It’s NHL Preview Time! Let’s start with the Pacific Division:
Phoenix Coyotes
Prediction: 85 PTS, 5th Place Finish
A perennial favorite of the NHL for relocation and bottom dwelling, the Coyotes have surprised in recent seasons with back-to-back playoff appearances. Unfortunately for Phoenix, they have not advanced past the first round. Their financial difficulties have also made it impossible to retain key players or build on their current success. Shane Doan is only getting older. Mike Smith was the big off-season acquisition in attempting to fill the hole left by departing Ilya Bryzgalov, but they are big shoes to fill.
Dallas Stars
Prediction: 89 PTS; 4th Place Finish
How the mighty have fallen. Remember the Dallas Stars teams of the early decade, the routine favorites for pre-season Stanley Cup fodder? No more. Bankrupt and searching for a new owner, the Dallas Stars find themselves without their on-ice and locker room leader, Brad Richards, who fled for greener pastures this off-season. The team’s inability to broker a deal with the star, and their inability to move him for parts at last season’s trading deadline is indicative of the the organizational instability. Dallas will undergo a drastic youth movement and try to win through the draft. The Stars of 2011-12 have an eery resemblance to the Sabres of 02-03. I would suspect you might look out for this team in a few years, but not now, not yet.
Los Angeles Kings
Prediction: 93 PTS; 3rd Place Finish, 8TH PLAYOFF SPOT
The Kings are a team with plenty of holes, and seemingly no interest in filling them. For Los Angeles, it is about scoring, scoring, scoring, and thus why they tried to tack on even more forward strength with a run at Brad Richards this off-season. Before the failure on Richards 1, though, the Kings did land Richards 2 in acquiring Mike Richards from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Kings sacrified some depth and continuity in their organization for Mike Richards, who is rumored to have some potential character issues. Simon Gagne is also on board, after some underwhelming time in Tampa. While the Kings possess a lot of up front fire power and a vicious first defensive line, depth could be an issue for a team that has not built from the goalie out.
Anaheim Ducks
Prediction: 97 PTS; 2nd Place Finish, 6TH PLAYOFF SPOT
Consistency is the name of the game for the Anaheim Ducks, who proudly announced last week that Teemu Selanne will be coming back for a final year. The bigger return, though, will be injured Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller. A nasty, physical team, health is always an issue for the Ducks, but they may be the largest benefactor of the falling out of some other teams in the mid-range cluster in the Western Conference.
San Jose Sharks
Prediction: 103 PTS; 1st Place Finish, 2ND PLAYOFF SPOT
Unlike Anaheim, change was the theme for the San Jose Sharks, who made some big splashes in the trade market, moving Devin Setoguchi to Minnesota for All-Star defenseman Brent Burns. The Sharks will also say hello to former Wild star Martin Havlat. Every year, the San Jose Sharks streak through the regular season and into the playoffs with questions about their toughness in the second season, and every year they fall a little short. Will Havlat and Burns be enough to right the ship? Time will tell.
PLAYOFF PREDICTION CHART:
8. Los Angeles Kings
7. ???
6. Anaheim Ducks
5. ???
4. ???
3. ???
2. San Jose Sharks
1. ???
Next time, we’ll take a look at the Northwest division.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
