This Just In...

Despite the Philadelphia Flyers' best efforts, the Detroit Red Wings clinched their playoff spot today with the Calgary Flames' loss to the Chicago Blackhawks...

Take that Carcillo!

Season Review: Dallas Stars

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the next team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Dallas Stars.

Season expectations: After reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2008, the team completely missed the postseason the following year. Much of that had been blamed on the Sean Avery "sloppy seconds" controversy when it actuality it was the play of Marty Turco that was hurting the squad. To be completely fair, the team let go of both Dan Ellis and Mike Smith and gave the backup job to a guy who now plays in his native Switzerland. Now, Brett Hull stepped down as GM and new GM Joe Nieuwendyk stepped in and was set to make the team better...

... but he made the decision to fire coach Dave Tippett in favor of Marc Crawford. Ask the Phoenix Coyotes how that's working out for them.

My prediction: I figured the team would be fourth in their division and 11th Overall in the Western Conference.

The truth: They became the fourth team in the Western Conference to be eliminated from playoff contention, so I wasn't far off the mark.

What went wrong?: You mean besides letting go of a coach who's now being considered for the Jack Adams trophy?

Too much firepower, not enough defense.

Case in point? Brad Richards has 90 points. He also has a -11 rating. Overall, there will be six players on the team who break the 40 point barrier (seven if Jamie Benn can get a point within the next few games) but those same guys couldn't be counted on to play defense as all but Benn will likely end up minus players at seasons' end. The same goes for the offensive d-men on the team too, as there wasn't much defensive firepower above Stephane Robidas' production. In the end, it was Mark Fistric's incredible +24 rating and the solid defensive play of their depth forwards that helped give Turco a shot at having a respectable season.

On a smaller level, any team that employs Steve Ott tends to get more penalties than other teams. I'm just saying...

It wasn't all doom-and gloom though, as Turco did bounce back despite the eventual end to the season. The team did bring in Kari Lehtonen as a new option and he's doing about as well as Turco is. If Turco and Lehtonen re-sign with Dallas in the off-season, then at least their goaltending will be properly addressed heading into next season.

So what's next?: Well, they could probably use another offensive d-man for next season, but really, they just need to have their scoring forwards to commit to playing a higher level of defense than they do already. Just make some smarter signings in the off-season and maybe they can do better than they did this season, though that's going to be very difficult in what's currently the NHL's best division.

Season Review: Carolina Hurricanes

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the seventh team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Carolina Hurricanes.

Season expectations: These guys were one of the "Cinderella stories" of last season. A rough-and-tumble team in the same division as the almighty Washington Capitals battled their way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Not much was figuring to change greatly during the off-season so these guys looked like they were going to have a nice foundation to build off of.

My prediction: The team would finish second in the division and sixth in the Eastern Conference.

The truth: The team was eliminated from playoff contention yesterday following a 4-0 shutout loss to the New Jersey Devils.

What went wrong?: You mean aside from an injury to Cam Ward that damn near killed him?

Well, there's a lot of money being invested in the scoring forwards and the team isn't getting the results it should be. Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal have been bright spots for the team and Ray Whitney hasn't been half bad either. But neither Erik Cole or Sergei Samsonov have come close to justifying their contracts and considering that they'll be on roster for next season, that's kinda a problem if they can't get it together next year. Rod Brind'Amour might be dried up offensively, but when you consider he's damn near 40 you can't necessarily fault him for it.

The defense on the team's pretty thin too. Even when you consider who they moved out before the trade deadline, there were a lot of players with semi-inflated salaries when they weren't producing at a level that would make their contracts worth it. Sure Tim Gleason and Joni Pitkanen were top-four defenders for sure but after that, it just kinda dropped off. That will need to be addressed in the off-season for sure.

In short, there were too many players with too many comfortable contracts who weren't having much to play for once they got their paydays. Hopefully that's realized the next time they're up for an extension.

