A Blog Sabbatical is Not Recommended

by Colin Donohue

Well, it happened again, as it always does, as it will forever be. I stepped away from the blog for what I initially intended to be a week, and it turned into a little more than a month. Remember my last post? At least I left on what I consider a fairly humorous note. But the whole time I was gone, I still had this tug, this voice, this entity trying to pull me back to PnP. Finally, I relented. So here I am.

Why was I gone so long? Well, I got into a pattern here at Elon of giving my students two writing assignments a week (thus requiring me to grade 36 stories a week, in addition to other class activities), I had university commitments on the weekends, I had an opportunity to get away for a couple of days with my wife and I had a conference to attend in Washington, D.C. I was keeping pretty busy, and when I had some down time, I simply needed to veg. But I’m completely caught up on all my work now. And to that I say, HUZZAH! I hunkered down, got everything done, took it day by day, kept my head in the game, never turned back, always looked forward, did what I had to do, etc., etc. (My cliche tribute to athletes everywhere.) But I always stayed positive and knew I would make my way back to PnP.

I should also mention I spent my time away watching hockey. A lot of hockey. Justin’s got this whole NBA thing pretty locked up. His expertise in that area is far greater than mine, so I’ll chime in from time to time. But if you want some NBA insights, you go to Justin. If you want some LeBron James vitriol or arguments as to why I think Stephen Curry is not the superstar everyone thinks he is, you come to me.

But if you want some NHL analysis, I’m your guy. I’ve started following the sport with more fervor in the last couple of years. It strikes a fantastic balance between the physical and the finesse more than any other sport. And for years I’ve contended that the hockey postseason is more exciting than any other professional sport’s playoffs. I stand firmly by those comments to this day. So yes, we’re nearly a month into the NHL season (it started early because the players will break in the middle of the season to participate in the Olympics), but I’m still going to give you my quick and dirty preview. Here’s how I think the conferences will shake out. (And this is how I would’ve ranked them heading into the season. I have not accounted for how teams have started.)

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

1. Pittsburgh Penguins: The Stanley Cup champs deserve the respect. Missing Rod Scuderi and Hal Gill on the blue line could affect them adversely, though.
2. Philadelphia Flyers: The addition of Chris Pronger to the defense and Ray Emery in goal makes them steady on the back end. The emergence of Jeff Carter as a big-time goal scorer and the return of Daniel Briere from injury will spur the offense.
3. New York Rangers: The Rangers added a premier scorer in Marian Gaborik. They’re deeper in the forward ranks with a more explosive power play. They already have a strong defense a top-flight goaltender, so they’re a threat.
4. New Jersey Devils: Yeah, they have Marty Brodeur, but they’re aging rapidly and lack some scoring punch.
5. New York Islanders: They have a couple of nice youngsters, including John Tavares, but they’re not a good hockey team.

Northeast Division

1. Boston Bruins: Solid in the back with Zdeno Chara on D and Tim Thomas in goal. Good forward depth with gritty players.
2. Montreal Canadiens: Brought in some crafty veterans to chip in a few goals and still have a respectable defense and quality young goalie. No one will wow you, but they’re solid.
3. Buffalo Sabres: Coach Lindy Ruff usually has his teams playing well. They still have Ryan Miller in net and Thomas Vanek (when healthy) up front, so there’s potential, but they’re not a big threat.
4. Ottawa Senators: Unloading Dany Heatley didn’t exactly help their offense. His loss will be felt, but it should free up Daniel Alfredsson more.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs: Ugh. That’s really all you can say. Ugh.

Alex Ovechkin could lead the Caps to a Stanley Cup title this year.

