Western Conference Preview
By Scott Rickenbach
Anaheim – Look for a drop in the standings from the Ducks. Anaheim’s roster saw major turnover and the blueline is a big concern with the loss of Chris Pronger, Bred Hedican, and Francois Beauchemin. Up front, the Ducks lost Rob Niedermayer. Yes, there is talent in Anaheim but the Ducks will have to go throw some growing pains because of their reliance on a lot of youth.
Calgary – New head coach in Brent Sutter and a big addition with defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. He was born in the province of Alberta and we expect him to combine with Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr to provide some solid play on the back end. With General Manager Darryl Sutter bringing in his brother, Brent, at head coach, the Flames will not “flame out” like they did late last season. The Flames were hurt by injuries last season and poor play in front of goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. We highly doubt a repeat of that here.
Chicago – (Favorite) This is one of my three favorites to win the Western Conference. The Blackhawks took off last season and, with the added boost of signing Marian Hossa, the Hawks will continue soaring this season. Look for Cristobal Huet to have a much better season between the pipes now that he’s not splitting time with Nikolai Khabibulin.
Colorado – At the bottom of the conference last season and expecting a repeat this season! Craig Anderson gets the call between the pipes but neither he nor Peter Budaj have proven that they can be a #1 in this league!
Columbus – It was huge that they signed Rick Nash long-term and they have an impressive group of young talent. Coming off of the franchise’s first post-season appearance, there could be more thanks to Calder Trophy-winning goalie Steve Mason as well as talented young players and gritty veterans. It’s a good mix in Columbus with a boost in scoring expected with Derick Brassard back after missing most of last season.
Dallas – The Stars have a new head coach in Marc Crawford and certainly should rebound after last season’s disappointment. However, will Marty Turco play like he did in the first half of last season? If so, it will once again be a tough climb for the Stars. Joe Neiuwendyk can only do so much as the GM. In other words, this team could endure some growing pains with its youth and the uncertainty about which Turco shows up. This is especially true for Turco when you consider he’s now got Alex Auld in his rear-view mirror!
Detroit – (Fade) Call me crazy but I will be looking for spots to fade Detroit. Keep in mind, the Red Wings are often overpriced and so we get value going against them. The key is picking the right spots. Note that Detroit did lose 31 of their 82 games last season and they are not expected to be as strong this season. In the regular season Chris Osgood was not near as sharp between the pipes as he was in the post-season. Also, the Red Wings penalty killing was among the worst in the league last season. Now, with an offense weakened by the departures of Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, and Jiri Hudler, it won’t be so easy for the offense to overcome some of the short-comings on the other end of the ice.
Edmonton – Pat Quinn, head coach, brings plenty of experience to Alberta. Also, his assistant, Tom Renney, is a former NY Rangers coach. The Oilers should move back up the standings as Quinn creates a “new beginning” for fan-starved Edmonton. If new goalie Nikolai Khabibulin proves he has enough left in the tank, the Oilers could be back in the playoffs.
Los Angeles – A lot of youth in Tinseltown including at the goalie position. We feel there is enough there for an upward move in the standings. Look for the addition of Ryan Smyth to help in the leadership and experience “departments”. The defense did improve under Terry Murray and, with enough offense (helped by the addition of Smyth) and a healthy Dustin Brown and Justin Williams, we should see a lot of improvement from these Kings. Rob Scuderi is a solid addition on the defensive end.
Minnesota – No Jacques Lemaire. He had been the only coach for the Wild since they entered the league. Now it’s Todd Richards and while we feel he will eventually enjoy success here, the first year head coach is going to struggle early on. There have been a lot of roster changes here and will the change in philosophy here suddenly hang goalie Niklas Backstrom out to dry? Don’t be surprised if it does! We like this team long-term but short-term looks like some rough sledding.
Nashville – Recently we’ve seen goaltenders in Nashville take over mid-season with success only to struggle the next season. See Chris Mason and Dan Ellis for examples of this happening in Nashville. Should there be a repeat here with Pekka Rinne it will be a cause for major concern because this team is not built for scoring goals!
Phoenix – Don’t be surprised if this team enjoys success under Dave Tippett. Last season, the Coyotes fell apart when the defense was hurt by Kurt Sauer going down. Now, with Sauer back, the additions of Adrian Aucoin and Jim Vandermeer, and already solid with guys like Ed Jovanovski and Zbynek Michalek, this blue line could be a pleasant surprise. The team has been in turmoil with the bankruptcy issue lingering over their head but watch what happens now that Tippett is on board and that a long-term resolution will be put in motion once the Coyotes future is determined to be in Phoenix or elsewhere after this season. This year we’ll already see improvement from the Coyotes and it starts immediately as Tippett brings a new “feel” to this club as he replaces Wayne Gretzky.
St Louis – (Darkhorse) The Blues are a true “darkhorse” to win the Western Conference. Yes, some will not be surprised if St Louis doesn’t even make the post-season but goalie Chris Mason is the #1 netminder now (without worrying about Manny Legace) and Mason finished the season on a 24-8-6 run. The Blues changed very little in terms of personnel from last season’s team and they were among the league leaders on the power play and on the penalty kill. Special teams and goaltending go a long way toward winning in the NHL and the Blues could pick up right where they left off with last season’s big run through the second half of the season!
