datasets.iitb.crawledDocs.yn_08Oct08_file_268 Maven / Gradle / Ivy

      |   15 Questions ( ) ERIC DUHATSCHEK From Wednesday's Globe and Mail | | October 7, 2008 at 11:47 PM EDT Hope usually springs eternal at this time of the NHL season, as 30 teams prepare  with fingers crossed  for what they think will be a fabulous year. That, of course, was how it was in the old days  or before the NHL staggered the beginning of the season, with a soft opening in Europe last weekend featuring four games, followed by a second launch in North America, which begins Thursday on four fronts. So now, while hope may spring eternal in 28 markets, the Tampa Bay Lightning's new/old coach Barry Melrose is already calling for more sweat from his skilled players; and the Pittsburgh Penguins are wondering what the heck is going on with their power play, in the absence of Sergei Gonchar and Marian Hossa. The lesson: Grim reality can set in awfully fast, even in the early days of October, where 15 burning questions will be asked and answered between now and next June. 1. Will the so-called "new" NHL eventually feature more scoring? As always, Alexander Ovechkin will be a leading candidate for the Rocket Richard Trophy. Videos 00:03:34 The NHL season begins in earnest on Thursday. The Detroit Red Wings will be working to win back-to-back championships, while newcomer Steven Stamkos starts his career on the ice with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It sure doesn't look promising. The Lightning, Penguins and Senators collectively boast some of the best pure scoring talent in the league, with a total of seven players capable of finishing in the top 10. For all that, they produced a total of 17 goals  one in overtime  for an average of just more than four a game in last weekend's openers in Prague and Stockholm. If teams that boast the likes of Sidney Crosby, Dany Heatley and Vincent Lecavalier can produce only four goals a game, it doesn't bode well for the rest of the league. 2. Then who wins the Rocket Richard Trophy? The Richard annually goes to the NHL's goal-scoring leader, which last year was dynamic Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin became the league's first 60-goal scorer since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr did it in 1995-96, and he finished with an impressive 65 goals, 13 ahead of runner-up Ilya Kovalchuk of the Thrashers. Sadly, that kind of dynamic performance has been the exception, not the rule, in the postlockout era, which has had only 10 50-goal seasons in three years. 3. Is there any reason to watch Atlanta, other than Kovalchuk? Unlikely. Kovalchuk is the NHL's goal-scoring leader since he broke into the league in 2001-02, with 254 (two more than Calgary's Jarome Iginla). The next two on the list, Marian Hossa (223) and Dany Heatley (221), both played extensively in Atlanta as well, suggesting a lot of pretty goals have been scored these past half-dozen years in one of the league's more anonymous markets. 4. But now the Thrashers have ex-Leaf John Anderson behind the bench. Shouldn't that make a difference? Maybe. Anderson is part of a new coaching wave that swept through the league on the heels of Bruce Boudreau's success in Washington. Suddenly, a lot of teams figured that instead of recycling the same old faces and names behind the bench, maybe it was time to give someone fresh a look. 5. But rookie coaches don't often win the Stanley Cup, do they? No, it's rare. For every Jean Perron who comes along (Montreal, 1986), there is the inevitable adjustment period for most of the others. Nine of the 30 teams enter the season with a new coach behind the bench, but realistically, only two have a legitimate chance to win it all. 6. And they are? Ottawa, with Craig Hartsburg, and San Jose, with Todd McLellan. Hartsburg previously coached in Anaheim and Chicago, but spent the past five years honing his craft in Sault Ste. Marie. McLellan was an assistant on Mike Babcock's Stanley Cup-championship team in Detroit, but spent 11 years apprenticing in junior (Swift Current) and minor pro (Cleveland, Houston). Unlike John Anderson or Peter DeBoer in Florida, who've inherited reclamation projects that will take a while to turn around, McLellan gets last year's No. 2 regular-season finisher that was significantly upgraded on defence. 