Atlantic Divison

Atlantic: Quite possibly the toughest division in hockey is the Atlantic Division. With four teams who could be in the hunt for a playoff spot, there is very little room for error in this highly competitive division.

Penguins:

With or without Sidney Crosby the Pens are number one. With Crosby they are as deep as any team in the league especially down the middle. I don’t have to say much more than Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal. Even without Crosby who is still battling post concussion syndrome, the Penguins can slide Jason Williams into the 3^rd line center slot and still have a very formidable punch. The addition of young power forward James Neal at last years deadline was a brilliant move by GM Ray Shero. Neal in my opinion plays a similar style to former NHL star Bill Guerin who enjoyed a resurgence while playing with Crosby. If Crosby is healthy I look for Neal to have a monster year. Another quiet move that I think will pay off is the addition of veteran winger Steve Sullivan. This guy is always productive when healthy and that was on teams without a lot of support (Nashville, and Chicago before they won the cup). On a side note the Pens went out and signed tough guy and former Amerk Steve MacIntyre to protect the assets. Let me tell you I have never seen such a monster of a man. No steroids here folks just good old fashioned western Canada farm muscle. He also is quite the character. While in Rochester, he asked the owner Curt Styres if he could drive the owners Ford F-650 around town to boost awareness for the team. The truck is bright orange and had the Amerks logo on it. MacIntyre told Styres he would go around town and sign autographs and take pictures with fans that recognized him. Time to get back on track.

Kris Letang is an emerging star on defense. 50 points last season is impressive considering he didn’t have Sid the Kid or Geno to feed the puck to while on the mad advantage. Joining Letang to form a solid top four are tough stay at homer Brooks Orpik, Zbynek Michalek, and Paul Martin. The M and M boys both enjoyed their first seasons in steel town. The last pairing will be filled out by a combination of tough guy Deryk Engelland, sophomore Ben Lovejoy who some of you might remember for having a swelled up face during HBO’s 24/7, and Matt Niskanen who came over with Neal at the deadline.

The crease is protected by Brent Johnson’s right cross. Just ask Rick DiPietro how good it is. Anyhow, the number one guy in Pittsburgh is Marc-Andre Fleury. The flower had a slow start last season but managed to turn it around and get his team into the playoffs without Crosby or Malkin.

The biggest reason I think the Pens will be #1 is the man behind the bench. I don’t think there is a coach with a better feel for his team than Dan Bylsma. He knows what buttons to push and when to push them. He will be an annual nominee for the Jack Adams Trophy as the years go by. (1^st Atl, 1^st EC)

Rangers:

Some would fans seem to think that signing the biggest name in the free agency market means you’re going to win the following June. Does that sound like a New York fan for any sport? Want to know where the most outrageous fans in all of sports they are? Look to the Big Apple. One day they think they have the best team in the world, the next day they are a bunch of losers. Anyhow, there is reason for Rangers’ fans to be excited this season. The addition of Brad Richards is huge for a team who’s been looking for a #1 center since Mark Messier left. Though Richards has a bit of an injury history he is a proven leader and playoff performer. Not to mention he has a successful past with Coach John Tortarella. Who by the way cut his teeth behind the bench in Rochester winning the Calder Cup in 1996. Torts is known as a no nonsense coach who demands a high effort level from his players.

No one on the roster exemplifies hard work and determination better than newly elected captain and Ryan Callahan who by the way is from…. you guessed it Rochester! That makes two Rochester natives to be named Captain of Original Six teams. Not failing to mention that Dustin Brown the LA Kings Captain is also from Ithaca, NY. Callahan is the undisputed leader of the Blueshirts and is the correct choice to wear the “C.” To go along with Ricahrds and Callahan the NYR possess Otto’s favorite player, Marian Gaborik who has enjoyed his first two seasons in blue after coming over from Minnesota. The problem with Gaborik is that he is very injury prone. When healthy he can be a top five, point producer in the league and game changer. Joining Richards and Gaborik on the top line will most likely be Wojtek Wolski who didn’t produce as expected in his first season with the club. On the second line will be Callahan, Brandon Dubinksy and most likely second year player Derek Stepan. The rest of the forwards include grinders and guys who put in an honest effort each night.

The biggest concern for the club is the lack of depth on defense. Marc Staal and Dan Girardi are a solid top pair but after that it’s pretty rough. Youngsters Michael Del Zotto, Michael Sauer, and Ryan McDonagh look to hold off up and coming prospect Tim Erixon who the Rangers picked up from Calgary after he refused to sign with the Flames.

