It's only a few hours until the puck finally drops on the start of the NHL regular season. It was in the mid-70s at lunchtime here in the D.C. area, so it's still a little tough to get into the hockey mindset, though I'll always welcome it's return.
Over the past few weeks, the news that's dominated the league has been the tragic death of Dan Snyder, and lots of fretting over next year's expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between players and the owners.
While that's understandable, it's a shame, and it seems as if the playing of the actual season was of little to know interest to the population at large (and if you look at ESPN's ratings, it certainly seems so). In any case, here are my top 10 questions for next season, along with some bold predictions that I'll forget about sometime after Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
1. Have the Red Wings done enough to make one last run at the Stanley Cup?
Yes, and it's the addition of Derian Hatcher that's going to make all the difference in the world.
2. Will the Rangers make the playoffs?
Yes. Too much talent to hold them back any longer, and I love the Nedved/Hlavac/Kovalev line.
3. Will the youngsters the Caps are force-feeding into their lineup be successful?
No, and it costs GM George McPhee his job. One note: I do like moving Peter Bondra to a line with Jeff Halpern and Steve Konowalchuk. It could drive other teams completely nuts.
4. How much will the Stars miss Derian Hatcher?
Plenty, just ask Marty Turco. Bye-bye Pacific Division title.
5. Are the Thrashers doomed as a franchise?
This season is lost, and if there's a lockout in 2004, the team might simply disappear without a trace. And if Heatley gets jail time, rank this tragedy up on the same scale as the death of Len Bias. Heatley may be ruined for good.
6. Can Anaheim/Minnesota do it again?
Neither was a fluke to make the playoffs, though Minnesota going as far as they did probably was. I think Anaheim grabs a top 4 seed in the West. Minnesota qualifies anywhere from 6-8, and might make some noise again, but I doubt it.
7. Can Chris Drury find happiness in Buffalo?
Yes. The new owner is committed and spending money. All the free agents got signed. And I think the young goaltending is ready to blossom. I may be one year too early here, but I don't think so.
8. Your name is Andy Murray. Your two best players (Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh) are starting the season with injuries. Do you hang on till they return or throw yourself off the Nakatomi Building?
Please don't do anything drastic, but all L.A. is really hoping for is for Edmonton to fall apart, and open the final playoff spot in the West for somebody new. Pretty depressing if you ask me.
9. How long before Bob Gainey turns around the Canadiens?
Give him three years, then watch out. But this season will be very, very painful.
10. Will the Avalanche score so many goals that the identity of their goalie simply won't matter?
In the regular season, yes. In the playoffs, almost, but not quite.
Now, here are my playoff predicitons. Take a look at the final standings for last season as our reference point. In the East, Washington and Toronto fall out from last year's dance. Toronto is too old, and Washington is too young. But add the Rangers and the Sabres to the mix. For Eastern Conference Champs, I like Ottawa, who are finally going to give Jason Spezza the ice time and linemates he deserves.
In the West, I'm convinced we'll see the same eight teams in the playoffs as last season -- the gap between the top eight and the rest of the conference is really that big. One big change: Anaheim challenges Dallas for the Pacific Division title. For the Conference Champ, I like Vancouver taking down Colorado in seven games -- and this after they battle for the Northwest Division title till the final day of the season again this year.
Of course, this sets up an all-Canada final, a true nightmare scenario for Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL braintrust -- especially as the league heads into a possible labor stoppage.
But I don't care. I'd watch hockey no matter who was in the Stanley Cup Finals, and this season, the squad from the suburban hamlet of Kanata will take the Cup. And Alexei Yashin will pout with regret.
Now drop the puck already!
God bless you for saying the Sabres are going to make the playoffs, but with Hecht out for at least a month a fragile corps of scorers just got thinner, and I’m not sold on the blueliners past McKee. Unless the troika of Biron/Nooronen/Miller turn into something spectacular, I’d say they’re a season away. But Go Sabs!
I’m torn on my Hurricanes. It’s every bit as likely that they’ll finish with 90 points as 50. The defense is upgraded, and Weekes with Storr backing him up decidedly beats a sulking Irbe, a hurt Weekes and some goalies that were marginal in the AHL.
But they are still the same Canes that finished last year just ahead of the Penguins. Time to break out my calendar and find proper Raleigh roadtripping times…
Uneasy Wings fan here, though Eric’s reassurance helps. Here’s what I found interesting on opening night:
Fedorov: minus 3 for the Ducks
Larionov: 2 assists for the Devs
Call me crazy, but the Larionov loss is my major beef with Wings management this year. Clearly Fedorov was determined to test his wings (no pun intended) and they were not going to keep him. But letting Igor go for, what, $500K–they could live to regret this. I miss that guy already.
