21 January 2008
Mid-Season Review, Part Three of Three: The State of the League
Well, it certainly doesn't match the Constitution I read when I joined the league. I don't think anyone really gives a shit so I'll leave it at that.
06 January 2008
Mid-Season Review, Part Two of Three: The Western Conference
CENTRAL DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
St. Louis ......38..24...9..0..5...53...133..113
Nashville ......40..18..16..0..6...42...130..132
Chicago ........36..17..15..0..4...38...106..117
Detroit ........39..14..22..0..3...31...108..137
St. Louis Slashers sport an 11-point lead over the second-place side in the Central Division and hold two games in hand to boot. They've knifed their way to a fantastic 13-3-0-2 road record and are almost as good at home. Backup goaltender Martin Biron has arguably been the biggest surprise in the SPIHL so far with eleven wins against one loss, a ridiculous 1.47 GAA and a save percentage of .952. Five Slashers are in double-digits in goal scoring so there is no one forward for opponents to key on. Though this team has 15 more wins than losses, their goal differential is only +20 which is an indicator that they win close games. Games-played issues have been managed intelligently so this is not a team that is likely to slip in the second half unless Biron becomes human.
Nashville Stallions sit in second place by four points but have played four more games than the third-place side. Nashville boasts (whispers about?) the worst penalty-killing in the league so far with just a 70.2% success rate including a 68.8% mark on the road. Young gun Anze Kopitar is amongst the league leaders with 36 helpers in 40 games to go with 14 goals. Between the pipes, Evgeni Nabokov and backup Jocelyn Thibault have combined for a strong .910 save percentage which makes one wonder what the penalty would look like with more average goalies.
Chicago Cougars have been infused with excitement as new ownership recently took over and has embodied the true meaning of 'cougar': an older woman who preys on younger men. But that's beside the point. This team has plenty of balance and will likely be a contender for the division title next season as goalie Chris Osgood matures and ownership finds a proper winger for super center Joe Thornton (13-24).
Detroit Winged Wheelers are bringing up the rear and will be sitting there ... until next season. Youngsters Phil Kessel, Corey Perry, Braydon Coburn, Jack Johnson and Pascal Leclaire are learning the ropes this season and could mature into a formidable force as early as next season. This team could be great in a year or two, or horrible; time will tell.
St. Louis should hold onto first place and Chicago should overtake the Stallions. Detroit will finish last and miss the playoffs but show great promise for the future.
NORTHWEST DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Edmonton .......39..26..12..0..1...53...122..103
Minnesota ......41..24..16..0..1...49...143..123
Colorado .......37..20..15..0..2...42...116..115
Vancouver ......41..17..21..0..3...37...124..129
Edmonton Golden Bears sit atop the Northwest division in large part to racking up 17 wins in 20 home games so far despite having just a .500 record at home. Martin St. Louis IS Edmonton as his 23 goals and 24 assists puts him more than 20 points ahead of the next Golden Bear scorer. Netminder Peter Budaj has played very well so for posting 2.67 and .914 numbers over 33 games. Opponents need to shut down Martin St. Louis to have a chance of winning.
Minnesota Wolves sit in second place despite a self imposed salary cap of fourteen dollars and seven cents. For some reason Minnesota thought that the salary cap was in Canadian dollars and didn't realize that Canadian dollars can now be used to purchase actual goods and services, so they went conservative when spending on players. It hasn't hurt them yet. Patrice Bergeron (19-39) is near the top of the league in points and joins Milan Michalek, Jarret Stoll, Steve Bernier and Gary Roberts as Wolves with at least 17 goals. Bernier, Jeff Carter, Mike Comrie, Andrew Ladd, Gary Roberts and Jarret Stoll are all going to run into games-played issues in the second half making it tough for the Wolves to stay in the top half of the division.
Colorado Chaos who were apparently named after their four-goaltender rotation system sit in third place on the strength of their 11-5-0-1 home record. Ilya Bryzgalov and Martin Gerber should be a formidable goaltending pair next season. Jarome Iginla has paced the offense with 23 goals while Brian Rolston and Keith Tkachuk have chipped in 15 apiece. Wade Redden (3-23) and Brent Sopel (6-18) lead the attack from the back.
