Vancouver got a bit of a scare being up 3-0 to Chicago and having to beat them in Game 7.  The Canucks were too much for Chicago to handle, but there is some doubt as to whether goalie Roberto Luongo can rebound from a tough end to that series.  If he gets back on track Vancouver will be tough to take to another Game 7. The Sedin twins were lights out in the first three games, but hard to find the rest of the series.  Alexandre Burrows and Ryan Kesler will need to pick up the scoring.  Kevin Bieksa was their best defensemen and best scoring threat from the blue line.
Nashville shocked many with their first playoff series win against the hottest team going into the playoffs in the Anaheim Ducks. Vezina Trophy nominee Pekka Rinne had a lot to do with the Ducks demise.  Shea Weber, Mike Fisher, Joel Ward and Jordin Tootoo each contributed at least 5 points in the six games it took to eliminate the Ducks.  If the Predators can continue that trend against the best team in the NHL this year, they will be the cinderella team of these Stanley Cup playoffs.

Canucks in 6 games

2. San Jose Sharks vs. 3. Detroit Red Wings

There was a moment where the Sharks could have had some problems against the rival Los Angeles Kings, but with that amazing comeback victory in Game 3 all was well for the San Jose.  The usual suspects, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley were productive, but it was the young guns that won it for San Jose.  Ryan Clowe, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski each contributed at least 5 points.  Clowe and Pavelski lead the team with 4 goals apiece.  Antti Niemi can bounce back from a shaky start to the playoffs the Sharks should see themselves make a repeat appearance in the conference finals.
It seemed to be too easy for the Red Wings in the quarterfinals. Phoenix was no match for them.  Detroit really only needed Pavel Datsyuk to be on his game and boy was he.  Valtteri Filppula is beginning to have a breakout playoff stretch and goalie Jimmy Howard was stellar in all four of his starts.  The challenge will be to slow down the Sharks scorers.  Norris Trophy nominee Nicklas Lidstrom along with Brian Rafalski will be tasked with that and to keep pucks deep into San Jose’s zone.  If they can do that the Red Wings will be closer to another conference title.

Red Wings in 6 games

Without further adieu a break down of each division for the upcoming NHL season.  Right down to the story lines and players to watch.

* – denotes playoffs

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins*
2. Philadelphia Flyers*
3. New Jersey Devils*
4. New York Rangers
5. New York Islanders

Breakdown: It starts at the top with the class of the division in the Pittsburgh Penguins.  When you can put out a scoring line of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz you will have a lot of scoring chances.  Pittsburgh is relatively unchanged on offense.  The same goes for their net-minder Marc-Andre Fleury.  He wasn’t bad, but did look tired down the stretch playing in 67 regular season games.  The Penguins will have a new look on the blue line.   Paul Martin (New Jersey) and Zbynek Michalek (Phoenix) were signed to long-term contracts to help off-set the loss of Sergei Gonchar (Ottawa).  Both play a ton of minutes and the Penguins are hoping that they develop a good rapport with Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang who are both excellent defensemen.
The Philadelphia Flyers, like Pittsburgh, are still intact with a few additions on defense to help keep goaltender Michael Leighton’s confidence at a high level after a spectacular playoff performance.  The Flyers have a defense first mentality and Leighton benefited from that last year.  He’s being handed the reigns this year and will be counted on having continued success for this season.  Leighton will have two new defensemen on the blue line in Sean O’Donnell (Los Angeles) and Andrej Meszaros (Tampa Bay).  Both are extremely physical players and coupled with Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen, the Flyers have a formidable defense that can handle almost any offense in the league.  Offensively the Flyers will continue to lean on captain Mike Richards to continue to score 30+ goals and the same goes for Jeff Carter.  The key will be Danny Briere and Claude Giroux capitalizing on their success in the playoffs. 
Will this be the final run for the future hall-of-famer Martin Brodeur?  Probably not.  He is a workhorse for a goaltender playing in 77 games last season, but it may be time to limit his minutes due to the early playoff exits.  The Devils have a new coach, but the same philosophy of stopping the other teams offense and capitalizing on mistakes.  That maybe harder this year with the lack of dominating blue line.  Anton Volchenkov (Ottawa) and Henrik Tallinder (Buffalo) were signed to help with New Jersey’s gameplan, but they needed to keep Paul Martin who was a great two-way defensemen.  With all the publicity of the botched then official signing of Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey now has a bona-fide star on offense for many years to come.  Jason Arnott was acquired in a trade with Nashville and will look to fortify the second line for New Jersey which was inconsistent with Patrik Elias being at center.  Elias will now move to the wing with Arnott moving in.  Zach Parise and Travis Zajac developed great chemistry and will both look to repeat their scoring output of last year.
The problem with the New York Rangers has been expectations.  The expectation is usually making the playoffs and expecting to make some noise when there.  Last year they missed the playoffs in a shootout during the last regular season game against Philadelphia.  This the Rangers are hoping that lower expectations will lead to a better season.  Marian Gaborik proved his worth with an 86 point season.  Now if only some other players could do the same i.e, Chris Drury and Sean Avery.  Both are great playmakers, but both haven’t been able to live up to the contracts they signed.  Alexander Frolov (Los Angeles) was signed to help take pressure of Gaborik to repeat what he did last year, but it shouldn’t be a problem.  Defenses know that if Gaborik is taken out of the picture that Frolov can score with the best of them and set up Gaborik as well.  Brandon Dubinsky is an up and comer for New York.  Eventually he will be the starting center, but for now fits right in on the second line.  Henrik Lundqvist was as good as advertised last year, but he did have an unusually high amount of losses (27).  That’s in large part to the inexperienced defense and the lack of consistent offense from the Rangers.  There is hope that Marc Staal and Michael Del Zotto will eventually become mainstays for the defense.  Both combined to score 17 goals and helped keep the Rangers in contention.
The one constant with the New York Islanders is their talent.  Albeit young, but still very talented.  Last years number one overall pick John Tavares had a nice rookie season, but the Islanders would like to see more playmaking out of Tavares in setting up his teammates.  Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson will be paired with Tavares for many years and the trio will be a formidable one very soon.  All three are capable of having 70+ point seasons.  The Islanders were looking to make a splash in free agency on defense, but settled on Mark Eaton (Pittsburgh) and traded for James Wisniewski (Anaheim).  Both bring needed grit to a defense that was lacking it last year.  Mark Streit is the lone offensive threat for the Islanders defense.  A 50 point season from him will be a given.  The question every year for New York is about the health of Rick DiPietro.  He will be the starting goaltender entering this season, but for how long?  Dwayne Roloson was the starter last year and will be the primary backup, but can the Islanders afford another down year in the net?  DiPietro must be right both in body and mind.  It doesn’t help a guy’s confidence when you are always hurt.  A repeat of last seasons record for New York will be a welcome sight.

