Hockey’s Back
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Hockey’s Back by Joe Brackets
There sure is a lot of stuff going on for mid-January. There’s, of course, Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah and that crazy crap about Manti Te’o’s girlfriend. And let’s not forget they announced the rosters for the World Baseball Classic today. But all that pales in comparison to what’s really important. WE’RE TWO DAYS AWAY FROM HOCKEY SEASON!!!
After this ridiculous lockout that was drawn out for waaaaaaaaaaaay too long, we’ve got a condensed 48-game schedule ahead of us. The shortened schedule’s going to be tough for sure, but it’s certainly going to add intensity to every game. And every game is going to be bigger. If you get off to a bad start, you won’t have that much time to recover if you want to make the playoffs. Likewise, a great start could be enough to propel a team into the postseason. It’s also safe to say that the playoffs will be even more of a crapshoot than usual. In 1995, the last 48-game lockout-shortened season, the defending champion Rangers were the last team in as the No. 8 seed, yet beat the Nordiques in the first round.
We’re also likely to see much better hockey throughout the season. With the season starting three months late and no preseason, guys have had plenty of time to recover from injuries. Likewise, teams that make a deep playoff run won’t end up with 100 or more games played. If the Stanley Cup Finals go the distance, the two finalists will have played a maximum 76 games. Or, six less than a normal regular season. Sure, the condensed schedule will present its problems, but I have a feeling we’re going to see a better product.
As for who to look out for as Cup contenders, you’ve got to start in the Atlantic Division. That division is loaded. The Rangers were the top seed in the East and made it all the way to the Conference Finals last season. This year, they might be better. They traded for Rick Nash, the best player on the market, giving them two ridiculous forward lines. They have the best goalie in the league in Henrik Lundqvist, and that defense anchored by Dan Girardi and Marc Staal is also one of the best around. Yet they realistically might not even win the division. That’s because the Pittsburgh Penguins are once again on the short-list of Stanley Cup favorites. Sidney Crosby is arguably the best player in hockey, and Evgeni Malkin won the Hart Trophy last year. Then there’s the Flyers, who are always in the discussion, and the Devils, last season’s Cup finalists. Once again, the Islanders have no chance. One element of the conference-games only schedule is the abundance of games within the division. The teams in the Atlantic Divison will eat each other alive. But whoever survives this division will be in prime position to play deep into June.
The Bruins won the Cup two years ago and are probably the best team in the Northeast Division. I’m interested to see how Tuuka Rask will do as Boston’s starting goalie, though. I think they’ll be fine, but he’s the only question mark. The Sabres were perhaps the most disappointing team in hockey last season. Buffalo’s got a ton of talent, but didn’t even make the playoffs in 2011-12. That’s all the motivation they need to get back to the postseason in 2013. Ryan Miller and a short season might make the Sabres the division favorites. Ottawa’s the best of the three Canadian teams. The Senators are better than they were last year, when they took the Rangers to seven games in the first round. As hard to believe as it might be, Toronto is the only team in the NHL that hasn’t made the playoffs since the last lockout. Toronto. The largest city in a hockey-mad country. It’s hard to fathom. Montreal’s also down. Two of hockey’s marquee franchises will be fighting each other to stay out of the division cellar.
Washington is the class of the Southeast Division. But the Capitals also seem like the good team most likely to get off to a bad start and miss the playoffs as a result. Especially because there are some underrated teams in this division, starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay reached the Conference Finals in 2011, then missed the playoffs last year. That team’s loaded with talent, though, starting with Steven Stamkos. Carolina is also better now that they’ve added Jordan Staal to complement his brother Eric. I don’t know what to make of the Florida Panthers. Last year seems like a flash in the pan. The pressure’s on them to prove it wasn’t. Winnipeg will likely be done in by the amount of travel they’ll have to do.
With the Blues’ reemergence last season, the Central Division is suddenly in contention with the Atlantic as the strongest in hockey. Detroit, obviously, has been one of the league’s elite teams for years. The Red Wings made the Finals in that 1995 lockout season, starting their incredible run. That doesn’t seem likely to change this year. The Red Wings aren’t the clear-cut best team in this division, though. Last season was the start of something big in St. Louis that’s not going to stop anytime soon. And let’s not forget that Chicago won the Cup in 2010 or that Nashville is one of the brighest, up-and-coming teams in the NHL. The Blackhawks and Predators are both capable of winning the division, too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see all four make the playoffs. The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the worst-run organizations in professional sports, and trading their best player (Rick Nash) didn’t help.
Vancouver has been among the handful of top teams in the league for the last few seasons. The Canucks haven’t won it all, though, and goalie Roberto Luongo is often considered one of the reasons why. However, he lost his starting job in last year’s playoffs and now they’re looking to trade him. It’s not like Corey Schneider is much of a drop-off, so the Canucks should be in the thick of things again this season. After missing the playoffs again last season, Minnesota went out and spent a lot of money in free agency, most notably signing former Devils captain (and Minnesota native) Zach Parise. That’s either going to make the Wild serious contenders or a major bust. I think contender is more likely. Calgary has Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff. If the Flames sneak into the playoffs, they could be dangerous. Colorado might be a year away, and Edmonton has been so bad for so long that they’re eventually going to be hockey’s version of the Washington Nationals, a young, talented team built on homegrown high draft picks. Give the Oilers two years.
The Pacific Division boasts the defending champion Kings and the perennially underachieving Sharks. If the late start is going to benefit anybody, it’s LA, who returns virtually the same team that hoisted the Cup in June. The extended break gave the Kings plenty of time to get healthy, and the Stanley Cup hangover likely won’t be as large as it normally is, when the break is only two months. But the Kings snuck in as the No. 8 seed and got hot at the right time last year. If that happens again, they might not even make the playoffs. Like Vancouver, you know San Jose is always going to be around. The Sharks are, once again, among the handful of best teams in hockey. Will this year finally be that breakthrough to the Finals? Anaheim had an incredibly disappointing campaign in 2011-12. The Ducks have some of the best talent in the NHL, yet finished last in the division. I see them rebounding, but I’m not sure they’ll challenge the other two California teams. Phoenix earned a surprising, remarkable division title last season, and they carried that success into a run to the West Finals. But in a division (and conference) this loaded, I’m not sure the Coyotes are capable of doing it again. The Stars got better, and they’re going to be fun to watch with Jamie Benn and Jaromir Jagr, but this division is too tough.
While the short season may result in some good teams missing the playoffs entirely, I think the elite clubs will still find a way to prove themselves. In the East, that’s the Rangers and Penguins. That’s my pick for the Eastern Conference Finals. As for the Western Conference, it’s hard not to pick Kings-Sharks, although I think the Canucks could also sneak in there. I’ll take Rangers vs. Sharks in the Stanley Cup Finals, with San Jose finally earning its first title.
