EASTERN CONFERENCE
Northeast
Division
Boston
Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto
Maple Leafs
Winners
: Boston Bruins (10/11 Ladbrokes)
The
Bruins have kept the majority of their roster from the last two
seasons intact and welcome Dougie Hamilton, the 9th
overall pick from the 2011 draft to the big team after spending a
year bulking up physically in Juniors. After Benoit Pouliot joined
the Lightning, there is an open spot on the third line, which looks
most likely to be filled by Chris Bourque, son of Bruins legend and
Hall of Famer Ray Bourque. Bourque will face competition through the
season for his spot, but as Jordan Caron in injured to start the
season, the man acquired from Washington will get the nod.
The
Bruins had 12 players playing in Europe during the lockout, including
both goalies, their first choice defensive pairing and their top two
centers. Tyler Seguin impressed while at EHC Biel in Switzerland,
almost averaging a goal a game and leading the Swiss league in goals
before returning to the Hub. Bruising power forwards Milan Lucic and
Nathan Horton stayed at home, Lucic stayed in Boston during the
lockout and celebrated the birth of his first baby Valentina on
Thursday, while Horton returns after missing the majority of last
season with a concussion. Both have looked sharp in training camp and
the top line with David Krejci at center could be one of the most
destructive in the league.
Tim
Thomas is sitting out the season “to
reconnect with the three F's. Friends, Family, and Faith.” I have
three F's for Thomas but they're all the same word and are followed
by off. Tuukka Rask takes over as the number 1 goaltender and will be
back up by Anton Khudobin. Rask has put up fine numbers behind Thomas
and even led the league in GAA and save percentage in 2010, but he
has struggled with injury the last two seasons, so if he can remain
healthy, the Bruins won't miss Thomas at all.
Playoff
Contenders : Ottawa Senators & Buffalo Sabres
The
Senators have solid goaltending and veteran leadership along with a
young defensive corps and stability within the organization. Daniel
Alfredsson has been a model professional throughout his career and at
the age of 40 this must be his last shot at winning the Cup.
The
Sabres have bulked up during the lockout and picked up agitator Steve
Ott and defenseman Adam Pardy to help them compete with the Bruins
after being pushed around by the Big Bad Bs in the last couple of
seasons, especially after Lucic's collision with Ryan Miller.
Although they have great goaltending in Miller, they still lack
toughness and with the schedule taking place in conference, they will
struggle with the more physical Eastern Conference style of play
No
Hopers : Montreal Canadiens & Toronto Maple Leafs
The
Canadiens are dreadful, and have done nothing on the ice to change
that. Off the ice, they've brought in Marc Begevin as the new GM and
Michel Therrien as head coach.
Toronto
are even worse than Montreal, a situation which will be compounded if
they trade for Roberto Luongo. Brian Burke was fired as GM after
years of hopeless trades and that won't be solved by the acquisition
of James van Riemsdyk from the Flyers.
Atlantic
Division
New
Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia
Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins
Winners
: New York Rangers (9/4 Victor)
The
Rangers have one of the youngest teams in the league and those fresh
legs will help with the compressed schedule of the 48 game season.
They were very consistent last season and were rewarded with the
number 1 seed in the East. I expect the same level of consistency
this season and John Tortorella will not allow his players to slacken
off in their pursuit of the Cup. The Rangers made the biggest
offseason acquisition in the league, finally prying sniper Rick Nash
from Columbus. They could put out a line of Marian Gaborik, Brad
Richards and Rick Nash, God help their opponents if they do. The
Rangers can also call one of the best goalies in hockey with reigning
Vezina Trophy winner Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. They have a
young defense and plenty of experienced players that should take them
deep into this postseason.
Playoff
Contenders : Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers & New
Jersey Devils
The
Penguins have Sidney Crosby back after a nightmare two seasons with
injury and the league's best player will once again propel his team
into the playoffs. Evgeni Malkin had to step into a leadership role
last season and he walked with with the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross
Trophy. Pittsburgh traded Jordan Staal to Carolina, but they won't
miss him too much as he's missed a lot of games in the past few
seasons. They have solid goaltending and Dan Bylsma always has his
troops ready for a battle.
The
Flyers knocked off the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs
last season and should be competitive once again. They've re-signed
Brian Boucher as back-up to Ilya Bryzgalov and acquired Luke Schenn
from Toronto to give Bryzgalov some help as it doesn't look like
Chris Pronger will return after suffering a nasty concussion last
season. Claude Giroux takes over as captain and he can continue to
grow into a superstar of the league in his fifth season with the
Flyers.
The
Devils will have Martin Brodeur back for his 20th
season with the Devils and having lost in the Stanley Cup Finals last
summer, they should be well placed to make another assault on the
playoffs. Although they lost Zach Parise to Minnesota, they signed
Krys Barch and re-signed or extended most of their squad before
free-agency.
No
Hopers : New York Islanders
The
Islanders can't move to Brooklyn quick enough because they are
garbage
Southeast
Division
Carolina
Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington
Capitals, Winnipeg Jets
Winner
: Washington Capitals (3/1 Paddy Power)
Newly
enshrined Hall of Famer Adam Oates is the new coach of the Capitals
after Dale Hunter was shown the door despite knocking off the
reigning Stanley Cup champions in last year's playoffs. Oates prefers
to play a much more attack oriented free flowing game than Hunter's
defensive shutdown hockey. All of that is good news to Alexander
Ovechkin who got himself engaged to Maria Kirilenko during the
lockout, and Ovi enjoys offense. He struggled towards the end of
Bruce Boudreau's tenure in Washington and reportedly clashed with
Hunter several times and was not impressed when asked to play a more
defensive style of hockey. The play-making freedom he will be awarded
under Oates should be the spark he needs to re-ignite his career and
although the Caps have lost Alexander Semin to Carolina, they should
have enough offense to compensate ($7 million was too high a price
for any self-respecting GM to pay for Semin) Braden Holtby impressed
at times during last season and especially in the playoffs,
out-dueling Tim Thomas in the first round and going close against
Henrik Lundqvist in the second round. So long as he can maintain that
form as a starter, Washington will have the best goaltending in the
division as Michael Neuvirth is an able backup.
Playoff
Contenders : Carolina Hurricanes & Tampa Bay Lightning
Carolina
were very busy during the offseason, picking up Jordan Staal and
Alexander Semin as mentioned they also re-signed defenseman Joe Corvo
and picked up Kevin Westgarth from the Kings. Along with Eric Staal,
Jeff Skinner and Cam Ward, the Canes already have a good core to
their team, and with Corvo becoming the oldest member of their squad
and only player over 31, they have plenty of youth on their side.
Tampa
are another one of the “last chance” teams and have stocked their
side with veterans for another tilt at the Cup after missing the
playoffs last season and coming up just short of the Stanley Cup
Finals in 2011. The Bolts brought in Sami Salo and Matt Carle in
free-agency and executed a trade-and-sign for Benoit Pouliot. The one
thing they lack of cohesive goaltending and that will be their
downfall.
No
Hopers : Florida Panthers & Winnipeg Jets
Florida
are rebuilding and will be ready to challenge in a couple of seasons,
but not yet.
Winnipeg
are in the wrong division, the wrong conference and as soon as the
NHL can figure out what to do with them, they'll start winning. At
the moment, they serve as a distraction as a road-trip.
FINAL EASTERN STANDINGS
1 Rangers
2 Bruins
3 Capitals
4 Penguins
5 Flyers
6 Senators
7 Sabres
8 Hurricanes
WHO CARES
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