Storyline: The last three Eastern Conference champions have come out of the Atlantic Division.  Will it be a fourth consecutive year?  The Penguins and Flyers are the favorites, but will New Jersey make a splash with Ilya Kovalchuk on the roster for a full season?  Can the Rangers make some noise with lowered expectations?  Will the Islanders rise out of the cellar?  This will be the most hotly contested division in the Eastern Conference and next to the Pacific Division in the NHL.

Player to watch: Ilya Kovalchuk – New Jersey Devils
He is the newest 100 million dollar player in the NHL.  With that comes a lot of expectations.  To warrant a contract of that magnitude, he will probably need to get 30+ goals and have close to an 80 point season.  The catch is he’ll have to do that for every year of the contract.  Now his impact will undoubtedly effect New Jersey’s season, but had he left for say Los Angeles it would have been monumental.  He is that good.  New Jersey is thankful to get a second chance at re-signing him and fans will expect Kovalchuk to live up to that reward.

Northeast Division
1. Boston Bruins*
2. Buffalo Sabres*
3. Montreal Canadiens*
4. Ottawa Senators
5. Toronto Maple Leafs

Breakdown: The Bruins appear to be in a transitional period right now.  Their main emphasis the past three seasons has been playing stellar defense and having a great goaltender.  They have a new goalie in Tuukka Rask who took over for Tim Thomas who lost his confidence midway through last season.  Rask was fantastic leading the league in goals against (1.97) and save percentage (.931).  However, they traded defensemen Dennis Wideman to Florida to acquire forward Nathan Horton.  Wideman was Boston’s second best defensemen next to captain Zdeno Chara.  Horton, the Bruins hope with a change of scenery can live up to his first round potential in Beantown.  As mentioned Chara will be looking to continue his dominance on the league with his stifling D and a monstrous slap shot on the power play.  Dennis Seidenberg will be asked to step up and take Dennis Wideman’s spot next to Chara.  A daunting task, but Boston is confident in his offensive ability.  With Horton, the Bruins have mainstays Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic.  Bergeron had a down year point wise, but with Horton added to the mix look for Patrice to get over 70 points.  Lucic struggled in the regular season, but awoke in the playoffs playing with Bergeron.  First round pick Tyler Seguin (2nd overall) will be given all the time in the world to get into a comfort zone in Boston.  The Bruins will take their time with him and have him no higher than on the second line.  One guy that Boston needs to get back to form is Marc Savard.  Still suffering from a concussion brought on by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke last year, Savard is being given a lot of room to recover, but the Bruins need him healthy to make a run at the Cup.
Buffalo has now risen to the top of the conference thanks in large part to their goalie Ryan Miller.  He didn’t let playing every game for the United States in the Winter Olympics put a damper on the remainder of Buffalo’s season.  The Sabres will look to have another Vezina Trophy winning performance out of Miller this season.  The pleasant surprise for Buffalo came on defense where Tyler Myers would score 48 points on his way to winning the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year).  Myers will be expected to come close to those numbers once again and will have a new line mate in Jordan Leopold who was signed from Pittsburgh.  The Sabres kept the same group of scorers to insure the team chemistry remain intact.  Derek Roy and Jason Pominville are the mainstays who will easily duplicate their combined 131 point season together.  Thomas Vanek will need to stay healthy and be as productive if not more from last year (28 goals in 71 games).  Tim Connolly is in a contract and coming off a dismal playoff series against Boston (1 point) has to redeem himself after a career year of 65 points in the regular season.  Depth won’t be a concern with the Sabres as Rob Niedermayer was signed from New Jersey to go along with Jochen Hecht and Paul Gaustad.  Young up and comers Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy (both New York natives) will be expected to contribute once again after combining for 41 points.
The Montreal Canadiens have made the playoffs the last three years.  Their win total has decreased in each of those three years.  Last year was their most successful of the playoff campaigns.  Montreal lost to Philadelphia in 5 games, but there was much jubilation for the Habs fans.  A lot subsided with the trade of goaltender Jaroslav Halak who was the focus of the Canadiens playoff run.  With Halak’s departure, Montreal hands the reigns over to the promising and still young goalie Carey Price.  He was fantastic in the 2007-08 season, but expectations were too much for him and was demoted as the backup in 2008-09.  Montreal’s fans and media put too much on him praising him as the next Patrick Roy or Ken Dryden, but he just needs to be Carey Price for Montreal to return to the playoffs again.  Price is lucky to have a good group of defensemen in front of him.  Roman Hamrlik and Andrei Markov are the veteran cogs.  