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Monday, October 3, 2011

{allcanada} Northwest-leading Canucks try again for Cup

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Vancouver Canucks

2010-11 record: 54-19-9.

Story line: Canucks seek first Stanley Cup in franchise's 41-year history.

Arrivals: C Marco Sturm, D Alexander Sulzer.

Departures: D Christian Ehrhoff, LWs Raffi Torres and Tanner Glass.

Goaltending: Roberto Luongo, 32, is coming off a terrific season if you ignore his subpar performance in the Stanley Cup Final. He lost four of his last five games vs. the Bruins and gave up 15 goals in the three games in Boston. No NHL goalie faces more pressure than Luongo, who can't seem to endear himself to Vancouver fans.

What's happening: The Canucks had the most points, scored the most goals, played the best team defense and owned the best power play last season. And they only lost one key player (Ehrhoff) from that roster. Although the Canucks are being cast as a team that blew the Final, this remains a dominant team with impressive offensive ability. Henrik and Daniel Sedin could finish one-two in the scoring race and total 200 points. Alexandre Burrows is both a scorer and an irritant. Manny Malhotra is an exceptional face-off man. Jannik Hansen is a respected role player. Chris Higgins is expected to have a bigger role this season. Led by Alexander Edler, Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis, the defensemen are high caliber. They defend well, and they move the puck well.

Player to watch: C Ryan Kesler, 27, has made the leap from high-quality player to monstrous force. Nashville coach Barry Trotz compared him to Mark Messier during the playoffs. The comparison works, because Kesler is a hard-driving, mobile, skilled, physical and ruthless competitor.

Key question: Is Luongo the right goalie to take the Canucks to a title? He has won two world championships and an Olympic gold medal and has had impressive statistics. But he has had rough playoff moments, even beyond last spring.

Outlook: The dark cloud that was inexplicably over this talented team during the Final has been replaced by the reality that the Canucks remain one of the favorites to win the Cup this season.

Calgary Flames

2010-11 record: 41-29-12.

Story line: GM Jay Feaster provides positive vibes.

Arrivals: Ds Scott Hannan and Chris Butler.

Departures: D Robyn Regehr, LW Fredrik Modin

Goaltending: Miikka Kiprusoff (37-24-5, 2.63, .906) has played 70 or more games for six consecutive seasons. But now that he's turning 35, it's probably time to reduce his workload. His save percentage dropped last season, but his six shutouts were his most since 2006-07.

What's happening: Feaster's objective this summer was more about maintenance work than renovation. He traded Regehr to have the money to re-sign Alex Tanguay, Curtis Glencross, Brendan Morrison and Anton Babchuk. The Flames are a better offensive team than most fans realize. With 250 goals last season, they were fifth in the NHL in scoring, best among non-playoff teams. It helps to have 43-goal scorer Jarome Iginla, who seemed much happier after Feaster brought his brand of optimism to the Calgary dressing room. Feaster's best managerial attribute is that he builds up confidence in those who work for him.

Player towatch: CMikael Backlund, 22, has been slower to develop than the Flames would have liked. He had 10 goals and 25 points last season, and the Flames clearly would like his goal total to be near 20.

Key question: Will Calgary give up fewer goals this season? The Flames need to reduce their goals against from 237 to about 220 to have a reasonable shot at making the playoffs. It would help considerably if the Flames could improve their 21st-ranked penalty killing. If Hannan, 32, could restore his roar as a shutdown defenseman, it could also help. During his best seasons with San Jose, he was very difficult to play against. But mostly it will come down to how sharp Kiprusoff can be and whether defensemen Mark Giordano and Jay Bouwmeester have good seasons.

Outlook: Trying to claim that eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference is like trying to stay seated on a bucking bronco. The Flames will probably hang on for a good while before being thrown off at the end.

Colorado Avalanche

2010-11 record: 30-44-8.

Story line: New goaltending fuels fresh hope in Colorado.

Arrivals: Gs Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, RW Chuck Kobasew, G Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Ds Jan Hejda and Shane O'Brien

Departures: G Brian Elliott, D Adam Foote, D John-Michael Liles, RW Tomas Fleischmann.

Goaltending: The Avs gave up first- and second-round picks to land Varlamov, 23, with the hope he is ready to be their No.1 goalie. But they also hedged their bet by signing Stanley Cup ring holder Giguere, 34. The bottom line is that the Avs should expect to have dependable goaltending.

