by Bo Siemsen
March 29rd 2003
A combo of divisional powerrankings and predictions served up just for you by your friendly commissioner. The pre-season is halfway done ... not that it really matters, just pointing out the obvious in case you missed it. These rankings are divided by divisions ... sorted based on last season.
Some of the comments here have been done over the last couple of days so they might be a bit inaccurate.
What you see here is :
- "SEASON6" indicates time of elimination last season
- "TEAM" indicates something quite obvious
- "DIV.PRED." indicates my prediction for divisional standings
- "CONF.PRED." indicates my prediction for conference standings
- "THE SKINNY" indicates a bit of reasoning for the predictions.
NORTH
EAST DIVISION |
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| SEASON6 | TEAM | DIV.PRED. | CONF.PRED. | THE SKINNY |
| Playoffs R4 |  |
2 | 4 | The Buffalo Sabres have replaced Dominic Hasek with someone even better - Martin Brodeur - with an improved offence with plenty of good snipers (a rare commodity in the wcfhl) - Bure, Selanne and Kovalchuk ... not to mention Andreychuk ... the Sabres appear ready for another run. |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
3 | 5 | Their season depends on 2 players - Belfour and Lindros. The offence apart 88 is aging and limited. Nice young D though. |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
1 | 3 | Most improved roster - on paper at least (like the NHL New York Rangers) should be the easy favorite to run away with this division ... hasn't shown much in the preseason though. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
5 | 14 | The Boston Bruins will not have a succesful season. Its all a part of the rebuilding plan though. Has managed to acquire a long list of quality prospects and picks ... just dont look for them anywhere near the playoff pack. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
4 | 9 | The biggest change in Toronto this year is the big acquisition of Brian Leetch. They still have 2 very capable scoring lines - the questionmark is their defensive efforts ... can they protect the aging Jeff Hackett well enough to make the playoffs ? Questionable. |
ATLANTIC
DIVISION |
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| SEASON6 | TEAM | DIV.PRED. | CONF.PRED. | THE SKINNY |
| Playoffs R3 |  |
1 | 2 | Massive changes since last season. Out with Palffy, Cechmanek, Cassels, Morrison ... new in town Mario Lemieux, Nabokov, Bonk, Zednik and others. Weak division means good chance for 1st seed in the playoffs. |
| Playoffs R2 |  |
4 | 12 | No more Mario, no more Francis ... no more playoffs. Replacing the 1-line team that did so well last year will be a younger, cheaper team. There's still a few veterans in town - I wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of Weinrich traded soon. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
2 | 6 | The Islanders are an early candidate for most improved team. They aren't improved yet - but at least on paper their team looks very strong with Mats Sundin ready to lead them to the playoffs. If he's allowed to stay that is - the Islanders appear to be the best (only?) threat to the Rangers in the Atlantic Division. Should be a fierce rivalry. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
5 | 15 | "Dont mind us. We're just here to be beaten up". The Flyers are rebuilding - and it's a long road ahead. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
3 | 11 | The Devils are trying for an "instant improvement" right now - and their defence certainly looks impressive now with Big Mac, Yushkevich, Desjardins, Cross, Brisebois, Kuznetzov in front of Curtis Joseph. Offence still needs improvement before these guys will challenge for the playoffs. IT could happen this season though. |
SOUTH
EAST DIVISION |
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| SEASON6 | TEAM | DIV.PRED. | CONF.PRED. | THE SKINNY |
| Playoffs R2 |  |
1 | 1 | The Panthers have upgraded significantly on offence and acquired Chris Pronger for the D (at the cost of quality depth) ... downfall (if any) could very well be goaltending where the decision to play Luongo (or the soon to be acquired Jose Theodore) over Martin Brodeur (now traded) could be costly. |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
2 | 8 | The Tampa Bay Lightning have reconstructed their team. Rather than being a 1½-line team they are now 3-4 quality lines deep. There's questionmarks though, a goalie with a reputation for wearing down, a so-so defence ... and the apparant absence of a go-to guy on offence. Will most likely be in a fierce fight to make the playoffs. |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
3 | 7 | It's a brave new world. No more Kovalev to carry the Capitals. Anson Carter is not half the (FHL) player that Kovalev is. Depth hasn't improved, they will most likely not compete for the top seed positions with the current roster - but an improving goaltending duo and a solid roster means they have a good chance to make the playoffs. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
4 | 10 | J-Bo has arrived ... so has a real goaltender (Felix Potvin) ... the Thrashers should make a good run at the playoffs this year, though trading Nedved hurt their offensive firepower ... and defence is still "so-so" ... that means they could very well end up on the outside looking in. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