7. Does that make the Sharks a Stanley Cup contender? They are every season. One of these years, they may actually do it. By adding Rob Blake and Dan Boyle on defence, the Sharks accomplished two things. One, they vastly bumped up their payroll (and were one of three teams that needed to get under the salary cap in the final 24 hours before today's 3 p.m. EDT deadline to submit their opening-night rosters); and two, they addressed their one perceived weakness, experience on the blueline. McLellan's former team will pose a significant challenge, but the Sharks, on paper, have few holes. 8. Who else falls into the category? In the West, both the Ducks and Dallas Stars should contend with the lineups they have. The conference is so strong that there may be another arm's race there at the trade deadline as the teams jockey to match each other strength for strength. The East is more balanced, meaning that any number of squads could contend. The gap between No. 1 (Montreal) and No. 10 (Buffalo) was small  only 14 points, or seven wins, or about one victory a month. Presumably, it'll be a logjam again. 9. It sounds as if goaltenders will be in the spotlight again? Nothing illustrates that better than the Devils' Martin Brodeur, who enters the season just 13 victories behind Patrick Roy on the all-time wins list. Brodeur's full-time NHL career began in the 1993-94 season. He didn't win his first Výzina Trophy until 2003, but he's won four of the past five since then. He has led the league in victories eight times and if he maintains his 40-wins-a-season pace, he should slip past Roy in early December. 10. And we'll be seeing more of Roy this season as well? Yes. As part of the Canadiens' centennial celebrations, Roy will have his No.33 retired by the NHL team that he left under a cloud of controversy in 1995, demanding the trade that eventually landed him in Colorado. Montreal will be the focal point for the entire season  the all-star game, draft and, given that they were the Eastern Conference regular-season champions last season, high hopes for many, many playoff dates. 11. Is this the start of an Original Six resurgence? Yes, with the exception of those beleaguered Toronto Maple Leafs. Montreal and Detroit, two of the Original Six, were conference champions, and the Rangers were a respectable 97-point team. Revivals in both Boston and Chicago seem possible as well. 12. Really, Boston? Consider that under coach Claude Julien, the Bruins made the playoffs with 94 points, despite losing their best all-round centre, Patrice Bergeron, for all but 10 games; their nominal starter in goal, Manny Fernandez, for all but four; and having just three players appear in all 82 games. If the injury jinx ends and the development of their youngsters continues, the Bruins could be a dark-horse contender for the conference title. 13. And Chicago? The Blackhawks will play host to Winter Classic 2009  Jan. 1 on frozen Wrigley Field  which will put their emerging young team in the spotlight against divisional rivals Detroit. After a decade of missteps and poor decision-making, Chicago finally got a lot of things right under GM Dale Tallon and new owner Rocky Wirtz. It'll be up to coach Denis Savard and that young nucleus to keep the ship on the right track. 14. Is there one under-the-radar squad that could surprise? Yes, the Buffalo Sabres, who went from 113 points and the President's Trophy as regular-season champs one season to 90 points and out of the playoffs the next. The Sabres' Lindy Ruff is the longest-tenured coach in the league, entering his 11th season, and after losing Daniel Briýre and Chris Drury as free agents in the summer of 2007, has his new nucleus  goalie Ryan Miller and forwards Jason Pominville, Tomas Vanek and Derek Roy  under contract. The Sabres could be in line for a big bounce-back season. 15. But when all is said and done, can anyone really dethrone Detroit? In theory, no. The Red Wings were the class of the league last season. Their 30-8-3 was the best first-half record in history; they exceeded 100 points for the eighth consecutive season, tying the Canadiens of 1974-82, as the only other team ever to do so. They won their division for the seventh year in a row; and made the playoffs for a 17th consecutive season, the longest active streak in pro sport. Oh, and they added Marian Hossa, the premier free-agent forward, to a star-studded lineup. On paper, they represent the class of the league. They are also savvy enough to know that championships are won on the ice, and this year, with a slightly later start to the season, the Stanley Cup final could go as late as June 15. Only then will all the real answers finally be in. 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