love the puck

Monday, September 05, 2005

Atlantic Division

Philadelphia Flyers- I have to go on record and say I dislike the Flyers. But they have potentially made the best moves of the off season. There is a not a world we live in where Peter Forsberg for Jeremy Roenick is not an amazing deal. And Clarke got it done dollar for dollar too which is unbeatable. Add that to the fact that they got Mike Rathje, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, and the flyers are looking deep. Richards and Carter were unsigned before the lockout and could have signed with other teams, but wanted to come to Philly, and took less money than they could have gotten elsewhere. On top of that, signing Esche to a small payday makes them a pretty complete team. The only off season blunder being the over payment of the leagues largest pilons, Derian Hatcher and Chris Therien. Never fear though, Joni Pitkanen and Kim Johnsson, who only keep getting better and better, will be logging lots of ice on the back end. This year, the Flyers are a legitimate cup contender. They have a superstar, four good centres, a deep defense, experience and a pretty good goalie.

New Jersey Devils- Tough off-season for the Devils. They lost Niedermayer, and Patrick Elias just had to go and get Hepititas A. They still have Marty, Brian Rafalski and solid two way players like Gomez, Pandolfo and Johnny Madden. I think they overpaid Alex Mogilny, but if he's healthy he is still an elite player in this league. This could be a tough year for the Devils, but who knows, if Elias comes back in full form, and they get a good rookie year from Zach Parise, they could still sneak in the playoffs. Any team with Marty Brodeur is a legit playoff contender.

New York Islanders- This team had a revolving door going in the off-season. Except one player just couldn't make his way to that door, and that player is Alexei Yashin. It seems like this guy just carries a bad aura everywhere he goes. All the way from Ottawa to Long Island to the Russian National team, Yashin is spreading the negativity. They lost Mike Peca and Roman Hamrlik, but decided to ransack the Buffalo Sabres, taking Miro Satan and Alexei Zhitnik. Rick DiPietro looks poised to have a great year, as he played brilliantly in the World Championships. Even still there is no saving the Islanders this year.

New York Rangers- Well the Rangers decided to sign Kevin Weekes. I like him, but i think it's too bad he has to play for the Rangers. Glen Sather swore he was going to give the young players in the system some serious playing time, and then instead went out and signed Martin Rucinsky, Martin Straka and Steve Rucchin. So much for the youth movement. Marik Malek was a decent pick up, and I do think that Ville Niemenen will give them some much needed grit. All things considered I don't see any way the Rangers make the post season. Teams this year will need depth, and the Rangers just don't have it.

Pittsburgh Penguins- I gotta say it. I just can't get on the Penguins bandwagon. Not yet. Am I excited to see them play? Absolutely. The thought of Sidney and Ziggy and Mario makes me drool. I even think they made great signings like Gonchar, Andres Roy and Ryan Vandenbussche. Even Jocelyn Thibault is an upgrade. Geez, I'm not even opposed to picking up John LeClair. The only problem in Steeltown is that there is no one to really keep pucks out of the net. And in an Olympic year, does anyone think that Mario is going to play a full year? Not a chance. The Penguins though have made serious, serious moves to make them a legitimate team. No more front office and on ice confusion, the Penguins are now a team people want to play for. And once Evgeni Malkin emerges from Russia, they'll have two young kids to put the team on. I think Pittsburgh will be a lot better, but if they make the playoffs, it'll be by the skin of their teeth. They're counting on scoring goals, most of them on the powerplay, where Gonchar and Tarnstrom will quaterback a deep unit. Vandenbussche and Roy will more than protect Mario and Sid the Kid, which will make the team fun to watch, because they'll be offensive, physical and won't play D, which all makes for up and down hockey.

Next up is the NorthEast Division.

Posted by Jon at 2:58 PM | | e-mail me