Markov who suffered an ankle injury during the season and a knee injury in the playoffs is expected back no long after the season starts.  Hamrlik will hold the fort on the top line with rookie sensation P.K. Subban.  Subban had 8 points in 14 playoff games and played well over 20 minutes per game after only playing two games during the regular season.  Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek are two more valuable veterans who know how to help a young goaltender.  During their run to get to the playoffs they were carried not by Halak, but by Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta.  Both were equally spectacular in the playoffs, but they both provided the scoring punch Montreal had been lacking for some time.  Tomas Plekanec is the playmaker at center who provides excellent setup goals for both Cammalleri and Gionta.  All three are undersized, but together they are a perfect triple threat most teams would love to have. 
Ten out of the last eleven years the Ottawa Senators have finished the season with 94 points or more in the standings.  It’s hard to believe since there has been so much turnover on the roster.  Especially at goaltender.  Brian Elliott is officially the number goalie for the Senators.  He isn’t the flashiest net minder, but does a good job when it’s not the playoffs.  Pascal Leclaire replaced Elliott three times in the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins last year.  That can’t happen if Elliott is to be their mainstay in net.  Ottawa is still captained by Daniel Alfredsson whose age is starting show as he scored only 71 points last year.  Alex Kovalev was sorely missed for the playoffs due to a knee injury.  Jason Spezza still continues to be rumored in trade discussions around the league, but Ottawa seemed to be impressed with the way he finished last season by scoring 38 points in the final 30 games.  Milan Michalek and Mike Fisher must be able to produce knowing that Alfredsson and Kovalev could go down to injuries during the season.  Both will need to fill bigger roles going into a down year.  Sergei Gonchar will pay huge dividends for the Senators offense, especially on the power play, but there isn’t much after Gonchar should he go down to injury.  Chris Phillips is still the crafty blue liner, but he is beginning to show his age (32) in some areas of his game.  For Ottawa to keep pace with the rest of their division and like with most teams, health is the most important key to their success.
Toronto has made some nice and smart moves under the Brian Burke regime.  Getting a legitimate 30 goal scorer in Phil Kessel was good.  Trading for a veteran Stanley Cup winning goaltender in Jean-Sebastien Giguere was smart.  The only problem is what about the players that do the little things to help you win?  Kessel will be flanked by Tyler Bozak and Kris Versteeg who was acquired from Chicago in a trade.  Versteeg is feisty and always aggressive to the puck.  Exactly the kind of guy Kessel needs to relieve pressure off him.  Bozak showed excellent playmaking skills in just 37 games by scoring 27 points.  Also added to the top two lines was Colby Armstrong who brings needed toughness which he’s shown in his career in Pittsburgh and Atlanta.  The one area that the Maple Leafs have seemed to have successfully revamped is on the blue line.  Dion Phaneuf is slowly changing the attitude on and off the ice.  He immediately made an impact once he was acquired from Calgary last year and Toronto is happy to have made that trade.  Tomas Kaberle wasn’t traded for the second consecutive off-season and there is hope that with the changing attitude in the locker room that he will be a model citizen and continue to perform on the ice with Phaneuf.  With Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek at the back end the Maple Leafs have one of the best blue lines in the league.  Depth will not be an issue here.  J.S. Giguere and backup Jonas Gustavsson in a full season together will form a nice 1-2 combination.  Giguere will get most of the playing time, but Gustavsson is being groomed as the eventual successor for the Maple Leafs.

Storyline: There are a lot of changes in this division.  Boston added some new weapons on offense (Horton and Seguin), but gave up a key defensemen to acquire one.  Buffalo remained mostly intact which could be a problem.  Montreal traded away their playoff hero in goalie Jaroslav Halak (St. Louis).  Now even more pressure will be put on Carey Price to succeed.  Ottawa signed Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh), but still don’t have a viable goaltender.  Brian Burke might be kicking himself in Toronto if Tyler Seguin turns out to be a one of a kind player in Boston and Phil Kessel doesn’t live up to expectations for the Maple Leafs.

Player to watch: Ryan Miller – Buffalo Sabres
He had the entire USA Hockey fan base on his side during the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  He now has the entire community of Buffalo, New York hoping he can repeat his Vezina Trophy winning season of 2009-10.  Furthermore he is now considered to be the best goalie in the NHL today.  With a 41-18 record, 2.22 goals against average and nearly a .930 save percentage why wouldn’t you want to see what this guy can do after last season?

Southeast Division
1. Washington Capitals*
2. Tampa Bay Lightning*
3. Carolina Hurricanes
4. Atlanta Thrashers
5. Florida Panthers

