Preseason Preview: Carolina Hurricanes

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Carolina Hurricanes

Team M.O.: The Hurricanes have a nice blend of younger players to go along with a corps of savvy veterans and character players that for some reason just work out well in their system. They really don't get too involved in the rough stuff as they just have a compliment of players who're willing to deal with it. Overall, I'd say they like to play a game of balanced two-way hockey along that relies on offense to score goals and their intelligence to win games.

Last Season: You can call the St. Louis Blues the Cinderella story of last season, but I think these guys making it to the Eastern Conference Finals was more noteworthy. The team was looking to have another playoff-less season (or an early exit at best) when they made everything that was old new again by bringing back Coach Paul Maurice and power forward Erik Cole. They're hoping to keep that momentum swung in their favor.

Offense: Well, Eric Staal's the talent here and as long as Ray Whitney can keep producing at an NHL level and as long as Erik Cole can stay healthy, they will remain a surprisingly dominant first line option. But Rod Brind'Amour is the true hero of this team and is entering his 20th NHL season with as much passion as ever. Throw in Matt Cullen, Tuomo Ruutu, Sergei Samsonov, and Jussi Jokinen and you're having a nice bounty of forward depth. Cory LaRose and Scott Walker do well to add checking presence while Tim Conboy should have the agitating role down pat. I'd love to see these guys add an enforcer, but I'm not optimistic it will occur.

Defense: The defense is legit, though maybe more on the average side than the above average side. Joni Pitkanen and Joe Corvo could make a reasonable top pairing and the return of Aaron Ward is good for their squad. Tim Gleason, Andrew Alberts, and Niclas Wallin are stable in their system and serve the team well. Maybe the team can promote one of it's depth players to round it out but it probably wouldn't hurt if they gave a rover like Mathieu Dandenault a call.

Goaltending: Now I take a look at Carolina's goaltending and I really like it. Cam Ward is getting better as he matures and doesn't look like the kinda guy who's only satisfied with winning one Stanley Cup in his career. If anything, winning a Stanley Cup as a rookie has helped him figure out how to win and he's spent the past few years developing his craft to get back there as soon as possible. Michael Leighton's career, however, didn't start as well. He was playing with the Chicago Blackhawks on a semi-regular basis too early in his career and it hurt him. After spending the past several seasons battling injuries, in the minors, and riding the waiver wire, he looks like he can put up better numbers now he's got a home. I think Carolina should find a veteran minor league or European goaltender who will spend the season mentoring Justin Peters in the minors. If for some reason Leighton has a brutal camp though, the team might decide to have him assume that role while signing a proven NHL veteran to play with Ward at the NHL level; most likely a veteran former starter like Curtis Joseph or Olaf Kolzig if they're still physically capable of doing it.

Expectations: Was their near-Cup run a fluke? Not necessarily, but they'll need to keep it up. They seem to have good chemistry though, so if they can stay together, stay healthy, and act like a team, they could surprise people again and really grow with their fans to the point where Carolina (!) would become a full-fledged hockey town similar to Tampa Bay before the Koules/Barrie idiots duo took over the team from the late Bill Davidson.

Preseason Preview: Calgary Flames

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Calgary Flames.

Team M.O.: This team is the pride of Alberta now that Edmonton's dynasty era has come to pass for about two decades. These guys are tough and lethal, especially on the back end, which allows the forwards to play a run-and-gun style of game. However, they're starting to become kind of top-heavy, which may not bode well if they start facing injury problems...

Last Season: Calgary made it to the playoffs, losing in the conference quarterfinals to the Chicago Blackhawks. That isn't what the Flames wanted to see, as they've been eliminated from the conference quarterfinals every season since the lockout. They added some players before the trade deadline and while they weren't able to add a whole lot of top-tier players during the off-season, they did land the biggest fish of the off-season in signing Jay Bouwmeester.

Offense: Jarome Iginla leads this team and does whatever's asked of him. The only reason he's discouraged to fight is because it hurts his team more when he's in the penalty box for five minutes than it does the other team. Olli Jokinen can play like a first line center when he feels like it while Rene Bourque is an excellent compliment for the top pairing. After Daymond Langkow in the fourth forward spot, though, the depth at the forward position becomes kind of thin. The remainder of the forward spots are occupied by third line players, unproven players, and Phoenix Coyotes castoffs like Fredrik Sjostrom, Brian McGrattan, and Nigel Dawes. They don't have the resources to add more players, so they're either going to have to trade or make due with what they have.

