Faceoff Factor

Rating the Divisions, Part 1: The Northwest Division

Zack Dawson | National Hockey League

Sep 28, 08:42 PM | Hype this story!

As the opening of the 2009-2010 season draws near, I take a look at each division. I rank each team by how well they will finish the regular season. I will also give my take on which teams will be playoff teams, which will be on the bubble and which ones will miss the postseason.

In part one, the Northwest division gets broken down. Last year, the steady Vancouver Canucks were the team to beat, the Calgary Flames continued their pattern of mediocrity, while the rest of the division struggled to find some identity. Will this year be a replay of last year?

5. Colorado Avalanche

There may not be a team in the NHL that needs to rebuild more than the Colorado Avalanche. With the retirement of long-time captain and future Hall of Famer Joe Sakic, the glory days when they won their two Stanley Cups have officially passed. The last few years, the Avs’ management has seemed to try to put together a roster that can compete, but there have been too many holes in the ship for it to stay afloat. This was the result of general manager Francois Giguere, who was relieved of his duties at the close of the regular season.

President Pierre Lacroix has, to a degree, taken responsibility for the dire straits of the team, but said that “…our people, our organization, our owner, our players and I will clean it up.” They started by not removing some of the veteran players who didn’t work out, such as Ryan Smyth in a trade with Los Angeles, and not re-signing players such as Ian Laperriere and Andrew Raycroft. This is of course the first step in rebuilding.

They do have a compliment of young talent, with Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski, Marek Svatos and top pick Matt Duchene. But without true stability in net and with a thin defensive core, the Avs are in for another year of battling in the basement.

4. Minnesota Wild

Minnesota is another team in a state of disarray. A new general manager and a new head coach do more than promote the desire to change things in Minnesota – they make it entirely necessary.

New general manager Chuck Fletcher and new coach Todd Richards want to play a more up-tempo style of hockey this season. However, the question will be whether or not they have the roster to play at that speed and do so successfully. The team, up until now, was built for defense first. Minnesota still has a solid blue line, and they have two very talented in Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding. Going to an offensive style will require a change of the whole culture

There weren’t many significant additions to the Wild roster. Martin Havlet was the highlight for the offense, a needed addition with the departure of Marian Gaborik. Not surprisingly, the more significant additions came at defense with the signings of Shane Hnidy and Ryan Lannon. These players, however, will not be enough to turn things around for the Wild. They can only be the building blocks for something bigger in the future.

3. Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers last year were a team that looked as though they were on the verge of being a contender, but still needing something to make that leap. General manager Steve Tambellini felt that a coaching change could be that thing which will push the team to the next level, bringing in Pat Quinn behind the bench.

Quinn will make a difference in how the team plays, and he certainly has a strong core of players to execute the game plan. There were no major departures for the Oilers this offseason on either offense or defense. Their leaders and skill players are all still in place. The major change is the addition of veteran goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, replacing departed veteran Dwayne Roloson. Khabibulin will provide stability between the pipes as Edmonton attempts to develop some youth in the net with Devan Dubnyk and Jeff Deslauriers.

Overall, the Oilers are another team dealing with some transition. What they have over some of the other teams is a roster of returning players who are all familiar with one another and will make the adjustment of a new coach together. They will be a bubble team and are not at the point of true contender just yet.

2. Calgary Flames

Is there any team in the league with a more high-profile blue line than the Flames? Calgary’s defense is arguably the strongest in the West and really shows the commitment that general manager Darryl Sutter has made to trying to sure up the defense. The addition of Jay Bouwmeester at the entry draft this year was a big move towards giving goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff a steady group in front of him.

However, the issue is not on the back end but up front. The major roster change for the Flames was not an addition, but the departure of center Mike Cammalleri. Cammalleri was a top-line center who could play with Flames’ captain and star Jarome Iginla while putting up a team-high 39 goals last season. And while they still have Olli Jokinen and Daymond Langkow who can assume a bigger role, Cammalleri’s absence will be noticeable.

Darryl Sutter said he’s not worried about that as much, saying that scoring “…will take care of itself.” This is certainly a bold statement for the general manager of a team that has exited the playoffs in the first round four consecutive years. The Flames are a playoff team for sure. The question is: Can they, indeed, score enough goals to be a little more than that?

1. Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver didn’t do much over the offseason, but they really didn’t need to tweak very much. They got upset by the Blackhawks in the playoffs last season despite being touted by many to be the team to beat in the West. But they were a solid team all season long that ran into a hotter team at the time.

What they did do in the offseason was lock up some of their core players for the long term. Goaltender Roberto Luongo has signed a 12-year contract extension, and star forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin are on board for another five years each. With those key players in place, Canucks’ general manager Mike Gillis set his sights on the blue line. Gillis made a few big signings, inking Mathieu Schneider, Brad Lukowich and Christian Ehrhoff. All three will bring talent and stability to a defense which was solid last season as well and only lost one key player in Mattias Ohlund.

Vancouver has made some moves that will not only improve their roster for this season, but keep them a contender for years to come. Their forwards remain intact from last year’s roster, so there’s little reason to think they can’t be consistent and successful this season. The Canucks have a real chance to live up to the hype this year.

To recap:

Division Winner: Vancouver Canucks
Playoff Teams: Vancouver Canucks; Calgary Flames
Bubble Teams: Edmonton Oilers
Basement Teams: Minnesota Wild; Colorado Avalanche