5 | 13 | The 'Canes are in a semi-rebuilding mode with their 28 mill payroll. They have plenty of "fairly good" but are not all that great in any area. This means they most likely will miss the playoffs by quite a bit. Trading one of their better d-men (Richardson) for a prospect seems to indicate they are quite fine with that. |
CENTRAL
DIVISION |
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| SEASON6 | TEAM | DIV.PRED. | CONF.PRED. | THE SKINNY |
| Playoffs R3 |  |
1 | 3 | The Blues have had a busy off-season. Have added Parrish, Alfredsson and Gratton to their top-3 lines and now seem better than ever. The 'downgrade' on defence from Derian Hatcher to Bryan McCabe seems insignificant. McCabe has added a bit more offence to the blue-line ... and defensively Patrick Roy has a goal against average under 1 in the preseason so far. Should win the division easily. |
| Playoffs R2 |  |
2 | 5 | Cup-contender check-out ? Looks like it. A costly acquisition of Joe Thornton has the Wings lacking quality depth after the big 1st line (Shanahan, Thornton & O'Neill). Wont challenge the Blues this season ... not with the current roster anyway. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
4 | 12 | The Chicago mystery franchise. One day trading Adam Foote and Chris Gratton for prospects, the new acquiring Sydor, Doan for prospects. In the tough western Conference they'll struggle to get near the playoffs ... but less could do for the Hawks here ... |
| Missed playoffs |  |
3 | 10 | The Predators will now have a full season with their much improved roster ... but their defence still needs to improve. While the forward groups looks strong - the defence does not. Klesla #1 D infront of Turek ? Sounds bad ... |
| Missed playoffs |  |
5 | 15 | The early front runner for last place in the wcfhl. There's a long way to go for this previously mis-managed franchise ... this franchise is likely to make some moves at the waiver-draft. |
PACIFIC
DIVISION |
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| SEASON6 | TEAM | DIV.PRED. | CONF.PRED. | THE SKINNY |
| Stanley Cup Winner |  |
1 | 2 | Last seasons cup winners come with very few changes from last year except dumping a bit of excess baggage for nice packages ... should be able to win their division but it's a tough one which means they could struggle to win 1st seed in the West again. |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
4 | 11 | The Kings was one of the most improved teams last year. But could this year end up in the tough race for the playoff-spots. Goaltending is a questionmark, they have 2 average to below average starters ... |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
2 | 4 | The Stars are back ... or are they ? Pre-season results have been lacklustre. Goaltending was horrible last year - they'll be hoping that Roman Cechmanek can do better than Fernandez - Nabokov - Weekes - and the 4th guy who's name eludes me right now. Biggest problem in Dallas is the refusal to trade Mike Modano the Rangers. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
5 | 14 | A 42 million dollar payroll and a so-so roster indicates that these Ducks will have a tough season on and off the ice. Vincent Lecavalier is the bright shining ... eeh ... Duck. Do Ducks shine ? |
| Missed playoffs |  |
3 | 6 | The Coyotes have arrived. What a turnover their roster has gone through this year ... has snapped up Rangers forwards in bundles over the last year ... Palffy, Cassels, Renberg, Johansson. Their season seems to hang on the ability of Brent Johnson to carry the team ... 'cause backup Christobal Huet surely cant. |
NORTH
WEST DIVISION |
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| SEASON6 | TEAM | DIV.PRED. | CONF.PRED. | THE SKINNY |
| Playoffs R2 |  |
1 | 1 | Dont look now, but the Colorado Avalanche have a roster that includes 2 of the best-ever FHL players - Peter Forsberg and Alexei Kovalev. They are aided by the likes of Hejduk, Sakic and Mogilny ... not to mention (one of) the best defence in the league. That alongwith a relatively weak division means I think they'll take the 1st seed this year. |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
3 | 8 | The Edmonton Oilers should be a lock for 8th spot in the West again this year ... solid depth up and down the lineup with the apparant absence of true top forwards or D-men. But Oil always stays afloat. Has some intruiging young players though ... Datsyuk, Poti, Adam Oates : - ) |
| Playoffs R1 |  |
2 | 7 | A complete reshuffle is underway with the top defensive duo of Brewer and DeVries in front of Khabibulin as the high-priced backbone of the team. Should be engulfed in the playoff battle in the West. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
5 | 13 | The Wild really is not that good ... really - they are not. Their playoff run failed last year (though there should never have been one) and this preseason they are leading the west with 11 points in 6 games. Stanislav Chistov should be among the front runners for the Calder. |
| Missed playoffs |  |
4 | 9 | The Flames are still searching for the best way forward. Has very good depth and a couple of magnificient youngsters in Iginla and Antropov. With a bunch of good veterans they should make a good run, but it's a damn tough race in the west. |