It's 6 days til the start of the regular season and what better way to get your mind right by a conference preview. Today we'll be previewing the Western Conference. We really don't know much about the Western Conference basically because we could care less and the Pens are in the Eastern Conference. We'll be starting at who we feel is going to finish last in the conference and work our way up to who we think will win the conference.
15th Edmonton Oilers.
Last Season Finish
The Oilers finished 15th in the Western Conference last year and we have no reason to believe that's going to change this season.
Key Additions
Andy Sutton
Eric Belanger
Ben Eager
Darcy Hordichuk
Key Subtractions
Andrew Cogliano
The Oilers didn't lose many players from last season but the biggest name the acquired in the off season was Andy Sutton. Good luck getting out of the cellar with him on defense.
Strengths
Talent. There is no shortage of talent on this Oilers team especially at the forward position. They just have to figure out how to use it.
Weaknesses
Defense. When your top 2 defensemen are Andy Sutton and Ryan Whitney you know your going to have a problem.
14th Calgary Flames
Last Season Finish
The Flames finished 10th in the Western Conference last season. No clue how this team finished 10th last season. No way we think they'll do it again
Key Additions
Scott Hannan
Lee Stempniak
Key Subtractions
Daymond Langkow
Strengths
Forwards. The Flames have a lot of people on their team that can score. Will they is the question. Olli Jokenin isn't getting any younger the last time i checked.
Weaknesses
Defense. The Flames have Jay Bouwmeester and who else? Scott Hannan? Still no word on if he showed up for Washington last season. And quite frankly Jay Bouwmeester sucks. Kiprusoff is going to be forced to steal games for this team this season.
13th St. Louis Blues
Last Season Finish
Last season the Blues finished 11th. No clue how they pulled that off and no chance they do it again.
Key Additions
Jason Arnott
Jaime Langenbrunner
To bad they're like 1oo
Oh they also added Brian Elliot
Key Subtractions
Ty Conklin
Strengths
Forwards and Goal tending. The Blues have a decent number of forwards who can put the puck in the net. Will the do it on a consistent basis is the only issue with them. The Blues also have solid goal tending. Last season they had Jaroslav Halak and Ty Conklin. Probably not a better 1, 2 combination in the league last season. This year Brian Elliot will back up Jaroslav Halak. Elliot is a former start who could be a decent back up to Halak.
Weaknesses
Defense. Lat season the Blues traded away Erik Johnson. Props if you can name 4 defensemen on this team now.
12th Colorado Avalanche
Last Season Finish
Last season the Avs finished 14th. They have the talent to be a lot better this season.
Key Additions
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Semyon Varlamov
Shane O'Brien.
Key Subtractions
Brian Elliot
Thomas Fleischmann
Peter Budaj
Strengths
Goal tending. The Avs traded for Semyon Varlamov in the off season and signed Jean-Sebastien Gigure. That is definitely a good 1, 2 combination in goal. This team is also very deep offensively.
Weaknesses
Defense. The Avs traded for Erik Johnson last season and signed Shane O'Brien in the off season. Other than that their defense is awful
11th Columbus Blue Jackets
Last Season Finish
Last season the Blue Jackets finished 13th. They were playing pretty good hockey for until the got completely embarrassed by The Penguins and their fans. (See Columbus Invasion) The Pens don't go to Columbus this season so Columbus should be alright. Might even make the playoffs. But we think 11th.
Key Additions
James Wismiewski
Vinny Prospal
Jeff Carter
Key Subtractions
Jakub Voracek
Chris Clark
Mathieu Garon
Ethan Moreau
Craig Rivet
Scottie Upshall
Sami Lepisto
Strengths
Forwards. The Jackets are probably one of the deeper teams at forward. They have a ton of talent but will the actually use it?
Weaknesses
Defense. When your best defenseman is Fedor Tyutin and you have suspension prone James Wisniewski you know you're in trouble.
10th Minnesota Wild
Last season finish
Last season the Wild finished 12th. They kept the Stars out of the playoffs last season so that something right?