Breakdown: The level of disappointment couldn’t have been any lower after the Capitals were shown the door by the Montreal Canadiens in the quarterfinals last year.  Washington rather than totally revamp their roster have decided to stay pat.  Alex Ovechkin is still considered by most to be the best player in the game.  You can count on another 100 point season for Ovie.  Fellow countryman Alexander Semin seems poised to surpass 100 points this season and with Nicklas Backstrom entrenched in the middle, the Capitals have arguably the best trio in the league.  Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble will be nice complements on the second line.  Both can easily rack up 30 goals during the regular season.  Tomas Fleischmann was the breakout star on a deep talented scoring front in D.C.  Mike Green is in a class of his own as the best offensive defensemen in the NHL.  Him and Jeff Schultz form the best young duo in the league.  Semyon Varlamov will be given every opportunity to be the top goaltender.  It is officially his time to show that the Capitals are not just an offensive team, but can stop the other teams offense too.
Tampa Bay had the most intriguing off-season.  Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman was hired as the general manager and brought in Guy Boucher to be the head coach.  At age 38 Boucher is handed the reigns of a once dysfunctional franchise.  What the Lightning need to get back to is an emphasis on playing defense.  They lost some of that by trading away Andrej Meszaros and Matt Walker to Philadelphia, but brought in Pavel Kubina (Atlanta) and Brett Clark (Colorado).  Both are tough gritty veterans who can rack up 20 minutes of ice time per game.  Mattias Ohlund and Victor Hedman formed a great chemistry with each other.  Both will be expected to improve on their 33 point combined output from a year ago.  Goalie Mike Smith showed that he isn’t ready to be the number one goaltender and that prompted Tampa Bay to sign Dan Ellis (Montreal).  Ellis isn’t the best option, but his goals against average was under 3.00 last year (2.69).  Either way the Lightning need one to step up if they want to earn a playoff spot.  Tampa Bay’s offense received a needed jolt with the trade of Simon Gagne from Philadelphia.  Gagne was injured for most of last year, but was a factor in the Flyers run to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Putting him into an offense that has Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone and Steve Downie gives the Lightning a formidable offensive attack.
Carolina has had a bit of rotten luck since they won the Stanley Cup in 2006.  Almost the entire roster has moved on from that championship team.  What’s left is a team that will rely on their waiver pickups from last year and an infusion of youth to go along with their established stars.  Cam Ward will need to get back to being his Conn Smythe winning self from the start or this will be a long year.  Michael Leighton was a waiver pickup for the Flyers and the rest is history.  Tim Gleason and Joni Pitkanen anchor one of the youngest defenses in the league.  Both will be counted on to once again put up consistent output on both sides and eat up as much ice time as possible.  The real question is whether Tuomo Ruutu and Jussi Jokinen can repeat their amazing performances last season?  Jokinen led the team in goals and Ruutu was nearly unstoppable in the 54 games he played after being acquired on waivers.  Eric Staal will be the focus of the offense and his playmaking ability will be put on display with first round pick Jeff Skinner added to the mix.  Widely considered an early favorite for the Calder Trophy, he scored 50 goals last year in the OHL.
The Atlanta Thrashers purged the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks roster by acquiring five of their players.  Four of them played intricate parts in helping Chicago win the title.  Atlanta hopes that making this move it will help them go in the right direction towards a spot in the playoffs.  The Thrashers decided that they needed a change at goalie and signed Chris Mason (St. Louis).  One year removed from leading the Blues to a last minute playoff run he faded down the stretch last year, but Atlanta thinks there is still plenty left in his tank.  Zach Bogosian and Tobias Enstrom are the top pair on the blue line and with the added energy Brent Sopel (Chicago) to the mix the Thrashers defense is better than a year ago.  Big bad Dustin Byfuglien (Chicago) has a new home and his impact will be seen immediately.  Most likely he will be on the top line with Nik Antropov and Niclas Bergfors.  Both were pleasant surprises and the Thrashers will need them both to be at their best in a tough division.  Evander Kane will need to be more aggressive this season.  He’s shown a lot of promise and Atlanta doesn’t want to make him think he has to replace Ilya Kovalchuk, but he will need to improve on his 26 point rookie campaign.
Florida traded away one of their best offensive players in Nathan Horton (Boston) and one of their best defensemen in Keith Ballard (Vancouver).  What they got in return they hope will add to their lack of depth last season.  Dennis Wideman (Boston) will be put on the top line on defense.  He brings a needed piece of offense to a unit that had to part ways with Jay Bouwmeester last off-season.  Tomas Vokoun is part of the reason why the Panthers haven’t had to do too much with the blue line.  He is a consistent producer and his win-loss numbers are misleading because he plays for Florida.  The Panthers offense will revolve around David Booth.  When healthy he is a prolific scorer and when paired with Stephen Weiss, both their games complement each other well.  Michael Frolik and Rostislav Olesz will need to do more than what they are currently if they want to justify their large salaries.

Storyline: Washington has won three straight division titles.  The closest any team in the division has come to passing Washington was Carolina back in the 2007-08 season when they finished two points behind them.  Could this year be similar?  Hindsight says no, but there is a talented group in Tampa Bay that might think they can take on the big boys of the Southeast.  Carolina might surprise some teams too, but as long as the Capitals can get 50+ wins for the third consecutive year, they will be well ahead of their division rivals.

Player to watch: Vincent Lecavalier – Tampa Bay Lightning
He has been a great player for most of his tenure in Tampa Bay.  He captained the Lightning to their only Stanley Cup victory in 2004.  But in the last two seasons there has been rumblings in the front office that they were looking to deal their captain.  It seems to have affected his play.  From 2006-2008 he totaled 200 points.  From 2008-2010 he totaled 137 points.  I can’t point to injury because he’s played in at least 77 games those four years.  With new ownership and a new general manager in place, maybe Lecavalier won’t have to worry about being shopped and can focus on playing hockey.

