NHL Western Conference Betting Breakdown
By RYAN STETSON
The Cup resides in the Western Conference after the Chicago Blackhawks rolled through the playoffs with a roster stocked with young talent. Chicago sent many of those key players packing, opening the door for some of the other Stanley Cup contenders in the conference.
Here’s a look at the NHL’s Western Conference heading into this Thursday’s season opener:
Last year’s lowest scoring team
Phoenix Coyotes – With Ilya Bryzgalov breaking out to become a Vezina Trophy finalist, the Coyotes allowed only 2.39 goals against per game. He’ll need to be just as good between the pipes to keep the Coyotes competitive, though the club does have some young players that could blossom this season. Wojtek Wolski had the best season of his young career in 2009-10 and Phoenix expects Kyle Turris to live up to his billing.
This year’s best under bet
Minnesota Wild – Niklas Backstrom had a down season last year, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates. He’ll be better this year with Jose Theodore looking over his shoulder and it’s hard to see where the goals are going to come from outside of captain Mikko Koivu, who does just about everything for this team.
Last year’s highest scoring team
Vancouver Canucks – The Canucks posted 3.27 goals per game last year. The Sedins get all the press, but players like Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson consistently provide enough secondary scoring to keep opposing defenses from completely focusing on shutting down the brothers.
This year’s best over bet
Los Angeles Kings – Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty broke out with huge seasons last year and they’ll be even better this time around. Kopitar will center a line with Ryan Smyth and Wayne Simmonds that should give defenses problems. Smyth and Simmonds do a lot of the work along the boards and open up space for their superstar sniper, who is coming off an 81-point season. The Kings’ power play clicked at a 20.9 percent clip and will be lethal again this year, especially if Smyth stays healthy and creates havoc in front of the net. Jonathan Quick is the starter in goal after posting a 2.54 goals against average last season. But the team plans to cut his starts considerably from the 72 he made last year.
Most improved team/best regular season team points wager
St. Louis Blues – The Blues might be one of the league’s most interesting teams this season. They have a ton of speed and young talent up front and now have a goaltender that should shut the door in Jaroslav Halak. The Blues struggled to score for most of last season and didn’t bring in any help in the offseason, instead choosing to wait on the development of their young forwards. Brad Boyes will need to bounce back after a terrible year and David Perron and David Backes need to take the next step this year. Bodog.com has the Blues’ over/under points total set at 93.5. St. Louis sputtered at times, but rallied to finish the season on 25-15-4 run under coach David Payne. I’d definitely take over that number.
Team that will take the biggest step back this year
Calgary Flames – Even if it was a bargain to bring back two players that didn’t work out the first time around, you have to wonder about the club’s mindset in signing Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay to play on the top line. Jokinen was invisible for the New York Rangers and Tanguay just doesn’t have much bite to him. Miikka Kipprusoff will keep them in a lot of games this year, but he had some off nights last season too. It will be interesting to see whether the Jarome Iginla trade rumors pick up again when the team really stinks it up.
Pick to win the conference
Vancouver Canucks – It’s hard to find any holes in the Canucks roster. The Sedin brothers will continue to pile up points and Vancouver looks stronger in its own end with some offseason additions. They’ll start the year without Sami Salo and Alex Burrows, who are both on injured reserve, but the club added some depth to soften the blow from those losses. The Canucks are going to love Manny Malhotra in the faceoff circle and on the penalty kill, while Raffi Torres always brings energy to the table. Roberto Luongo gave up the team’s captaincy and that move will only help him to concentrate on what he’s paid to do – stop pucks. Dan Hamhius and Keith Ballard will give the club a more physical presence on the blueline.
Western Conference Predictions
By Judd Hall
There was a changing of the guard last season in the Western Conference with the Blackhawks hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup. Yet the power of the conference is still within a select few. Will there be any surprises like we saw with Phoenix last season? Let’s take a look…
1: Chicago Blackhawks – It isn’t every day that you see a team win the championship, then dump half of its roster during the following offseason. That’s what Chicago did after ending a 49-year title drought. They’ve improved in goal with Marty Turco taking over for Antti Niemi, but shipping Dustin Byfuglien to Atlanta will hurt early on. Still, this team has a great head coach and two of the best young attackers on the ice in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They’ll be fun to watch as they fight with the Red Wings for the Central Division crown. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 104 ½
2: San Jose Sharks – I won’t lie to you, this team is going to be a bit ugly at the start of the year. That tends to happen when you replace a stalwart like Evgeni Nabokov in goal. But Antti Niemi is coming off of a Stanley Cup winning year in Chicago, so he’s use to the pressure. The Sharks’ blue line will be on a learning curve with Rob Blake going the way of retirement. This team won’t put up the 113 points they did last season due to the projected early struggles, but they’ll still win the Pacific. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 104 ½
3: Vancouver Canucks – Only the Capitals have a higher season point total than Vancouver. It’s just too bad that the Canucks are the greatest paper champions known to mankind. The Sedin Twins will be the offensive powers that we’re used to seeing. Meanwhile, Ryan Kessler is one of the best No. 2 pivots in the game and I really like the addition of Dan Hamhuis from the Preds on the blue line. My issue here is with Roberto Luongo. This guy has a real issue with keeping his concentration and finds ways to give wins away. They’ll win the Northwest, but only because there is nobody else in the division that find their way into the playoff mix. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 107 ½
