| Show Game On The Prepares for Another Season Justin McBride Sports Editor Big names on the move goaltending goaltending goaltending goal- goal tending controversies and new owners are only a few of the storylines storylines story storylines lines in the as the regular season approaches We break breakdown breakdown breakdown down the and rank them where we think they'll end up from worst to first by conference EASTERN CONFERENCE Florida Panthers The Panthers have signed re-signed most of their free agents The addition of wingers Eric Messier and Valeri Bure should help them up front while the addition of Lyle Odelein will put some toughness on the blue line but dont don't look for those additions additions additions addi addi- to propel them into the play play- offs a Atlanta Thrashers New owners owners owners own own- ers wont won't help them as much as it will help Ottawa Dany Heatly Heady and Ilya Kovalchuk are still the bright spots on this team Byron Dafoe will be better this year now that hell he'll have a full season with the team Washington Capitols The Caps have also resigned most of their free tree agents but it wont won't help helD n The Caps will miss the playoffs again I guess wasn't the shot in the arm they thought he was Pittsburgh Penguins Its It's no secret that Mario Lemieux is sticking around to sell tickets The rest of the team is young and inexperienced It will be up to Lemieux to carry this team Carolina Hurricanes No job is safe in Carolina They went from Stanley Cup finalists to the worst team in the league in nine L months We saw the me chemistry LlY they had two years ago Can they get it back No way Buffalo Sabers The addition of Chris Drury will help the front line Hell He'll fit in nicely with Daniel Briere and Maxim The only question mark i is if Martin Biron will final final- u ly step up in net NY Rangers The definition of throwing money at a problem Glen lost his savvy as a aGM aGM aGM GM after he left Edmonton Now he is President GM and head coach With the talent this team has if they dont don't make the playoffs which they wont won't you need look no further than Glen for the reason why Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning haven't made any big moves this off season and only lost Vaclav This team will go as far as Nikolai will take them Montreal The Habs should be a pretty solid team this year They are deep up front and have a good defensive unit Again the question is goal goaltending tend tend- ing If Jo Jose e Theodore can find his groove and stay there the Habs will be a tough team to beat If not NY Islanders The Islanders have been beat up over the last couple of years but they should rebound nicely They are deep at center and on defense Which centers are going to play on the wing could be a problem Boston Bruins The Bruins were one of the hottest teams in the league at one point last year The problem was goaltending Now that Felix is in Beantown look for the Bruins to tobe tobe tobe be a force to reckon with in the playoffs Philadelphia Flyers Head coach Ken Hitchcock has this team moving in the right tion With a simpler power play this year they should be able to score on the power play the big question in Philly is how goalie Jeff Hackett will adjust to playing for the Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs The Leafs made a couple of big off off- season acquisitions in Joe and Bryan Marchment Those two guys will fit in nicely with the physical style of play that Toronto has become famous for in recent years Ottawa Senators Having a new owner that can pay them may light a fire under this team to take the last step to reaching the Stanley Cup finals This team is but they need to sign good Martin Havlat and get him into camp now New Jersey Devils The defending defending defending defend defend- ing Stanley Cup champs should be as successful as they were last year during the regular season They lost Joe but with the system in place in New NewT Jerse T th that t shouldn't be a li J JJ Y u. u u lem WESTERN CONFERENCE Phoenix Coyotes New unis a couple of new faces and a new stadium may give this team a lift question is how big of a lift will it be Nashville Predators Nashville look didn't make any moves that over the off like improvements have depth at season They to every position but they've got have some players that can carry the load through out the season Columbus Blue Jackets The Blue Jackets made some great moves over the off season They picked up Darryl Sydor from Dallas Todd Marchant from Edmonton and Trevor Letowski from Vancouver These three guys will bring a lot of experience ence to this team If they can mesh with the young guns on the team the Blue Jackets could start moving in the right direction San Jose Sharks The loss of Teemu will hurt the Sharks more than their then additions will help them It could be a rough season for Sharks fans Chicago No major moves for Chicago which is no surprise for Chicago fans Chicago will be hard pressed to compete in the western conference conference conference confer confer- ence but will still finish in the middle of their division thanks to Nashville and Columbus Calgary Flames The Flames picked up some toughness in Krzysztof but defense is what they really need Jamie McLennan can make up for some of the defensive slack but not all of it Minnesota Wild The Wild will t L 1 L L I 1 1 1 J 4 h f rr be DC oe in Dig olg trou a un ess tey can ink new contracts with their top scorers Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis Jacques Lemaire's system focuses around a core group of guys and without Gaborik and Dupuis it could be tough for the system to work right Edmonton Edmonton is always a threat in the west They have a nice blend of role players who work well in Craig MacTavish's system It is very effective and it will allow them to squeak into the playoffs this year Anaheim Mighty Ducks The Ducks lost Paul Kariya but got the deal done with JS Giguere and acquired Sergei Federov from the Red Wings Add Vaclav and most of the free agents from last years Cup final team and we could see the Ducks deep in the playoffs again Dallas Stars GM Doug Armstrong said he was comfortable comfortable comfortable comfort comfort- able going with Ron as his number one goaltender while Marty Turco held out Now that Turco is back Armstrong can breath a sigh of that he didn't didn't didn't did did- nt have to also accept the inexperience inexperience inexperience of Jason Bacashihua or Mike Smith who would have been backups Colorado Avalanche Colorado may have made the biggest moves of the off season acquiring acquiring acquiring ing Paul Kariya and Teemu to presumably play on the wings with Joe The down side is that Patrick Roy is no longer in net The biggest question for the Avs is if David DavidA A Aebischer bischer can fill the void Los Angeles Kings These are not your fathers Kings They areno are areno areno no longer a team to be kicked around by the rest of the league The addition of Roman Cechmanek between the pipes is isa isa isa a major upgrade and could be the difference between a first round exit and going deep into the play play- offs Vancouver The have put together a great team north of the e border They have wingers who can score almost at will and a depth at defense that most teams envy The interesting side story here is the battle for the number one goaltender spot between Dan Cloutier and Johan Hedberg St. St Louis Blues Chris is back Hes He's given the captains captain's C to Al MacInnis so he can return to form fonn This is a tough team with a lot of guys who can give and take a hit Again the goaltender position is interesting as Brent Johnson and Chris Osgood will both have their eyes on n. n the number one one slot I Detroit Red Wings Although they lost Luc and Sergei Federov the Red Wings got stringer by adding Derrian Deman Hatcher and the return of Dominic Hasek Last years early exit will give some of their older veterans time tune to rest and heal but it will also motivate the players on this Detroit team to prove they were not a flash in the 1 pan two years ago big- big il giest problem would be a luxury to most teams What to do with their other number one goaltender goaltender goaltender goal- goal tender Curtis Joseph f t Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Devils Look for the Devils to make it back to the finals again Western Conference Champion Detroit Red Wings 1 With Hasek back the Wings will willbe willbe I Ibe be back on top 1 Stanley Cup up Champion For Forthe Forthe Forthe the second year in a row Im I'm going to pick the Detroit Red Wings They are better on defense and better in net now that Hasek is back My prediction Wings in hi 6 Then again I was last too C i wrong year r. r l j |
