With NHL training camps less than a month away, Mike Toth continues his pre pre-season prognostications.
Judging from the feedback to my first Pass the Puck column, lots of folks have a hankerin' for hockey.
So with NHL training camps less than a month away, let's continue with our series of pre pre-season prognostications.
1. Suffering from a serious case of Stanley Cup burnout and a pop gun offence, the Anaheim Ducks are hoping Bobby Ryan can provide some youthful enthusiasm while putting some pucks in the net. In junior, Ryan had a man's body that gave him a huge advantage against smaller opponents. But after spending the last few years playing against men in the minors, he's finally ready to make a permanent leap to the NHL. Ryan will be forever known as the answer to a trivia question: Who was selected with the second pick of the 2005 draft behind Sidney Crosby?
However, big Bobby definitely has the physical tools to start carving out his own name.
2. After getting a raw deal by being fired in both Montreal and New Jersey, Claude Julien proved once again that he's one of the most underrated coaches in the game. Inheriting a Bruins team that seemed to have little hope, Julien introduced a tight defensive system that gave Boston its first playoff spot since 2004. Now about that offence. Desperately searching for scoring, the Bruins brought in Michael Ryder from Montreal. He had just 14 goals last year but Boston is confident about a return to the 30-goal level he's displayed in the past, and once again Julien is the key. This marks the fourth time he's had the chance to coach Ryder and it's always been a beautiful relationship that includes a trip to the Calder Cup final with Hamilton of the AHL. The bottom line? Look for Ryder to regain his form as Julien continues to pull all the right strings.
3. In the bad old days, it was always easy to get a ticket to see the Sabres. Heck, I remember going to Buffalo to watch the hometown heroes play their state rivals, the New York Rangers, inside a building that was half-empty. Then the Sabres assembled some exciting young talent and just like that the rink was packed to the rafters. But if the team isn't careful, that half-empty arena could beckon once again. Not willing to ante up, the Sabres have watched stars such as Daniel Briere, Brian Campbell and Chris Drury leave town, causing the team to miss the playoffs last year. Meanwhile, despite the addition of veteran Craig Rivet, Buffalo still features one of the softest defences in the league and a softening of fan support seems to be in the Sabres future if they miss the post-season dance this time around.
4. The Columbus Blue Jackets' losses, and there have been lots of them, have turned out to be Sportsnet's gain. Fired as GM in April of '07, Doug MacLean has moved on to become an integral part of the Hockeycentral team. One of the reasons MacLean went from the owner's box to the press box was the poor performance of former first rounder Gilbert Brule, who was traded to Edmonton in July. Playing for the Jackets' AHL farm club during last spring's playoffs, Brule looked slow and unconfident while notching just two goals in 13 games. So while Brule tries to save his career in Edmonton and Columbus continues the elusive search for its first playoff spot, MacLean will be yukking it up with Nick Kypreos and the boys inside the cozy confines of the Hockeycentral studio.
5. In 1996, MacLean coached the Panthers to the Stanley Cup final. Since then, however, it hasn't been a whole lot of fun in Florida and the franchise has brought in 40-year-old Peter DeBoer to provide a fresh outlook. There were those who believed DeBoer would be a good fit in Toronto, but he was bright enough to realize that a much more serene hockey environment would be the perfect place to cut his NHL teeth. While coaching in the OHL, DeBoer worked with current Panthers Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell. He's also coached against the likes of Nathan Horton and Anthony Stewart and that sense of familiarity will help DeBoer turn the Panthers into one of the year's biggest surprises.
6. From the moment he first stepped on the ice with the Guelph Storm as a 16-year-old, defenceman Drew Doughty was a can't-miss prospect. Doughty has already signed an entry-level contract with the L.A. Kings and is a no-brainer to be in their opening night line-up. The Kings are still a few years away from contending for a playoff spot but as their young talent matures, they're destined to become a dangerous team. Speaking of maturing, say hello to Patrick O'Sullivan. Playing in the OHL a few years ago, O'Sullivan had all kinds of talent but he also had the habit of losing his focus. One leather-lunged fan at St. Michael's Arena in Toronto, for example, would often get under the young man's skin and O'Sullivan could sometimes be spotted jawing with the guy right in the middle of a game. Last year, however, O'Sullivan put it all together, scoring 22 goals while taking care of business in the defensive zone, too.
7. Like the Kings, the Phoenix Coyotes are an up-and-coming club to keep an eye on. Most people are surprised Wayne Gretzky has lasted as a coach, but it's obvious he has a real passion for working with kids. In Peter Mueller, Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Turris, the Coyotes have some top prospects. However, The Great One has to make sure his own competitive fire doesn't burn out of control. Sure, Gretzky is a class act, but he also has the reputation for being a whiner and some of his theatrics behind the bench rub referees the wrong way. Meanwhile, thanks to his days of being protected in Edmonton by Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley, Gretzky seems to have a fetish for physical players. Daniel Carcillo played only 57 games for the Coyotes last year, but his 324 penalty minutes still led the NHL and now the Coyotes have added Brian McGrattan, a scrapper who hasn't scored a goal in two years. So, forget about calling this team the Coyotes; perhaps they should be labeled as "Gretzky's Goons."
8. With all the garbage I've been eating this summer, I shouldn't be trusting my gut. But something tells me the Pittsburgh Penguins are headed for a huge fall. The darlings of the NHL last year when they gave Detroit all it could handle in the Cup final, the Pens go into the new season missing some key pieces to the puzzle. Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone are gone and key defenceman Ryan Whitney will miss the first three to five months with a knee problem. To make up for their missing offence, the Penguins are counting on getting some big minutes and big goals out of the mercurial Miroslav Satan, who lit the lamp just 15 times for the Islanders last season. Sure, the Penguins still boast the one-two punch of Crosby and Malkin. However, Tampa Bay finished in the cellar last year despite sending Lecavalier and St. Louis over the boards every night. Prediction? Coach Michel Therrien doesn't last the season and the Penguins shock the NHL by struggling just to make the playoffs.
9. In the words of a certain sprinter at the Beijing Olympics, "I am Lightning Bolt!" But with apologies to Usain Bolt, the biggest Lightning bolt in Tampa Bay is a kid named Steven Stamkos. The 18-year-old sensation was drafted first overall in June and is destined to become the game's next great star. Even if a person knew next to nothing about hockey, they'd only need to watch Stamkos for about five minutes to realize he's something special. The only question some people have is how he will develop under Barry Melrose, the former ESPN personality who is taking hockey's best mullet back behind the bench after a 13-year absence from the coaching ranks. But even though you have to dust off his resume, Melrose is a proven winner. He's won both the Memorial and Calder Cups and also took the L.A. Kings to the Stanley Cup final in 1993. Under John Tortorella, of course, the Lightning actually won the Cup four years ago. However, Tortorella's in-your-face style grew tiresome and the more upbeat approach of Melrose will prove to be just the right touch for Stamkos and his Tampa teammates.
10. The West Coast has always had a laid-back reputation, making the Vancouver Canucks a perfect fit. Nobody, after all, can make you drowsier than this hands-of-stone hockey club. How bad are the Canucks? Mats Sundin is willing to leave $20 million on the table just to avoid lining up for a club that puts its own players to sleep. The recent story of the Canucks is more redundant than the raindrops that fall on Lotus land: The Sedins try to score a goal or two while Roberto Luongo stands on his head attempting to keep Vancouver in the game. Desperate for offence, the Canucks have turned to the fast-fading Pavol Demitra. But after failing to develop any magic playing with the marvelous Marian Gaborik in Minnesota, what are the chances he'll suddenly regain his form with this bunch?