The Toronto Maple Leafs have undergone (and are still undergoing) a near complete team makeover. Last January the process started when the Maple Leafs hired General Manager Cliff Fletcher. Fletcher began right then and there making some drastic team changes, but he hadn’t time to complete them all. Now, in the offseason, he has had more time to analyze the Leafs’ situation.
First and foremost Fletcher has hired new head coach Ron Wilson. Wilson’s no-nonsense approach to hockey, as well as his impressive 518 victories (NHL record eighth highest total), should provide a strong foundation for Toronto in the upcoming year. Wilson is highly renowned for his strong defensive schemes, which should fit well in the Leafs depth at defense.
Starting from the goalie, Vesa Toskala will serve as the backbone of the Leafs’ defense. The number one ranked goalie is expected to blank many of the best opposing offensive players, and will be supported by backup goalie Curtis Joseph. Assisting Toskala will be a near impenetrable defense featuring defensive wonder Bryan McCabe.
Questions still remain as to the quality of their offensive lines. While their first line features the powerful triumvirate of Nik Antropov, Alex Ponikarovsky and Alex Steen, their scoring potential is still suspect. For the Maple Leafs, however, perhaps a great defense is the best offense.
When you expect the worst from a team it makes you that much happier when they not only exceed your expectations, but blow them out of the water (or off the ice in this case) completely. Those are pretty much the sentiments of any Boston Bruins fan. Last year, though riddled with injuries and coaching questions, the Bruins managed to play extremely tight hockey and make it to post season play.
The problems last year added up very quickly. Claude Julien was hired as head coach after being fired from his previous two teams (something that instilled very little confidence in fans). Within the first 10 games of the season Patrice Bergeron suffered a season-ending concussion. After that, the huge summer free-agent goalie Manny Fernandez needed to have surgery on his knee. Even many top players were lost to free agency.
But then the Bruins began to play extremely consistently. Goalie, defense, and offense gelled together in an incredible way and they never let up. By the end of the season, the Boston Bruins had acquired the number 8 playoff berth.
Now, the veterans of last season will be accompanied by a talented new roster of young players. The future looks bright for Bruins hockey and if they can play together they way they did last season, a Stanley Cup trophy is not out of the question.
New Jersey Devils’ general manager Lou Lamoriello isn’t foolin’ around anymore. After last season’s embarrassing fourth-worst goals per game ratio (2.42 per game), Lamoriello has added some much need firepower to the near-absent Devils offense, adding veterans Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik.
Bringing back Rolston, a former Devils player, from the Minnesota Wild should give the Devils incredible goal scoring power. Though Rolston is now 35, age has not slowed him one bit. In his last three seasons he posted 30-plus goals. Holik, too, is no stranger to double-digit goal scoring seasons. In his twenty year career (he is now 37 years old) he has never failed to put up at least 10 goals in the NHL. Often, he scored in the mid twenties.
The addition of these powerful attackers, as well as the retention of defender Bryce Salvador and goalie Martin Brodeur, should propel the Devils into the postseason. Brodeur, the backbone of the Devils, was one of the sole reasons that the Devils were able to stay in the playoff hunt for so long last season. Now that they have some scoring power the Devils can take some of the pressure off of Brodeur.
In the off season the Minnesota Wild have lost a few key players to the free agency pool. Losing Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra, both of whom were veteran goal scorers and natural leaders, won’t be easy for the Wild. This is the team that took the number 3 seed in the Western Conference in last year’s playoffs, largely due to the support of the two aforementioned goal scoring wonders.
General manager Doug Risebrough wasted little time in filling these gaping voids. For starters, he signed Andrew Brunette (Wild Player from 2001-2004) and believes that his consistent play will help balance out the team mentality and put up large goal/assist numbers. Only five days after Brunette’s signing, Risebrough also landed another highly skilled veteran: Owen Nolan. Nolan, 36, accrued 16 goals and 16 assists last year for the Calgary Flames. A big change was added to the defense as well, bringing in Marek Zidlicky from the Nashville Predators. Luckily for the Wild, their amazing goalie Niklas Backstrom will return as well, ready to stifle all goal scorers. The Minnesota Wild may have a very different lineup from last year but it is one that may put them in the Stanley Cup Finals.
