Northeast Division Preview

1. Boston Bruins

Their stellar defense has them positioned to repeat

2. Buffalo Sabres

With a new owner in place the future looks bright

3. Montreal Canadiens

They’re on the cusp of breaking into elite status

4. Toronto Maple Leafs

Too many question marks for a team that must win now

5. Ottawa Senators

A lot of young talent is waiting to make an impact

Key Acquisitions

Bruins: D Joe Corvo

Sabres: D Christian Ehrhoff, F Ville Leino, D Robyn Regehr

Canadiens: F Erik Cole

Maple Leafs: F Tim Connolly, D John-Michael Liles

Senators: F Nikita Filatov

Team Previews

Boston

If you want to repeat let alone make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals you’re going to have to get a repeat performance from your goaltender. It’s hard to imagine Tim Thomas doing just that after the tremendous regular season and playoffs he had. With defenseman Zdeno Chara and his 6-9 frame protecting Thomas it might not be that far fetched to think the Bruins can repeat. New defenseman Joe Corvo is being counted on to do what Tomas Kaberle couldn’t do last year and that’s be another scoring threat from the blue-line. Health will be an issue for the Bruins forwards. Milan Lucic was the only 30 goal scorer for the Bruins last year. They will need Nathan Horton and/or Patric Bergeron to do the same. Brad Marchand will be expected to capitalize on his playoff success with a stellar regular season. With the Bruins now having some open spots on the top two lines it will be interesting to see what Tyler Seguin does with more opportunities to showcase his talent.

Buffalo

They were the busiest team during free agency. Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff had a magnificent season in Vancouver, but it remains to be seen if he can do that for another 10 years. Which is the length of the contract he signed in Buffalo. Also acquired was Robyn Regehr who waived his no-trade clause to come to Buffalo from Calgary. He’s a gritty defenseman who will help keep big bodied forwards away from goalie Ryan Miller. The scary thing is that Tyler Myers and Jordan Leopold didn’t have great seasons last year. With Ehrhoff and Regehr aboard the Sabres will have a devastating defense. Goalie Ryan Miller did everything he could to get the Sabres deep into the playoffs, but they were without a consistent scoring threat. They hope to have solved that problem with Ville Leino being signed. The same Ville Leino who’s overtime goal in Game 6 of the quarterfinals helped the Flyers beat the Sabres. He is a deceptive skater. Pairing him with Thomas Vanek will make both players even better. The breakout player last year was Drew Stafford and his 31 goals. If he comes close to that Buffalo will be riding high.

Montreal

The Canadiens kept playing the ‘what if’ game all offseason. It does them no good at this point, but they certainly could have competed with the rest of the league for the Cup. Goalie Carey Price was fantastic in net for Montreal. The pressure seemed to have vanished over thin ice as the season progressed. The key once again for Montreal is the health of defenseman Andrei Markov. He is their best point man on the blue-line and without him they seemed lost on the point. P.K. Subban filled in nicely, but Markov must be around for Montreal to stay in the hunt. Michael Cammalleri is on a downward trend the last two seasons. He and Brian Gionta are the top two scorers on the team. Cammalleri has to bounce back so that newly acquired Erik Cole doesn’t have so much pressure to perform right away. If Max Pacioretty can recover from a devastating hit by Zdeno Chara at the end of last season then he will be on his way to a 30 goal season.

Toronto

The big question in Toronto this offseason is did GM Brian Burke do enough? Did he do enough to try to lure Brad Richards in free agency? Did he do enough in putting the right pieces in place to get the Maple Leafs back to the playoffs? Toronto has some talented pieces in place all over the ice, but is it enough? Goaltender James Reimer did well to earn the starting job going into this season and get a three year contract extension. Captain Dion Phaneuf received some help on the blue-line when Toronto traded for defenseman John-Michael Liles from Colorado. Both are excellent puck passers and point men on the power play. It remains to be seen if there will be other defenseman to help lighten the load. Tim Connolly isn’t exactly Brad Richards, but he is a good playmaker when healthy. That has been the only problem his entire career. He has to stay healthy to play up to his standards. If that happens Phil Kessel will continue to be a top goal scorer. And if Joffrey Lupul can stay healthy as well that will take pressure off Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin to duplicate their 50+ point seasons.

