In anticipation of the new NHL season, sportsnet.ca previews a division a day leading up to opening night.

The Red Wings remain the class of the Central Division, but the Chicago Blackhawks showed last season that commitment to a rebuilding program will pay dividends down the line.

The Blues and Blue Jackets also bought in to the theory and showcased a lot of young talent in 2008/09. The loyalty shown by Rick Nash lends credence to what is going on in Columbus, and fans might reap the rewards with a playoff push this year.

The Preds are the division enigma, led by the mysterious Pekka Rinne.

By Mark Spector, sportsnet.ca

 DETROIT RED WINGS

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The cream of the crop among NHL organizations, when you're picking division champions each September, the Detroit Red Wings are always a tap-in. They have won the Central Division an incredible eight years running, and you'd have to be locked up in a cell with Columbus head coach Ken Hitchcock for a long, long time before you'd say the Wings aren't going to make it nine years this season.

Detroit has also played 11 playoff rounds in the past three seasons, which means three consecutive short summers for the NHL's oldest club. After two seasons of going all the way to the Stanley Cup final - and a bunch of players going to the Vancouver Olympics this winter - is GM Ken Holland's team ready to run out of gas next spring?

Burning Questions:

Do the Red Wings have the goaltending to carry them through a slow start?

Last season was Chris Osgood's poorest regular season in memory. He was so bad the team gave him the old Alexei Kovalev vacation, sending him away for a week to work on his game. Even his own teammates were calling him "Kovy" when he returned. The Wings will require a goalie who can steal a few pre-Christmas games. Do they have one in Osgood, or at nearly age 37 can the oft-maligned goalie turn his game up a notch from last season?

How tired will this old team be?

The only NHL team with an average age of over 31, Detroit has gone as far as the conference final for three seasons in a row. Of course, they have met Pittsburgh in the past two Cup finals. Those are three short summers for an aging team. Even the tireless Niklas Lidstrom missed time this past post-season with a groin injury. Datsyuk had a knee injury. How many short summers can this group handle?

Can GM Ken Holland keep loading the gun?

Detroit lost Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler, Chris Chelios and Tomas Kopecky from the team that went to Game 7 last season. They have added Jason Williams and Todd Bertuzzi, and as usual, the Wings will count on names like Justin Abdelkader, Daren Helm [who has already injured a shoulder] and Ville Leino to rise up and fill those voids. No organization pulls that act of better than this one, but can it go on forever?

How will Detroit do?

The Red Wings will be pushed in the Central by Chicago, and up and coming clubs in St. Louis and Columbus. More than ever, the points won't come cheap in the Central, where four teams made the playoffs last season. Those young clubs will wear an older Wings team down, and though we still think Detroit will win the Central, an early summer vacation will follow. The Olympics will write the Red Wings epitaph, with too many key players tiring down the stretch.

 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

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Continued improvement here, as GM Scott Howson and coach Ken Hitchcock steadily build a winner. While all eyes are on Chicago, we predict Columbus nips them at the wire for second place in the Central.

Burning Questions:

Is Antoine Vermette the answer at centre for Rick Nash?

He'd better be. Like a Shawn Horcoff in Edmonton, if Vermette is your first-line centre, perhaps your forwards aren't strong enough. Vermette produced just five points in the Jackets' final 10 games this past season, and was pointless in Detroit's four-game sweep. He signed a five-year, $18.75 million deal this fall to be a No. 1 centre. He'll have to play like one for the Jackets to have success.

Will goalie Steve Mason take a step backward?

As a rookie last season, Mason was second in the NHL in GAA (2.29), first with 10 shutouts, and tied at 11th with a .916 save percentage. Then he was invited to Team Canada's summer Olympic orientation camp. When some of those numbers inevitably slip back this winter, how will he handle it? He's a very mature young player, and undoubtedly a franchise goalie, but Mason will have to avoid that old sophomore slump, or Columbus will slip backward as well.

Is Rick Nash there yet, or can he be better still?

Like Mike Modano in Dallas a few years back, Nash has learned to play Hitchcock's way and is better for it. Last season Nash had 40 goals, and career highs of 79 points and plus-11. He signed an eight-year extension this summer, confirming that the Blue Jackets are his team. If Nash puts this team on his back this season - and gets some help from underneath - look out for the Jackets.

How will Columbus do?

Better than most people expect. We're picking them for a close second in the competitive Central. "The expectation level goes up from both internally and from our fans," Howson told NHL.com. "So no longer will a playoff berth and out in the first round be acceptable. We've got to raise the bar and that's what we are trying to do here." For that to happen, support players like Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, and Sammy Pahlsson have to have big years.

 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

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The Blackhawks haven't hung a division pennant from the rafters since they won the old Norris in 1992-93. That team had Dirk Graham and Ed Belfour on it - a generation ago in Chicago. They will be picked by some to break that streak this season, but not by us. Losing Nikolai Khabibulin leaves a huge void in goal, one that sows the seeds of discontent in a dressing room that might just take a step backward this season.

Burning Questions:

Is Chicago's goaltending good enough to win playoff rounds?

We'd have to say no. Cristobal Huet was given the five-year deal ($5.625 million cap hit) when it was thought that Khabibulin was done. Well, he next thing we knew Khabibulin had won the job back and Huet watched the Blackhawks playoff run from the bench. The backup right now is Antti Niemi. If Huet doesn't learn consistency here in his fourth organization, they'll be talking buy-out in Chicago next summer.