Defense: The defense on this team is pretty spectacular. I don't care who my favorite team is, if I can ice Jay Bouwmeester and Dion Phaneuf as my first-pairing defenders, I'm happy. If I can ice Robyn Regehr and Cory Sarich as my second-pairing defenders, I'm elated. If I see all that and then I see Mark Giordano and Adam Party in the bottom-pairing spots, I'd say "Hey, that really looks awesome!" If they can get a cheap, veteran defender at the Number 7 spot, they'd be set. However, I have the feeling that due to the cap issues, Calgary will only be able to have six defenders on roster, so they may as well have as solid of a defensive corps as they have.

Goaltending: Miikka Kiprusoff has been their starting goaltender since 2004 and has been worth every penny considering that he gives the team winning records despite having faced more shots than any other goaltender in the league last season (Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov was second). Beyond him though the goaltending just isn't stable. The team has to tap into Curtis McElhinney as their backup because they can't afford anyone else and really shouldn't try to force Leland Irving or Matt Keetley into the backup role because they're entering their second and third professional years respectively. Here's to hoping Kiprusoff doesn't catch the injury bug for you Flames fans out there.

Expectations: This team looks like a Jenga game to me. If they can stay upright, they should at least make the playoffs again. But if that one piece at the bottom gets removed at the wrong time, expect disaster and nothing else.

Preseason Preview: Buffalo Sabres

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Buffalo Sabres (sorry folks, wasn't going to user the Buffa-slug for the icon.)

Team M.O.: A team with an American flavor, these guys are known for playing some technical offensive hockey with meat-and-potatoes defense and some solid goaltending. The team has a philosophy of toughness without resorting to goon hockey and boast one of the smartest coaches in the league in Lindy Ruff.

Last Season: The team finished third in their division and out of the playoff race. The team missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons after making the Conference Finals for two consecutive seasons. They had the skill to be a playoff team last season, but they accumulated a few too many injuries to stay competitive. A healthy season should see them back in the thick of things.

Offense: The team's got a group of Top Six forwards that, as a whole, are young enough to have their careers ahead of them but old enough to know how to act as professionals. Thomas Vanek is the big money guy who's starting to shape up to be worth every penny while Derek Roy could use his skill to get first line production despite all the naysayers who think he's too small for the job. If Tom Connelly can stay healthy for the season, he could serve and an excellent complement along with the emerging Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford. Johan Hecht will be looking to bounce back from an almost unforgettable campaign.
Looking at the bottom-six forwards, it looks like the team will be bringing back Mike Grier and Matt Ellis to focus on solid checking skills while homeboy Patrick Kaleta and and Adam Mair will fight and agitate the bejesus out of their opponents. It's too bad that Andrew Peters isn't looking to be back with the squad and while they could rely on their two agitating forwards to do the job, the pure muscle of an enforcer sure wouldn't hurt.

Defense: Buffalo's offense is pretty simple and features guys who'll be more apt to defend than to shoot. Their group is led by Craig Rivet, who defends both the blue line and the team with a pissed fist, while defensive mainstays Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder will continue to provide their services in the top pairings per usual. Steve Montador came over this season and will provide the team with a versatile fifth or sixth defender while Chris Butler looks like he's gotten "the call" from playing in the minors. That said, the team could probably stand to sign one more offensive-minded defender, and with guys like Mathieu Schneider and Marc-Andre Bergeron available, it wouldn't hurt to go after them through free agency.

Goaltending: Ryan Miller is the team's starter who's getting better with age. When he first took over the job, he was the guy who was more apt to keep his team in the game as opposed to leading them to victory. However, his shutout numbers have improved over the past several seasons while he posted a 34-18-6 record on a non-playoff team; showing that he's making that transition from a Number 1A goaltender to becoming a solid starter.
Patrick Lalime, however, is too inconsistent even for a backup and isn't panning out as well as the team would like for him to. Considering that Jhonas Enroth should still remain in the minors for the next season, it wouldn't hurt the team to go after one of the Manny's, be it Fernandez or Legace, to compete with Lalime for that backup spot.

Expectations: The team could stand to make a few improvements here and there, but they're by-and-large a respectable club who are truly competitive. If they can stay healthy, they'll at least make the playoffs. If they succumb to injuries, however, I expect them to be playing golf come April.

Preseason Preview: Boston Bruins

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Boston Bruins

Team M.O.: These guys weren't the best after the lockout, but a journeyman goaltender named Tim Thomas took the team and threw them on his back. A few seasons later, the Bruins have become a complete and balanced team while Thomas went from AHL goaltender to being a Vezina nominee. The Bruins are known for a physical brand of hockey that is complemented by talented skill players.

