Tag: NHL (Page 6 of 16)

      2009 NHL Preview: Los Angeles Kings

      October 1, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Los Angeles Kings…

      Team Play: ISSUE – Assembling the Puzzle. The Kings bottomed out in 2006-07, and have steadily improved since. On paper, it appears GM Dean Lombardi has collected enough pieces to assemble the puzzle – a Stanley Cup Playoff-caliber team. In July, LA made a couple of significant moves: On July 2nd, they signed free agent blueliner Rob Scuderi from the Stanley Cup Champs. The next day, they sent defensemen Tom Priessing and Kyle Quincey to Colorado for power forward Ryan Smyth. Trade rumors continue to swirl around the Kings (including the now-debunked myth of LA being part of a three-team deal with Ottawa and San Jose involving Dany Heatley), but the thinking here is that unless someone makes Lombardi an offer he can’t refuse, he’ll now put the roster in the capable hands of Head Coach Terry Murray, and see what sort of team the coach can assemble.

      One thing is certain: it will be a young team, as 33-year-old Ryan Smyth instantly becomes the oldest forward (in fact, Michal Handzus (32) and Raitis Ivanans (30) are the only other forwards over the age of 27), and four of the Kings’ top six d-men will be 26 or younger…Oh, yeah: Erik Ersberg, 27, is the only goalie on Los Angeles’ training camp roster over the age of 23.

      Look for the Kings to continue to improve in 09-10, but in a very tough Western Conference, their playoff chances will depend just as much on other teams’ failures as on their own successes.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Florida Panthers

      September 30, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Edmonton Oilers…

      Team Play: ISSUE – The Blueline. Truthfully, Florida has more than a couple of question marks among the forward lines, too, but the New & Not-Necessarily-Improved blueline corps (Now Bouwmeester Free!!!) earns OGA’s focus. In addition to the departure of Jay “30-minutes-a-night” Bouwmeester, Florida also said goodbye to Nick Boynton (now with Anaheim), Karlis Skrastins (Dallas), and apparently, to Jassen Cullimore (UFA), as well. Replacing those ‘Cats are Jordan Leopold, Ville Koistinen, and…who else? Well, that’s why they have training camp every year, right? – To find the answers to such questions. Seriously, the Panthers have invited veterans Martin Skoula and Christian Backman (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) to camp, and they’ll compete with a handful of rookies for available roster spots. No matter who ends up on the Opening Night roster, the Panthers’ defensemen have big skates (and minutes) to fill.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Edmonton Oilers

      September 29, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Edmonton Oilers…

      Team Play: ISSUE – The Buffalo Sabres’ Twin. No offense intended, Oiler fans. But off-season acquisition-wise, Edmonton made a nearly unnoticeable number of changes just like Buffalo has done. Edmonton’s big difference, however, is the coming of an entirely new coaching staff. If, as it has been said, that the team’s issue was that MacTavish wasn’t listening to the team and vice-versa, there is a good chance it might just be all the Oil needs. Also of note was the trading of Dwayne Roloson, Mathieu Roy and Dany Sabourin for Nikolai Khabibulin in return. The Bulin Wall will have to stand strong as there were departures in the forward and defensive ranks that secured only Mike Comrie and two prospects with a combined 35 games and five points’ NHL experience.

      The early CBS Sports page for the Oilers projects a line pairing of Moreau-Horcoff-Hemsky from left to right on No. 1, and Jacques-Gagne-Penner on No. 2. The team will see if Andrew Cogliano, Robert Nilsson, Patrick O’Sullivan or the newly acquired Mike Comrie, have anything to say about positions on the top two lines during training camp. Three of the top four defenders were good for more than 30 points last season and Sheldon Souray wound up tied with Shawn Horcoff as the second leading scorer on the team. Both Souray’s and Visnovsky’s scoring are crucial to team success, so both must remain healthy this season. And with Khabibulin as Goalie No. 1, number two seems to fall to Jeff Drouin-Deslaurie. He should be asked to get between the pipes for 20 or so games, and while he had a decent save percentage at .901 in last year’s contests, he will need to improve in that department AND his goals against to steal some of that 20.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Detroit Red Wings

      September 28, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Detroit Red Wings…

      Team Play: ISSUE – Filling in the blanks. The Wings enter the 2009-10 campaign facing several issues, of which the most critical is filling the holes left in the lineup by departing players. Gone are: Marian Hossa, Jiri Hudler, Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Kopecky (and let us not forget Chris Chelios, who has finally taken his rightful place in the Smithsonian). Between them, they accounted for 88 of Detroit’s 295 goals last season (that’s 29.8%, for those of you keeping score at home). The Wings plan to fill those gaps with the likes of Ville Leino, Jason Williams, Todd Bertuzzi and…Patrick Eaves? Barring a disaster of epic proportions, Detroit will make the playoffs again in 2009-10. The play of the four “replacements”, however, will be a major factor in determining whether the Red Wings finish as a top-three seed or open the playoffs on the road.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Dallas Stars

      September 28, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Dallas Stars…

      SUMMER SPLASH

      * The Dallas Stars made big changes to the organization this summer after last season’s experiments with the co-GMs and Sean Avery. Tom Hicks, the owner, replaced the GM leadership by bringing in the 1999 Stars Stanley Cup MVP, Joe Nieuwendyk. Nieuwy then fired Dave Tippett and replaced him with coach Marc Crawford. The effect of this change to team chemistry and play is something all fans and players are anxious to witness.

      * Most of the changes to the team this off-season, were in fact, in the team offices and the bench. In addition to Dave Tippett, the Stars have also replaced both assistants on the bench by promoting former player-favorite, Stu Barnes (who assisted from the booth last season) and by hiring former Edmonton assistant, Charlie Huddy who will bring a more offensive-minded style to the Stars defense. This will be the first time the Stars will experiment with such an idea since locating here in 1993 under the tutelage of multi-Selke winning, Bob Gainey.

      * Major impact players who are no longer with the organization include Brendan Morrison who only played a handful of games with the Stars but could have been a nice addition to this ‘re-birth’ year if not lost to free agency when he signed with Washington. The hardest loss for Stars’ fans to absorb is Sergei Zubov to the Russian KHL league. Stars fans have had it good watching this man QB the Power Play for year after year. But the fans also had a chance to get used to a new-look defense without Zubie as much of his previous two seasons were lost to injury.

      * Additions to the team are defensive-oriented. A new backup to challenge and help rest Marty Turco was brought in with the signing of veteran Alex Auld. Karlis Skrastins and Jeff Woywitka were signed to add grit to the blue line. Mysteriously, the Stars signed free agent Warren Peters (LW) from Calgary. Mysterious, because the Stars are already so heavily-loaded on the left side…

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

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