Vancouver Blizzard blow into fourth place due to inconsistent goaltending from Marc-Andre Flurries (36 games, .897). Scoring has been balanced with Eric Staal (11-33), Pavol Demitra (16-20), Brian Rafalski (5-29) and Fredrik Modin (12-16) having all contributed strong performances. This team will not get any better without either an upgrade to the goaltending or an upgrade in the defensive capabilities of the right-defensemen.
Edmonton should be able to retain their grip on first place as Minnesota is expected to stumble to third place due to games-played issues. Colorado will edge into second place and Vancouver will go nowhere unless they shovel themselves out of their goaltending issues.
PACIFIC DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
San Jose .......43..22..20..0..1...45...103..125
Los Angeles ....41..21..17..0..3...45...117..104
Dallas .........41..20..17..0..4...44...120..122
Phoenix ........41..18..20..0..3...39...118..136
This is the most competitive division in the league featuring just a six point spread between first and fourth place and also featuring four of the league top five goalies in terms of minutes played. San Jose Thunder are tied for first place despite a -22 goal differential. The Thunder have four players with more than 30 points in Mikko Koivu (15-23), Alexander Frolov (14-24), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (7-27) and rearguard Sheldon Souray (10-23) but the glue holding this team together is superstar goalie Roberto Luongo (39 games, .909). Most of the team's skaters are minus players and Luongo would benefit greatly if the team could add a legitimate top gunner.
Los Angeles Route 66ers are the other team tied for first but have played two fewer games than San Jose. LA sports one of the worst power plays in the league at 15.8% but balance it out by being far and away the top penalty-killing team at 86.3% which will serve them well in the playoffs. There is no shortage of character amongst the team scoring ranks as Brad Richards, Chris Drury, Mathieu Schneider, Dustin Penner and Mats Sundin have all had strong but unspectacular first halves, but some minor games played issues could be the difference between first and fourth for this team. Superstar goaltender Martin Brodeur has posted numbers of 2.28 and .923 in 39 games so far. How is it possible that he's started 21 and 17 consecutive games so far despite a fatigue rating of 10? More on that in Part Three of the Mid-Season Review.
Dallas Otters sit in third place just one point out of first place but are doomed to finish in the bottom half of the division due to games played issues. Star goalie Olaf Kolzig (2.80, .909) can only play about half of the remaining games meaning backup David Aebischer (3.94, .865) will see more time than is warranted. Five forwards have double-digits in goals as Alexander Semin (15-23), Jonathan Cheechoo (21-15), Alexei Yashin (13-21), Erik Cole (12-18) and Todd Marchant (10-7) have all found the back of the net, however all but Marchant are minus players.
Phoenix Fire Ants sit in fourth place and are likely to remain there as they have inexplicably shipped their top scorer Teemu Selanne (15-28) away for a draft pick. Stephen Weiss (16-21) and Daniel Alfredsson (9-28) are left to bear the scoring load and shake their heads in disgust as the scoring ranks are thin behind them. Kari Lehtonen (3.18, .904) has gotten the bulk of the work in net and has played reliably well but has yet to show a penchant for stealing games.
Expect San Jose to hold onto first place, LA to secure second, Dallas to finish third and Phoenix to finish fourth and barely miss the playoffs ... due to the loss of Selanne.
PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
St. Louis, Edmonton and San Jose will hold onto their first place division leads. Detroit, Vancouver, Phoenix and most likely Dallas will be on the outside looking in.
UP NEXT
Mid-Season Review, Part Three of Three: The State of the League
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
St. Louis ......38..24...9..0..5...53...133..113
Nashville ......40..18..16..0..6...42...130..132
Chicago ........36..17..15..0..4...38...106..117
Detroit ........39..14..22..0..3...31...108..137
St. Louis Slashers sport an 11-point lead over the second-place side in the Central Division and hold two games in hand to boot. They've knifed their way to a fantastic 13-3-0-2 road record and are almost as good at home. Backup goaltender Martin Biron has arguably been the biggest surprise in the SPIHL so far with eleven wins against one loss, a ridiculous 1.47 GAA and a save percentage of .952. Five Slashers are in double-digits in goal scoring so there is no one forward for opponents to key on. Though this team has 15 more wins than losses, their goal differential is only +20 which is an indicator that they win close games. Games-played issues have been managed intelligently so this is not a team that is likely to slip in the second half unless Biron becomes human.
