NHL 2008-2009 Season Previews: Introduction

Welcome to the Alan Bass 2009-10 NHL Season Preview! Well, the preview of the preview. You get the point.

Let’s get down to business!

Here is how the previews will be formatted:



Team Name

Plus:

1. (Positive outlooks for the team this coming season).

2.

Minus:

1. (Two things to watch out for in 2010 that may bring the team down).

2.

Analysis: My awesomely awesome analysis on every team in the NHL.

Prediction: The Alan Bass predictions for the 2009-2010 regular season (because they’re THAT brilliant…kind of).



To quench your NHL preview needs in the meantime, here are some general division roundups going into next season:



Northeast Division

In last year’s Northeast Division, the Bruins and Canadiens were the only teams to make the playoffs and wound up going head to head as the 1 vs. 8 seeds in the Eastern Conference.

On the bottom half of the division were the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres. The Leafs are in a rebuilding stage, while the Senators and Sabres are trying to stay afloat with the okay talent they have on their teams.

In 2008-09, the Northeast was pretty competitive, but lacked the playoff berths. Will this year be different?



Atlantic Division

Hands down the toughest division in the Eastern Conference, the Atlantic has four potential playoff teams in the Flyers, Rangers, Devils and Penguins.

Pittsburgh is coming off of a Stanley Cup championship and looking to return to the final for the third straight year and become the first team to do so since the Oilers in the 80s. The Rangers made some big moves this summer in hopes of driving up their talent and going a bit further in the playoffs. The Devils have a “new” coach in Lemaire while remaining dormant throughout the summer.

Philadelphia made arguably the biggest splash, trading away future top-four defenseman Luca Sbisa, forward Joffrey Lupul and a helluva lot of draft picks for superstar D-man Chris Pronger, in addition to signing controversial goaltender Ray Emery.

The Islanders are still in a rebuilding stage while phenom John Tavares gets a chance to show the NHL why they should have let him in early.

The big question of the year is this: how many Atlantic Division teams will qualify for the ’09-10 postseason?



Southeast Division

The Capitals are the only sure playoff team in the division, while the Hurricanes and Lightning are the two borderline teams that will challenge for a spot. Ovechkin will tear up the division this season (as always) and propel the Caps to perhaps their best season in years.

The Lightning buffed up on defense and look to be a solid team in the making (yet again). The Panthers replaced Jay-Bo with Jordan Leopold yet were unable to help themselves on offense. Atlanta, though possessing some great young talent, are still one of the worst teams in the league and will be in the running for the Taylor Hall sweepstakes.



Central Division

Arguably the toughest division in the NHL, the Central teams’ only big negative is the fact that they may all bring each other down. Their point totals may be lower than expected due to the incredible competition between the five squads. There are two sure playoff teams in Chicago and Detroit in addition to three borderline playoff teams in Nashville, St. Louis and Columbus.

The Blue Jackets added a little bit of talent to their team but GM Scott Howson decided to mainly let time do its work on the Jackets’ young players in hopes the team will be even better this year. The Predators made very few moves as well and may challenge for a playoff spot at the end of the season, as Barry Trotz usually does. The Blues were a surprise in the West last season before being swept by the Canucks in round one. However, don’t expect them to surprise this year.

The Red Wings lost Jiri Hudler to Russia and Mikael Samuelsson and Marian Hossa to free agency, but with the young talent we saw from them in the playoffs, I have no doubts that they will continue to be atop the league.

The Blackhawks will be oh so close to winning the division this year, but their goaltending questions will be the x-factor when challenging the mighty Red Wings for the Central crown.



Northwest Division

In what was once a greatly competitive division, the competition is all but gone, other than Calgary and Vancouver, most likely the only two Northwest teams that will make the playoffs in 2010. Vancouver changed their defense around but is basically the same team that won the division last year. The Flames added Jay-Bo and a new coach, making them able to challenge for a top-three spot in the conference.

Minnesota lost Groin…sorry, Gaborik and were unable to replace him. They have a new GM and coach, so the team may be motivated for a bit, but don’t expect that to last. Colorado is one of the worst teams in the league, so chalk this year up to a rebuilding year.

If any team surprises, it will be the Oilers, who are chock-full of young talent who could take off at any minute.



Pacific Division

Another tough division, the Sharks will still wind up on top fairly easily. Nonetheless, will their playoff woes continue? Anaheim and Dallas are playoff-capable teams who could do some damage on fellow Western Conference teams.

The Coyotes will be bottom feeders for most of the season while trying to scrape together some money to afford a bag of pucks.

The Kings are my pick for surprise of the season, as their young and talented defense could stop many teams in their tracks and propel the Kings to a playoff berth.



Alan Bass is a writer and reporter for The Hockey News magazine. You can contact him at BergHockey24@gmail.com.