Last Season: The team ended up first in the conference by the end of the regular season, yet were eliminated by the scrappy Carolina Hurricanes. Media reports indicated that somehow, the Bruins weren't having the kinda fire underneath them that a playoff team should have. They can't be complacent again or the team will very much be broken up.

Offense: Marc Savard has been exposed as one of the best playmakers currently in the league thanks to his time in Boston. Phil Kessel and Patrice Bergeron are still trying to resolve health issues, but are talented enough to make an immediate impact when their on the ice. Milan Lucic is on track to become one of the best power forwards in the league while Blake Wheeler is looking to be his understudy should Lucic become injured. David Krejci and Michael Ryder have discovered their offensive game in the Bruins system while Chuck Kobasew and Mark Recchi are further down the depth chart only because the Bruins are so deep up front. Steve Begin adds an agitating presence while Shawn Thorton will keep the flies off as the team's policeman. Marco Sturm, who's talented in his own right, will be looking to come back from a disappointing injury-riddled campaign last season. All and all, this team is absolutely stacked at all forward positions.

Defense: Well look at this, the defense on this team isn't too shabby, either. Zdeno Chara's one of the best defenders of the league while Dennis Wideman is absolutely prolific from the point. Andrew Ference and Derek Morris are perfect for a second pairing option and should be able to give the other team's offense the fits. Matt Hunwick and Mark Stuart seem to be a lock for the fifth and sixths spots. The team could stand to add more depth for the bottom pairing, even if Johnny Boychuk gets the job after camp, but looks great overall.

Goaltending: The Bruins work in a platoon system and it hasn't seemed to fail them yet. Tim Thomas as proven capable of being able to hold the fort while rookie goalie Tuukka Rask has proven he's ready and capable to holding off NHL shooters on a regular basis. Dany Sabourin is tabbed for the number 3 spot but are lacking a reasonable number 4 option. If they could convince someone like Marc Denis to come in on a two-way deal, they'd be good to go.

Expectations: It's not playoffs or bust for these guys, it's Stanley or bust. Sure Pittsburgh looks good with their offensive firepower, but I feel that Boston has a more complete team. For the moment, I'm picking them to take the whole enchilada at the end of the season and if they don't, it's their own fault.

Preseason Preview: Atlanta Thrashers

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Atlanta Thrashers

Team M.O.: This team has historically been considered underachievers and underperforming, yet you can hardly fault the players. This team continually seems to be involved in a perpetual rebuild and has only made the playoffs once in their history. Yet the young talent that is accumulating there is starting to be noticed throughout the league. Can these guys finally stop playing the spoiler role and finally become a playoff team?

Last Season: The team missed the playoffs, finishing 13th in the conference. However, they had a good stretch of play toward the end of the season and if they can build from that, they could be a surprise team from the Southeast Division.

Offense: Suffice to say that Ilya Kovalchuk is the franchise winger of this team and heven he's starting to get a little tired of watching the team underperform. However, Bryan Little's starting to blossom into a first line option while Nik Antropov is a better offensive option that someone who was on the team last year, like Jason Williams. Todd White had a career season last year, but will be he able to put those same kind of numbers next season? The bottom-six look pretty good, with Marty Reasoner and Colby Armstrong being decent third-line options. The forwards have no lack of toughness with both Eric Boulton and Josh Gratton on the squad. I could see them picking up one more top-six forward, but given that Atlanta isn't exactly a hot destination for free agents, they may have to do their work by either the waiver wire or through trade.

Defense: I think it's fair to say that the defense on this team is severely underrated and will be lethal when it matures and if it can stay together. Tobias Enstrom has been a pleasant surprise and is starting to resemble a sound two-way defenseman. Zach Bogosian will also be looking to have his first full campaign after being sideline with an injury early in the season. Ron Hainsey should be able to quarterback the power play while the newly acquired Pavel Kubina should act as a Top 4 mentor for these blossoming defensemen. Boris Valabik will get the Number 5 defensive spot as that phyiscal defensive d-man while Anssi Salmela and Nathan Oystrick will round out the pack. A few depth additions would be nice, but this is a legitimate group of NHL defenders.

