(Updated - September 30, 2009)
The Western Conference rankings are in, and the Eastern Conference picks have been updated. I missed a calculation when I first published the East, a mistake that had overvalued the Maple Leafs and Devils, while undervaluing the Thrashers. In any case, the final results are now in for both Conferences. Again, teams are divided up into four different groups; Tier I - The Leaders, Tier II - The Contenders, Tier III - The Disruptors, and Tier IV - The Scavengers [...]
The Leaders are teams who are well balanced, have had recent success, and are poised to lead their respective divisions. The Contenders are teams who should push for the top, but may have a few question marks to satisfy before being promoted. The Disruptors are those teams who have had solid rosters, and could upset some of the higher-ranked teams, but have a lot left to prove and will need to to fight out each other to make the post-season. As for The Scavengers, they are the teams who will try to pick up wins however they can, but will likely stay out of the Playoff picture for most of the season.
Tier I - The Leaders
Detroit Red Wings
Vancouver Canucks
San Jose Sharks
Tier II - The Contenders
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Tier III - The Disruptors
Columbus Blue Jackets
Minnesota Wild
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
Tier IV - The Scavengers
Los Angeles Kings
Edmonton Oilers
Phoenix Coyotes
Colorado Avalanche
Again, let me have it in the comments section if you disagree. I'll be reviewing each Division in-depth soon, and I'll also post up some general trends to watch for during the year. I will release updated power rankings for both Conferences at the quarter points throughout the season. Remember - you can send me fantasy questions through the contact form on the sidebar, and follow LindHockeyFile on Twitter for quick updates!
- Josh Lind
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9 comments:
I think the only change I would make to your rankings is to swap Edmonton and Nashville around.
Nashville are just stagnating right now...weak up front, questionable goaltending. It will have to be a hell of a defensive effort if they are to do anything of note this year.
I'll talk about the specifics more in my Division posts, but here's the thing - I think Edmonton and Nashville have very similar teams. For scoring, Hemsky, Horcoff, O’Sullivan, Gagner, and Comrie are pretty much equal to Dumont, Arnott, Erat, Legwand, and Sullivan.
They've each got a couple of studs on the blueline - Weber and Suter for the Preds, and Souray and Gilbert for the Oil. I guess you could add Hamhuis to that for Nashivlle, and Grebeshkov and Visnovsky for Edmonton, so maybe the Oilers have a bit of an advantage on D.
I actually like Nashville's goaltending more, as I think Rinne and Ellis will be a better combination than Khabibulin and Deslauriers.
Both teams need bigger years out of a certain player. In Edmonton I'd say it's Andrew Cogliano and for Nashville it's Kevin Klein.
They've also each got a relatively thin rookie crop - Paajarvi-Svensson, Eberle, Omark, Hartikainen, Rajala, and Roy are the standouts in Edmonton, and it's Wilson, Ellis, Blum, Franson, and Pickard in Nashville.
All in all, I wonder about the coaching change in Edmonton. Also, Nashville not only has the least travel of all team's in their Division, but in the entire Western Conference as well.
I'd also switch Nashville with Edmonton, I think Quinn will help the team more than people think.
Also I'd def put the Flames with the leaders pack, have you seen their D?? Bouwmeester will be great for them and so will a rebounded Phaneuf. And now that Bertuzzi is gone I can go back to fully cheering for them.
I agree that the Flames have a great team, but I still don't think they have what it takes to wrestle the division from Vancouver.
Check out the new toolbar at the bottom - you can now play games directly on the site!
Go Wild!
I kinda lost some of my respect to the Blues after they "kicked out" Legace after only 1 bad game he played. I'm glad they are doin' great though!
Red Wings are gonna come back this year, I predict - Cup for Detroit!
I think Detroit will also likely be in the Finals, but could lose to Boston.
I doubt Detroit will be in the finals this year, they'll be good no question but at some point you gotta believe they're human who get weared out. I'm not saying they're too old but I think the Pens have a better chance of a final repeat than them
Of course it's too early to tell - so much can happen in a season - but I really like Detroit's chances.
Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Cleary, Flippula, Holmstrom, Bertuzzi, and Williams (Jason) can all produce, and that's more than a lot of teams can call upon.
Not to mention big years expected out of Ericsson and Helm, and possibly Jeremy WIlliams.
But what surprises me the most about Detroit is how well they've managed to stock up on youth despite finishing so strongly every year. Check out some of their potential rookies this season - Leino, Abdelkader, Ferraro, Axelsson, Tatar, Pare, Kindl, Ehrhardt, and McCollum.
There may be shoes to fill, but they have the guys to fill 'em!
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