz. On the blueline, they remain strong with Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang, and Paul Martin leading the way. Marc-Andre Fleury returns again as the starting goaltender, with Brent Johnson as a capable back up. This team is talented and finds ways to win. And of course, when Crosby returns to 100% there’s no doubt they will be one of the more feared teams in the league.
Montreal Canadiens
The last four years, no one has mentioned them heading into the season. And the last four years, there they are in the playoffs. I suppose this is somewhat of a wildcard for the top five in the Eastern Conference. Others might have gone with the Lightning, or the Flyers, or even (gulp) the New York Rangers. Heck, I still have this feeling in the back of my mind that the Winnipeg crowd can carry the new Jets to a high seed in the East.
As much as I want to chalk up last year’s epic first round series between Boston and Montreal as just part of the long-standing rivalry, my better half is telling me that this squad is actually for real. There is plenty of talent on this team, both up front and on the blueline. Led by Captain Brian Gionta, the offensive core includes Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Tomas Plekanec, and new addition Erik Cole. On defense, the Canadiens have veterans Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Andrei Markov returning from injury, and young star P.K. Subban. Last year in the playoffs, Carey Price proved he is more than capable of being a goaltending star and if not for him, their first round series surely would not have gone to seven games. This team has what it takes to be a top seed in the East.
And now for the Western Conference, again, in no particular order…
Vancouver Canucks
Ugh. I hate the Canucks. But as much as I hate them as a fan, as an objective writer I can’t deny that they are still an incredibly talented team. Besides losing Ehrhoff, they are pretty much the same squad that went seven games in the Finals last season. The year before that, they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Semis (Hawks went on to win the Cup). Unless they’re hung up on last year, there’s no reason why this team shouldn’t find itself in the top of the Western Conference again this year.
Up front, they still have the Sedin twins, Chris Higgins, Mikael Samuelsson, Manny Malhotra, and the biter Alex Burrows. They have also picked up veteran Marco Sturm. Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Andrew Alberts, and Alexander Edler lead the defensive corps. In the net, Roberto Luongo returns. I expect Vancouver to be one of the top teams in the league again, and as far as the playoffs go, let’s put it this way, they’ve experienced just about as much as a team can short of winning.
San Jose Sharks
For the second year in a row they advanced to the Western Conference finals, only to fall at the hands of the Canucks on one of the flukiest plays in playoff history. The Sharks have been a regular season force for some years now and my guess is that trend will continue. What I said about experience for Vancouver arguably applies here too, which they will surely have to rely on, because I see this team as a top seed in the West as well.
They’ve got plenty of talent and always have, especially up front, with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe, and Joe Pavelski leading the way. Trading Dany Heatley was definitely a good move and it should allow San Jose’s younger forwards to refine their offensive game. Beyond Dan Boyle, defense has been a problem for the Sharks, but they’ve gone out and acquired Colin White and Jim Vandermeer to help alleviate those concerns. In goal, they have a proven champion in Antti Niemi. It should be another good year for the Sharks.
Los Angeles Kings
Like the Sabres, the Kings have successfully made the playoffs in the last two seasons only to find themselves eliminated in the first round. A team with a wealth of young talent, Los Angeles made some major moves in the offseason that should put them in serious contention in the West. This team has the potential to upset the balance in this conference.
It’s not everyday that you land a guy like Mike Richards. The former captain of the Flyers joins an already talented offensive group featuring Anze Kopitar, Jarret Stoll, Dustin Penner, Justin Williams, and Captain Dustin Brown. The Kings also picked up veteran goal scorer Simon Gagne. They inked defenseman Drew Doughty to a long-term deal as he headlines a blueline corps that also features Matt Greene, Jack Johnson, and veterans Rob Scuderi and Willie Mitchell. In between the pipes, Jonathan Quick continues to show that he is the best young goaltender in the league.
Detroit Red Wings
I feel almost obligated to put them on this list and I don’t think too many people can levy a decent argument against it. For as long as I’ve been a hockey fan, the Red Wings have been good and I don’t think that’s going to change this year. They’ve lost back-to-back years in the Semis and that’s the worst they’ve finished in the last five seasons. No reason to expect Detroit to finish out of the top five in the West this year.
They retain an offense that boasts the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, and Tomas Holmstrom. They have a very solid defense core that features Brad Stuart, Niklas Kronwall, Ian White, and recently acquired Mike Commodore. Oh, and Captain Nicklas Lidstrom returns at the ripe old age of 41 as the defending Norris Trophy winner. Arguably, their only question mark comes with Jimmy Howard in net, but he is certainly good enough to help carry this team to a high seed this season.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks found themselves in the top five in the West last year, and after a brutal first round exit to the Nashville Predators in the playoffs, they’ll be motivated to prove they belong in the conversation again. Because Los Angeles looks like a much better team going into this season, and because the Ducks have such talented forwards, I keep Anaheim in the top five and have the Kings nudging the Predators out. That doesn’t mean Nashville will be a bad team, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
The Ducks have superb young talent in Captain Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan, and defending Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry. In addition, they have an excellent veteran presence in Jason Blake, Saku Koivu, and Teemu Selanne. Like last year, this team should score plenty of goals. On defense, they also have a nice mix of young and old in Matt Smaby, Cam Fowler, Francois Beauchemin, and Toni Lydman. Back in goal, Jonas Hiller continues to be one of the game’s very best netminders. This squad leaves something to be desired on defense, but what it lacks there, it well makes up for its goalie and forwards.
Sources: NHL.com
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