Western Conference

Central Division
1. Detroit Red Wings*
2. Chicago Blackhawks*
3. Nashville Predators*
4. St. Louis Blues
5. Columbus Blue Jackets

Breakdown: If Detroit wants to return to contention in the West.  They will need a healthy Johan Franzen to do that.  He has been a scoring machine the last three seasons and the Red Wings will need him to return to form this year.  Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will continue to lead the top line.  Both had average years by their standards last year.  Look for both to have more than 80 points this season.  Todd Bertuzzi was a breath of fresh air when the injuries began to pile up.  Detroit can still count on him to provide some scoring should a player or two go down this year.  Tomas Holmstrom is a consistent 25 goal scorer for the Red Wings.  He also is capable of taking out the opponents best offensive player at the same time.  Jiri Hudler was signed back from the KHL in Russia.  Hudler was an integral part of back to back Stanley Cup Finals appearances in 2008-09.  Mike Modano was signed to provide depth and an added scoring threat on the back end of the scoring line.  Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are the best veteran duo on any blue line.  Both have tremendous scoring ability and do well on the penalty kill.  Their playoff experience is invaluable time and time again.  Detroit will need a healthy Niklas Kronwall if they are to make a deep run this year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Goalie Jimmy Howard solidified himself as the goaltender for the Red Wings last year.  Some couldn’t believe what he was doing as a rookie for the defending Western Conference champions last year.  They will need more of the same this year from Howard.
Chicago has lost a lot of their depth, but their core is still intact.  Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will still be around for a long time in Chicago.  All three are capable of putting up some amazing scoring totals and the Blackhawks will need that from them this year.  Troy Brouwer will be getting more exposure on the top two scoring lines this year.  He post 40 points last year and is one tough guy to contain.  Defensively Chicago is set with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook anchoring their top line.  Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith is one of the best two way defensemen in the game today and Seabrook has slowly turned into one of the best passers in the game.  Brian Campbell can put up some impressive offensive numbers in a healthy season and Chicago was happy to retain Niklas Hjalmarsson after his tremendous showing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  The ongoing problem in Chicago will be with the goaltender.  Marty Turco was signed to replace Antti Niemi.  Will Turco or Cristobal Huet be able to recreate the magic that Niemi started last season?  Only time will tell.
The Nashville Predators have been consistently one of the most undervalued and overlooked teams in the NHL.  In their 12 years of existence they’ve only had one head coach (Barry Trotz).  And they have had a vast array of players come through and they’ve been able to replace most without losing a step.  They lost defensemen Dan Hamhuis (Vancouver) to free agency.  They still have Ryan Suter and Shea Weber to hold down the blue line for the foreseeable future.  Suter is an underrated setup man and Weber should be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy this year and for many more.  Goalie Pekka Rinne was a force down the stretch for the Predators.  Thanks to him they gave the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks a run for their money in the quarterfinals.  Rinne will be counted on to continue what he started last season for Nashville to contend again.  They signed Matthew Lombardi (Phoenix) to help offset Jason Arnott’s departure to New Jersey.  Lombardi is a great playmaker that should help setup more scoring chances for Martin Erat and Steve Sullivan.  Both Erat and Sullivan are capable of scoring 30 goals or more, but they will need a guy like Lombardi to set them up.  Veterans David Legwand and J.P. Dumont will need to do a little more than their usual 30-40 point seasons.  Patric Hornqvist burst onto the scene with a 30 goal season.  The Predators think they have in Hornqvist what New Jersey has with Zach Parise.  He’s that good.
St. Louis struggled to live up to expectations of making the playoffs last season after they surprised everyone the year before by getting in as the sixth seed in the West.  They made a change with their head coach last year during the season and they hope that Davis Payne can continue the upward trend going into this season.  It starts with their new goalie Jaroslav Halak (Montreal).  He was acquired for the sole reason of getting the Blues into the postseason and recreating what he did last year for Montreal.  A tall order for Halak, but he is more than capable of delivering.  His Winter Olympic performance for Slovakia was amazing as well getting them into the Bronze Medal game against Finland.  He will have some great defenders in front of him in St. Louis.  Erik Johnson is looking like a sure fire Norris Trophy candidate with every game he plays.  The Blues have a good chemistry in place with Johnson and Barret Jackman together.  Jackman struggled last year, but should have a bounce back year with Halak backing him up.  St. Louis doesn’t have the best offense, but will need more from David Backes and Brad Boyes.  Both have 60 point potential and they need to produce those kinds of numbers for the Blues to contend.  Andy McDonal and Alex Steen provided the offense last year and will bee counted on to repeat those numbers again.  T.J. Oshie and David Perron are the future for St. Louis and their time is now to step into the spotlight and produce.
Columbus has some great players, but it’s hard for it to all come together when the high expectations can affect those players.  Mainly goalie Steve Mason.  His sophomore slump can be attributed to pressure and a struggling defense.  Mason will need to rebound if the Blue Jackets are to get back into contention.  Columbus will need help from Mike Commodore.  A big physical defender he will need to push away the opponents from the front of the net in order for Mason to make the save.  Health will be a big concern for Commodore and he must be up to speed to help.  Fedor Tyutin and Kris Russell will lead the offensive attack from the blue line.  Both are capable of scoring 40 points and both will need to contribute more this year to get the offense going.  The talent is there for the offense to score.  They have Rick Nash leading the way.  One of the most prolific goal scorers today, he put on display how great he is during the Winter Olympics last year.  Columbus will need Kristian Huselius, R.J. Umberger, Antoine Vermette and Jakub Voracek to help ease the burden of Nash to score 50 goals this year.  Vermette and Umberger are great playmakers and must take the pressure off Nash to get into position to attack.  Samuel Pahlsson has been a winner everywhere he’s been and he can clear the way for the scorers to get into position.  Look for Pahlsson to bounce back in a big way.

Storyline: It’s not about the division anymore with Detroit and Chicago.  This is about who will take the conference.  Detroit was in the 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, winning one.  Chicago won their first Stanley Cup since 1961 last year.  They both feel they have good enough teams to make a run at the Cup this year.  It should be a hotly contested race as these two have never liked each other, but it should be especially contested now that they have both recently won a title.