Nashville Stallions sit in second place by four points but have played four more games than the third-place side. Nashville boasts (whispers about?) the worst penalty-killing in the league so far with just a 70.2% success rate including a 68.8% mark on the road. Young gun Anze Kopitar is amongst the league leaders with 36 helpers in 40 games to go with 14 goals. Between the pipes, Evgeni Nabokov and backup Jocelyn Thibault have combined for a strong .910 save percentage which makes one wonder what the penalty would look like with more average goalies.
Chicago Cougars have been infused with excitement as new ownership recently took over and has embodied the true meaning of 'cougar': an older woman who preys on younger men. But that's beside the point. This team has plenty of balance and will likely be a contender for the division title next season as goalie Chris Osgood matures and ownership finds a proper winger for super center Joe Thornton (13-24).
Detroit Winged Wheelers are bringing up the rear and will be sitting there ... until next season. Youngsters Phil Kessel, Corey Perry, Braydon Coburn, Jack Johnson and Pascal Leclaire are learning the ropes this season and could mature into a formidable force as early as next season. This team could be great in a year or two, or horrible; time will tell.
St. Louis should hold onto first place and Chicago should overtake the Stallions. Detroit will finish last and miss the playoffs but show great promise for the future.
NORTHWEST DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Edmonton .......39..26..12..0..1...53...122..103
Minnesota ......41..24..16..0..1...49...143..123
Colorado .......37..20..15..0..2...42...116..115
Vancouver ......41..17..21..0..3...37...124..129
Edmonton Golden Bears sit atop the Northwest division in large part to racking up 17 wins in 20 home games so far despite having just a .500 record at home. Martin St. Louis IS Edmonton as his 23 goals and 24 assists puts him more than 20 points ahead of the next Golden Bear scorer. Netminder Peter Budaj has played very well so for posting 2.67 and .914 numbers over 33 games. Opponents need to shut down Martin St. Louis to have a chance of winning.
Minnesota Wolves sit in second place despite a self imposed salary cap of fourteen dollars and seven cents. For some reason Minnesota thought that the salary cap was in Canadian dollars and didn't realize that Canadian dollars can now be used to purchase actual goods and services, so they went conservative when spending on players. It hasn't hurt them yet. Patrice Bergeron (19-39) is near the top of the league in points and joins Milan Michalek, Jarret Stoll, Steve Bernier and Gary Roberts as Wolves with at least 17 goals. Bernier, Jeff Carter, Mike Comrie, Andrew Ladd, Gary Roberts and Jarret Stoll are all going to run into games-played issues in the second half making it tough for the Wolves to stay in the top half of the division.
Colorado Chaos who were apparently named after their four-goaltender rotation system sit in third place on the strength of their 11-5-0-1 home record. Ilya Bryzgalov and Martin Gerber should be a formidable goaltending pair next season. Jarome Iginla has paced the offense with 23 goals while Brian Rolston and Keith Tkachuk have chipped in 15 apiece. Wade Redden (3-23) and Brent Sopel (6-18) lead the attack from the back.
Vancouver Blizzard blow into fourth place due to inconsistent goaltending from Marc-Andre Flurries (36 games, .897). Scoring has been balanced with Eric Staal (11-33), Pavol Demitra (16-20), Brian Rafalski (5-29) and Fredrik Modin (12-16) having all contributed strong performances. This team will not get any better without either an upgrade to the goaltending or an upgrade in the defensive capabilities of the right-defensemen.
Edmonton should be able to retain their grip on first place as Minnesota is expected to stumble to third place due to games-played issues. Colorado will edge into second place and Vancouver will go nowhere unless they shovel themselves out of their goaltending issues.
PACIFIC DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
San Jose .......43..22..20..0..1...45...103..125
Los Angeles ....41..21..17..0..3...45...117..104
Dallas .........41..20..17..0..4...44...120..122
Phoenix ........41..18..20..0..3...39...118..136
This is the most competitive division in the league featuring just a six point spread between first and fourth place and also featuring four of the league top five goalies in terms of minutes played. San Jose Thunder are tied for first place despite a -22 goal differential. The Thunder have four players with more than 30 points in Mikko Koivu (15-23), Alexander Frolov (14-24), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (7-27) and rearguard Sheldon Souray (10-23) but the glue holding this team together is superstar goalie Roberto Luongo (39 games, .909). Most of the team's skaters are minus players and Luongo would benefit greatly if the team could add a legitimate top gunner.
