Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2013 18:55:25 GMT -5
Western Conference - Central Division Preview
1. Chicago Blackhawks (1st in Division, 1st in Conference)
Still in search for their 1st JGHL Championship, the Chicago Blackhawks arent kidding around. Boasting one of the more complete lineups in the West, the Blackhawks preach a team defense philosophy, starting from the two-way forward play from the likes of Saku Koivu, Jarrett Stoll and Alex Burrows. Couple that with the fire power that Joe Thornton, Chris Kunitz, Johan Franzen and Blake Wheeler bring, there wont be much shortage of scoring production.
What seems to be the scariest feature of Chicago, is their backend. The Blackhawks bring a 6 man unit that's primarily intended to defend their net but can jump into the offensive play from time to time or make the odd stretch pass the will spree their forwards. With Mike Smith between the pipes, the sky is the limit for Chi town this season.
2. Detroit Red Wings (2nd in Division, 4th in Conference)
At first glance, the Detroit Red Wings seem to pretty strong up and down their lineup. Up the middle, the Red Wings will not be weakened on most nights with Koivu, Kreijci and Cammelleri. The right wing whos a combination of skill, leadership and experience with Corey Perry, Daniel Alfreddson and Brad Boyes. The left wing however, may be the downfall to Detroit's power up front.
Despite challenges on the left wing, the Red Wings make up their weakness on the blue line with a top 4 that will match up with any in the league. Captain Shea Weber will be joined by Drew Doughty, Alex Edler and Matt Carle to form quite the deadly quad. Another question mark for the Wings, might be weather or not their Netminder Bryzgalov can focus on stopping the puck, or if he might just be distracted by the bears in his head....
3. Nashville Predators (3rd in Division, 6th in Conference)
After winning their first JGHL championship, the Predators will look to defend their title agains the Wild, wild west. Despite the fact that they will prove to be competitive, the Predators have seen a drop off from their championship team. Gone are the likes of Weiss and the experience from Erat, Pronger and Ryan Suter. However, the Predators match up well with anyone in the league in terms of top 6 forwards. The likes of Kopitar, Bergeron, Benn and Lupul should give many goaltenders nightmares.
The Preds defense may have lost a step or two, but look to Kris Letang to take more of a leadership role on the blue line and quite possibly become a candidate for the norris trophy once again this season. If the Preds are to contend this season, they will need the trio of Myers, Irwin and Benn to step their game up.... otherwise Craig Anderson will need to stand on his head in goal, which isnt exactly impossible either.
There's no doubt that Anderson will probably be leaned on more often than not with McElhinney backing him up. Which leads the question.....will Anderson be able to play 70+ games this season without being injured?
4. St. Louis Blues (4th in Division, 8th in Conference)
After an early exit in the first round of last year's stanley cup playoffs, the Blues have come back stronger. The core of Richards, Backes and Carter will now be joined by Tarasenko who adds another asset on their front line.
Not only do the Blues have some depth on their front end, but they also dress a respectable blue line, led by Kevin Shattenkirk. The question on defense will be whether or not Tobias Enstrom is the weakest link and more importantly, whether or not it shows on the stats sheet.
But despite the possible hole on defense, what propels the Blues into the playoff discussion and quite possibly finishing as high as third in the division would be netminder Carey Price. Price coming into the season underrated from his usual steller reputation, may come into this year with something to prove.
5. Winnipeg Jets (5th in Division, 9th in Conference)
There's not much that separates Winnipeg from the fourth place St. Louis Blues, but it could be enough to miss this year's playoffs. Led By Jonathon Toews, the Jets have a respectable top 6 with Jagr and Hossa joining the party. However that's where things drop off. If the Jets want to do more than squeeze into the post season, they'll need to find scoring from their bottom six, and it'll have to be by committee.
Defensively, the Jets will take a beating. They will have much difficulty shutting down the opposition as this will be their apparent weakness. However, the Jets hope that Niklas Backstrom will be able to hide the flaws of the blue line.
6. Minnesota Wild (6th in Division, 10th in Conference)
The Wild have an above average top line that will surely be leaned on for the majority of the season to life the scoring load. But after that, things drop off significantly. Nick Bonino will be looked upon to play better than can be expected for the youngster as he'll step into the second line centre role. Troy Bouwer will also be leaned upon to bang in his share of goals. The top 9 will be rounded out by the likes of John Mitchell, Cal Clutterbuck and Simon Gagne which of whom will definitely have their hands full with the likes of the Red Wings, Flames and Sharks in the west.
What may make the difference in Minnesota, is their defense. The six man unit that's led by Dion Phaneuf is respectable as their top 4 defensemen will be leaned on to take most of the minutes.
The Wild will have Jonas Hiller as their goaltender to start the season as he has the ability to also serve as a difference maker.
7. Colorado Avalanche (7th in Division, 13th in Conference)
If there's one thing that Avs fans can hang their hat on, it'll be the fact that they'll marvel at the opportunity to watch young guns such as Nathan McKinnon, Seth Jones and Alex Galchenyk potentially tear the league up in a matter of a few years. However, this season......Av Fans will be wishing it was over before it started.
Instead of going through their lineup, we'll pinpoint a few faces to watch in terms of development; look for Alex Galchenyk to get his fair share of chances as well as Brendan Gallagher and Alex Chiasson. In terms of the blue line, Simon Despres will look to make an impression as he will hope to be a bright spot for the Av's future.
Martin Brodeur will surely see a lot of action this season and what may be interesting to see is if GM Jon Madsen will look to move him at the deadline to give him one last shot at a championship in order to capitalize on a return.
