NHL Preview: Central Division

By: Ben Malley

1. Detroit (2)

The Wings get older every year, but they are always a Stanley Cup contender. The over 34 brigade are Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Chris Chelios, Nick Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom and Dominik Hasek. With a backup in Chris Osgood it seems the Wings may be one groin pull away from not having a legitimate number one goalie, but Hasek was able to make it through all of last season injury free. If he can do that two years in a row it will be a minor miracle.

There are some younger players coming through the system. Valtteri Filppula looked great in the playoffs last season and of course Datsyuk and Zetterberg are both in their 20s. Brian Rafalski was added to make up for the loss of Matthieu Schneider and he should be good for about 10 more points a year now that he is out of New Jersey’s defense first system. The Wings are a cup contender, but it will depend on Hasek’s health. You get the feeling that one of these days the 42-year-old just isn’t going to be an elite NHL goaltender anymore. But that day hasn’t yet arrived.

2. Chicago

The Blackhawks haven’t been very good recently. Chicago’s success or lack thereof will hinge on Mark Prior and Kerry Wood (or Martin Havlat, Sergei Samsonov and Tuomo Ruutu). Even new acquisition Robert Lang has an injury history. Highly touted prospects Patrick Kane and Jonathan Towes are both expected to be major contributors to the team and their upside may be enough to get the Hawks into the playoffs. There is actually quite a bit of talent here and we may see it gel into a pretty effective team this season.

Remember Nikolai Khabibulin is being paid $6.75 million for a reason, he is quite good. The Blackhawks have the 34-year-old for three more years and he has the ability to take them back to the playoffs with the right group of guys around him. This team is probably the most exciting story of the season and the team I will have my eye on for the first month and a half. They could make the playoffs if things go right. And playing in probably the weakest division in the league, they just might get to the estimated 95 points needed to do it.

3. Nashville

The Predators better hope they don’t draw the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs again this year. In fact, they might do better just hoping to make the playoffs at all. Tomas Vokoun is in Florida and Chris Mason, who has performed competently, will be the starter. But Mason is the kind of goaltender that can backstop a good team, not the game stealer that Vokoun has the capability of being, and the Predators aren’t exactly a good team anymore.

Paul Kariya is gone and so is Peter Forsberg, who wasn’t much effective anyway. Steve Sullivan, who is always hurt, is hurt again. This time it's his back and he will be out for months. Things are completely up in the air and he may not be Steve Sullivan ever again if and when he comes back. Scott Hartnell took the money and ran to Philadelphia and so did Kimmo Timmonen. To make up for this Alexander Radulov in his second season should see a huge boost in ice time. Marek Zidlicky will hope to see a resurgence this season alongside young blueliners Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Playing in a weaker division will help this team, but it’s hard to see them making the playoffs with the amount of talent they have lost.

4. St. Louis

Everyone loves GM John Davidson and Coach Andy Murray and want to see them succeed. They seem to be on their way. Signing Paul Kariya will be a big help, but alongside him are old people like Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight. Unfortunately, these players probably won’t be effective in two or three years when this team will challenge for the playoffs and actually need them.

The 19-year-old Erik Johnson is the top rated prospect defenseman in the game and will see a lot of ice time right away. Questions abound in goal with 23-year-old Hannu Toivonen, who had one good year in Boston and looked like the latest in a large crop of star Finish goaltenders. He still has quite a bit of upside. And then there is Manny Legace, who had one good season behind a great Detroit team two years ago and proceeded to fail in the playoffs when it mattered. St. Louis is a ways away from success, but if Toivonen finds his past form they could have found themselves a goalie for many years. However, that’s a big if.

5. Columbus

This is the team where your career goes to die. Remember Sergei Fedorov and Adam Foote? They didn’t retire, they just play for the Blue Jackets. There is some young talent here, as there should be for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs once in their five seasons of existence. Gilbert Brule hasn’t proven anything yet, but Nikolai Zherdev scored 54 points two years ago, before having a disappointing 2006/2007 season. And then there is always Rick Nash, who looked every bit as good as Ilya Kovalchuk in their rookie seasons, a year before the lockout. However, Nash hasn’t been able to turn himself into one of the game’s elite players as of yet.