Southeast Division

1. Washington Capitals: Possibly the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Caps have the best player in the world (Alex Ovechkin) and tremendous scoring depth. They’re still a little soft on the blue line, and questions remain in goal.
2. Carolina Hurricanes: There’s never anything sexy about this team. They’re a gritty club that always makes it to the playoffs and wins a couple of rounds because of Cam Ward, their fabulous goalie.
3. Atlanta Thrashers: They’ve added some scoring punch with Nik Antropov and some defensive help with Pavel Kubina to couple with the already dangerous Ilya Kovalchuk, but this team still is not good enough to compete for the top spot in the division.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning: Too many youngsters, questionable defensemen and project goalies. Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis won’t be enough to spur this team to the postseason.
5. Florida Panthers: Certainly a team with great speed. But they’re soft in the corners and poor on the blue line.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central Division

1. Chicago Blackhawks: This is a potent offensive team that’s solid defensively. Cristobal Huet is iffy in goal, but they have so much fire power already, that when Marian Hossa joins them after injury, they’re only going to be that much better. It’s probably the year they unseat the Red Wings.
2. Detroit Red Wings: You’re foolish if you bet against Detroit, one of the NHL’s best teams historically. But they lost Hossa to the ‘Hawks and Jiri Hudler to Russia, so they’re not as deep as they once were. And they’re only getting older in the back and in net. Still, they’re the most disciplined team in the league, and they know how to win late.
3. Columbus Blue Jackets: A nice up and coming team with a legitimate scorer (Rick Nash) and a stud young goalie (Steve Mason).
4. St. Louis Blues: Made a surprising run at the end of the year, but they’re still a little shaky. Their lack of offensive depth is disconcerting.
5. Nashville Predators: A nice defensive, trapping hockey team. But when your best offensive option is a defenseman (Shea Weber), then you might have issues scoring.

Northwest Division

1. Calgary Flames: They still have 30-goal getter Jarome Iginla, tough defenseman Dion Phaneuf and quality goalie Mikka Kiprusoff. They also added scoring threat Jay Bouwmeester to the blue line.
2. Vancouver Canucks: The Sedin twins carry this team offensively and Roberto Luongo shuts things down in goal. Scoring from the last couple of lines is suspect, but this is a solid club.
3. Colorado Avalanche: The Avs came on at the end of last season, and they should continue to play fairly well. They are not a great hockey team, but they have hope because of guys like 18-year-old Matt Duchene and 23-year-old Paul Statsny.
4. Minnesota Wild: The Wild simply have trouble scoring. They’re disciplined on defense, but they really have trouble putting the puck in the net.
5. Edmonton Oilers: Nikolai Khabibulan will continue to try to reclaim his once proud career in Edmonton, but he looks shakier every year and there’s really no one around him.

Heatley adds more scoring to an already potent offensive Sharks team.

Pacific Division

1. San Jose Sharks: Too much talent here on offense, defense and in goal not to consider them the best in the West. Dany Heatley only makes them scarier.
2. Anaheim Ducks: A nice young team with some physical players at the forward position. They have questions in goal because it’s unclear if Jonas Hiller or J.S. Giguere can be the steady presence they need.
3. Los Angeles Kings: They solidified their blue line by adding Rod Scuderi and Jonathan Quick is an up and coming goalie, but they’re not close to San Jose or Anaheim.
4. Dallas Stars: Marty Turco seems to be toast as a No. 1 goalie, which leaves them thin in the back. Mike Modano is still a nice offensive player, but he’s not getting any younger.
5. Phoenix Coyotes: Oh, the poor Coyotes. Tragic.

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF SEEDS:

1. Washington Capitals
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Boston Bruins
4. Philadelphia Flyers
5. New York Rangers
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. Montreal Canadiens
8. Atlanta Thrashers

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF SEEDS:

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. Calgary Flames
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Columbus Blue Jackets
8. Los Angeles Kings

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS:

Quarterfinals
Capitals (1) def. Thrashers (8)
Penguins (2) def. Canadiens (7)
Hurricanes (6) def. Bruins (3)
Flyers (4) def. Rangers (5)

Semifinals
Capitals (1) def. Hurricanes (6)
Flyers (4) def. Penguins (2)

Finals
Capitals (1) def. Flyers (4)

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS:

Quarterfinals
Sharks (1) def. Kings (8)
Blackhawks (2) def. Blue Jackets (7)
Flames (3) def. Ducks  (6)
Red Wings (4) def. Canucks (5)

Seminfinals
Sharks (1) def. Red Wings (4)
Blackhawks (2) def. Flames (3)

Finals
Blackhawks (2) def. Sharks (1)

STANLEY CUP FINALS:

Capitals (1) def. Blackhawks (2)

So there you have it. Those were my preseason choices. If I were choosing today, from scratch, I’d probably make a couple of changes. But that’s what I would’ve written a month ago.