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