Pascal Leclaire is the goalie of the future and he did as well as could be expected last season on such a poor team. I’d look for Zherdev to rebound and get back to 50+ points, but there aren’t a lot of good things to say about this team. For a team that is so well attended by the city of Columbus, it’s too bad that after five years they still haven’t been able to get it together.

NHL Preview: Northwest Division

By: Ben Malley

1. Vancouver (3)

The Canucks have the best goalie in the NHL. Their problem will be finding the scoring to compliment that. The Sedins will have another fantastic year together, but the challenge will be production from former superstar Markus Naslund and his linemate Brendan Morrison. These two and Todd Bertuzzi formed the most potent line combination the year prior to the lockout. Both have seen their numbers decline in recent years. Any average hockey team with Luongo has a shot at making a deep playoff run. Adding some scoring at the trade deadline would be nice.

2. Calgary (5)

Crazy Mike Keenan has been brought in to coach the Flames, a move that had hockey experts befuddled. The Flames still have many of the key players from their cup run of three seasons ago. Built from the net out Miikka Kiprusoff will probably play another 80 games this season. Dion Phaneuf has already established himself as an elite defenseman in this league with his hitting and scoring punch, and the team added Adrian Aucoin and Cory Sarich for probably too much money. They will join the top notch defensive corp with large bodied Robyn Regehr and Rhett Warrener.

Scoring was always secondary in the Flames game plan, but they have more offensive weapons than ever. Alex Tanguay hasn’t had Colorado numbers since he joined the team last year, but Daymond Langkow and Kristian Huselius had truly breakout seasons alongside the prolific Jerome Iginla. Both reached career highs in points (77). If you believe Langkow and Huselius won’t fall off their point per game pace and Tanguay has a bounce-back year then the Flames will win the division.

3. Minnesota (6)

The Wild have now let longtime goalie tandem Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson go, but they’ve found a couple of equally capable replacements in Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding. Backstrom played half a season last year and finished with a league leading GAA of 1.97. For his troubles the 29-year-old received a two year $3.1 million contract. The 23-year-old Harding is the goalie of the future, and the two may split time like Fernandez and Roloson used to do. Needless to say the already defensive minded Jacques Lemaire team looks set to be even better defensively this season, and set in goal for years to come.

On offense the oft-injured Slovakian duo of Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra are as good of a one-two punch as any in the league. Saku’s younger brother Mikko Koivu looks poised to step up as their first line center, and if they stay healthy he could have a big season. On the second line Brian Rolston should be good for another 60+ points.

In the playoffs it is important to have more than one good line. Last season Anaheim easily shut down Demitra and Gaborik leaving the Wild without much of a chance in their first round five game dismissal at the hands of the Ducks. It’s that lack of scoring depth that keeps Minnesota from being one of the elite teams, but as with any Lemaire coached team they will be very competitive if not the most exciting to watch at times.

4. Colorado (7)

The Avs had a good offseason adding Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan. Smyth should play with Joe Sakic and Andrew Brunette. The second line will have rookie standouts Peter Stasny and Wojtek Wolski in their second seasons. We haven’t even mentioned Milan Hejduk, who has seen his numbers decline and one year wonder Marek Svatos who may be back to his rookie season form. John-Michael Liles is on the cusp of being a top NHL blue-liner and Jordan Leopold, who spent much of last season injured needs to be the number two guy on defense. Obviously goals will be easy to come by.

The question is in net. Peter Budaj and Jose Theodore haven’t proven to be anything more than average. Average goaltending should get this team to the playoffs, but it keeps them from being one of the elite teams in the West.