Goaltending: The goaltending on this team looks great on paper but has been a disappointment on the ice. The only thing that's relatively stable about it as that Johan Hedberg has the honor of being the backup goaltender to whomever ends up the starter. The problem with the starter position is that the two guys who seem to be a lock for it can't grab it and stick with it. Kari Lehtonen is immensely talented and capable of being a supreme backstopper, but his penchant for being injured hinders his potential, and most signs point to his love of Quarter Pounders with Cheese as being the driving force behind that, not his physical limitations (I can't blame him but he's got three million reasons to give that habit up.) Ondrej Pavelec is also lighting the AHL on fire, but hasn't been able to do the same at the NHL level and hasn't accepted AHL assignments with the highest degree of maturity. One of these guys need to take the spot and stay there; otherwise its time for Atlanta to cut bait, let these guys go, and try to find a bonafide starter elsewhere.

Expectations: These guys just need to build off the chemistry they started to find last season. If they can sneak into the playoffs, that would be a major coup for the Thrashers and their very patient fans. If not, then it's time to give GM Don Waddell, who's been the only GM in Thrashers history, the pink slip and bring someone else in to build the team. This especially holds true if Kovalchuk walks at the end of the season.

Preseason Preview: Anaheim Ducks

Well, August has been boring aside from the whole Coyotes saga going on, so I wanna take a diversion and dissect the teams going into the season. I only hope time permits me to do all 30 teams before the start of the season.

First off, the Anaheim Ducks

Team M.O.: They're the "villains" of the league (out of all the teams doing the black look, these guys do it the best) and like every good villain, they're damn good at what they do: Agitating and fighting the opposition and having the competitive ability to back it up. If these guys skated for your hometown team, however, you'd be in love with them. They're a far cry from being that Disney team they used to be, but thank God for that!

Last Season: These guys didn't get off to the best start last season and at one point, weren't looking to make the playoffs. However, with the acquisition of Ryan Whitney, the return of Francois Beauchemin, and the promotion of Bobby Ryan from the minors, these guys got the 8th seed going into the playoffs. From there, they eliminated the Presidents Trophy-winning San Jose Sharks before losing the Detroit Red Wings to seven games in the Conference Semi-Finals.

Offense: These guys have a very solid offense corp that only serious injuries could decimate. I mean, you would naturally think of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Bobby Ryan as the first line given their youth and talent, but who are the next guys on the depth chart? Saku Koivu, Joffery Lupul, and Teemu Selanne. If there's a better second line in the league, I'd like to see it. From there the bottom-six forwards seem to feature guys who are playing the defensive-minded role like Todd Marchant, though I could see Andrew Ebbett breaking into the top lines if he keeps his play from last season up. Yeah, they're missing Sammy Pahlsson and Travis Moen now, but when the team got better as a result of sending them off... well, maybe they're better off letting their young forwards go out and let their hunger make the team more competitive.

Oh, and who could forget the 'stache?

Make fun of him all you want, but the guy's emerged into a defensively responsible enforcer who scores some long-range goals from time to time. A guy who graduated Princeton is one of the best fighters in the league. Amazing.

Defense: Now, these guys aren't as deep defensively as they have been in season's past, but that doesn't mean they're slouches by any means. Far from it. Scott Niedermeyer returns as one of the best all-time defensemen that feature some young yet serviceable players capable of holding the blue line. Ryan Whitney and James Wisnewski should do well with their first full year in the Ducks organization while Nick Boynton should be a better fit as a Duck than he has for the past two organizations he was part of (being the Florida Panthers and the Phoenix Coyotes.) There stands to be some competition for the bottom pairings, with Sheldon Brookbank, Brett Festerling, Brendan Mikkelson, Luca Sbisa, and Steve McCarthy vying for the last three spots. The competition should be good and healthy, but if only one or two of those guys pan out, expect a signing, waiver wire pickup, or at least an invitee to their training camp.

Goaltending: Now, the Anaheim Ducks were in an excellent position to take Justin Pogge off of the Toronto Maple Leafs hands because their goaltending depth is great at the moment. J.S. Giguere is a proven starter who seems to have on or off seasons while Jonas Hiller is emerging to be, at the very least, a solid Number 1A goaltender who could become a bona fide starter. The real challenge here is being able to get these guys to play in a platoon together. If they can pull that off, excellent.

Expectations: The thing about the Ducks is that while they look excellent on paper, injury trouble and the maturation process of their young stars can create roadblocks that can last a season. Nevertheless, they've toned down the aggression from a few years back without sacrificing either their skill or collective toughness. If Randy Carlye can keep it together and the team as a whole can remain healthy, these guys shouldn't have a problem securing a playoff spot. Going deep into the playoffs depends on whether they can keep their maturity in tact long enough to stay out of penalty trouble.

Why have the Coyotes "failed."

