love the puck

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks- This is the team I am excited to see. Maybe not excited to see this year, but I think that Chicago has put themselves in a position to get stronger, similiar to Pittsburgh, but on a smaller scale. Chicago has used the draft and Free Agent dollars to get stronger, luring Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin to the Windy City this off season. Also, the Blackhawks have been drafting well, especially on defense, and they hold the rights to Brent Seabrook, Cam Barker, and a young man who will have to fall flat on his face to not make this team- Anton Babchuk. Martin Lapointe gives them a lot of leadership, experience and toughness, even if the price was a bit high. They have good young players to build on with Daze, Calder, Mark Bell and the sometimes pillowy soft Tyler Arnason. And the crown jewel of those young players, Tuomo Ruutu, should have a great year this year. The only thing about a team like these Blackhawks is that any significant injury could ruin their (lofty) playoff dreams. What would happen if Aucoin or the Bulin Wall went down with an injury? It would be disastrous, and because depth will be so important this year, Chicago will be a few years before they're contenders.

Columbus Blue Jackets- Who isn't excited about Rick Nash? After watching him tear the world to pieces in Innsbruck at the World's, I've been chomping at the bit to watch the Nasher play. Much to my chagrin the Jackets don't play the Leafs this year, but much to my delight, they do play the Canucks, and I currently reside just outside Vancouver. The Jackets are a wild card team this year, thanks to the additions of Adam Foote and Bryan Berard. The issues with the Jackets lie in the forwards. They'll need big years from someone other than Nash and Zherdev, if they're going to do anything special this year. They are extremely weak up the middle, though Dan Fritsche and Gilbert Brule are on the way in the next few years. I think Marc Denis is an underrated goalie, and he will be glad to see Adam Foote in front of him, because a guy like Foote will impermeate the entire defense and they will all play better because of his toughness and leadership. The Blue Jackets got better this year, and that's always good, but they're still a ways behind Detroit and Nashville for that division crown. They'll be watching the post season from home this year.

Detroit Red Wings- They couldn't get young Pavel Datsyuk signed, and thus suffered a massive loss. He was the superstar on this team, the potential point per game guy that could get it done night in and night out. This does however open up a spot for a young player, like Jiri Hudler, who is small, but should be an asset in a league looking to promote skill and speed. They lost Hatcher and Dandenault on the back end, and I don't think they'll feel it too much. Niklas Kronwall can step in and Jiri Fischer is better than Hatcher anyways. I think this team is a little too old to do anything magical this year, but I hope they have a good year, as it could be the last for Stevie Y and Brendan Shanahan. In goal the Red Wings decided not to hand the starting job to Manny Legace, but rather, they signed veteran Chris Osgood in order to make Manny earn that job. I think this is a smart move, because contrary to popular opinion, there is no guarantee Legace is ready for the starting job. He has the talent sure, but he's never played 60 games in a season before. This way, Osgood and Legace will split time, and then Detroit will know better where they are at with Legace's mental and physical durability. If he plays well, then Osgood will be gone, as he signed only a one year deal anyways. Detroit will factor into the post season this year, then hopefully have Datsyuk back in time for next year when Stevie Y and Shanny are gone.

Nashville Predators- This is a market that I wonder how they will do in a new system. They won't be able to attract players just by their location- so will they have to overpay players to get them to come? They threw a lot of money at Paul Kariya, who I feel will have a great year, but 4.5 million is an awful lot to pay a guy who has fallen from his once lofty position in the hockey world. Nonetheless, I think this Nashville team will play in the post season again. They have their star netminder back, they added some grit (Danny Markov) on the blue line and they have some good young forwards that play responsibly. I think that Shea Webber and Ryan Suter combine to make the most promising looking future blue line among all the rookies in the league. Weber is going to be a monster, not flashy in any way, but solid and consistent and a great leader. Kimmo Timonen quietly continues his development and is an all-star calibre defenseman. The Preds got their first taste of the post season last year, and now they'll come back more experienced and hungrier. I think they have a chance at beating Detroit for that division crown.

St. Louis Blues- I have never like Keith Tkachuk. I am not saying this to slander him, I'm just telling the truth. So when I heard that he showed up to camp so grossly overweight that the team suspended him, I was secretely glad. No matter what anyone says, Lalime is an upgrade in goal from Chris Osgood. He might not be an all-star, or even a game stealer, but he can still stop pucks. Unless Joe Nieuwendyk is shooting, and then forget about it. Eric Brewer has the skates of Chris Pronger to fill, which is impossible, but St. Louis faithful should be excited about getting Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka in this deal, because they both hold great potential. Barret Jackman is back, and he's a great player, and so the Blues aren't bad on the back end. Up front its a different story, and it seems that Eric Boguniecki is slated to be the first line right winger. Enough said. It'll be a tough year in St. Louis.

Posted by Jon at 3:31 PM | | e-mail me