1. Chicago Blackhawks (1st in Division, 1st in Conference)
Still in search for their 1st JGHL Championship, the Chicago Blackhawks arent kidding around. Boasting one of the more complete lineups in the West, the Blackhawks preach a team defense philosophy, starting from the two-way forward play from the likes of Saku Koivu, Jarrett Stoll and Alex Burrows. Couple that with the fire power that Joe Thornton, Chris Kunitz, Johan Franzen and Blake Wheeler bring, there wont be much shortage of scoring production.
What seems to be the scariest feature of Chicago, is their backend. The Blackhawks bring a 6 man unit that's primarily intended to defend their net but can jump into the offensive play from time to time or make the odd stretch pass the will spree their forwards. With Mike Smith between the pipes, the sky is the limit for Chi town this season.
2. Detroit Red Wings (2nd in Division, 4th in Conference)
At first glance, the Detroit Red Wings seem to pretty strong up and down their lineup. Up the middle, the Red Wings will not be weakened on most nights with Koivu, Kreijci and Cammelleri. The right wing whos a combination of skill, leadership and experience with Corey Perry, Daniel Alfreddson and Brad Boyes. The left wing however, may be the downfall to Detroit's power up front.
Despite challenges on the left wing, the Red Wings make up their weakness on the blue line with a top 4 that will match up with any in the league. Captain Shea Weber will be joined by Drew Doughty, Alex Edler and Matt Carle to form quite the deadly quad. Another question mark for the Wings, might be weather or not their Netminder Bryzgalov can focus on stopping the puck, or if he might just be distracted by the bears in his head....
3. Nashville Predators (3rd in Division, 6th in Conference)
After winning their first JGHL championship, the Predators will look to defend their title agains the Wild, wild west. Despite the fact that they will prove to be competitive, the Predators have seen a drop off from their championship team. Gone are the likes of Weiss and the experience from Erat, Pronger and Ryan Suter. However, the Predators match up well with anyone in the league in terms of top 6 forwards. The likes of Kopitar, Bergeron, Benn and Lupul should give many goaltenders nightmares.
The Preds defense may have lost a step or two, but look to Kris Letang to take more of a leadership role on the blue line and quite possibly become a candidate for the norris trophy once again this season. If the Preds are to contend this season, they will need the trio of Myers, Irwin and Benn to step their game up.... otherwise Craig Anderson will need to stand on his head in goal, which isnt exactly impossible either.
There's no doubt that Anderson will probably be leaned on more often than not with McElhinney backing him up. Which leads the question.....will Anderson be able to play 70+ games this season without being injured?
4. St. Louis Blues (4th in Division, 8th in Conference)
After an early exit in the first round of last year's stanley cup playoffs, the Blues have come back stronger. The core of Richards, Backes and Carter will now be joined by Tarasenko who adds another asset on their front line.
Not only do the Blues have some depth on their front end, but they also dress a respectable blue line, led by Kevin Shattenkirk. The question on defense will be whether or not Tobias Enstrom is the weakest link and more importantly, whether or not it shows on the stats sheet.
But despite the possible hole on defense, what propels the Blues into the playoff discussion and quite possibly finishing as high as third in the division would be netminder Carey Price. Price coming into the season underrated from his usual steller reputation, may come into this year with something to prove.
5. Winnipeg Jets (5th in Division, 9th in Conference)
There's not much that separates Winnipeg from the fourth place St. Louis Blues, but it could be enough to miss this year's playoffs. Led By Jonathon Toews, the Jets have a respectable top 6 with Jagr and Hossa joining the party. However that's where things drop off. If the Jets want to do more than squeeze into the post season, they'll need to find scoring from their bottom six, and it'll have to be by committee.
Defensively, the Jets will take a beating. They will have much difficulty shutting down the opposition as this will be their apparent weakness. However, the Jets hope that Niklas Backstrom will be able to hide the flaws of the blue line.
6. Minnesota Wild (6th in Division, 10th in Conference)
The Wild have an above average top line that will surely be leaned on for the majority of the season to life the scoring load. But after that, things drop off significantly. Nick Bonino will be looked upon to play better than can be expected for the youngster as he'll step into the second line centre role. Troy Bouwer will also be leaned upon to bang in his share of goals. The top 9 will be rounded out by the likes of John Mitchell, Cal Clutterbuck and Simon Gagne which of whom will definitely have their hands full with the likes of the Red Wings, Flames and Sharks in the west.
What may make the difference in Minnesota, is their defense. The six man unit that's led by Dion Phaneuf is respectable as their top 4 defensemen will be leaned on to take most of the minutes.
The Wild will have Jonas Hiller as their goaltender to start the season as he has the ability to also serve as a difference maker.
7. Colorado Avalanche (7th in Division, 13th in Conference)
If there's one thing that Avs fans can hang their hat on, it'll be the fact that they'll marvel at the opportunity to watch young guns such as Nathan McKinnon, Seth Jones and Alex Galchenyk potentially tear the league up in a matter of a few years. However, this season......Av Fans will be wishing it was over before it started.
Instead of going through their lineup, we'll pinpoint a few faces to watch in terms of development; look for Alex Galchenyk to get his fair share of chances as well as Brendan Gallagher and Alex Chiasson. In terms of the blue line, Simon Despres will look to make an impression as he will hope to be a bright spot for the Av's future.
Martin Brodeur will surely see a lot of action this season and what may be interesting to see is if GM Jon Madsen will look to move him at the deadline to give him one last shot at a championship in order to capitalize on a return.