So what's next?: GM Jim Rutherford has pledged that the team is in rebuild mode, which means that these guys might not necessarily be playoff contenders next season. Yet considering Rutherford's own inconsistency as a GM, will he eventually be axed in favor of someone who has a new vision for the team? Stay tuned.

Season Review: Florida Panthers

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the sixth team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Florida Panthers.

Season expectations: The team barely missed the playoffs last season but lost their venerable defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (who, in fairness, is having a rotten season in his own right) after the season was over. Still though, the fans expected the Panthers to be playoff contenders while all of their divisional rivals (save the Washington Capitals) were struggling, even if the hockey community didn't agree.

My prediction: I figured they would be last in the division and 14th overall in the Eastern Conference.

The truth: They were the third team to be eliminated from playoff contention yesterday following a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

What went wrong?: You mean besides David Booth getting career-threatening concussions due to hits to the head... twice?

While the goaltending on the team was pretty epic, there were just spots throughout the roster that just left you wanting more. Sure Steven Reinprecht was traded over from the Phoenix Coyotes and Bryan Allen was finally back from injury, but there just seemed to be an aura of "good enough" as opposed to "better than it needs to be" when it came to building the team. You can't just "get by", you have to do it right. The team adopted the defense-first approach and while it wasn't bad, there wasn't enough firepower distributed throughout the lineup to make it work.

I think the ownership situation was the biggest problem. If Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel can make the right amount of investment in this team, they'll actually get it together. Get a dynamic forward to complement the steady performers you already have on the team. Get a dynamic defenseman to complement the scoring Bryan McCabe and the hard-hitting Keith Ballard. Do better than it has to be and you'll see the Panthers get all Phoenix Coyotes in the Eastern Conference. Someone just needs to step in and make that investment.

So what's next?: See above. It all depends on what happens with these new owners. If these guys can make the investments to make the team competitive, then Sunrise can re-establish itself as a hockey market. If these guys are going to use the team as a tax write-off though... let the relocation rumors begin.

Season Review: Tampa Bay Lightning

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the fifth team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Tampa Bay Lightning.

Season expectations: These guys were the winners of the Steven Stamkos derby at the 2008 draft and got Victor Hedman as a consolation prize in 2009. While the ownership situation left much to be desired (it got so bad for Len Barrie and Oren Koules that now neither of them are owning the team) the team still had big guns like Vinny LeCavalier and Martin St. Louis up front, so with the additions they made following that one would have suspected that if they weren't going to be playoff contenders, they could have at least made enough noise in a weak division to kinda crash the party. Regardless, they're nowhere near as dominant as they were when they won the Cup in 2004, leaving the expectations to be higher than teams that have often failed.

My prediction: I figured they would have been fourth in their division and 12th in the Eastern Conference.

The truth: The team was one of three teams from the Southeast Division to be eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday. They were the only one to do so without having a game to play. Ouch.

What went wrong?: You mean besides the ridiculous ownership group that didn't last two seasons when the late Bill Davison (Rest In Peace) delivered a Stanley Cup to Tampa Bay during the same year he delivered a NBA Championship to Detroit?

Well, you can't blame it on St. Louis or Stamkos because those guys were tenacious. You really can't blame Steve Downie (though you can blame him for a lot of other things on the ice) because he was an excellent agitating two-way performer.

Injuries sucked for this team. Though Mike Smith was wrought with inconsistency, there's no telling how his concussion issues from last season affected his chances of establishing himself as a starter (though it did effectively give Antero Niitymatti an NHL job next season). And again, the injuries that mounted up to the defensive corps watched a group of players get thrust into NHL action. Someone's gotta do something with the trainers of that team because that's kinda how it went down last season, too.

Inconsistency was an issue too. Tampa Bay scored Alex Tanguay off the free agent market for far less than what the Phoenix Coyotes presumably offered him. The result? He's looking to finish both sub-40 points and with a minus rating for the first season since he's turned professional. Mattias Ohlund also took a step back during his first season as a member of the Lightning and is looking to finish with his first sub-20 point season since playing in North America. Neither LeCavalier or Ryan Malone were spectacular this season but when you're playing through injuries you can't typically produce the way you want. While Zenon Konopka was able to finally establish himself as an NHLer, their defensive forwards were unremarkable and could stand some fine tweaking in the off-season.