5. Edmonton

The Oilers offseason was characterized by the RFA offer sheets desperate GM Kevin Lowe threw at Thomas Vanek and Dustin Penner. Both incredibly overvalued the Sabres matched Vanek’s offer not wanting to lose three of their top players in one season. The Ducks had the luxury of letting Penner go so Penner joins an Oilers team that looks to be near the bottom of the Western Conference. A lot of people are beginning to compare Penner to a young Ryan Smyth and that doesn’t bode well for him. Penner has gone from being a small part of a successful franchise in a non-hockey city, to being a highly paid go-to-guy on the Edmonton Oilers, a city where pressure will be applied daily. If Penner doesn’t live up to his contract early on (and it’s hard to see him being able to) expect people to turn on him quickly, especially if Smyth is racking up the goals alongside Joe Sakic.

This is a team that was a game away from winning the Stanley Cup two seasons ago, but Pronger is gone, team captain Jason Smith is gone and Smyth is gone. They splashed the cash for Sheldon Souray, who many experts criticize on defense and expect not to match his stellar offensive numbers last season. If he does he is a top five offensive-defenseman in the league. Ales Hemsky hasn’t turned into the player many thought he would. Considering the Oilers probably won’t make the playoffs and gave this season’s first round pick to the Ducks as compensation for Penner it could be a long year, with little to no payoff.

NHL Preview: Pacific Division

By: Ben Malley

1. Anaheim (1)

The Ducks are the defending champions and despite losing two of their best players you can hardly say they’ve even taken a step back. Sure Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne will be missed, but Todd Bertuzzi and Matthieu Schneider are admirable replacements.

Brian Burke will have been glad to part with Dustin Penner for the price Kevin Lowe paid for him. An Oilers first round compensation draft pick looks nice and tasty this year with Edmonton sure to miss the playoffs and maybe even finish at the bottom of the conference. With two legitimate number one goalies and (number two draft pick behind Sidney Crosby) Bobby Ryan in the mix we are talking about a team that will coast into the playoffs.

2. San Jose (4)

Coach Ron Wilson may have just one more year to get it right. With a couple of seasons worth of playoff disappointments the Sharks come back with no goalie dilemmas (Evgeni Nabokov is the undisputed number one with Vesa Toskala in Toronto) and a young core that is one year older. All 23 or younger, defensemen Matt Carle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and forwards Steve Bernier, Joe Pavelski and Milan Michalek should be even better this season. And much hyped 2005 first round pick Devin Setoguchi has made the team after recovering from the knee injury that forced him to spend another season in juniors last year.

Wilson has been experimenting with Patrick Marleau on the top line with Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo in preseason. If this line stays together it is the best line in hockey. With the loss of defensive stalwart Scott Hannan to Colorado, the Sharks may look to add to their young blueline sometime this season, but their wealth of young forwards and top goaltender make them a cup favorite once again.

3. Dallas (8)

The Stars won’t score a lot of goals, but they won’t give up many either. Regular season standout goaltender Marty Turco proved the doubters wrong in last years playoffs, his team just couldn’t manage enough goals for him in the only seven game series in the entire 2007 playoffs.

The team lost the non-effective Ladislav Nagy to Los Angeles and scoring help is expected from a group of players who had down seasons last year. Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow and Jere Lehtinen, three names synonymous with the Dallas Stars, have seen their numbers decline. Morrow took over the captaincy last season, but only played half the year due to injuries. Modano missed a quarter of the season, which saw one year wonder Mike Ribeiro lead the team in scoring (59 points).

The team is led on defense by Mattias Norstrom who will stick his face in front of a puck if it helps the team. Sergei Zubov and Phillipe Boucher are guaranteed big point getters on the power play. Dallas should make the playoffs if Modano and Morrow can stay healthy and get back to 65 points each. Todd Fedoruk will attempt to make a return to the league with Dallas after having his head bashed in by Minnesota’s tough-guy Derek Boogard last year.

4. Los Angeles

The Kings season will rest on its goaltending questions again this year. Last year when Dan Cloutier wasn’t letting beach balls into his net he was injured. This year he was waived and with nobody taking on his contract he will sit in Manchester. Jason Labarbara had an outstanding year in AHL and 19-year-old QMJHL prospect Jonathan Bernier has impressed in the pre-season.