Los Angeles Route 66ers are the other team tied for first but have played two fewer games than San Jose. LA sports one of the worst power plays in the league at 15.8% but balance it out by being far and away the top penalty-killing team at 86.3% which will serve them well in the playoffs. There is no shortage of character amongst the team scoring ranks as Brad Richards, Chris Drury, Mathieu Schneider, Dustin Penner and Mats Sundin have all had strong but unspectacular first halves, but some minor games played issues could be the difference between first and fourth for this team. Superstar goaltender Martin Brodeur has posted numbers of 2.28 and .923 in 39 games so far. How is it possible that he's started 21 and 17 consecutive games so far despite a fatigue rating of 10? More on that in Part Three of the Mid-Season Review.
Dallas Otters sit in third place just one point out of first place but are doomed to finish in the bottom half of the division due to games played issues. Star goalie Olaf Kolzig (2.80, .909) can only play about half of the remaining games meaning backup David Aebischer (3.94, .865) will see more time than is warranted. Five forwards have double-digits in goals as Alexander Semin (15-23), Jonathan Cheechoo (21-15), Alexei Yashin (13-21), Erik Cole (12-18) and Todd Marchant (10-7) have all found the back of the net, however all but Marchant are minus players.
Phoenix Fire Ants sit in fourth place and are likely to remain there as they have inexplicably shipped their top scorer Teemu Selanne (15-28) away for a draft pick. Stephen Weiss (16-21) and Daniel Alfredsson (9-28) are left to bear the scoring load and shake their heads in disgust as the scoring ranks are thin behind them. Kari Lehtonen (3.18, .904) has gotten the bulk of the work in net and has played reliably well but has yet to show a penchant for stealing games.
Expect San Jose to hold onto first place, LA to secure second, Dallas to finish third and Phoenix to finish fourth and barely miss the playoffs ... due to the loss of Selanne.
PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
St. Louis, Edmonton and San Jose will hold onto their first place division leads. Detroit, Vancouver, Phoenix and most likely Dallas will be on the outside looking in.
UP NEXT
Mid-Season Review, Part Three of Three: The State of the League
05 January 2008
Mid-Season Review, Part One of Three: The Eastern Conference
ATLANTIC DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Philadelphia ...40..23..16..0..1...47...132..109
Pittsburgh .....39..17..15..0..7...41...132..141
New Jersey .....35..15..11..0..9...39....84...98
New York .......38..17..20..0..1...35...125..128
Philadelphia Federals lead the division with 47 points on the basis of strong goaltending by workhorse Miikka Kiprusoff (37 GP, 2.54 GAA, .916 Save Pct. and a league-leading 22 wins) and a strong home record despite a losing record on the road. Olli Jokinen (21-26), Daymond Langkow (20-26), Kristian Huselius (16-27) and Ray Whitney (15-28) are all over 40 points and present a balanced attack that is difficult to fully contain. Kuba, Kalinin and Krajicek represent the weak link of the Federals: left defense. All three regulars are defense-2, and when combined with the poor backchecking skills of the left-wingers, opposing right wings should be penetrating all day and opposing right-defensemen should be getting possession whenever possible.
Pittsburgh Pythons sit in second place in the Atlantic with 41 points but have the best road record within the division and will be able to push for the division title if they can upgrade their sub-standard goaltending, as Cam Ward is not good enough this early in his career to be a difference-maker. The Pythons hope for a spark from some incoming fresh faces as they just picked up top blueliner Tomas Kaberle as well as Daniel Cleary, Martin Erat and Richard Zednick from Buffalo in exchange for underperformers Derrick Roy, Joffery Lupol, Alex Tanguay and Joni Pitkanen.
New Jersey Knights sit just 2 points behind Pittsburgh but hold four games in hand and have the goaltending (Hasek and Garon) needed to lock in second place in the division and a certain playoff spot. The Knights' Achilles Heel is that they have been shorthanded 62 more times than they've had the man-advantage. Joisey kills penalties well, however, and that has saved their hides on more than one occassion. Thomas Vanek (20-18) and Ladislav Nagy (10-23) are the only Knights in double-digits in goal scoring which may be the thing that keeps them from doing damage in the playoffs.
New York Maulers, oddly enough, sit in last place in the division due to a dismal performance on home ice so far. This team is 10-8-0-0 on the road but 7-12-0-1 at home. Maybe they should stay in hotels even when they aren't traveling. Alex Ovechkin has performed as expected with 28 goals but is just a +2.