The Madison Square Garden faithful love to chant “Henry! Henry! Henry!” to show their love for one of the world’s best net minders Henrik Lundqvist. King Henry put up another solid season in the Garden and looks to get back into Vezina contention. Former Amerk Martin Biron will back him up, who by the way is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Even though he hasn’t played in Buffalo for five years he still makes his home in the city and is a regular contributor to many charity functions in the city.

Overall the Rangers will make this year’s playoffs as long as Richards and Gaborik stay healthy. If King Henry can get hot late, this team could be a cup contender. (2^nd Atl, 4^th EC)

Flyers:

Coming to ABC this fall, Extreme NHL Franchise Makeover, starring the Philadelphia Flyers. Gone are franchise cornerstones Jeff Carter and former Captain Mike Richards, in are a boat load of new faces and one super old one.

GM Paul Holmgren grew tired of watching the carousel of goaltenders on his roster not perform to an adequate level and be the main reason his team was knocked out of the playoffs the past two seasons. To fix that problem, Holmgren traded for the negotiating rights to soon to be free agent Ilya Bryzgalov. But since the GM was already bogged down with several long-term deals to skaters he needed to free up some cap space to sign his soon to be franchise goaltender. To start, he sent Carter to Columbus for the #8 pick in the draft who turned out to be Sean Couturier (formerly ranked the top prospect overall by The Hockey News), 3^rd round pick (Nick Cousins) and Jakub Voracek who was a highly touted prospect for Columbus but hasn’t produced at the NHL level. To be honest whom for Columbus has? I mean seriously, has there been a worse team at drafting a developing players than the Blue Jackets? Other than Rick Nash there isn’t a player I can think of and I’ve seen a lot of their prospects play for the Syracuse Crunch. Sorry for the tangent, now back to our original programming…

Not many in the hockey world were shocked when the news of the Carter to Columbus trade broke because everyone kind of assumed he would be the odd man out. But the trade that did surprise the league was the deal that sent Captain Mike Richards to the LA Kings for top prospect in all of hockey Brayden Schenn, power forward Wayne Simmonds, and LA’s next to 2^nd round picks. It was rumored that Carter and Richards were enjoying life away from the rink a little too much and that it became a distraction in the locker room. Other additions to the Broad Street Bullies include Max Talbot (Penguins), Andreas Lilja (Ducks), and 39 year old Jaromir Jagr. Coming back from playing in the KHL the past two seasons, Jagr is looking forward to the opportunity to possible be on a line with Claude Giroux and Danny Briere. Also amongst the forwards in the top six is breakout candidate James VanRiemsdyk, who was the Flyers best skater in last year’s postseason.

The Bullies defense core is lead by Chris Pronger who was named Captain after the departure of Mike Richards. There are questions about Pronger’s ability to be as effective as he used to be for an entire season. The wear and tear from playing a physical style his whole career seems to be catching up with him. Pronger along with Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle, Lilja, Kimmo Timonen and Andreas Meszaros form a very solid group 1-6. As long as Pronger can keep himself in the lineup the Flyers has the defensive unit to get them back into the postseason.

As mentioned before, the GM Paul Homgren is turning over the crease to free agent acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov. After signing a huge contract for $51 Million over 9 years, Bryzgalov needs to develop tough skin especially if he and the team get off to a slow start. Backing up Bryzgalov will be fellow Russian, Sergi Bobrovsky. Bob as he is known around the league came out of no where last season to become the teams number one goalie earning 28 wins but flamed out down the stretch due to fatigue from not being used to playing so many games. (3^rd Atl, 5^th EC)

Devils:

A new coach, an aging goaltender, and recovering superstar. New Jersey is a very intriguing team to me for many reasons. First they didn’t make any significant moves in the offseason, which to me says the GM Lou Lamoriello thinks his team is better than it showed last season. A healthy Zach Parise will be much like a free agent signing since he missed all but 13 games last season. A top line of Praise, Patrick Elias and Ilya Kovalchuck will be a dangerous one with Elias’ passing ability, Parise’s great two way play and Kovalchuck’s deadly shot. After that trio there isn’t much. Center Travis Zajac could see time with Parise and Kovalchuck but disappointed last season being a -6 and only 44 points despite being Kovalchuck’s main pivot.

