All of the savvy staffers here at the NHL-EF have taken a long, hard look at each and every stat category, salary cap space, depth chart, and concession stand beer availability for all 30 NHL teams. Now, we could list all 30 teams in the order we believe they will finish, with a little description of why next to it, but frankly, everyone else does that. Also, the three of us do not have anything approaching a consensus on something like the placement of all 30 NHL teams. Instead, we will have only 3, but awesome, categories.
Hero: A team considered likely to win their conference, the league and the Stanley Cup. They are the next thing to god on ice.
Zero: A team considered likely to end up dead last. These guys would have trouble winning games in the AHL, but are allowed to remain in the NHL under the guise of “rebuilding”.
Weirdo: A team that everyone else thinks will be in one of the above two groups, but in fact ends up somewhere else. Confusing, we know, but deal with it.
After much deliberation, some coffee drinking, lots of nachos digested, a triple homicide and watching Usain Bolt run a million km/hr, our decision was for each of us to produce our own list. Enjoy…
Matthew Moxley
Hero: Chicago Blackhawks
- Last season, the young Blackhawk team made it all the way to the Conference Final and lost to a very skilled and experience Detroit Red Wing team. This season the team is virtually the same team as last year’s squad with a few new pieces here and there. Marian Hossa has been brought in to replace Martin Havlat, a pretty good upgrade if you ask me, providing Hossa remains healthy, and the NHL doesn’t investigate his contract anymore. In goal, the reliable, but not Vezina-worthy, Cristobal Huet will be counted on to protect the Hawks net, after Nikolai Khabibulin skated his way over to Edmonton. The Blackhawks d-line looks more ferocious than ever with the likes of Keith, Seabrook, Barker, and Campbell all a year older and hungrier. And yes, I am going to say Campbell is going to have a fantastic year after last years sub-par campaign. After last season’s learning experience, the Hawks are destined for great things this season. In addition, none of the Hawks will hold anything against Patrick Kane for beating up a cabbie, who was probably a Red Wing fan, so there are no worries there. Look for Jonathan Toews and the Hawks to raise Lord Stanley’s Mug come June and Marian Hossa will have finally picked the right team to be on to win a Cup.
Zero: Atlanta Thrashers
- Ever since the Thrashers found their way into the NHL, they have been struggling to become a legitimate contender or even a worthy adversary in the NHL. This team has some young talent that appears to have promising potential, with the likes of Colby Armstrong, Bryan Little, Evander Kane, Tobias Enstrom, and Zach Bogosian, but they are nowhere near ready to take this team to the next level. Furthermore, the team’s only star player, Ilya Kovalchuck is in the last year of his contract, which means he will be a viable option for teams looking to acquire some goal-scoring help before the trade deadline, for a final playoff push. Consequently, loosing him will hurt the team even more, even if they do manage to get a lot for him, those coming back to Atlanta will probably not be able to help the team until several years down the road. However, seeing as they did the same thing with Marian Hossa, General Manager Don Waddell may try to lock Kovalchuck for the long term. Look for this organization to be in the hunt for the 1st overall pick at the NHL Draft in 2010.
Weirdo: Tampa Bay Lightening
- They finished 2nd last in the NHL at the end of last season and received the 2nd overall pick this past summer which they used to grab Swedish defenseman, Victor Headman, who is NHL ready right now. Is he going to be the savior to bring this team back to the Stanley Cup Finals? No, but he, along with the rest of the team will certainly turn a few heads this upcoming season. The three top forwards, St.Louis, Lecavlier, and Stamkos, all have reason to perform at their best because of the upcoming 2010 Olympic team selection, which all 3 have a chance of making. You can also expect Ryan Malone to have a much better campaign as well after last years skunk of a season. The backend of the team has been re-amped, with the likes of Matias Ohlund and Victor Hedman, both of whom are better than everyone that was on the Lightening’s d-line last season. Also expect Andrei Mezaros to become the reliable puck-moving defenseman many made him out to be. Goaltender, Mike Smith, proved last season that he is a legitimate starting goaltender and is ready for a terrific season after ending last season prematurely, with an injury. Look for the Lightening to be right in the playoff hunt and sneak in on the final day of the regular season. But don’t get me wrong, they will get absolutely schooled by Washington, Pittsburg, or Philadelphia in the first round.
Kieran Jones
Hero: Washington Capitals
- On the verge of awesome last year, the Capitals this year will be an unstoppable force. Ovechkin, Semin and Green will be one year older, smarter and better – who knows, maybe Green will even play defence this season. While rookie netminder Simeon Varlamov does seem like he could be a weak link, he was strong in the playoffs last year, and a little NHL experience could turn him into the next Ilya Bryzgalov, except on a good team. Helping them in the points department is the weakness of the division. Florida – not great. Carolina – just okay. TBay – gong show. Atlanta – how do they still have a hockey team?? If some of their 3rd and 4th liners step up and bag a few points, and the D tightens up a little so Ovechkin doesn’t have to score 3 goals a night, they should be fine.
Zero: Minnesota Wild
- Not a great off-season for the Wild. Letting the most electric goal scorer in the Western Conference walk away for nothing in return was without a doubt the worst managerial decision of the last 8 months. Even worse, his replacement is the equally-injury prone but much less talented, much older, and much lamer, Martin Havlat. Sure, he cost a few million dollars less, but with the Wild adopting a new run and gun style without Lemaire, Gaborik could have shot the lights out, whereas Havlat just gets his lights knocked out after a few good hits. Adding to the problem is Eric Lindros-wannabe Brent Burns, with his nonstop series of concussions, and an aging attack. Owen Nolan stank when he was with Toronto, and he sure hasn’t gotten any better with Minnesota. Barring a miracle – say, trading the schmuck Havlat, for Jerome Iginla – the best hockey city in the US is going to be treated to a complete boondoggle.