What's happening: The Avalanche are one of the most challenging reads going into the season because high-quality goaltending could improve this team in a hurry. Let's not forget the Avs were a playoff team two seasons ago and looked competitive at the beginning of last season. Matt Duchene is a franchise center who has the ability to go from 67 points to being one of the league's top 10 scorers this season. Paul Stastny is a noteworthy No.2. The Avs can bank on Milan Hejduk scoring 20-plus goals. David Jones is coming off a 27-goal season. There's plenty to like about Colorado.

Player to watch: C-W Peter Mueller, 23, missed all of last season with a concussion. If he can, as expected, return to the lineup this season, he gives the Avalanche another young skilled forward.

Key question: Will ownership give GM Greg Sherman money to spend at the trade deadline if the Avalanche are close? The Avalanche are right at the salary cap floor and could end up having the NHL's lowest payroll.

Outlook: Trying to figure out where the Avalanche will finish this season is like forecasting how much snow will fall in the Rockies. No matter how you analyze it, you're still guessing. But it seems as if too many variables must go Colorado's way for it to make the playoffs.

Edmonton Oilers

2010-11 record: 25-45-12.

Story line: Oilers waiting for young talent to blossom.

Arrivals: LW Ryan Smyth, Ben Eager and Darcy Hordichuk, Ds Andy Sutton and Cam Barker, C Eric Belanger.

Departures: Cs Andrew Cogliano and Colin Fraser, Ds Kurtis Foster and Jim Vandermeer.

Goaltending: Nikolai Khabibulin, 38, won't be the starting goalie when the Oilers are ready to compete for a Stanley Cup in a couple of seasons, and he might not be No.1 this season. Devan Dubnyk, 25, outplayed Khabibulin in 2010-11 and seems poised to push him into a backup role.

What's happening: GM Steve Tambellini has done high-quality work in rebuilding the roster, although it helped immensely to have back-to-back No.1 draft picks in Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopikins. Led by Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, Colten Teubert, Jeff Petry, Linus Omark, Sam Gagner and others, the Oilers have enough talent to rise up the way the Penguins did after they landed Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Count on Edmonton's offense generating more goals this season. The keys will be goaltending and defense. Ryan Whitney's arrival improved the defense last season, and Tom Gilbert is underrated.

Player to watch: At 24, Omark wants to prove he is a dynamic NHL force and not a gimmicky shootout specialist. If you combine his AHL and NHL totals from last season, he was a 58-point scorer. He is a 5-9 bundle of excitement.

Key question: Will the Oilers' power play be better? They ranked 27th last season and should be much improved simply because Hall and Eberle are more experienced. The Oilers hope to go from their 14.5% efficiency to closer to 20%.

Outlook: The Oilers' chances of making the playoffs this season are not very good, but they should be contenders by 2013 or 2014.

Minnesota Wild

2010-11 record: 39-35-8.

Story line: The Wild went shopping for goals.

Arrivals: LW Dany Heatley, RW Devin Setoguchi, C Darroll Powe, D Mike Lundin, coach Mike Yeo.

Departures: G Jose Theodore, D Brent Burns, RW Martin Havlat, D Cam Barker, coach Todd Richards, LW Andrew Brunette.

Goaltending: Niklas Backstrom remains one of the Wild's best asssets. After a disappointing 2009-10 season, accented by a .903 save percentage, he was back to .916 last season.

What's happening: The Wild had the second-lowest goal production in the Western Conference, and GM Chuck Fletcher brought in Heatley and Setoguchi. In theory, they should combine for more than 55 goals. But the Wild had to give up last year's leading scorer, Havlat, to land Heatley. Plus, No.3 scorer Brunette left as a free agent. Burns, gone in the Setoguchi deal, contributed heavily to the offense with a big shot. In fairness to Fletcher, the Burns deal also landed him prize prospect Charlie Coyle, plus a first-round pick. The loss of Burns raises questions about if the defense is strong enough.

Player to watch: After finally recovering from a two-season battle with a concussion, skillful LW Pierre-Marc Bouchard, 27, posted 12 goals and 38 points in 59 games in 2010-11. The Wild probably would expect Bouchard's point total to be above 60 this season, particularly if he plays with Mikko Koivu and Heatley.

Key question: Was Heatley in a slump last season, or was his lower production the start of his decline? Heatley is 30, and his goal total dropped from 39 in 2009-10 to 26, and he seemed like he had lost a step. The Wild hope a fresh start will restore his offensive output.

Outlook: The Wild are spending a little more than $12 million on their defense, 22% of their payroll, less than any Western Conference team. Even with improved scoring, the Wild will have trouble making the playoffs.

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