As usual, with the Devils there aren’t many big names on defense, just steady as she goes players. Adam Larsson, the #4 pick overall in this years draft might make the club out of camp and has been described as “the Swedish Scott Stevens.” I don’t believe it. Though he may be tougher than most Swedish defensemen, there is no way he is Scott Stevens’ tough. If Larsson can make the roster then he would most likely be paired with Henrik Tallinder who enjoyed his first season in New Jersey. 2^nd pairing of Andy Greene and Anton Volchenkov is an OK pairing but nothing to write home about, and the 3^rd pair is just plain ugly and could be a combination of guy even I haven’t heard of.

The aging Martin Broduer is back for another season. New coach Peter DeBoer has to figure out the right workload for Broduer to be successful and last the entire season. The problem with giving Broduer nights off means that Johan Hedberg has to play and though he is a capable back up, he doesn’t give the team the same chance to win as Broduer. This team is a couple defensemen and a winger away from being a playoff team. (4^th Atl, 11^th EC)

Islanders:

There’s reason for hope on the Island in 2011-2012. Franchise center John Tavares signed a long-term deal as did future Captain and power forward Kyle Okposo and late bloomer Michael Grabner. Grabner enjoyed a breakout season potting 34 goals that Florida apparently didn’t need. Talk about a bonehead move by Dale Tallon. Trade for a guy from Vancouver don’t give him a fair shot to making the roster, place him on waivers and then watch him score 34 goals for the Islanders. Anyhow, these three forwards along with 19-year-old Nino Niederreiter, solid two play pivot Frans Nielsen and sniper Matt Moulson give coach Jack Capuano a potentially potent top six. After the top six there is some work to be done, and GM Garth Snow started to improve that with the addition of Rochester Native Marty Reasoner and veteran winger Brian Rolston (his brother is now the Amerks’ Head Coach). Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau combine with a bunch of grinders and no names to fill out the forward lines.

On defense Mark Streit who was recently named captain is the beginning and the end for talented defensemen on the island. Mark Eaton, Mike Mottau, Milan Jurcina, Andrew MacDonald, and Travis Hamonic fill out the defense. MacDonald and Hamonic showed some potential towards the end of last season and look to build off of that.

The Sad to say but the defense isn’t even the worst part about the Islanders. That distinction belongs to the goaltending department. Owner Charles Wang probably gave away the worst contract of all time when he signed goalie Rick DiPietro to a 15 year deal worth $4.5 million a season. Especially when DiPietro is constantly injured, primarily groin and knee issues until he decided to let Brent Johnson use his face as a punching bag and received a concussion by doing so. Since they are stuck with DiPietro long term the team has brought in two goalies to fill in while DiPietro is injured. Al Montoya who was a highly rated prospect for the Rangers but never got a chance with Lundquvist in town and Kevin Poulin who was serviceable last season until he took a page out of the DiPietro playbook and missed the last 29 games with a knee injury. (5^th Atl, 12^th EC)

NHL Season Preview (Northeast Division)

Hello everyone!

This is my first foray into the blogosphere and the first time I have written something this long that isn’t going to be graded. To tell you a little about myself, I like to think I have a pretty objective point of view of the NHL since I do not have a “favorite” team in the league. I am a Rochester Americans fan who has no ties to the NHL other than the fact I live in Buffalo. I have been on the Amerks’ off-ice officials crew for the past 7 seasons, 4 of which I have been at ice level working in the penalty box which has given me a very up close and personal look at professional hockey.

Outside of hockey my other passions sports are the Atlanta Braves, and Women’s Softball Umpiring. Depending how this goes I might try posting on those topics as things arise. Now on to my 2011-2012 preview!

First up, the Northeast Division. Home of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins and home of quite possibly the worst team in hockey, the Ottawa Senators. This is a tough division to be in especially with the improvements made in Buffalo and Toronto.

Buffalo: Prior to this offseason General Manager Darcy Regier was known around the league as a GM who had to build a competitive team while balancing the budget. This summer his new owner Terry Pegula opened up the checkbook and boy did Darcy go shopping. The additions of Robyn Regehr, and Christian Erhoff to the back end will go a long way in improving what was in my opinion a very soft defensive core. Regehr is a tough stay at home defensemen who will log a lot of minutes for Coach Lindy Ruff who all season commented that his team lacked a “lockdown pair.” Well, now he’s got one. Regehr will most likely be paired with Tyler Myers who recently signed a 7 year extension and looks to build off of two strong seasons before the age of 21. Erhoff and his booming slap shot will help elevate a power play that I believe under achieves year after year. Jordan Leopold is a solid veteran will also see time with the man advantage and the 2^nd pairing. The third pair will be some combination of Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber, and Marc-Andre Grangani. All three of them have their share of upsides and downfalls though I think it will end up being Weber and Grangani because Sekera seems to drive Ruff crazy at times with his apparent lack of interest.

