Today we continue with our previews leading up to opening night on Oct. 7 as sportsnet.ca NHL analysts Mark Spector, Mike Brophy get you ready for the season by asking a few of the burning questions surrounding each team.
In addition, Hall of Fame writer Jim Kelley presents five features that examines the top prospects to watch, top rookies, coaches on the hot seat, season storylines and narrowing down who has a shot at supplanting Henrik Sedin as league MVP.
Today, we examine the Pacific Division.
The only question that matters with this franchise is, will it ever find a sucker who wants to own the team in Glendale?
Another summer has passed with a parade of perspective owners kicking the tires of the Phoenix Coyotes. As has been the case for a few years now, one or two are still on the line, while others have walked away. All the while, business is cratering in Phoenix, and even Gary Bettman is starting to waver on the viability of hockey in Arizona.
With absolutely no need to buy season tickets, sales are weak. With bankruptcy never far away, it’s tough even to sell a board sign in Phoenix. The team will lose at least $25 million, and could well pack up for Winnipeg at season’s end.
On to the Burning Qs:
Can the Coyotes do as well this year as last?
Not only did Phoenix finish fourth in the West with 107 points last season, remember, they were in a playoff position for nearly the whole campaign. They got out-of-this-world goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov, and thrived on the whole underdog scenario by posting the first 100-point season in franchise history. So the question is, can a team that made a 28-point jump in the standings last year stay at that level? Well, it doesn’t happen very often.
Was Dave Tippett the best thing that ever happened to hockey in the desert?
Duh. They really didn’t even have to vote on the Jack Adams award for coach of the year after last season. They could simply have held the ceremony in Tippett’s backyard over some prickly pear margaritas, an Arizona trademark. One of the great teachers in the game, Tippett took a loose Coyotes team loaded with young players who had never experienced winning before, and in his first year behind the Phoenix bench moulded them into a formidable team. The ‘Yotes are still young, and will be as long as they’re in financial limbo. But with Tippett behind the bench they’ll have a chance every year.
Is this the year Kyle Turris makes the jump to an NHLer?
The third-overall pick in ’07 got into 63 games in Phoenix two seasons ago, but had only 20 points. So GM Don Maloney gave him an entire season in the AHL last year, and Turris turned in 24 goals and 63 points. He’ll get every chance to make the Coyotes this fall, and should be able to work his way in without too much pressure to be a top producer. Ray Whitney signed with the Coyotes, Lee Stempniak and Wojtek Wolski came over at the trade deadline, Kyle Wellwood went to camp on a tryout, and Shane Doan is the franchise mainstay.
How will the Coyotes do?
It’s hard to believe there will 107 points available in the tough Pacific. But this is a team on the rise, and other than Matthew Lombardi, the Coyotes haven’t lost anyone who wasn’t replaced relatively well. Phoenix will make the playoffs. But will their last playoff game mark the final game of their existence in the desert? Chances of that stand at about 60 per cent at this writing.
Anaheim has slowly become a budget team, and word is their ticket base has taken a hit after their first playoff miss last season since the lockout.
The Ducks are still a well-run organization, with GM Bob Murray and head coach Randy Carlyle, but they operate with increasing anonymity in the tough SoCal market. They need to get back to being a powerhouse, like in 2007, a tall order in the best Division in hockey.
On to the Burning Qs:
Is anyone better down the middle than the Ducks?
Well, with Ryan Getzlaf centering the first line and Bobby Ryan — with a new five-year, $25.5-million deal — being moved over to centre the second line, they’re pretty good. Saku Koivu slots in as the No. 3 centreman, and veteran Todd Marchant at No. 4. That’s a mighty fine foursome down the middle in Anaheim.
So, what do they have for wingers?
Corey Perry has been a fixture on Getzlaf’s right side. That leaves Teemu Selanne, who’s back at age 40, on Ryan’s right wing. Jason Blake gets the left side on one of those units. After that however, Anaheim is pretty thin on name forwards. Kyle Chipchura, Aaron Voros, big George Parros, Ryan Carter, Dan Sexton… No wonder they were entertaining the thought of bringing back Paul Kariya, before he was felled by concussion problems.
What’s the story on Joffrey Lupul?