I hope Eric’s right about Drury. I’d love to see him find happiness and many more OT goals–only far, far away from Denver.
Yeah, the troubles with the collective bargainning agreement looks to be the dominant story this hockey season, something a league with almost zero national profile cannot afford. Look at baseball last year, the season was dominated by negative baseball stories (all star game and the CBA took a lot of oxygen from good baseball stories last year) and probably as a result, attendance and ratings were down. If the NHL goes down this path, its going to be a long season full of negative stories with the potential to alienate the few hardcore fans the league has. This looks to be a lost season, with decreased attendance and ratings.
The good news is that baseball came to an agreement without a stoppage, had a storybook ending to the season and had a solid follow-up season (this year) were ratings have gone up tremendously and a lot of the small market franchises were competitive. If enough negative news and enough people are put off by the negative stories to reduce attendance, that will put additional pressure on the parties to realize that the sport is truly in danger.
PS I am not sure about putting Bondra on a line with Halpern and Konowulchuk. Bondra doesn’t create his own offense and he needs some space to be created to unleash his deadly slapshot, neither of these guys are great at creating those chances, so I don’t know that I see Bondra being the same offensive threat he has been in year’s past. Halpern and Kono are grinders who play along the boards and play for scraps and Bondra is not that type of player. In fact, this same line was tried last year and I wasn’t impressed. But we’ll see. They have been playing that line together during camp. I’ll give it a couple of games.
Congratulations to Ryan Malone, the first Pittsburgh born-and-bred player to reach the NHL–and with the hometown Penguins, no less. On the minus side, he’s playing on a gutted team headed for its third straight season out of the playoffs. The two goalies currently on the roster have a combined 23 games of NHL experience. The coach has no head coaching experience. The club is hoping that the financial terms of a new CBA will save them, but are overly optimistic. Oh well–at least they’ll still own the Caps.
just random thoughts. . .
The Wings will make a run. Lately they seem to be hit or miss in the playoffs, but i’ll take Hasek over Aebisher any day.
Have the Rangers improved their turnstile defense? Nope. Maybe Dunham can steal a few but they will miss the playoffs again.
Sure Marty Turco will miss Hatcher, but the Stars will win the Pacific. . . almost by default. They’re still better than anyone else. (unless Allison & Deadmarsh get healthy quick)
In a few years the Habs will have one of the best young defensive corps and goaltending in the league. I just hope they find some offensive in the interim. And I agree, this year is gonna hurt.
Ditto for Florida. Great drafts the last few years. Young, talented, fast and a good coach. But if there is a prolonged work stoppage, I dont think they will survive.
Since it looks like Havlat is not coming back, Spezza moves to the wing and takes his ice time. Clears up some of the logjam at center. They wont be pressured into signing Havlat anytime soon.
I pick the Rangers for 6-8, somewhere in that range (I’m a die-hard who isn’t afraid to say when they suck bad). Defense is infinitely stronger, with the addition of DeVries, in particular. If Leetch rebounds quickly this time, it’ll make all the difference. Mironov was looking good in pre-season.
With Nevded/Hlavac/Kovalev, you have something almost as potent as Colorado is putting on the ice. I just wonder when Puddin’ Head Lindros will finally take that last shot to his eggshell head. No loss if he retires due to injury.
Fingers crossed…
As a die-hard Rangers fan, I’m predicting a 6-8 spot as well. The playoff berth depends on how well (or poorly) Slats gets the team to work together. If they pull together, great, but if it continues to be every man for themselves (as is most likely), we’ll see the firing of Sather as well as the retirement of Messier on a down note.
Hey, the Wings are thin at center, and they just happen to have an extra goalie…..Lindros for Legace, anyone?
LM, I doubt Legace is going anywhere, to put it mildly. Someone has to be in goal after the work stoppage! Of course, the Lindros for Joseph rumor at one time had legs, and Yzerman is an outspoken advocate of bringing Lindros to the Wings. But management thinks differently, which is a big relief to me, for one.
Hasek looked better than I expected tonight. But it was the Sens highlights that really got to me, making me nostalgic for Wings teams past. Are they going to roll over the rest of the east or what?
I know that this was just a prediction but geez, have you seen them Thrashers? Ha. Yeah, they are doing very well. I would like to say that sometimes tragedy can turn things around. I just moved to Atlanta from Detroit (still a diehard Wing fan) but I am going to have to say that I think the Thrashers are going to do something this year. So far 4 wins. I go to their practices all the time and they look good. Good luck Thrashers- don’t let these silly predictions bring you down!