A few years ago things looked pretty bleak for the NHL. A huge lockout caused an already waning public interest in the sport to all but completely die. The NHL lost a lot of television time and ticket revenue. But now, the NHL is resurging and (re)grabbing the interest of America and along with that, the rest of the world.
Last season the NHL used London as a test market for European interest. Results were fantastic. The two games held in London (matches between the L.A. Kings and Anaheim Ducks) were played in front of sellout crowds; pretty much just the shot in the arm that the NHL needed at that point.
With a great spike in interest not only in America but overseas the NHL plans to hold two more events in Europe this season. On October 4th and 5th, the NHL will host 2 games in Stockholm and 2 games in Prague. At Stockholm’s Globe Arena the Ottawa Senators will face the Pittsburgh Penguins while across the way the New York Rangers face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Prague’s O2 Arena. Without any advertising outside of word-of-mouth, tickets have already sold out.
After an impressive 16-year NHL hockey career, in which he played for the Jets, Panthers, Penguins, Sabres, and finally Dallas Stars, Stu Barnes will be trading in his ice skates and hockey jersey for wingtips and a suit. The man who brought intensity, intelligence, and pure talent to the ice will now bring those same qualities to the Dallas Stars bench as their new assistant coach.
Though Barnes has never seen himself as the player-coach type before, the Stars’ coaching staff has full faith in him. Co-general manager Les Jackson states, “Stu was a consummate professional on and off the ice throughout his career, and was the type of player who always exhibited the qualities you would associate with a future coach. Stu will be an excellent addition to our staff…” Sentiments that everyone of his former teammates always shared.
Barnes has been looking forward this move for quite some time, realizing that his playing days were fast approaching their end. He knew, however, that he was not ready to leave the game altogether. He believes his experience, if nothing else will assist the younger players on the team. After a total 1,136 NHL, most critics believe it will too.
Now returning for its second year, hockey fans can rejoice as the NHL Winter Classic will once again ring in the New Year on January 1st. This year, two of the original six NHL teams will face off as the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Detroit Redwings in the open arena of Wrigley field.
The original NHL Winter Classic, which featured the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was an incredible success. Not even the inclement, snowy weather deterred the thousands of hockey fans from remaining in the stadium, until The Penguins finally won in penalties 2-1. It was the highest-rated NHL game since 1996.
This year, compounded with the success of last year’s event, The Winter Classic features one of the oldest rivalries in hockey history. The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings rivalry is to hockey what The New York Yankees and The Boston Red Sox rivalry is to Major League Baseball.
The match will be non-stop action, but also a very relaxing experience to the hungover at home.
The veteran hockey player and defenseman Teppo Numminen has signed a $1 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres that will keep him running with the Sabres team for one year. The Sabres are not worried about the recent heart surgery that the veteran has had and are expecting him to be the driving force for their team this upcoming season. The doctors and the medical staff have given a clean chit to this veteran player and he is expected to play in most of the games for the Sabres this new NHL season. The tickets to the forthcoming NHL season are being sold at a brisk pace.
The Nashville Predators have extended the contract of their forward Jerred Smithson by two years and he will be playing for the Predators through the 2010-11 season. Smithson is very much delighted with the offer that the Predators made and will be richer by $1.475 million for this two year contract extension. Jerred Smithson was in great form in the 2008-09 season scoring 7 goals in the 81 games played. He made his NHL debut with Los Angeles team and has so far played in 241 games in his NHL career. Smithson’s fans are hoping for similar hockey skills this upcoming season too. Tickets to most of the NHL games are being sold at a hectic pace.
The Tampa Bay Lighting has signed a three year contract amounting to $2.625 million to rope in the No 1 pick in the NHL draft, Steven Stamkos, into their team. Stamkos is determined to make the most of this opportunity and wants to make it big this forthcoming NHL season. He said that he will be working with his new teammates at the practice camp and will be able to work on developing an excellent rapport with the players of the Lightning team. He feels that he is ready for the big challenge of NHL and will be able to prove his detractors wrong. There is no doubt that there will be huge rush for tickets by the Lightning fans to the upcoming season.