Editorial note: I wrote this in response to a statement that was made saying that the NHL expansion into the south was a mistake and that the Phoenix Coyotes were doomed no matter the circumstances. Hope you enjoy.

The common thing that seems to have killed the team financially - twice - is an unfavorable lease. When this team was new to the area, they had some on-ice success but had a poor venue to watch it in (the arena was barely able to fit the NHL size ice on the floor while a second screen had to be installed for a few sections because the ice itself wasn't visible. Talk about a turn off ) To boot, the team had an unfavorable lease when they were at the American West / US Airways Arena and were threatening to move to Portland after some attempts to put an arena in Scottsdale or Mesa. The plan fell through in Mesa because the developers were asking for a publicly funded arena (Mesa doesn't have that kind of money) and the plan in Scottsdale fell through because everyone wanted to put the arena at Los Arcos (which would have been a logistical nightmare given how congested it is already)

Well, Ellman/Moyes step in, want to create an "entertainment" district in Glendale/Peoria area and want to have the Coyotes as the "crown jewel." They again get into a lease that assures Glendale will get maximum value out of the agreement while the team will get whatever's left over. At this point however, many of the players who were core components of the team (Khabibulin, Tkachuck, Numminen, Drake, Briere) were let go and replaced with guys who weren't capable of carrying the load for the team (Hanzus, Langkow, Nagy, Boucher) because while they were good components, the team lacked that supreme talent that would help them get over. What began next was a parade of cast-offs from other teams (I remember seeing the Coyotes signing Joseph, Hull, and Boyd "The Void" Devereaux before I even had an inkling to leave the metro Detroit area and thought "Wow... sucks to be them!"), waiver wire (Kapanen was okay but Tjarnqvist? Seriously? That guy had a hard time getting a Elitserien contract!), and prospects that never panned out due to poor drafting and/or development Well, it turns out that if you don't know how to manage a team in a place where hockey is an import, it's hard to get people interested enough to want to support the team. Sure the paid attendance was a few thousand off, but when the gate attendance shows more dismal figures, then those are less people going and buying concessions, souvenirs, and the like. The 7 PM start time prohibits the team from being able to include East Valley residents in their games because they're more concerned about catering to the family market in West Valley than they are to the blue-collar workers and students who'd otherwise love to go to games... if only their schedule and traffic would permit it. Throw in free ticket giveaways that give people free tickets to seats that STHs are paying thousands of dollars to have annually and the value of everything starts to take a decline real fast.

The team needs better management on and off the ice. The team needs to put a truly competitive squad on the ice while being able to know how to manage their front office and their fan experience (and no, the sock puppet doesn't help) Yeah this city loves a winner, this city would also like a hockey team it could enjoy. But when all the Red Wings fans come in and cheer for their team, when Rick Nash's and Ovechkin's highlight goals are scored on the Coyotes, when everyone refers to the team with distain and detraction, then yeah, it really makes something that's hard to have pride in.

So why not move the team to Canada? Why not move the team to the Northern states, where many people (falsely) assume that they'll be valued and appreciated? Before the southern expansion, the league was making money, but it wasn't making that much money. Now the league's doing better and Bettman's fight for a salary cap further ensured the success of the league. Yes, on a local level it may be sad to see teams losing what they are, but that's what revenue sharing is for. The NHL itself stands to make more money (thanks to the media markets, endorsement deals, etc) by having a larger American presence than it does in terms of having teams in Moose Jaw, Regina, and St. Johns. Could the north support more teams? I'm sure it could, but at this point, it should be subject to expansion, not relocation, unless there's absolutely no way in hell that a team can remain in the market is in.

In Phoenix's case, this is less to do with whether or not hockey can success versus whether or not hockey's ever been properly managed here to begin with. Bettman & the league have to assume some of the blame for that too because the US Airways Arena should have been better evaluated as a hockey venue and the Job should have been better evaluated as to whether or not the majority of their target demographic would be able to attend games on a regular basis. Neither proved to be true and that, IMO, is as much the leagues fault as it is the owners. Throw in Moyes and Balsille acting like children at a candy store and the mess is just further compounded.

I could go on, but in the end, no one wins if this team leaves. Phoenix loses a hockey team and no longer has the distinction of having all 4 major sports in their area. The NHL will lose Phoenix for a very, very long time unless another team relocates to the area within a short amount of time. You may give a victory to Hamilton if the team ends up there, but how will you convince "hockey crazed fanatics" to support a team if there are two better ones nearby that you can root for? Just ask the Islanders.