So what's next?: Well, Jeff Vinik's going to have to make decisions as to how this team is being run and start from there. GM Brian Lawton put together a decent group of scoring forwards and two decent goaltenders, but somehow can't figure out how to make the team better fortified defensively. I figure he'll be looking for a new job before the draft. Coach Rick Tocchet was not as impressive with the team during his first full season as many would have hoped, but he does have St. Louis and Stamkos firing on 8-cylinders a piece, so he's doing something right as far as that goes and will probably get a little more leeway until another miserable season buries him for good. The team will need to get better in the middle of the ice during the off-season to have a chance to be competitive next season. Otherwise, all the goal scoring in the world isn't going to work out if you can't keep the puck out of the net.

Season Review: Minnesota Wild

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the fourth team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Minnesota Wild.

Season expectations: Well before the season began, GM Doug Risebrough was fired, coach Jacques Lemaire resigned, and fragile superstar Marian Gaborik decided to take a pay increase by playing with the NY Rangers. Despite the shake up though the team did figure to have a good nucleus of forwards, not to mention two of the stronger goaltenders in the league, so to expect them to reach the playoffs was not unfathomable.

My prediction: I predicted they would have finished second in the division and fifth in the Western Conference.

The truth: The team was statistically eliminated from playoff contention as of Friday.

What went wrong?: You mean besides watching Gaborik break 80 points and maintain a positive plus/minus rating on an underachieving Rangers team?

A lot of the same things that went wrong for the teams that preceded them.

Injuries kept Pierre-Marc Bouchard out for all but one game this season. Very seldom can a team lose a top-six forward without replacing him and expect the results to be favorable. Brent Burns suffered through injuries this season as well and watched himself have a second consecutive campaign where he didn't quite live up to his first overall draft label. Both Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding had issues that kept them out from playing and it's gotten so bad for Harding that it looks like he'll be out for the remainder of the season to address concerns with his hip. Best summarized, when Martin Havlat looks to be one of your healthiest forwards, you know injuries are a concern!

Another factor in their less-than-stellar season had to do with the coaching change. That's not to say Todd Richards is a bad coach but rather to say that the team went almost overnight from being a defense-first style of team to an open-attack style of team. Sure guys like Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen, Andrew Brunette, and Marek Zidlicky had great campaigns but at the end of the day, the only players with a positive plus/minus rating on the team are guys who weren't on the squad for a full season. Cam Barker leads with +7 but how much of that was due to playing for the Chicago Blackhawks prior to being traded?

Finally, the defense was solid, yet slightly underwhelming and should probably adopt a more "stay-at-home" presence for next season. Not to discredit guys like Greg Zanon and their efforts, but the blueline was just as guilty as their offensive group was in not doing enough to prevent the pucks from going in. Yes, great goaltending is key and the forwards have to score, but you can't neglect that area of ice in between. Luckily, Brent Burns will be healthy, Cam Barker will be a full-time member next season, and the defense will have another year with a new coach, so I expect them to rebound sooner than later.

So what's next?: While the golf clubs will be coming out early this season, these are another one of those teams that should only be a player or two away from returning to respectability in a conference where teams are either inconsistent or just downright bad. If Richards and new GM Chuck Fletcher can start planning for the next season immediately after this one begins, the results for next year should be worlds different.

Season Review: Toronto Maple Leafs

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the third team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Toronto Maple Leafs.

Season expectations: The team was expected to be challenged because this was the first full season under the command of GM Brian Burke. There were rumors abound saying that there were going to be trades (most of them involving Tomas Kaberle). There was inconsistency with the scoring forwards, the defense was raw, and the goaltending hinged between injury and inexperience. Frankly, only a Toronto-obsessed optimist would have picked these guys to go into the playoffs.

My prediction: I figured they were going to be fourth in the division and tenth in the conference. In retrospect, I think I thought too highly of them.