Player to watch: Jaroslav Halak – St. Louis Blues
He put in a magnificent performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year almost single handedly carrying the Montreal Canadiens to playoff upsets of the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins in succession.  He ran out of gas in the Conference Finals, but everyone now knows of Halak’s magical run.  St. Louis is hoping for some of that magic to rub off on them this season.  The Blues surprised everyone in 2009 by sneaking into the playoffs, but didn’t sneak up on anyone last year.  Part of that was a problem in net and now they have fixed that with Halak.  How he will fare with an entire franchise depending on him will be interesting to see.

Northwest Division
1. Vancouver Canucks*
2. Colorado Avalanche*
3. Calgary Flames
4. Edmonton Oilers
5. Minnesota Wild

Breakdown: The plan in Vancouver this year is to have goaltender Roberto Luongo get as much rest as possible.  Last year playing in 68 games plus the Winter Olympics for team Canada really took a toll on Luongo in the semifinals against the Chicago Blackhawks.  He probably won’t like it, but it’s important that the Canucks keep their best goalie fresh for a run at the Stanley Cup.  The Canucks have a strong blue line in place going into this season.  They improved their depth with the acquisitions of Dan Hamhuis (Nashville) and Keith Ballard (Florida).  Both are bruisers and give the Canucks excellent penalty killers.  Established blue liners Christian Ehrhoff and Alexander Edler are the offensive stalwarts for Vancouver.  Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo provide some added punch and steady veteran leadership on the back end.  Six players scored 25 goals or more for Vancouver last year.  They all should do the same this year.  The Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel are primed for another 85+ point season.  Mikael Samuelsson was a steal last year in free agency and produced a 30 goal season.  Mason Raymond burst onto the scene matching Samuelsson’s production in points (53).  Ryan Kesler was a constant force and had a 75 point season.  Alex Burrows led the team in goals (35) and provided a toughness factor with Kesler the Canucks have lacked for many years.  Manny Maholtra (San Jose) was the only major addition on offense.  He’s a stable playmaker for the third line and on penalty killing situations.
The Avalanche were the Cinderella story of the NHL last year.  From the bottom of the pack, they vaulted right to the playoffs clinching the last seed in the West.  Goalie Craig Anderson was the catalyst of the resurgence last year.  His 2.64 goals against average was superb and was tied for third in the league with 7 shutouts.  He will have to prove that last year was no fluke if the Avalanche are to repeat that magic.  Colorado doesn’t have a lot of depth on the blue line, but Kyle Quincey and John-Michael Liles are a good pair.  Both scored 6 goals and were 1-2 in points for defensemen.  Veteran Adam Foote is still a tough defender and will look to be more involved in setting up the Avs attack.  Matt Duchene had a fabulous rookie season.  He and Paul Stastny were the leaders of the team.  Stastny proved that he belongs in the league with a 79 point season.  Duchene will look to equal Stastny’s production and perhaps approach the 100 point plateau.  Veteran Milan Hejduk is a consistent 20 goal scorer and will provide a steady attack when the youngsters struggle.  Chris Stewart was overlooked for much of last year, but his 64 point season is a sign that he will only get better being on the top line with Stastny.  Peter Mueller who was acquired last year from Phoenix will have to recapture his potential when he first appeared in the NHL.  He has 60+ point potential at age 22.
The Calgary Flames have been a defensive team for a long time.  That isn’t looking to change anytime soon.  Jay Bouwmeester struggled in his first season in Calgary.  The Flames expect him to provide at least 40 points a season for the money their paying him.  Robyn Regehr still has some life left in his skates, but his best years are starting to go away from him.  Mark Giordano was a breathe of fresh air with his 30 point season.  He will look to continue that production should the Flames not get much from anyone else on the blue line.  Miikka Kiprusoff will have to once again salvage a depleted blue line.  He continues to put up impressive numbers, but how much longer can he keep it up is anyone’s guess.  Jarome Iginla didn’t think that the Flames only major acquisitions on offense would be Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay.  Both are good players, but not game changers.  Ales Kotalik and Matt Stajan both acquired in trades last season will have to prove their worth after having rough stretches with their former clubs.  Iginla’s only support came from Rene Bourque and his 58 points.  He and Iginla will have to start the offense off right with Daymond Langkow in the middle on the top line.  Niklas Hagman will have to improve on his 44 point season with Toronto and Calgary from a year ago.  He’s too talented to not get 60 points on an offensively starved team.
It’s the start of something new and hopefully a successful season.  Not in the sense that they make the playoffs, but that they finish out of the cellar.  Number one pick Taylor Hall will be leading that charge.  His potential is unlimited and the Oilers are expecting big things from him in the very near future.  Dustin Penner was the leading scorer last year (63).  He will carry the load again this year, but Edmonton will need more help from Gilbert Brule and Sam Gagner.  Both are more than capable of scoring more than 50 points this season.  The Oilers can’t count on Nikolai Khabibulin to carry them.  He will need the Oilers to score more to offset the problems Edmonton has had in net.  Kurtis Foster (Tampa Bay) and Jim Vandermeer (Phoenix) were acquired to bolster their depth on the blue line.  Foster is a big presence that helps both on defense and setting up the offense, especially on the power play.  Vandermeer can score with the best of them, but makes his name for his puck handling skills and the Oilers desperately need a good puck handler.  Ryan Whitney was acquired last year in a trade with Anaheim and he is potentially what Pronger is for Philadelphia.  A big body who can stop the offense and score big goals on the power play.
The Minnesota Wild are a steady decline in the win column the last three seasons.  They made major changes last year and so far it hasn’t panned out.  Their big free agent acquisition Martin Havlat was a major disappointment with only 54 points in 73 games played.  He will have to turn that around quickly to justify the contract they gave him.  Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu are great playmakers, but even they’re seasons were a bit off their potential.  Antti Miettinen will need to get closer to the 30 goal plateau to help take the pressure off Koivu, Brunette and Havlat.  Matt Cullen (Ottawa) was the only significant addition.  Cullen is a playmaker who can turn an average line into a scoring threat.  Niklas Backstrom struggled mightily last year and they will need him to return to form in a hurry if they want to contend this year.  Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns will have to do better this year on the blue line.  Both need to get their production into the 40 point range to have a successful defense for Backstrom.  Cam Barker and Nick Schultz are two middle of the road blue liners that must provide support to Zidlicky and Burns.  If they have cohesiveness on the blue line it will go a long way in getting the Wild on the right track into the playoffs.