Look for Philly to hold on and win this division on the strength of their goaltending ... unless the Pythons - who are very aggressive in the trade market - upgrade themselves between the pipes. Second, third and fourth places are all up for grabs, though the Feds won't slip to worse than second place.
NORTHEAST DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Buffalo ........39..23..12..0..4...50...123..112
Toronto ........40..20..16..0..4...44...108..110
Montreal .......42..17..24..0..1...35...109..122
Boston .........37..15..17..0..5...35....95..115
The inappropriately-spelled Buffalo Xpress currently lead the division with an amazing 14-2-0-2 home record despite having a losing record on the road. Will their chemistry be upset by their just-executed eight-player swap with Pittsburgh? Will their dominance at home mean it just doesn't matter? SuckHole Koivu has provided admirable leadership with an assist-per-game pace and Henrik Lundqvist is likely to improve on his .905 save percentage during the second half of the season, spelling trouble for the rest of the Northeast Division ... but some games-played issues may be lurking in the shadows.
Balanced scoring despite some second-quarter performace dropoffs by Patrick Marleau (13-29) and Mike Sillinger (16-21) have kept Toronto Dragons in the upper half of the Northeast Division. Backup goalie Mike Smith (2.78 and .900 in 9 games) has underperformed. Toronto's winning road record and their expected lack of games-played issues the rest of the way could give them the edge in the battle with Buffalo for the division title. Patrick Marleau remains the subject of trade rumors as Toronto is reportedly pursuing a stud defenseman to take some of the load off Nicklas Lidstrom.
Montreal Bulldogs will miss the playoffs without a serious goaltending upgrade. They'll be depending on Jussi Markkanen to play half of their remaining games and likely will have to pluck a free agent to mind the twines for three games as well. Danielle Briere (23-24) is having a strong season but a team can only go so far when it's top offensive threat is an undersized female. Ilya Kovalchuk has been a first-half flop with just 11 goals in 42 games. Look for this team to miss the playoffs in a big way.
Barring an upgrade to current top netminder Dwayne Roloson (2.92, .900), Boston Beacons will finish third in the division. If they were to grab a stud goalie, this team could challenge for the division title. Boston has a winning road record (8-7-0-3) and three players with over 30 points: Paul Kariya (13-25), Andrew Brunette (12-22) and youngster Evgeni Malkin (13-20). Alas, some looming games-played issues may ultimately prevent the Beacons from shining through into second place or better.
Buffalo and Toronto will duke it out for first place, Boston will finish in third place and Montreal will finish in fourth place and likely will miss the playoffs.
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Florida ........42..31...8..0..3...65...163...91
Washington .....43..21..19..0..3...45...113..117
Carolina .......42..19..17..0..6...44...127..137
Atlanta ........41..18..20..0..3...39...108..124
The Southeast Division-leading Florida Hotshots boast the best record in the league, have scored the most goals, have allowed the fewest goals and boast league leaders in almost every major individual statistical category. Other than that, they suck. But there is a small bit of light at the end of the tunnel for the rest of the division (and conference). Defense-4 forwards Derek Armstrong, P.J. Axelsson and Mikael Samuelsson will miss 12, 24 and 24 games respectively the rest of the way. Blueliners Martinek and Nummelin will miss large chunks of time. League-leading goal-scorer Brendan Shanahan (36-24) will miss a dozen games, and most importantly, the Hotshots will have to rely on Manny Fernandez (2.47, .916) instead of Niklas Backstrom (1.91, .934) for 25 of their remaining 40 games.
Washington Cyclones currently sit just above third place by the slimmest of margins. Dany Heatley (25-27) and Cindy Crosby (23-29) both are over 50 points on the season and are about to be joined by gunner Teemu Salami (15-28 in 41 games with Phoenix). Combined with the potentially stellar goaltending tandem of Chris Mason and Tomas Vokoun, the Rise of the 'Clones will see them push for first in the division but settle for a solid second-place finish.
Vincent The Cavalier (24-36) sits tied for the league scoring lead but Carolina Sand Crabs' poor goaltending will doom them to the lower half of this division. Daniel Sedin (24-34) and Jamie Langenbrunner (16-27) are having strong seasons but one of them likely will have to be dealt for a goaltending upgrade if they want to have a chance in the playoffs as Manny Legace (3.03, .902) and John Grahame (3.32, .897) simply aren't getting the job done. Defenseman Dan Boyle is having a great offensive year with 12 goals and 20 assists but is a team second-worst minus-11.