Ottawa

They have built one of the best farm systems in the NHL. But that doesn’t mean they will be able to compete for a playoff spot right away. First things first, the Senators don’t have a reliable goaltender. Craig Anderson had a phenomenal season in Colorado two seasons ago, but it’s starting to look more like a one year wonder. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar was lost at times last year and he must make the most out of the situation in Ottawa. Youngster Erik Karlsson is developing quickly into one of the best offensive defenseman in the league. This will only be his 3rd NHL season and his 21. They’re starting to go with a younger looking scoring line as well, but at the top remains center Jason Spezza. His playmaking skills are still among the best and with younger players around him it will only help those players develop faster. If the Senators can get a rejuvenated season out of Milan Michalek and Daniel Alfredsson, it will help keep them competitive in most games.

Atlantic Division Preview

1. Philadelphia Flyers

Being a defensive team rather than an offensive team might be better

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

The health of Crosby and Malkin will determine the teams success

3. New York Rangers

One player won’t change their fortunes, but it will help

4. New Jersey Devils

They’re not going to dwell on last season. Instead they’ll push forward

5. New York Islanders

Time is running out to build a winner in Long Island

Key Acquisitions

Flyers: G Ilya Bryzgalov, F Jaromir Jagr, F Jakub Voracek

Penguins: F Steve Sullivan

Rangers: F Brad Richards

Devils: F Eric Boulton

Islanders: F Brian Rolston, F Marty Reasoner

Team Previews

Philadelphia

Gone is their captain Mike Richards and two of their best scorers in Jeff Carter and Ville Leino. The Flyers completely changed their identity with the acquisition of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He finally solves their problem of finding a consistent goal stopper. That will allow Sergei Bobrovsky to further develop into a top tier goalie. The return of Jaromir Jagr to the NHL is a headliner, but it isn’t expected to be a big help to the Flyers. If they can get 50 points out of Jagr that will be a surprise. As always when you have a top notch goaltender you must have a good defense. It’s crucial that Chris Pronger stay healthy for an entire season. Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle and Andrej Meszaros can’t do it without the big 6-6 defenseman. The scoring will have to come from Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk. Both have had great playoff statistics and now must step it up during the regular season. Danny Briere will have to repeat his 68 point performance from last year. If Jakub Voracek can live up to his billing as a top 10 pick with Columbus, the Flyers will be all right without Richards and Carter.

Pittsburgh

It’s simple. So goes Sidney Crosby, so goes the Pittsburgh Penguins chances of winning the Stanley Cup. If Crosby doesn’t miss as many games as he did last year, the Penguins will be contenders. It has to be mentioned that even without Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Pittsburgh finished second in the conference in points. Emerging as one of the best defenseman in the NHL is Kris Letang. His 50 point season last year was his breakthrough season and shows that he should be considered among the best in the league. As long as the Penguins can get 30 wins or more from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, they will be contending with their rivals in Philadelphia. Pittsburgh has tremendous depth on offense if Crosby and/or Malkin are out for a significant period of time. James Neal is another 30 goal scorer they acquired last year from Dallas. Tyler Kennedy had his best year to date with 45 points. And Chris Kunitz remains one of the most underrated forwards in the NHL. This is still a great team, but will be among the best if Crosby comes back.

NY Rangers

They nabbed the biggest free agent prize in Brad Richards now they’ll need him to produce. He is one of the best passing centers in the game. His Stanley Cup title proves that when he was with Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier in Tampa Bay. Also there was current Rangers head coach John Tortorella. He knows how good Richards can be and welcomes his playmaking skills. As will Marian Gaborik who must bounce back from a disappointing 22 goal season. With Richards aboard that problem should be solved. The amount of young scorers the Rangers have is staggering. Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan all scored 20 or more goals last season. Those goal stats should stay the same and even rise with Richards. The Rangers have a mainstay in net with Henrik Lundqvist. He plays so much that it’s crucial the Rangers give him some rest for a longer playoff run. There is still a weakness defensively for the Rangers, but youngsters Marc Staal and Michael Sauer are growing into their roles rapidly. Expect the Rangers to make a move mid-season to improve in that area.