The truth: They're the first team from the Eastern Conference to be eliminated from playoff contention. To be fair, if the Eastern Conference were better as a whole, these guys would have been eliminated a long time ago.

What went wrong?: You mean besides Jeff Finger being signed to a contract with a $3.5M annual cap hit for the next two seasons?

Simply stated, Murphy's Law. Should I elaborate? How about this: Everything that could have gone down during a rebuild year did, but that doesn't mean all's wrong, either.

Injuries were a significant issue for the team this season. Mikhail Grabovski missed 25 games with a broken wrist and you know he had to have played hurt through part of that. There wasn't much to work with in terms of Toronto scoring so it hurt when he was gone. Mike Komisarek scored a great deal in the off-season but ended up being hurt for most of the season, which is unfortunate because he hits everything that moves. Vesa Toskala's injuries (okay, and inconsistent play... we'll get to that later) made him expendable to the Anaheim Ducks for J.S. Giguere. Oh, and remember Mike Van Ryn? Yeah, he didn't play the entire season and would have given the blueline some points they lost when Pavel Kubina went to the Atlanta Thrashers.

However, the guys in the locker room knew it was a rebuild year and when that happens, it's difficult as hell to win. Vesa Toskala wasn't the goaltender the Leafs expected him to be and as a result, Jonas Gustavsson was thrust into battle perhaps a few times to often (though in retrospect, this should only help him become a better goaltender for next season.) Yet Alexei Ponikarovsky and Niklas Hagman performed admirably for the team, and those guys were traded to prepare for Toronto's future (okay, Hagman was moved to get Dion Phaneuf and that's ultimately good for the team... we'll get to that later.) And even if you were the new guy, it doesn't mean that you were going to be excellent during the season; with Phaneuf and Giguere having solid yet unspectacular half-seasons in a new sweater. In the end, until there's a season where e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e in the locker room can have beers together for 82 games or damn close to it, it's hard to get the right chemistry among players.

The oddest part is that this team is run and coached by the two men who brought a Silver Medal to the U.S.A. for the 2010 Olympics when many figured it would belong to either Sweden or Russia. You see what Lee Stempniak is doing for the Phoenix Coyotes now that he's out of Toronto and you're just like "The... hell?!" You see the infamous bag skate that took place and the subsequent losing streak that took place and think "Dude... What?" But yeah, these guys went to the Olympics and did well in an effort to show Toronto fans... patience.

So what's next?: The future and the truth is that isn't not too shabby.

If the team can properly fortify this current group during the off-season, then the team will have a legitimate blend of youth and experience to restore them back to respectability. Up front, the team will have to re-sign Nikolai Kulemin, who's having a breakout season, but with a core of Kessel, Grabovski, Tyler Bozak, and Luca Caputi, the team has a solid group of young and talented scoring forwards. The bottom-six sas John Mitchell, Fredrik Sjostrom and Colton Orr for next season and are good guys to have committed to those roles. I think Rickard Wallin, Wayne Primeau, and Christian Hanson should be re-signed and they can round it out accordingly with either a good signing or a prospect.

The defense and goaltending on this team is what looks the most promising. The team still has Phaneuf, Komisarek, Luke Schenn, Francois Beauchemin, and Carl Gunnarsson on their blue line for next season. Though it may seem redundant with Komisarek's presence, I'd like to see Garnet Exelby agree to less money to remain a Maple Leaf. The team could go with Finger as the seventh d-man, but I have a strong feeling his contract will be "banished" to either Europe or the American Hockey League (trust me, the Maple Leafs can afford it.) The goaltending is all set, and once goaltending coach Francois Allaire has his hands on Giguere for an entire season season, then not only will Giguere better rhythm but Gustavsson will have the mentor he needs to take the next step forward in his development.

I figure these guys will improve sooner than later and a really great off-season will have the Leafs back to the playoffs faster than most people figure. For now though, the guys on the ice need to prepare for next season while the guys behind the bench and in the office figure out the best plans and tools for the next season.