Behind that defensive core is world-class goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller had a below par season in 2010 that was partly due to injury and overuse. This year with young Jonas Enroth to back him up the workload should be much less and therefore increase Miller’s effectiveness. If he can play the way he did for team USA during the Olympics, the Sabres will be a team on the rise.

For the most part the forward lines Ruff will roll out opening night will be very similar to last season. The big addition was Villie Leino who will be moved into center ice from the wing. This is a bit of a gamble for the Sabres who are new at this free agency thing. Leino has not played center in the NHL and also hasn’t really had a full season that merits the contract that they gave him. What he does bring to the team is playoff experience and playoff scoring which the current group of forwards desperately lacks. The core of Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, and Drew Stafford are still there to fill in top six slots with Tyler Ennis and Nathan Gerbe competing for the last spot in the top six.

Overall the Sabres improved themselves enough to win their division and hopefully make it out of the first round of the playoffs but I think they are still a #1 center away from being a cup contender. (1^st in NE, 2^nd in EC)

Boston: The Stanley Cup Champions had a very short summer and a few key losses with only a few additions. Then again when you’re the champs you don’t usually have to change that much. The loss of veteran and three time cup winner Mark Recchi will hurt especially at the beginning of the season when it’s time to refocus and start the long season again. I anticipate a let down from guys like Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin as well as most of the squad. It is a difficult thing to get ready for the upcoming season after spending the summer with the cup. (See Chicago Blackhawks 2010-2011) The team is built from the goal out. Tim Thomas and Tukka Rask are arguably the best 1-2 punch in the league and both have been the top guy the past two seasons. Thomas is the guy for now and Rask the future. The one thing that Boston does not have to worry about is goaltending.

The defensive core is a steady as any. Zdeno Chara is an annual Norris Trophy Candidate and Dennis Seidenberg used last year’s playoffs as a breakout party and let the world know that he is a top pair d-man. After the top pair Johnny Boychuck, Andrew Ference, Adam McQuaid and newcomer Joe Corvo who was basically traded for the disappointing Thomas Kaberle. This group is well rounded and steady.

Up front the Bruins are a pretty unexciting group but an effective group. Led by the trio of David Krecji, Nathan Hortorn and Milan Lucic. Coach Claude Julien preaches a defensive dump and chase style that likes to sends his big wingers to the net hard, and make things difficult for opposing goaltenders. The question will be if Horton can avoid the concussion problems that many Bruins have encountered over the years.

As the season progresses, the Bruins will get back to the level they were at when they won to cup and end up in second place in the Northeast. (2^nd in NE 6^th in EC)

Toronto: The playoff drought in Toronto will NOT continue. That’s right Leafs’ fans your boys will make the playoffs. This of course hinges on two things; a majority of their roster staying healthy and James Reimer being a real #1 goaltender. I like what Brian Burke has done the past couple years. The lineup isn’t really flashy but has a nice mix of players. The addition of the often-injured Tim Connolly to center the top line with streaky sniper Phil Kessel will hopefully help Kessel become a consistent scorer and not just a streaky sniper. Clarke MacArthur will most likely get first crack at the LW slot on the top line but I wouldn’t be surprised if Joffery Lupul gets a shot too. Mikhail Grabovski finally had the breakout season that the Montreal Canadiens were looking for when they drafted him, except he had it with their rival the Maple Leafs…. oops. I remember Grabovski on the Calder Cup winning Hamilton Bulldogs and he had a brief playoff stint but had 11 points in 7 games before being knocked out for the rest of the championship run. He falls into the category of Amerk Killer. The rest of forward group is pretty steady with a lot of interchangeable parts. A wild card could be Nazim Kadri. If he can tap into that potential and become a dynamic scorer he’s supposed to be then he too could see time in the top six.

On defense the Leafs improved with the addition of Cody Franson and John-Michael Liles. Franson is a young up and coming defensemen who along with Captain Dion Phaneuf will form a shutdown pairing for Coach Ron Wilson, who by the way might be on the hot seat if the team gets off to a slow start. Liles will help the Leafs on the man advantage. He is a proven power play quarterback who should succeed in the less physically demanding Eastern Conference after spending his entire career in Colorado.