San Jose – (Favorite) This is one of my three favorites to win the Western Conference. Past playoff disappointments not withstanding this Sharks team is still well-built. They are stacked with talent and also depth. San Jose has some elite talent both up front and on defense and we look for goalie Evgeni Nabokov to be a “man on a mission” this season after getting outplayed by Ducks rookie Jonas Hiller in the post-season last year. Is this the year? We believe the Sharks have the best chance in the West.
Vancouver – (Favorite) This is one of my three favorites to win the Western Conference. The Canucks locked up goalie Roberto Luongo with a long-term deal and the netminder, other than his knack for slow starts (proceed with caution in October), is one of the game’s best. Look for the offense to get a boost with Mikael Samuelsson adding to the talents of the newly re-signed Sedin twins. Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows have really stepped up and emerged up front for the Canucks. The scoring has picked up and with Luongo between the pipes and the lockdown defense of Willie Mitchell and Sami Salo, the Canucks are a legitimate contender this season.
Western Conference Predictions
By Judd Hall
The last time we saw the Red Wings, they were quietly skating back to their locker room as the Penguins celebrated winning the Stanley Cup at Joe Louis Arena. A lot has happened since mid-June around the NHL…particularly in the Western Conference.
One thing we saw during the postseason is that there will be a passing of the torch from the old guard to the youth movement. Teams like Columbus and Chicago crashed the playoff party with rosters that were barely able to buy booze on their own, let alone make a run at Lord Stanley’s mug.
Despite the youth movement, Sportsbook.com is still putting its faith in the old guys by listing Detroit as the favorite to win the Clarence Campbell Bowl for a third straight season. Here are the odds for every club.
Our stable of experts have taken a shine to the Wings this season. VegasInsider.com expert handicapper Tom Freese is on their side. “Once again, Detroit is the cream of the crop out west. They have three very good lines and solid goaltending. They play the best defense in the league making it very easy on their goaltenders every night.”
While Chris Osgood has shown that he can win in the playoffs, he’s not the most focused regular season netminder. Osgood had a 3.09 goals against average and .887 save percentage during the 2008-09 regular season, but those numbers weren’t paid attention to because of having Ty Conklin as his backup. Conklin had 25 wins and a 2.51 GAA last season. Now Detroit must make due with Jimmy Howard as the backup goaltender. Don’t feel bad if you’re not familiar with Howard’s play; he’s only played in nine NHL games in three years.
The Red Wings were smart to lock up Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen for the long haul, but that caused them to lose some big offensive talent. VegasInsider.com’s Scott Rickenbach has taken notice of this as well. “Now, with an offense weakened by the departures of Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, and Jiri Hudler, it won’t be so easy for the offense to overcome some of the short-comings on the other end of the ice.”
Hossa, Samuelsson and Hudler accounted for 82 goals and 86 assists for Detroit last year. Now you’re asking guys like Thomas Holmstrom, Jason Williams and Kirk Maltby to try and come up close to the same numbers. Talk about your pipe dreams.
The Blackhawks have been a popular pick to make the Stanley Cup Final after losing the West Final to Detroit last season. Chicago snared Hossa from Motown over the summer to compliment Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Yet our experts are looking towards other teams in the Central Division squad to make some noise this year.
“As for my sleeper, I’m going to go with the Blue Jackets,” says Keith Fredrick. “Ken Hitchcock is a bear of a coach to play for, as he works his teams as harder or harder than anyone (which might have something to do with why this team looked exhausted in the playoffs last year, but I digress), but he gets results, and the Jackets have improved every season he has been there. All in all, they have maybe the best scorer in the conference in Rick Nash matched with a Top 3 in the West goalie in Mason, and that is a nice formula for success. They can make a deep run into the playoffs if they can find a way to score more on the power play, and that stat is probably the key to the overall success of the season for Columbus.”
Columbus did a lot to prove they are in for the long haul by signing Nash to a long term deal. And then they followed up by locking up Antoine Vermette for five years, giving themselves a solid offensive punch. What could prove problematic is the fact that the Jackets never picked up a top flight defenseman to run their power play, which was the worst in the NHL last year at 12.7 percent.
Another club to watch out for this year is St. Louis. Rickenbach makes mention of them in his Western Conference Preview. “Some will not be surprised if St Louis doesn’t even make the post-season but goalie Chris Mason is the No. 1 netminder now (without worrying about Manny Legace) and Mason finished the season on a 24-8-6 run. The Blues changed very little in terms of personnel from last season’s team and they were among the league leaders on the power play and on the penalty kill.”
The biggest move that the Blues made during the offseason was signing Conklin to fill the backup role to Mason. Conklin has played in the Stanley Cup Final three times since the lockout. And he offers a fantastic insurance policy for the club in the net. St. Louis will also be getting Paul Kariya, Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson back from injuries last season. Certainly makes the 10/1 odds to win the Central and 20/1 to take the West much more inviting.
If you’re looking for a team to stumble this season, then take a look at the Flames. Keith Fredrick explains, “The balance of power in this conference, once you get past Vancouver and San Jose, is squarely in the Central division. Mid Central teams against mid to low teams from other divisions should be good plays. And too many people are giving the Flames credit for another first round playoff exit.”
Calgary does have some talent to play with, most notably adding former Panther Jay Bouwmeester. However, 78 percent of the Flames’ salary cap is tied up in eight players. That means this team could be in for a very harsh time if injuries begin to crop up. They won’t have the cap space to bring players up from the farm, so Calgary had to play what they had on the bench. The current points total for the Flames is 96 ½. You’d be wise to play the ‘under’ on that number.
vegasinsider.com