Weirdo: Toronto Maple Leafs
- They have way too many NHL caliber defensemen – Beauchemin, Exelby, Frogren, Finger, Kaberle, Komisarek, Schenn, Van Ryn, and White. In net they have injury machine Vesa Toskala and unproven Swedish meatball Gustavsson (you try pronouncing it). They have no offensive firepower – Blake, Grabovski, Kulemin, Hagman, Mayers, Orr, Ponikarovsky, Stajan, and Stempniak. The forward depth chart is better suited for a standup comedy routine than an NHL roster. And yet, despite all these negatives, I am going to make a decision a sports blogger should never make. My gut tells me the Leafs will surprise the hell out of everybody somehow, and even though I know they will likely stink their way into a good draft pick, I’m saying they crack the playoffs.
Kevin Roberts
Hero: Philadelphia Flyers
- The Flyers added more leadership, more muscle, and more nastiness over the off season: Chris Pronger. Add to that more reliable goaltending in Ray Emery (I’ll get to him) and Brian Boucher, the Flyers will be a more defensively capable team while retaining their firepower up front. The talented Ray Emery is back in North America having spent a year in Siberia getting his act straightened out. With a new attitude and a fresh slate, Emery is joining a team with a great veteran presence, great leadership, and great management, and should be the same Emery that brought the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2007 rather than the Emery that tore that same team apart the very next year. Up front this team is world class and boasts a top six forward bunch matched only by the likes of Chicago and Detroit. Remember that this is a team that is only one year removed from an Eastern Conference championship run. I expect another one this year.
Zero: Ottawa Senators
- The Sens missed the playoffs last year for the first time in 12 years, and unless Brian Murray can cure his team of this Dany Heatley mess, expect the same this year. If for some reason Heater is still in a Senators uniform come October, this team will fall apart at the seams with little veteran presence or management savvy to pick up the pieces. The off season acquisition of Alex Kovalev from the equally troubled Montreal Canadiens will likely do nothing to remedy this situation in Ottawa seeing how he handled those problems last year with the Habs. What a mess… LOL!
Weirdo: Montreal Canadiens
- Coming off one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, the Habs made all kinds of moves in the offseason and completely retooled the lineup. Out are leading scorer Alex Kovalev and long time captain Saku Koivu as well as Alex Tanguay, Robert Lang, and Chris Higgins. In are Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, and Mike Cammalleri, a natural pick as the trio playing on the top line. Going into 09-10, there are just too many questions that can’t be answered before the puck drops. Can Carey Price bounce back from his sophomore slump and be the goalie Montreal fans expect him to be? Will the new crop of forwards mesh well together? Who will provide leadership? Will the Kostitsyns bounce back from off-years? Can Montreal fans and management forget about the train wreck that was last season?
Rebuttal to Jones’ Toronto Maple Leafs comments…
- The Leafs, who were dead last in defense and penalty killing in 08-09, addressed this problem in the off season by picking up three stud defensemen and a backup goalie who led his team to the Swedish Elite League title allowing 14 goals in 13 playoff games (Spesh (Kieran) called him “meatball”, which is obviously a typo of his moniker, “Monster”—no worries). Having scored more goals last year than division winners Vancouver and New Jersey, clearly Toronto has enough firepower in the lineup to compete with the top teams. Burke has expertly molded this team into a contender using the exact same blueprint he did when he was in Anaheim, which resulted in a Stanley Cup championship. Collectively, Toronto’s lineup weighs more than a Greyhound bus, and I’m looking forward to seeing them run over the Mini Coopers of the Northeast Division.
Now we know that pretty much every reader out there will disagree with one, some, or all of our picks, heck, we even want to undo some of our colleagues picks, because they are just way too outlandish. However, thanks to the beauty of the internet, you, the reader, can do something about it and tell us how wrong we are and who you think the Hero, Zero, and Weirdo will be. NHLEF OUT!
burgess's predictions-(i'm not going to do research here so u can correct any mistakes i make, i appologize in advance)
ReplyDeletehero- the pittsburg penguins- stanley cup winner, and still have the main core from that team. and this young team based on crosby, malin, staal, and fleury, all have that much more experience. they are solid in all aspects of the game. look for sid the kid to raise the cup for the 2nd time in as many years.
zero- the new york islanders- unless garth snow becomes a good gm in the next few weeks,and starts signing some forwards, he will be starting the season with 3 starting goalies and one decent forward who hasnt even played a game in the nhl yet. jon tavares is a good player, but he isn't god.they will be a bit better then last year, but will still have the 1st overall pick in next years draft.
wierdo- the columbus blue jackets- k, for the second year in a row, all eyes will be on a goalie who had a steller rookie season, only expecting him to put his team into the stanley cup finals in his second year in the nhl. can steve mason do this? lots of people thought carey price was up to this task as well but that obviously ddn't work out for him. and on top of top of this, rick nash just signed a huge contract. which road will he take? prove that he is worth the big contract, or will he put in in cruise control and just lay back and collect his paycheck like other players do when they get there big paycheck, such as brad richards. and can antoine vermette supply the secondary scoring they need badly in columbus? only time will tell.
burgess