Storyline: Does anyone else really have a chance at chasing Vancouver?  Sure, only for the first two months, maybe.  Vancouver has the deepest team entering this season and the only team in the Northwest division that could catch them is still a few years away from competing for a Stanley Cup themselves.  Colorado is very good, but they don’t have the kind of depth that Vancouver can throw at them.  Just ask the Los Angeles Kings after they fizzled in the Quarterfinals last year after tying the series at 2 games.  There are only three teams that could hang with Vancouver and they won’t have to worry about them until the playoffs.

Player to watch: Taylor Hall – Edmonton Oilers
Like with any number one overall pick, he will have everyone looking at him with a microscope.  Sure he isn’t expected to come in and make a difference right away, but he will be expected to score at least 40 points this season.  Oilers fans would be wise not to expect the next Wayne Gretzky or even Mark Messier out of Hall, but he is no doubt the best player to turn the franchise around.

Pacific Division
1. San Jose Sharks*
2. Los Angeles Kings*
3. Phoenix Coyotes*
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Dallas Stars

Breakdown: San Jose has had a pretty easy ride in the Pacific Division.  They will need to be at full strength to thwart the rest of the division.  Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley were exactly what the Sharks needed last year on their way to the conference finals.  Getting another 80 point season out of them and Joe Thornton will go a long way in getting the Sharks back into the playoffs.  Ryane Clowe, Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi are reaching their potential and it came at the right time during the playoffs.  The Sharks have a dynamic offense that can only be matched by a handful of teams in the Western Conference.  Rob Blake has retired and their toughness on the blue line might drop a little, but as long as Dan Boyle can continue to produce near 60 point seasons the Sharks will be all right.  It will be time for Douglas Murray to step in and replace what Blake brought night in and night out.  San Jose signed Antero Nittymaki (Tampa Bay) with the thinking that he will be the replacement for Evgeni Nabokov who left for the KHL.  Nittymaki is a servicable goalie, but when Antti Niemi was let go from Chicago the Sharks jumped at the chance to sign the goalie that shut them down in the conference finals.  Niemi and Nittymaki together are probably better than Nabokov, but this is the first time since 2000 that the Sharks didn’t have Nabokov as their number one goaltender.
The Kings are primed to make a run at the conference title this year.  They basically have the same team intact both offensively and defensively.  Their goaltender Jonathan Quick might have some competition with Jonathan Bernier waiting in the wings.  Quick was slowed down the stretch due to playing in 72 games.  Bernier is the favorite to eventually be the number one goaltender, but the Kings will need Quick to return to form once again to keep them in games when the offense struggles.  Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson are the best young tandem in the NHL.  Johnson still has room for improvement and Doughty will be a Norris Trophy finalist for the next 15 season at least.  Los Angeles doesn’t have the greatest offense around, but as long as Anze Kopitar can score 80+ points the Kings will have a formidable starting point.  Dustin Brown and Ryan Smyth will need to get towards 60 points this season to take pressure off Kopitar.  Especially Smyth who managed 53 points in 67 games played.  He will have to stay healthy.  The dark horse is Wayne Simmonds who was a gritty player last year.  His 116 penalty minutes led the team and also tallied 40 points in 78 games.  Another great year from Simmonds will go a long way.
The amazing 50 win season last year from the Phoenix Coyotes was something of a miracle.  No one had them in contention last year with the turmoil of finding a new owner and the threat of the franchise being relocated.  That has all gone to the wayside as the Coyotes look to continue their amazing turnaround.  Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had a career year with 42 wins, 8 shutouts and a .920 save percentage.  Another 40 win season from Bryzgalov will help Phoenix make another playoff run.  Ed Jovanovski will have to be more involved now that Zbynek Michalek (Pittsburgh) left via free agency.  If Jovanovski can get to 40 points this season and Keith Yandle can repeat his performance from a year ago, the Coyotes blue line will be just fine.  Phoenix’s captain Shane Doan took a step back last year and let the younger players step into bigger roles in the offense.  Doan is still the main focal point and can tally 60 points this season easily.  Lee Stempniak was a pleasant surprise leading the team in goals scored (28) after being acquired from Toronto.  In a full season in Phoenix he could get close to 40 goals.  Radim Vrbata and Wojtek Wolski were productive and both should approach the 60 point plateau.  Ray Whitney (Carolina) is another veteran that will pair with Doan to give the Coyotes a safety net should some of their younger players struggle.
Anaheim was expected to make the playoffs last year with the talented offense they have.  Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as the defense without Chris Pronger couldn’t match the offense’s output.  This year captain Scott Niedermayer has retired and the only established veteran on the blue line is Lubomir Visnovsky.  He was acquired from Edmonton last year and showed his offensive potential with a 15 goal season.  The Ducks signed Andy Sutton (Ottawa), Toni Lydman (Buffalo) and Danny Syvret (Philadelphia) to help solidify the blue line.  Prospects Luca Sbisa and Cam Fowler will get a chance this year to show their potential on the blue line.  Jonas Hiller was great considering the struggles on defense.  With an improved defense Hiller could get closer to 35 wins or more this year.  Considering his goals against average (2.73) his save percentage was great at .918.  Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan are the probably the best trio in the league.  A healthy Getzlaf will help tremendously with the rest of the offense.  Ryan and Perry will score 30+ goals no matter what happens, but the rest of the team needs Getzlaf at full strength.  Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne are together again and they both at their age had great seasons.  Joffrey Lupul will need to be healthy to help give them scoring at the back end of the lines.
Dallas didn’t have a terrible team last year, but they didn’t mesh as a team for much of the year.  Their new starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen will take over for the departed Marty Turco (Chicago).  Lehtonen has always had great potential, but has never lived up to it.  Trevor Daley and Stephane Robidas will lead the blue line after having the most productive seasons out of anyone on the defense.  Daley will have to be more of a setup man on offense and Robidas will have to match or improve on his 41 point season.  Brad Richards is officially the face of the franchise with the departure of Mike Modano (Detroit).  Richards will be paired with Loui Eriksson and James Neal both of whom combined for 56 goals.  That line is the key to the Stars season as all three need to be as productive as last season.  Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro both need to score at least 60 points to offset the lack of offense on the third and fourth lines.  Jamie Benn had a breakout season with 41 points and the Stars expect him to capitalize on that early success this season as well.