Can Patrick Kane overcome his turbulent summer?

Yes, he can. So he and his cousin had a foolish run-in with a cabbie. That was dumb, but the way the kid handled it was smart and mature. He stood up in front of the media cameras on several occasions and took his medicine. He admitted he was wrong, dumb, and had learned a lesson. And by all accounts, Kane didn't miss a workout this summer. If all these things remain true, Kane will be just fine this winter.

Do the Blackhawks fall back this season, like a sophomore slump?

How often have we seen a team that hasn't enjoyed success in eons, enjoy one good year and have it go to their heads? This team lost its 'A' goalie, inexplicably fired its GM, signed Hossa to a huge deal, only to find out he needed shoulder surgery, and had its star player spend the summer in court. The sum total of all that may be too much for the Blackhawks to just pick up where they left off last season.

How will Chicago do?

We're predicting a slower than expected start, and a team that will go into the New Year knowing that it had better get its act together or risk missing the playoffs. Like Detroit, the Blackhawks are in a tough division, and everyone will be gunning for the Hawks this season. They are still built for a playoff run though. We predict they finish third in the Central but will win at least one round in the playoffs.

Also simmering is an ownership issue that could become huge as the season wears on. You think Phoenix has money problems.

 ST. LOUIS BLUES

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How good were the Blues, really, last season? They came out of nowhere to post the best second-half record in the league [25-9-7], but when the playoffs came they had nothing left. So are the Blues that second-half juggernaut, or the squad that rolled over in four straight to Vancouver? Likely more of the former than the latter, we're betting.

Burning Questions:

How much was Eric Johnson's career path interrupted last season?

The No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft shredded his knee in a golf cart incident prior to last season. He is back, healthy, and the proud owner of 13 lbs. of pure muscle, tipping the scale at 238 lbs. Johnson is the stud on the back end that the Blues are built around, but is his knee truly 100 per cent? Can he handle playing at 238, or like so many others, will he decide that 225 lbs. leaves him quicker and more agile? How will he recover from a full year off? All good questions, with answers that will not begin to come until mid-November.

How good can the Blues be if they can stay healthy?

St. Louis made the playoffs last season despite lengthy injuries to Johnson [0 games played], Paul Kariya [11 games], Andy McDonald [46 games] and Eric Brewer [28 games]. Brewer had knee surgery again this fall, but you have to think the Blues will have better luck with their team health this winter.

Can the Blues' Mason be as good as the kid in Columbus?

Chris Mason was "that other Mason" in the Central, as the rookie Steve turned heads in Columbus. But quietly, Chris went 24-8-6 through his final 33 games last season, with five shutouts, a .924 save percentage and a GAA of 2.08. If he plays that well for seven months - rather than just three - the Blues will have a god shot at making the playoffs in back to back seasons.

How will St. Louis do?

In what has become the best division in the Western Conference, the Blues must still be lumped into that group with Columbus, Los Angeles, Dallas and Edmonton as one of five teams fighting for the final two playoff berths. With this much young talent, St. Louis is a team on the rise. But young teams don't improve in a straight line, and there are a lot of possible injuries in key spots in this lineup. We believe St. Louis will fall outside the Top 8 this season.

 NASHVILLE PREDATORS

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After keeping the balls in the air for an inordinate amount of time in Nashville, GM David Poile finally succumbed last season to the uncertainty and budget restrictions in Nashville. You can only do it with mirrors for so long, and along with coach Barry Trotz, Poile wore a top hat and cape to work for a long while, making the playoffs - and losing in the first round - for five consecutive years before finally missing last season. Now, a new streak begins.

Burning Questions:

Where do the goals come from?

Nashville ranked 24th in the league last season, averaging 2.52 goals per game. They didn't make a peep this summer in the free agent market - because they have no money, and zero prospects of being able to compete for a Cup. No sign of Alex Radulov returning from Russia, so captain Jason Arnott will plug along in hopes that he will receive enough offensive support to pile up some wins.

Who is Pekka Rinne?

He's only a goalie that 30 other NHL teams would jump at in a second. Rinne is a giant - six-foot-five, 206 lbs. - and at 26 years of age, played just a few seconds shy of 3,000 minutes last season. In his first season as an NHL starter, his save percentage and GAA were both in the league's top nine, and he ranked fourth in shutouts. This is one fine Finn, and a major reason why the Predators will walk into a few buildings and steal the points this winter. Oh, and he was an eighth-rounder - 258th overall.

How does Nashville continue to operate on bread and water?

It's called "revenue sharing." Right after he figures out what to do with Phoenix - and Florida, and Atlanta, and Long Island, etc. - commissioner Gary Bettman is going to deal with another southern U.S. market that has been an abject failure. The team ranked 27th in home attendance at 15,010 last season, and that was only because the organization bought up scads of its own ducats so the club could qualify for league subsidies. They dispense free tickets in Nashville like Pez candies, and entering the club's second decade in Music City, it remains a city that sports writers love, but that has not embraced the NHL.

How will Nashville do?

Poorly. Despite good drafting, an excellent goalie and pretty good defence with Shea Weber and Dam Hamhuis, there just isn't enough offence here to win. And there are no hopes of augmenting the team at the March trade deadline, because they just can't afford it, and almost no one waives their no-trade clause to go to Nashville. This is not a playoff team.