New Jersey

It’s hard to imagine the Devils being any better than last year. They did finish the season on an incredible run, but they didn’t make any major improvements in the offseason. The only major change was naming Peter DeBoer the new head coach. It will be interesting to see what he can do with this group. Led by Ilya Kovalchuk, who had the worst season of his career. He’s better than the 60 point performance from last season. Another crucial aspect for New Jersey is the health of Zach Parise. If he is healthy the Devils are a much better offensive team. The only problem is if the Devils start out slow do they trade their best player in a contract year? Defense has been a stalwart in New Jersey for a long time, but how much longer does Martin Brodeur have left? Johan Hedberg is just as old as Brodeur and he will be the primary backup in net. Whether defenseman Henrik Tallinder can improve upon his best season in New Jersey will be something to watch for. They don’t have a lot of NHL prospects on defense, but Mark Fraser and Mark Fayne appear ready.

NY Islanders

They are amassing a lot of talent, but time is starting to run out on their chance to see that talent being unleashed on Long Island. John Tavares and Kyle Okposo lead the way. Tavares has the pieces in place, but Okposo must stay healthy for the entire lineup to be cohesive. Michael Grabner broke out for a 34 goal season last year. He and Matt Moulson are the Islanders best goal scorers going forward. Veterans Brian Rolston and Marty Reasoner will provide balance at the back end of the lines, but they can’t be counted on to produce more than their 30 point production nowadays. It’s been said so many times that goalie Rick DiPietro must stay healthy, but that might not be important this season with the emergence of Al Montoya last year. In limited time (21 games played) his .921 SV% opened some eyes in the organization. Mark Streit being healthy will improve the defense immensely. Youngsters Andrew MacDonald and Travis Hamonic had breakthrough years, but Milan Jurcina struggled not having Streit next to him.

2011 Stanley Cup Champions

You wouldn’t have any trouble finding a single storyline in this years Stanley Cup Final. Right after Game 1 you had the biting incident from Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks. No matter how you look at it he bit Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. The NHL was criticized by quite a few people both inside and outside of hockey for not suspending Burrows. Sure enough he was the hero of Game 2 as the Canucks took a commanding 2-0 series lead.

The Boston Bruins went back home for Games 3 and 4. Right from the start they lost their best offensive player up until that point, Nathan Horton to a ferocious hit by Vancouver’s Aaron Rome in the first period. Boston was none too pleased and outscored the Canucks 12-1 during those two games in the TD Garden. Now we had ourselves a series. Rome was suspended for the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals as to avoid any kind of revenge from the Bruins. The last three games were going to be very interesting.

Game 5 turned out to be the same story for the Bruins as they were shutout for the second time in Vancouver. The Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo even went after Boston’s goalie Tim Thomas saying that the lone goal Thomas gave up he would’ve stopped. He was basing that assessment on their different styles of play. Unfortunately Luongo made the mistake of giving the Bruins some bulletin board material for the last two games of the series.

Sure enough Game 6 was another blowout as the Bruins scored 4 goals in less than ten minutes on the Canucks to start the game. Three of those goals were against Luongo who was pulled after the third one. Vancouver was perplexed to say the least, but Daniel Sedin guaranteed the Canucks would bounce back and win Game 7 back in Vancouver. Puzzling thing is he actually retracted that guarantee a day later. My first thought was now you just lost the Stanley Cup.

Game 7 was all Boston right from the start. They kept playing their style of hockey and it was getting to the Canucks. The Bruins have a lot of scrappy players and one great goaltender in Tim Thomas who won the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP. With Nathan Horton out of action after Game 3, Brad Marchand stepped his game up and showed that he is going to be a great player for many years.

Captain Zdeno Chara was a big presence on defense, even playing goalie from time to time for Thomas. Veteran Mark Reechi will go out on top as a Stanley Cup champion for the third time in his career. Thomas had a rough 2009-10 season for the Bruins. He kept his chin up worked on his craft and was back in net for Boston when they needed him most for the 2010-11 season.

It goes to show you again that if you have a great goalie and play up to your standards on offense and defense you can wind up hoisting sports greatest trophy.