Key Additions
Dany Heatly (Dick)
Devin Steoguchi
Key Subtractions
Jose Theodore
John Madden
Chuck Kobasew
Andrew Brunette
Martin Havlat
Strengths
Forwards. Unlimited talent up front for the Wild. Koivu, Setoguchi, Heatly could put up huge number. Dany Heatly sucks.
Weaknesses
Defense. If you can name a defenseman other than Marek Zidlicky you deserve a medal.
9th Phoenix Coyotes
Last Season Finish
Last season the Coyotes finished 6th in the West but got swept by the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs. No way that happens this season. They lost to much in the off season.
Key Additions
Radim Vrbata
Raffi Torres
Mike Smith
Daymond Langkow
Key Subtractions
Ilya Bryzgalov
Alexandre Picard
Petr Prucha
Eric Belanger
Ed Jovanovski
Lee Stempniak
Strengths
Forwards. The Coyotes have a ton of talent at the forward position. Will they be able to use that talent and actually decide to score? Plus who's gonna get their forward the puck?
Weaknesses
Defense and goal tending. No clue who's gonna be playing defense for the Coyotes this season. Plus the lost Ilya Bryzgalov to the Flyers in the off season and they replace him with...Mike Smith. Yeah good luck with that one.
8th Dallas Stars
Last Season Finish
Last season the Stars finished 9th. They were knocked out of the playoffs on the last day of the season by the Minnesota Wild. We think the Stars will be back in the playoffs this season.
Key Additions
Sheldon Souray
Radek Dovorak
Michael Ryder
Key Subtractions
Jason Williams
Brad Richards
Jamie Langenbrunner
Strengths
Defense. Last season the Stars dumped Matt Niskanen automatically making their defense better. Plus they have some very good young talent on the blue line.
Weaknesses
Forwards. After Brenden Morrow the Stars don't have very much depth at forward. No clue how this team expects to score goals.
7th Chicago Blackhawks
Last Season Finish
Last season the Chicago Blackhawks finished 8th. They squeaked into the playoffs on the last day of the season when the Minnesota Wild beat the Stars.
Key Additions
Sami Lepisto
Andrew Brunette
Rostislav Olez
Steve Motador
Dan Carcillo sucks so there's no way he's making that list.
Key Subtractions
Brain Campbell
Troy Brouwer
Tomas Kopecky
Marty Turco
Fernando Pisani
Chris Campoli
Strengths
Forwards and defense. The Blackhawks have as much talent as anyone at the forward position. With Towes, Sharp, Olesz, Kane, Hossa, Frolik, Bolland, and Brunette this team will score some goals and be hard to stop. Their defense is strong too. The defense is anchored by Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook and the additions of Montador and Lepisto it's going to be hard to do anything against them.
Weaknesses
Goal tending. The only thing that might let the Hawks down this season is their goaltending. Corey Crawford is a decent starting goalie but has yet to prove himself in the NHL. Crawford's back up...Alexander Salak. If you say you didn't say who after that you're lying. The also brought in Ray Emrey. Good luck with that one.
6th Nashville Predators
Last Season Finish
Last season the Predators finished 5th. Probably would have finished close to there this season but a couple other teams got better.
Key Additions
Niclas Bergfors
Sergei Kostitsyn
Key Subtractions
Joel Ward
Steve Sullivan
Shane O'Brien
Marcel Goc
Matthew Lombardi
Strengths
Defense. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are very solid defensemen. They are gonna be the anchor back their for Nashville this season with a solid supporting cast. Its always nice to have Pekka Rinne in goal as well
Weaknesses
Scoring. No clue how this team is gonna score goals. Niclas Bergfors only scores against the Penguins and who else on that team is gonna score. Mike Underwood, I mean Fisher?
5th Los Angeles Kings
Last Season Finish
Last season the Kings finished 7th. The Kings are one of the up and coming teams in the NHL. They have all sorts of talent at every position. The could even finish higher than 5th but they're in a division with the Ducks and Sharks.
Key Additions
Ethan Moreau
Simon Gagne
Mike Richards
Trent Hunter was given a tryout by the Kings and could possibly make the roster and be a good addition to this Kings team.