Definitely a guy to avoid in your hockey pool this season, after two back surgeries, an infection in the area, and no training camp. Lupul hasn’t played since Dec. 10, 2009, when a bad back forced surgery. They did a second surgery 10 days late and found the infection. “I’m in a situation where it’s definitely not what I bargained for when I went in for surgery,” he said. “But there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll come back from this.”
Can Anaheim ice two rookies on defence?
A defensive corps that not so long ago sported veterans Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Francois Beauchemin and Sean O’Donnell has room for two pups this year. The thought of both Cam Fowler (18) and Luca Sbisa (20) making the team out of camp intrigues Carlyle. The fact they’ll make a combined $1.775 million intrigues his GM. Fowler and Sbisa, drafted 12 in ’10 and 19th in ’08 (by Philly) respectively, are the future on the blue-line in Anaheim.
How will the Ducks do?
Any team with Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Koivu and Selanne up front has a chance. A veteran defence — Lubo Visnovsky, Andy Sutton, Paul Mara, Toni Lydman — and good goaltending from Jonas Hiller gives the Ducks a chance of being the fourth Pacific team in the playoffs. The Ducks will push to the last week for eighth spot, but likely come up short.
Remember the days when Dallas, Detroit and Colorado not only ruled the Western Conference, but overspent to do it? Boy, are those days gone — particularly in the Big D.
Owner Tom Hicks’ sporting empire has crumbled under debt, and the Stars have been on the sales block for over a year. That has taken a toll on the expenditures side of the business, and as camp opened, Dallas ranked 22nd in payroll in the 30-team NHL.
On to the Burning Qs:
Now that the Marty Turco era is over in Dallas, who plays goal?
Kari Lehtonen. After flaming out in Atlanta, the Stars traded for Lehtonen last season and gave him a new three-year, $10.65-million deal over the summer. There is still a pretty good goalie in Lehtonen, the Stars believe, if only he can stay healthy enough to prove it. Since being drafted second overall in ’02 by Atlanta, Lehtonen has played in just 216 games due to injuries. His backup in Dallas is the much travelled No. 2 Andrew Raycroft.
What happened to the defence in Big D?
After being New Jersey West in the Ken Hitchcock years, then remaining a sound team under Dave Tippett, the Stars fell to 23rd in goals against per game (2.98), and watched their penalty killing unit place 27th (77.4 per cent) last season. It was Marc Crawford’s first season as head coach. That smacks of the loss of Sergei Zubov, injuries to an ageing Jere Lehtinen, Mike Modano slowing down, and inconsistent work by Turco in goal. None of those players are back this season, as the golden era of the Stars has officially come to a close. Dallas missed the playoffs last season for the second straight year, and it is hard to see this lineup making amends for that in 2010-11.
Does Jonathan Cheechoo make this team?
As with all these training camp, free agent tryout guys, he’d better pop a few early. Dallas is desperate for offence however, and were planning on giving Cheechoo every opportunity to make an impression. “If we’re going to give him a chance to make it here, and we’re serious about it, then we need to put him on a scoring line and we need to give him power-play time,” Crawford said. Stay tuned on this one.
What will Brad Richards do this season?
After signing that humungous five-year, $39-million contract in ’06 with Tampa, Richards is finally in a contract year. It expires after this season, and he’ll want to show better than the 21 goals he’s averaged since. He never scored more than 25 goals since signing that ridiculously large contract.
How will the Stars do?
When you’re in the toughest Division in the league, and you rank as the worst team in that division, life is rough. The Stars will play in front of half-empty houses more often than not at the American Airlines Center, and will be the two points that everyone else in the Pacific is counting on when the Stars come to town. No way Dallas makes the post-season, extending their run to three seasons, after having made the post-season 10 of the previous 11 springs.
After years of building the old-fashioned way, including six straight playoff misses, the Kings emerged last season to take a run at Vancouver in Round 1.
GM Dean Lombardi missed out on the Ilya Kovalchuk deal he so wanted to make this summer, but like so many GMs, that could go down one day as the best signing he never made. The resulting cap flexibility will come in handy when Michal Handzus, Jason Williams and Alexei Ponikarovski’s contracts all expire after this season.
On to the Burning Qs:
Did this lineup improve enough from last season?
