|
Hockey was a big hit in its return.
 |
|
Crosby
|
After a yearlong lockout, the NHL returned last season with new rules and a pair of star rookies. The rules, designed to speed up the tempo and increase scoring, made the sport fun again. The rookies, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, certainly were exciting to watch.
And the Stanley Cup ended up in the South again, this time in the hands of the scrappy Carolina Hurricanes.
So what does the NHL do for an encore? Hopefully more of the same from Crosby and Ovechkin, a whole season from Philadelphia's Peter Forsberg and lots more scoring.
As for who will win the Cup this year, there's really only a handful of a teams that have a legitimate shot. Sure, they all start at the same spot, and every one of them thinks they have a chance, but the hard truth is it's going to be a struggle for some teams to win a third of their games, much less have a chance at the coolest trophy in sports.
With that in mind, asap decided to set up the NHL season, which starts Wednesday with three games, by breaking down which teams have a shot at winning it and which ones will be playing out the season from the first day.
___
CUP CONTENDERS
 Calgary Flames — Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is one of the best in the league, and adding left wing Alex Tanguay takes some of the pressure off right wing Jarome Iginla.
Carolina Hurricanes — Defending champs have few weaknesses, roughly the same team as last year.
Ottawa Senators — The Sens will score plenty of goals -- again -- but need to find some mojo in the playoffs.
San Jose Sharks — A full season with center Joe Thornton should make all the difference.
___
GET SOME BREAKS, HAVE A CHANCE
Anaheim Ducks — New addition Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer could be the league's top defensive pairing. Now the (no longer Mighty) Ducks need to get some offense.
Buffalo Sabres — A game short of the Stanley Cup finals last year, the Sabres are loaded up front, though just average defensively.
New Jersey Devils — Any team with G Martin Brodeur has a shot.
New York Rangers — The new rules revitalized RW Jaromir Jagr's career, and the additions of C Matt Cullen, LW Brendan Shanahan and defenseman Aaron Ward give the Rangers plenty of experience (seven combined Stanley Cups).
Philadelphia Flyers — It all hinges on C Peter Forsberg's health — 35-16-9 with him, 10-10-2 without.
___
MAYBE THE PLAYOFFS
Colorado Avalanche — Losing LW Alex Tanguay hurts, but RW Marek Svatos could be a stud.
Dallas Stars — Stars need to break trend of being great during the regular season, not so good in the playoffs.
Detroit Red Wings — Does G Dominik Hasek have anything left at 41, and can the young players replace the likes of Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan?
Minnesota Wild — Scoring more goals and keeping G Manny Fernandez healthy will be key.
Montreal Canadiens — Habs will need another strong season from G Cristobal Huet and keep C Saku Koivu healthy.
Nashville Predators — Adding C Jason Arnott is huge, but success depends on the health of G Tomas Vokoun.
Pittsburgh Penguins — Adding stud rookie C Evgeni Malkin with Crosby should be exciting to watch, but it won't do any good if the Pens can't only find someone to play defense.
Tampa Bay Lightning — Getting C Brad Richards was huge. Now the Bolts need to get former league MVP RW Martin St. Louis back on track.
___
TREADING WATER
Atlanta Thrashers — Losing RW Peter Bondra and C Mark Savard will hurt.
Boston Bruins — A front office overhaul won't help overcome the hole left by trading Thornton to San Jose.
Columbus Blue Jackets — Offense shouldn't be a problem. Defense? That could be a problem.
Edmonton Oilers — Getting back to Stanley Cup finals seems out of the question — Oilers fans are still wondering why Pronger was traded.
Florida Panthers — The Panthers are hoping a change in scenery will do RW Todd Bertuzzi some good.
Los Angeles Kings -- Picking up veteran D Rob Blake helps, but the Kings are still one of the worst on special teams.
Toronto Maple Leafs -- The Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade and will have a hard time getting back unless their young players step up.
Vancouver Canucks -- Picking up G Robert Luongo was great, but Vancouver needs to find scoring behind its powerful first line.
___
NO HOPE
Chicago Blackhawks — Not even G Nikolai Khabibulin, who won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, was enough to save the Hawks last year. It might not be much better this season.
New York Islanders — Team Turmoil has to find a way to put the puck in the net.
Phoenix Coyotes — Picking up RW Owen Nolan and C Jeremy Roenick will help, but it could be another long season for coach Wayne Gretzky.
St. Louis Blues — Adding RW Bill Guerin and G Manny Legace should at least keep the Blues from having the league's worst record for the second straight year.
Washington Capitals — As exciting as Ovechkin is to watch, the Caps still don't have a defense.
___
John Marshall is asap's sports writer, based in Denver.
| 
