NHL Preview
By Bodog
There will always be hockey, and there will always be hockey betting.
Sure, they might eventually have to contract a team here and there, or move them from the Sun Belt back to smaller Canadian markets. But the NHL has entrenched its place among North America’s four major pro sports leagues. The Winter Classic has been an absolute success, labor costs are down after the 2004-05 lockout, and league attendance last year was virtually identical to the NBA.
We skate into Thursday’s 2009-10 regular-season openers fully loaded with NHL futures for each of the six divisions, both Eastern and Western Conferences, and the most cherished trophy in all of pro sports, the Stanley Cup. The top two favorites for the Cup are the same two teams who battled in each of the last two Finals: the 2007-08 champion Detroit Red Wings and the 2008-09 champion Pittsburgh Penguins, each at 5-1.
The Penguins can thank the lockout for their current position. Not only did the work stoppage bring a salary cap and the “cost certainty” craved by struggling franchises, it also forced the 2005 NHL Draft to be held with a special lottery system that gave all 30 teams a crack at the first pick. Pittsburgh won the lottery and selected Sidney Crosby. He’s now the team captain and a Cup winner at the tender age of 22.
Crosby and Conn Smythe winner Evgeni Malkin are back for more, as are most of the key players up front. The defense figures to improve with Alex Goligoski ready to embark on his first full season in the NHL; his maturation should also give Pittsburgh’s power-play (seventh best in the playoffs last year at 20.6 percent) some welcome support.
Detroit, meanwhile, could be trending down after losing Marian Hossa and several other players to the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the hot young clubs on the NHL market at 8-1. Hossa can’t play until November because of rotator cuff surgery, but he’s a proven scorer with plenty left in the tank. Detroit also has to be concerned about which version of goaltender Chris Osgood will show up: the one with a .887 save percentage in the regular season, or the one with a .926 save percentage in the postseason.
Chicago is definitely a candidate to overtake Detroit as the best team in the West. And given the similarities between the Hawks and the Penguins, the Stanley Cup betting value is also on Chicago’s side. Both are replete with young talent; the Hawks are stronger on the blueline with the likes of Brian Campbell and Duncan Keith, but it remains to be seen how Cristobal Huet (.909 SV%) will perform now that he’s the undisputed No. 1 goalie following the departure of Nikolai Khabibulin (.919 SV%) to the Edmonton Oilers.
Two of Huet’s former clubs hope to feature prominently in the East. The Washington Capitals (10-1) appear to be in the best position to dethrone the Penguins, led by two-time Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin (56 goals last year) and anchored in goal by another of the NHL’s rising stars, Simeon Varlamov (.918 SV%). The Montreal Canadiens (25-1) are compelling long shots after undergoing the most dramatic offseason changes of any of the 30 teams – including a change in ownership with the return of the Molson family. Here are Montreal’s on-ice moves:
Out: Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Alex Tanguay, Christopher Higgins, Mathieu Schneider, Mike Komisarek, Francis Boullion, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu Dandenault
In: Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Jaroslav Spacek, Paul Mara, Hal Gill
How far these players will go will depend on whether Carey Price (.905 SV%) can re-discover his form in his third NHL season. At least Price can expect a much better brand of team defense in front of him, especially with Jacques Martin taking over behind the bench. In a league where offense has become king, it’ll take a defensive-minded coach to usher in the next revolution.
Things have been relatively quiet on the injury front this offseason, but the Vancouver Canucks (14-1) might get off to a slow start this year with both Schneider and Pavol Demitra expected to miss the first month of the season with shoulder injuries. Schneider is part of a defensive upgrade for Vancouver that includes former San Jose Shark Christian Ehrhoff, giving the Canucks more puck-moving prowess in front of elite goaltender Roberto Luongo (.920 SV%). This is a sleeper Cup candidate out West that could also pay off against the puck line once Schneider and Demitra return. One caveat: The Winter Olympics will throw a wrench into the schedule come February. Bring your mukluks.