The Atlanta Asps have been snake-bitten on the road with a woeful 5-12-0-2 record despite going 13-8-0-1 at home. Rod Brind'Amour (16-33), Marian Hossa (21-25) and Justin Williams (22-16) as well as blueliner Sergei Zubov (4-29) have paced the offense but there's not much scoring after that. Jean-Sebastian Giguere has only a .904 save percentage despite wearing gear so large that Optimus Prime would feel shame. Should Giggy bounce back with a stronger second-half, the Asps could slither their way into a playoff spot.
Florida will win the division (duh) and the 'Clones will finish second with the Crabs and Asps fighting it out for third place.
PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
Philly, Buffalo and Florida will retain their holds on first place in their divisions. Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Toronto and Washington are locks to make the playoffs in spots four through seven, though not necessarily in that order. The eighth and final spot will go to a team other than Montreal.
UP NEXT
Mid-Season Review, Part Two of Three: The Western Conference
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Philadelphia ...40..23..16..0..1...47...132..109
Pittsburgh .....39..17..15..0..7...41...132..141
New Jersey .....35..15..11..0..9...39....84...98
New York .......38..17..20..0..1...35...125..128
Philadelphia Federals lead the division with 47 points on the basis of strong goaltending by workhorse Miikka Kiprusoff (37 GP, 2.54 GAA, .916 Save Pct. and a league-leading 22 wins) and a strong home record despite a losing record on the road. Olli Jokinen (21-26), Daymond Langkow (20-26), Kristian Huselius (16-27) and Ray Whitney (15-28) are all over 40 points and present a balanced attack that is difficult to fully contain. Kuba, Kalinin and Krajicek represent the weak link of the Federals: left defense. All three regulars are defense-2, and when combined with the poor backchecking skills of the left-wingers, opposing right wings should be penetrating all day and opposing right-defensemen should be getting possession whenever possible.
Pittsburgh Pythons sit in second place in the Atlantic with 41 points but have the best road record within the division and will be able to push for the division title if they can upgrade their sub-standard goaltending, as Cam Ward is not good enough this early in his career to be a difference-maker. The Pythons hope for a spark from some incoming fresh faces as they just picked up top blueliner Tomas Kaberle as well as Daniel Cleary, Martin Erat and Richard Zednick from Buffalo in exchange for underperformers Derrick Roy, Joffery Lupol, Alex Tanguay and Joni Pitkanen.
New Jersey Knights sit just 2 points behind Pittsburgh but hold four games in hand and have the goaltending (Hasek and Garon) needed to lock in second place in the division and a certain playoff spot. The Knights' Achilles Heel is that they have been shorthanded 62 more times than they've had the man-advantage. Joisey kills penalties well, however, and that has saved their hides on more than one occassion. Thomas Vanek (20-18) and Ladislav Nagy (10-23) are the only Knights in double-digits in goal scoring which may be the thing that keeps them from doing damage in the playoffs.
New York Maulers, oddly enough, sit in last place in the division due to a dismal performance on home ice so far. This team is 10-8-0-0 on the road but 7-12-0-1 at home. Maybe they should stay in hotels even when they aren't traveling. Alex Ovechkin has performed as expected with 28 goals but is just a +2.
Look for Philly to hold on and win this division on the strength of their goaltending ... unless the Pythons - who are very aggressive in the trade market - upgrade themselves between the pipes. Second, third and fourth places are all up for grabs, though the Feds won't slip to worse than second place.
NORTHEAST DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Buffalo ........39..23..12..0..4...50...123..112
Toronto ........40..20..16..0..4...44...108..110
Montreal .......42..17..24..0..1...35...109..122
Boston .........37..15..17..0..5...35....95..115
The inappropriately-spelled Buffalo Xpress currently lead the division with an amazing 14-2-0-2 home record despite having a losing record on the road. Will their chemistry be upset by their just-executed eight-player swap with Pittsburgh? Will their dominance at home mean it just doesn't matter? SuckHole Koivu has provided admirable leadership with an assist-per-game pace and Henrik Lundqvist is likely to improve on his .905 save percentage during the second half of the season, spelling trouble for the rest of the Northeast Division ... but some games-played issues may be lurking in the shadows.