The Kings brought in a group of five marginal free agents to shore up their young foundation. Ladislav Nagy and Michael Handzus hope to find the chemistry they had in St. Louis and Phoenix. Kyle Calder will probably play a third line role, but has impressed in the pre-season and may find his way onto the top six. Patrick O’ Sullivan and Anze Kopitar are entering their second seasons. Kopitar was well on his way to a runner-up finish for the Calder behind Evgeni Malkin until he missed his team’s last 10 games due to injury. Kopitar will play with Michael Cammalleri whose point per game pace last season led the team in scoring.

The blue line should be one of the best in the league with Lubomir Visnovsky a legitimate elite point scoring defenseman alongside the Lidstroms and the Gonchars of the world. Tom Preissing and Brad Stuart were added along with the first full season of Jack Johnson and Rob Blake in a contract year. Solid goaltending would be enough to get this team into the playoffs, but as of now that’s still a huge question mark.

5. Phoenix

The Coyotes shouldn’t be very good. They have not added anyone of note and a team that finished near the bottom of the conference last season should stay there during their rebuilding process. With Curtis Joseph gone, three mediocre goalies, Vancouver/Florida cast off Alex Auld, Colorado/Montreal castoff David Aebischer, and former Toronto backup Mikael Tellqvist will fight for the number one job.

Ed Jovanovski is somehow getting paid $6.5 million. They will hope to move that salary at some point this season as it doesn’t come off the books for another four years. Young center Peter Mueller is a bright spot prospect on a team that lacks scoring punch. There isn’t a lot of good things to say other than the Coyotes may get the number one pick and the honor of drafting Oshawa’s John Tavares, the CHL’s MVP last season.

MLB Awards Predictions

By Matt Smith


National League

MVP

Matt Holliday- Holliday led the league in batting average (.340), RBIs (137) and was fourth in home runs, but it wasn’t the statistics as much as it was his performance down the stretch. The Rockies won 14 of their final 15 games to sneak into the playoffs as he hit .367 in the month of September with 12 home runs and 30 runs driven in. He battled an oblique injury and went 24-for-52 during Colorado’s final 15-game stretch.

Jimmy Rollins- Rollins talked the talk then he walked the walk. After off-season comments about the Phillies being the team to beat in the NL East, the shortstop played a big part in the Phils erasing a seven-game lead over the final 17 games of the season. He hit .296 and drove in 94 runs as a leadoff hitter, but he also did something nobody has ever done. He is the first ever 200-20-20-20-20 guy as he had 212 hits, 38 doubles, 30 homers, 20 triples and 41 stolen bases. Plus, he went to Encinal High School in Oakland, giving him bonus points.

Prince Fielder- He is a really big human, who hits balls far. The 23-year old did his part to keep the Brewers from sinking as he bashed an NL-leading 50 home runs and drove in 119 runs. Milwaukee’s collapse may hurt him, and out of sheer anger the Prince might eat Bernie the Brewer.


CY Young

Jake Peavy- Filthy. Only the sixth player to ever win the pitching triple crown as he led the National League in wins with 19, ERA with a 2.54 and strikeouts with 240. He has absolutely devastating stuff and it’s a miracle he ever loses.

Brandon Webb- If Mariano Rivera is proof a closer needs just one pitch, then Brandon Webb is proof a starter can get by with one pitch. He might bore you to death with sinker after sinker, but 18 wins, a 3.01 ERA to go along with four complete games and three shutouts are proof enough. Let’s not forget the 42 straight scoreless innings.

Brad Penny- For the second straight year, Penny won 16 games but the difference this time is he lost only four times and had an ERA of 3.03. He had only three wins after July 26 and didn’t exactly end the season pitching terrific.