Between the pipes the Leafs are going with James Reimer. He took Toronto by storm the second half of last season and almost brought the team into the playoffs. It should be interesting to see how he responds to not having a veteran back up to rely on. The departure of J.S. Gigure (Colarado) has opened the door for another youngster in Jonas Gustavvson, who has been injury prone in his brief career and dealt with a bad heart condition, which cut last season short meaning the number one job, is Reimer’s to lose. With all that being said, I like the Leafs to sneak in to the playoffs. It’ll be close but I think they have enough talent and a good compete level to make it. (3^rd NE, 8^th EC)

Montreal: The Canadiens are hoping for bounce back seasons up and down their line up with the exception of goaltender Carey Price. Price had his best season in the NHL last year and almost single handedly took his team to the postseason. If not for Tim Thomas being unbeatable last year Price might have possession of the Vezina Trophy this summer. As you can imagine he will be back between the pipes for the Habs when the season starts. After finding out that Alex Auld is not a suitable back up in the NHL, General Manager Pierre Gauthier went and found what he hopes to be his backup for the next two seasons in former Avalanche Peter Budaj.

On defense the Habs look for a healthy Andrei Markov to pick up where he left off two seasons ago before he was lost for the postseason in 2009-2010 and then all but 5 games last season after a brief comeback from an ACL tear. Challenging Markov for the #1 spot on the depth chart is young P.K. Subban. This kid is dynamite. When I first watched him play against the Amerks as a member of the Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL’s AHL affiliate) I thought he was vastly overrated and a bit of a hot dog. But as I took of the Amerk colored glasses I realized how special he is. He has a quick first step, a very quick release on a heavy and accurate shot, to go along with a bit of an edge that you don’t usually see in offensive defensemen. It’s too bad that Mike Richards was traded from Philly to LA because he and Subban had a bit of a grudge with each other. Anyhow, after Subban and Markov is a solid group that includes Hal Gill, Josh Georges and Jaroslav Spacek. The 6^th spot could go to one of many prospects, Russian prospect Alexi Yemelin, Brendon Nash, or Raphael Diaz.

On the attack the Canadaiens have a bunch of nice players but no one who really grabs your eye during the game. Mike Cammalleri, Thomas Plekanec, Scott Gomez Andrei Kostitsyn, and Brian Gionta (Rochester Native!) along with free agent signee Erik Cole fill out the top six. Gomez is in the midst of what might be considered the worst contract of all time. He has done almost nothing while getting paid like a top 15 player in the league. Plekanec is a nice player but is better suited to be a 2^nd line center not a #1. Gionta and Cammalleri can be big time goal scorers and bring a good two way game but they don’t have anyone to get them the puck…. except Gomez (fail). (4th in NE 11^th in EC)

Ottawa: This season will be ugly Sens fans. Think Edmonton of the East. There is hope for the future with a core that just won the Calder Cup with AHL affiliate Binghamton but the future isn’t this year. GM Bryan Murray hasn’t done much to help his two stars in Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredson. In fact since he took over as GM the Senators have not been close to matching the success he had as their coach. Gone are stars such as Zedeno Chara, Wade Redden, and Dany Heatley and in are Nikta Filatov, Zenon Konopka and an aging Sergei Gonchar. Yikes! After Spezza and Alfie there isn’t much the work with. Newcomer Filatov will be given a shot on the top line based on his “potential” and believe me folks I’ve seen him play multiple times as a member of the Syracuse Crunch and he just doesn’t get it. He’s lazy and avoids contact almost at all cost. Beyond him it’s a bunch of young kids and 4^th liners like Chris Neil and Konopka.

Gonchar and lifetime Senator Chris Phillips lead a defense that also has young puck mover Erik Karlsson, tough stay at homer Matt Carkner, followed by fringe NHL players in Filip Kuba and Brian Lee. This group is unimpressive.

The lone bright spot might be in the crease. Murray made a slick move at last years deadline acquiring goaltender Craig Anderson (former Amerk) from Colorado. Anderson had a breakout season in 2009-2010 for the Avalanche who took the league by surprise. He can be and is a #1 goalie in my opinion. Last season was a lost year due to injuries including one that occurred during warm ups on a night he was going to be the back up. If he is back to 100% health he will steal some games for the Sens but it won’t be enough to get them to the post season. (5^th in NE and 15^th in EC)

That's it for now, I'll be back soon with the Atlantic Division preview.

Dan