Storyline: I don’t I’ve ever seen a division in any sport where you could see all of them making the playoffs.  That’s what I see in the Pacific.  Three of them made the playoffs last year.  Anaheim was 11 points out and Dallas 12 points out of the final playoff spot.  Not to say that it will happen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.  Colorado might falter and Nashville might hit a wall.  The Ducks to me don’t have enough on defense to help goalie Jonas Hiller and the Stars don’t have a great goalie to make up for their lack of great defenders.  This does make for an interesting race in the Western Conference.

Player to watch: Antti Niemi – San Jose Sharks
Surprisingly he was shown the door in Chicago after he led the Blackhawks in net to the Stanley Cup title.  The capped strapped Hawks decided not to pay Niemi and he found a home quickly in San Jose.  The Sharks let their longtime goaltender Evgeni Nabokov leave via free agency and he signed in the KHL in Russia.  Niemi was inconsistent for most of the regular season in Chicago, but found a groove at the right time during the playoffs.  San Jose finally reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 2004, but were swept by Niemi and the Blackhawks.  The Sharks hope Niemi will be able to show Chicago their mistake in this years playoffs.

Eastern Conference Finals
Pittsburgh over Philadelphia

Western Conference Finals
Vancouver over Detroit

Stanley Cup Finals
Vancouver over Pittsburgh

Behold the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.  One of the “Original Six” will hoist a banner in the rafters of the United Center.  For too long they have stared at the 1961 banner and were constantly reminded of what the Chicago Bulls did in the 1990s.  Now the tide has turned.  There is already talk of a dynasty brewing in the Windy City.  Is that premature to think that?

Not really.  The core talent will be around for the foreseeable future.  Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien and Antti Niemi will be around.  Every single one contributed to their Stanley Cup run throughout the playoffs. 

Toews was aggressive, physical and made key assists.  Kane made timely goals, including the game winner to win the Cup.  Hossa scored the game winning goal against Nashville in overtime in Game 5 to give them momentum to win that series.  Hossa’s constant pressure since took pressure off Toews and Kane to play their game.  Keith and Seabrook were sound defensively.  Deflecting shots and helping Niemi numerous times.  Sharp was a great veteran presence that a lot of teams covet, especially Chicago.  They wouldn’t have gotten here without him.  Byfuglien destroyed Vancouver and San Jose.  His size was a problem for the Flyers and Chris Pronger specifically throughout the Finals.  Niemi turned a weakness into a strength.  No longer will Chicago have to worry about who’s in net for them.  It’s Antti Niemi’s job. 

The Salary Cap age in the NHL will make it difficult to create a dynasty the likes of which the league hasn’t seen since the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders of the 1980s.  Also the parody in the league is up there with the NFL.  Every team has a chance.  Just look at the Montreal Canadiens who knocked out the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins in succession.  Philadelphia came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Boston Bruins in route to beating the Canadiens to play for the Stanley Cup.  The Flyers took the Blackhawks to six games and it could have easily been seven. 

Those two factors will make it difficult to say it’s a dynasty.  So many other things could happen, but for now the city of Chicago has a championship.  The drought ended for the Blackhawks.  Just before it hit the 50 year mark mind you.  The only thing left now is to wonder what next?  They have the offense, defense, goalie and coaching staff in place to go after it again.  But like with the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins the last two years, it probably won’t happen that way again.  It’s very rare to see the same teams, even the defending champions make an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals again. 

Celebrate the championship as long as you’d like Chicago.  You earned it and deserve it.  They were the best team and weren’t given it by any means thanks to the play of the Philadelphia Flyers.  A colleague of mine said, “Chicago is a Hockey Town again.”  Very true.  The White Sox and Cubs are going no where.  “Da Bears” stink.  The Bulls are praying to get LeBron James.  Chicago is wearing those awesome Blackhawks jerseys proudly once again.