Key Subtractions
Wayne Simmonds
Ryan Smyth
Michael Handzus
Alexi Ponikarovsky
Strengths
Forwards and defense. LA has unlimited talent at forward. This is probably one of the deeper teams at the forwards position in the NHL. It will be hard to find a deeper team in the league. Also their defense is probably one of the most solid in the league.
Weaknesses
Goal tending and Drew Doughty, The only weakness for the Kings is their goal tending. Don't get me wrong their goalies are good but can they be consistent. Both goalies are gonna need to prove themselves as consistent goalies this season. Drew Doughty finally signed. probably won't be a distraction now. But is a defenseman really worth 7 million dollars per year? Yikes.
4th Anaheim Ducks
Last Season Finish
Last season the Ducks finished 4th in the West and we think that's where they will finish again this season. This is another team in the West that is loaded with talent. Could finish better than 4th this year.
Key Additions
Andrew Cogliano
Key Subtractions
Andy Sutton
Losing Andy Sutton isn't that big of a deal though.
Strengths
Forwards and defense. The Ducks have so much talent at forward position. With Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan on one line and Temmu Selanne coming back this season and their supporting cast this team will put up some points.
Remember this?
What a goal. Love watching it.
The Ducks are also very talented defensively. They are very young on the blue line and are only going to get better.
Weaknesses
Goal tending. The Ducks have good goal tending. The only thing they will have to worry about is Jonas Hiller's health. When he is completely healthy is is one of the best goalies in the NHL. Probably the only reason they lost to Nashville last season was the face they had Ray Emrey in goal.
Still miss these logos.
3rd Detroit Red Wings
Last Season Finish
Last season the Wings finished 3rd. The Wings division sucks so they're gonna win it every year. The Predators will eventually challenge the Wings for the division but it's not going to be this season.
Key Additions
Mike Commodore
Ian White
Ty Conklin
Fabian Brunnstrom was brought to to Wings on a tryout. Probably gonna make the team.
Key Subtractions
Chris Osgood
Kris Draper
Both of those jokes finally retire. Chris Osgood is probably going to dive his way into the hall of fame. Rumor has it that Kris Draper cried because someone didn't shake his hand at his retirement speech. Sidney Crosby wasn't available for comment.
Strengths
Forwards and defense. We don't need to tell you the Wings are good offensively and defensively. Pens/Wings has become a rivalry over the past few years. You know who they have and how good they are.
Weaknesses
Goal tending. Chris Osgood retire but who cares he sucked. The Wings goalie now is Jimmy Howard. If you think he's a legitimate goalie then you need to re evaluate yourself. The Wings back up is Joey McDonald. Good luck with those jokes.
2nd San Jose Sharks
Last Season Finish
Last season the Sharks finished 2nd in the West. The Sharks always have one of the most talented line ups in the NHL but always seem to fizzle out late in the season and can never seem to get to the Stanley Cup.
Key Additions
Colin White
Michael Handzus
Martin Havlat
Brent Burns
Key Subtractions
Devin Steoguchi
Ian White
Kyle Wellwood
Niclas Wallin
Dany Heatly
Strengths
Forwards. The Sharks have one of the most talented group of forwards in the NHL. Every year they are always putting up big numbers. Will they produce as much without Heatly? Martin Havlat is no Dany Heatly.
Weaknesses
Defense and goal tending. The Sharks don't have a bad defense or goal tending but it always seems to let them down. Every year they rack up win after win after win in the regular season but in the post season something happens to the Sharks were they can't play defense and their goalies can't stop anything.
1st Vancouver Canucks
Last Season Finish
Last season the Canucks finished 1st in the West. They went to the Stanley Cup Finals but lost in 7 games to the Boston Bruins in 7 games.
Key Additions
Chris Higgins
Marco Sturm
Key Subtractions
Jeff Tambellini
Raffi Torres
Christian Ehrhoff
Strengths
Forwards and goal tending. The Canucks have unlimited talent up front and they added to it in the off season by adding Marco Sturm. It also helps to have Roberto Luango in goal who is always solid.
Weaknesses
Defense. The Canucks defensemen aren't bad but last year their defense let them down in the playoffs. Not to mention Luango seems to find a way to fail in the playoffs as well.
So there you have it. From 15 to number 1.
Season starts in like 7 minutes. Get your mind right.
Go Pens.
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