Balanced scoring despite some second-quarter performace dropoffs by Patrick Marleau (13-29) and Mike Sillinger (16-21) have kept Toronto Dragons in the upper half of the Northeast Division. Backup goalie Mike Smith (2.78 and .900 in 9 games) has underperformed. Toronto's winning road record and their expected lack of games-played issues the rest of the way could give them the edge in the battle with Buffalo for the division title. Patrick Marleau remains the subject of trade rumors as Toronto is reportedly pursuing a stud defenseman to take some of the load off Nicklas Lidstrom.
Montreal Bulldogs will miss the playoffs without a serious goaltending upgrade. They'll be depending on Jussi Markkanen to play half of their remaining games and likely will have to pluck a free agent to mind the twines for three games as well. Danielle Briere (23-24) is having a strong season but a team can only go so far when it's top offensive threat is an undersized female. Ilya Kovalchuk has been a first-half flop with just 11 goals in 42 games. Look for this team to miss the playoffs in a big way.
Barring an upgrade to current top netminder Dwayne Roloson (2.92, .900), Boston Beacons will finish third in the division. If they were to grab a stud goalie, this team could challenge for the division title. Boston has a winning road record (8-7-0-3) and three players with over 30 points: Paul Kariya (13-25), Andrew Brunette (12-22) and youngster Evgeni Malkin (13-20). Alas, some looming games-played issues may ultimately prevent the Beacons from shining through into second place or better.
Buffalo and Toronto will duke it out for first place, Boston will finish in third place and Montreal will finish in fourth place and likely will miss the playoffs.
SOUTHEAST DIVISION
TEAM ...........GP..W...L...T..OT..PTS..GF...GA
Florida ........42..31...8..0..3...65...163...91
Washington .....43..21..19..0..3...45...113..117
Carolina .......42..19..17..0..6...44...127..137
Atlanta ........41..18..20..0..3...39...108..124
The Southeast Division-leading Florida Hotshots boast the best record in the league, have scored the most goals, have allowed the fewest goals and boast league leaders in almost every major individual statistical category. Other than that, they suck. But there is a small bit of light at the end of the tunnel for the rest of the division (and conference). Defense-4 forwards Derek Armstrong, P.J. Axelsson and Mikael Samuelsson will miss 12, 24 and 24 games respectively the rest of the way. Blueliners Martinek and Nummelin will miss large chunks of time. League-leading goal-scorer Brendan Shanahan (36-24) will miss a dozen games, and most importantly, the Hotshots will have to rely on Manny Fernandez (2.47, .916) instead of Niklas Backstrom (1.91, .934) for 25 of their remaining 40 games.
Washington Cyclones currently sit just above third place by the slimmest of margins. Dany Heatley (25-27) and Cindy Crosby (23-29) both are over 50 points on the season and are about to be joined by gunner Teemu Salami (15-28 in 41 games with Phoenix). Combined with the potentially stellar goaltending tandem of Chris Mason and Tomas Vokoun, the Rise of the 'Clones will see them push for first in the division but settle for a solid second-place finish.
Vincent The Cavalier (24-36) sits tied for the league scoring lead but Carolina Sand Crabs' poor goaltending will doom them to the lower half of this division. Daniel Sedin (24-34) and Jamie Langenbrunner (16-27) are having strong seasons but one of them likely will have to be dealt for a goaltending upgrade if they want to have a chance in the playoffs as Manny Legace (3.03, .902) and John Grahame (3.32, .897) simply aren't getting the job done. Defenseman Dan Boyle is having a great offensive year with 12 goals and 20 assists but is a team second-worst minus-11.
The Atlanta Asps have been snake-bitten on the road with a woeful 5-12-0-2 record despite going 13-8-0-1 at home. Rod Brind'Amour (16-33), Marian Hossa (21-25) and Justin Williams (22-16) as well as blueliner Sergei Zubov (4-29) have paced the offense but there's not much scoring after that. Jean-Sebastian Giguere has only a .904 save percentage despite wearing gear so large that Optimus Prime would feel shame. Should Giggy bounce back with a stronger second-half, the Asps could slither their way into a playoff spot.
Florida will win the division (duh) and the 'Clones will finish second with the Crabs and Asps fighting it out for third place.
PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
Philly, Buffalo and Florida will retain their holds on first place in their divisions. Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Toronto and Washington are locks to make the playoffs in spots four through seven, though not necessarily in that order. The eighth and final spot will go to a team other than Montreal.
UP NEXT
Mid-Season Review, Part Two of Three: The Western Conference
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