ROY

Ryan Braun- Let’s forget that he’s a butcher at third base, just look at his offensive numbers. Even though he didn’t get to the bigs until May 25 he still had 34 home runs, 97 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. If he had that quarter of a season to his credit his numbers might be something like 42 home runs, 121 RBIs and 20 steals. Scary.

Troy Tulowitzki- He has all the momentum going into voting because of how hot he got during the Rockies run to the playoffs. After a miserable April which saw him hit .244 with just two homers, he turned it around and hit .291 with 24 home runs and 99 RBIs. Also, he led all National League shortstops with a .987 fielding percentage and committed just 11 errors compared to 26 errors and a horrendous .895 fielding percentage by Braun.

Hunter Pence- This guy was on his way to winning the award early, but a broken wrist forced him to miss four weeks. He still wound up hitting .322 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs.


MANAGER

Clint Hurdle- The Rockies are in the playoffs. Nuf Ced.

Bob Melvin- The Diamondbacks have the best record in the National League despite being outscored by 20 runs. Stupid, but also, Nuf Ced, again.

Charlie Manuel- Between threatening to fight baseball writers, he got the Phillies on a hot streak and took advantage of a huge choke job by the Mets.


American League

MVP

Alex Rodriguez- This just in; A-Rod is good. Of course we know he lead the universe in home runs and RBIs, but lest we forget the Yankees were 10 games under .500 and sinking like a stone when he came to the rescue. Also, did anyone notice that he led the AL in fielding percentage for third baseman that played more than 120 games?

Magglio Ordonez-Magglio rode his super-mullet to a batting crown, hitting .363 and he was also second in the AL with 139 RBIs to go with 28 home runs and 54 doubles. Had this guy been playing in the National League he would be bringing home some hardware.

David Ortiz- Ortiz had yet another great year, despite his home runs dropping from 54 to 35. He hit .332 and had 117 runs driven in and 52 doubles. Now if he would only play a position……


Cy Young

John Lackey- I think it is going to get overlooked, buy Lackey had the best year of any AL pitcher by far. He was second in wins, he led the league with a 3.01 ERA and he threw a pair of complete game shutouts. He threw 224 innings and walked only 52 batters. That’s less than two per nine innings.

Josh Beckett- Beckett will likely win this award because he won 20 games and he plays in Boston and blah, blah, blah. Don’t get me wrong, he had a great year. But his ERA (3.27) is a quarter of a run higher than Lackey’s. He also threw nearly 24 less innings and had no shutouts.

C.C. Sabathia- No one takes the ball and delivers as many innings as the Tribe’s big fella. He lead the league in innings with 241 as he threw four complete games, had 19 wins and an ERA of 3.19. If I wasn’t so sure that Beckett is going to win because the BBWAA loves Boston, I would have picked him second.


ROY

Dustin Pedroia- And the winner by default is……Dustin Pedroia. It’s a weak rookie class in the American League, but Pedroia bounced back nicely from a disastrous April that saw him hit .182. He wound up hitting .317 with eight homers and 50 RBIs.

Delmon Young- When this guy’s not throwing his bat at umpires, he’s a pretty good ball player. This year he played in all 162 of the Devil Rays’ games as he drove in 93 runs. He also stole 10 bases and hit .288.

Brian Bannister- I know what you’re thinking: “Who in the hell is Brian Bannister?” Well, he’s a kid that the Mets gave six starts to last year and gave up on him. All he did was go 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA for one of the worst teams in baseball, the Royals. He also tossed a complete game.


MANAGER

Eric Wedge- 96 wins and you have Paul Byrd in your rotation and Joe Borowski as your closer. He did something right.

Mike Scioscia- The guy flat out knows how to get the best out of his guys. Their lineup is not the most imposing, but he knows how to manage them the right way. He is strategic and surrounds himself with interchangeable parts, which is why the Angels don’t get bothered when somebody gets hurt as much as other teams do.

Joe Torre- So if you gave me a team with a $200 million payroll, I would probably win too. But this year Torre took a sinking ship and did his best job of taking what was a near disaster and turning it into a successful season. His best job yet if you ask me.