Alexei Ponikarovsky is in, Alexander Frolov is out. Willie Mitchell is in, Sean O’Donnell is out. So for the most part, any improvements will have to come from within a group that experienced the playoffs for the first time last season, and should be that much hungrier this season. Mitchell is a younger, tougher upgrade on O’Donnell, and was paired with Drew Doughty at training camp. Ponikarovsky is a support scorer, but has never been a guy you can count on. He was a bust in Pittsburgh — three goals in 27 games.
When is Jonathan Bernier going to be ready?
This year — as a backup, at least. “(Jonathan) Quick is our No. 1 guy, and we’ve got Bernier and (Erik) Ersberg who are going to compete very hard for the No. 2 position,” head coach Terry Murray said early in camp. “Clearly the organization is not going to carry three goaltenders.” As a No. 1 draft pick, Bernier has the inside track after playing for two full seasons in Manchester. The Kings will get quality goaltending this season, something we have rarely seen in L.A. since the Kelly Hrudey years.
Is there a better defensive corps in the West?
Doughty is a Norris candidate. Mitchell will protect/cover Doughty’s game well. Jack Johnson and Matt Greene compliment each other’s game on the second pairing, and veteran Rob Scuderi anchors the final pair, likely with Davis Drewiske. Plenty of toughness, three good shot-blockers, and the best young D-man in the game alongside Duncan Keith. If Bernier emerges in goal, the Kings will be very tough to score against.
How will the Kings do?
They’ll make it to the second round this season, and depending on how Lombardi works the trade deadline, they could go even further. Now that the Chicago Blackhawks have abdicated the throne, L.A. becomes The Next Great Young Team in the West. Yes, they’ve got to navigate past Chicago, Vancouver, San Jose and Detroit — all teams who begin the season ranked ahead of the Kings. But remember: L.A. had two less points (101) than Vancouver last season, and played in a tougher division. You do not want to run into this club in Round 1 — Vancouver found that out last season.
Another year, another super strong Sharks lineup that could win the Stanley Cup if the dominoes fall their way.
You can say all you want about a good team that never seems to find its way over the top. But you’ve got to admit, any team that has made the playoffs 11 times in the past 12 seasons has to be listed among the elite NHL organizations. In the past six seasons the Sharks have averaged 108 points per season. By comparison, the Toronto Maple Leafs have averaged 87.
On to the Burning Qs:
What makes San Jose able to win it all this year, finally?
Goaltending. Evgeni Nabokov was good, but just good enough to get you beat in the big games. GM Doug Wilson snared Antero Niittymaki first, but wisely jumped on Antti Niemi when the Blackhawks could no longer afford him. Now, for a $4-million cap hit, Wilson has better goaltending than Evgeni Nabokov gave him for $5.375 million last year. And we all know what improved goaltending does for a team. Already good, the Sharks will be even better this season.
After being swept by Chicago last year in the Conference final, how does a similar Sharks group improve?
At some point, these guys have to figure out how to win it all, don’t they? “The train stopped for us,” head coach Todd McLellan said of the ‘Hawks series. “We get back on, and the train can go ahead or it can go backward. Individually, if some guys are sliding back, that’s not growth, that’s decay. And we don’t want that.” Are Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau simply a trio whose winning number is sure to come up eventually? Or never? Other than in goal, the changes in this lineup are minimal.
With Rob Blake retiring, who gets the “C” in San Jose?
There’s the million-dollar question. If you don’t choose from the aforementioned trio, is that a clear sign that the torch is being passed? Maybe that’s the right call, and Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, or Ryane Clowe are “C” worthy. Personally, we see Pavelski getting the “C.” Marleau already had it once and was stripped, while Thornton and Heatley just aren’t captain types.
How will the Sharks do?
Until they surrender the Pacific Division, we’re sticking with San Jose to win it again this season. The Sharks have won the Pacific for three straight seasons, and although we like the Kings a lot, you’ve got to knock out the champ. After that, who can ever say they know what the Sharks will do in the playoffs? They are an elite team that, with the right tweaks at the trade deadline, could go all the way. But you have to admit, teams like Vancouver and L.A. made bigger improvements over the summer. We’re not picking the Sharks to win the West for the first time this season, but San Jose has proven they’ll have a say in the process.