2011 Stanley Cup Finals Preview

Eastern Conference

3. Boston Bruins

Western Conference

1. Vancouver Canucks

As I’ve said many times about the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If you have a great goalie, you will have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. That is true for both of these teams. One was favored to win the Cup at the beginning of the season. The other was near the bottom of their conference to start, but worked their way to the top at the end.

The Bruins

Boston has that can do attitude. Zdeno Chara is a big reason why the Bruins have been so formidable throughout the playoffs. With his presence on defense he doesn’t let anyone get by him for easy goals. He is also a force in front of the net on power plays for Boston. Nathan Horton has been a consistent scorer for the Bruins. Being on the big stage isn’t getting to Horton at all. Tim Thomas, a Vezina finalist, is the reason why the Bruins are in the Stanley Cup Final. He backed up his guarantee against Tampa Bay in the conference finals. Now if he can keep Boston afloat against the most talented team in the NHL in Vancouver, the Bruins will be hoisting the Cup for the first time since 1972.

The Canucks

The Sedin twins remained quiet during the conference finals. Ryan Kesler is still being the disruptive force on the ice. They are taking advantage of their opponents mistakes. Goalie Roberto Luongo isn’t crumbling under the weight of the pressure. Everything is coming together at the right time for Vancouver. But it could all end in the blink of an eye. If Kesler isn’t playing at the same level. The Sedin twins remain quiet. Luongo gets cold feet. It could all come crashing down. One thing that will have to change is that the Sedin twins need to be more involved. They are their two best players and they must play up to their MVP like level.

Of course what this series boils down to is which goalie will win it for their team. Tim Thomas has made some iconic saves during these playoffs. Roberto Luongo was benched at one point during the semifinals, but has put that behind him. You can’t go wrong with either one right now. I like seeing one of the most iconic franchises in the NHL make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals. However I can’t go against my pre-season winner. The Cup will return to Canada.

Canucks in 6 games

NHL Stanley Cup Conference Finals Preview

Eastern Conference Finals

5. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. 3. Boston Bruins

The Lightning have had an unprecedented performance from their goalie Dwayne Roloson. It should come as no surprise since he has been to a Stanley Cup Final before. However no one has expected him at this stage of his career to do it again. Tampa Bay has Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier to thank for their run to the conference final too. Both are playing just as well as their title run in 2004. They also have Steven Stamkos at their side to help with the scoring task. Sean Bergenheim is tied with the playoff lead in goals scored with 7. If Tampa Bay can continue their success on the power play and killing penalties, they will easily be in their second Cup Final.

The Bruins will be the Lightning’s biggest challenge. Boston is a defensive force. Thanks to Tim Thomas in net they will be in a lot of low scoring games. Zdeno Chara was dominant against the Philadelphia Flyers. If he repeats that performance the Lightning will find it difficult to score against them. Patrice Bergeron will miss most of the series if not all of it due to a concussion suffered against Philadelphia. It will hurt Boston’s offense, but Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic were starting to heat up at the end of the Semifinals.

Lightning in 6 games

Western Conference Finals

2. San Jose Sharks vs. 1. Vancouver Canucks

San Jose nearly had another playoff failure against Detroit. They were too talented though and were able to get by their playoff nemesis. Patrick Marleau will have to be more involved in the conference finals though. If he’s absent for an extended period again, the Sharks won’t be able to recover. Joe Thornton is having a great playoff run. If he continues to be the catalyst on offense the Sharks will be tough to slow down. Goalie Antti Niemi will have to be better. San Jose can’t get to the Stanley Cup Finals without Niemi getting them there.

Vancouver is the most talented team this year, but they could meet their match with San Jose. The Sharks aren’t as sound on defense as other teams, but the Canucks showed signs that they couldn’t match up with the Predators big defenders. San Jose has a few themselves. The Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, will have to play up to their standards during the season. Thankfully they shouldn’t expect Ryan Kesler to slow down. He almost single handedly beat the Nashville Predators in the semifinals. Goalie Roberto Luongo bounced back nicely against Nashville. Vancouver should expect him to be even better with a Stanley Cup appearance on the line.