4: Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings could just as easily be the top team in the Western Conference, but I put them here because I like putting the division winners in the Top 3 spots. Detroit already has fantastic talent up front with Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen. Now they get Jiri Hudler back from the KHL. And you can’t forget about the solid work they’ll get out of Mike Modano. Jimmy Howard has a year of experience under his belt and should be up to the task between the pipes. Don’t be shocked if this team in playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in four years. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 106 ½
5: Los Angeles Kings – If ever there was a team that could take down San Jose in the Pacific Division, it’s the Kings. Los Angeles has one of the deepest quartets on defense in the league today. On offense, the Kings are potent with Anze Kopitar on point with Ryan Smyth as his wingman. But you do have to wonder if Smyth can stay healthy for the entire season. Jonathan Quick has to bounce back from a lackluster finish to last year, but this team has made hockey relevant in L.A. once again. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 100 ½
6: Phoenix Coyotes – The Desert Dogs were the feel good story of last year, but a lot of folks are expecting them to take a tumble. I see them returning the postseason this season with an offensive front line that is actually deeper with Ray Whitney coming over from Carolina and Eric Belanger has meshed quite well with Shane Doan and Wojtek Wolski. They’re also sound defensively and have a great netminder with Ilya Bryzgalov. This team has no reason not to reach the 100-point mark again. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 92 ½
7: St. Louis Blues – Last year was one filled with injuries and underachieving in St. Louis. This team got a lot younger with Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk leaving the team. But don’t fret as T.J. Oshie will be teaming up with David Backes, who is ready to prove he is back at top form this season (17 goals last year, 31 goals in 2008-09). Snagging Jaroslav Halak to man the pipes was a good move to replace the unspectacular Chris Mason. This team will no doubt creep up on a lot of teams and make it back to the postseason. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 93 ½
8: Nashville Predators – The Predators don’t get much respect, but still find a way to make the playoffs. This year they got rid of Dan Hamhuis, Jason Arnott and Dan Ellis. Nashville won’t miss them too much with Pekka Rinne in goal, Jonas Andersson coming back from Europe and Patric Hornqvist ready to have a breakout campaign. The Preds have a smart front office and Barry Trotz is one of the NHL’s best coaches. This team will find a way to make the postseason. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 89 ½
9: Calgary Flames – Calgary decided to bring back Alex Tanguay from the Lightning and re-signed Olli Jokinen. Tanguay was a hindrance for Tampa Bay on the attack and Jokinen was proven as a fraud last year with both the Flames and Rangers. The Flames will need those two guys to produce because they are criminally thin on forwards. Don’t expect much out of this team in terms of trading for a playoff push because they are right on the salary cap’s ceiling. Still, they’re the best team not from Vancouver in the Northwest Division. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 92 ½
10: Colorado Avalanche – Colorado was a bit of a surprise last season in that they had huge rookie efforts out of Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly. The Avs also got an insane deal of goaltending from Craig Anderson. So you have to convince me that these guys can catch Lightning in a bottle for a second straight season. Yeah, that’s not happening. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 89 ½
11: Anaheim Ducks – The Ducks won the Stanley Cup thanks to a great bruising defense. That won’t be the way they win this season as they’re thin on the back line. And that will get magnified by Jonas Hiller, who isn’t the most consistent goaltender at the end of last year. They will have a nice punch on offense with Ryan Getzlaf leading the way. They’ll be in a lot of their games, but the Ducks will find themselves on the wrong side of 6-5 affairs this season. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 88 ½
12: Dallas Stars – Dallas won’t be too recognizable this season after seeing Mike Modano going to the Red Wings and Marty Turco winding up with the Blackhawks. That means Kari Lehtonen will get the top spot on the goaltending depth chart, in front of Andrew Raycroft. They’re not exactly the most imposing duo between the pipes. As far as offense is concerned, Brad Richards remains the top option to light the lamp. The real fun begins when Brenden Morrow decides to show up after posting 25 combined goals over the last two years. It won’t be pretty. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 88 ½
13: Columbus Blue Jackets – Columbus has scoring options with Rick Nash and Antoine Vermette, but that’s about it for a team that was 20th in scoring last season. And the Blue Jackets are not strong at all on the defensive side of the rink. That will hurt Steve Mason as the year progresses. I don’t expect much out of the Jackets this season, but their point total projection is too low for my taste. Fearless Prediction: ‘Over’ 78 ½
14: Minnesota Wild – Minnesota wasn’t all that good in its first season out of Jacques Lemaire’s shadow on the bench. They went from yielding 2.43 goals per game in 2008-09 to 3.00 GPG in 2009-10. Now they’re getting older by signing veterans Matt Cullen and John Madden. Add in that Niklas Backstrom is not earning that big paycheck and it will be another long year for the Wild. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 84 ½
15: Edmonton Oilers – Tom Renney takes over for Pat Quinn behind the bench on a team that couldn’t do much worse if they tried. This year’s No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall will be on the team after showing the ability to play at the top level. And Martin Gerber gives a solid backup netminder to work behind Nikolai Khabibulin. While they are old in goal, they’re pretty young everywhere else. This isn’t going to be a winning season in Edmonton, but they’ll have fun watching this team grow up. Fearless Prediction: ‘Under’ 76 ½