Last season was down year for some of the sport’s bigger franchises, so here are five teams who I think are destined for great things in the coming season:
New York Islanders: New ownership and new direction could be just what New York’s poor hockey cousin needs to find some stability and long-term success. The franchise has been an unmitigated train wreck disaster for years, and the organisation that most hockey teams point to – outside of Vancouver, anyway – when someone says something about a dysfunction franchise.
The thing is: the Isles have always had the talent on ice. Guys like John Tavares are stars of the league, and would be superstars were they playing at a more successful and prominent franchise, and there are plenty of players over the years who’ve been criminally underdeveloped on Long Island.
If the new ownership can straighten out the hockey operations side of things, there’s enough good players on the Islanders squad to have them competing in the East. Their journey through this season will definitely be one to watch.
Minnesota: Another team that surprised, reaching the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season after an epic OT win in Game Seven against Colorado. The Wild are bolstered offensively coming into 2014-15 with the recruitment of Tomas Vanek. The former University of Minnesota star is no stranger to scoring goals in the Twin Cities.
Although he had a shocking end to last season in Montreal (after being traded there by the Islanders), Vanek is still a force to be reckoned with, and although there are some uncertainties about the pieces of the offensive puzzle around him, the Wild at least have a focal point, and who’s to say that some home cooking won’t help Vanek recapture his best form. Younger guys like Erik Haula are the offensive Wild’s future – and it’s bright.
Defence hasn’t been a problem in Minnesota for a while, and doesn’t seem like it will be this year, either. Goaltending will be another key, and the Wild must sort out whether it will be the inspirational Josh Harding (who suffers from multiple sclerosis) between the pipes or someone like veteran Nicklas Backstrom, who is apparently back to full health after an injury to his midsection that saw him out of the line-up since January.
Florida: Whilst I’m not going to go out on a limb and say that the Panthers will reach the playoffs in 2014-15, they are certainly a vastly-improved squad as compared to the one that was, frankly, woeful a season ago.
You only need to take a look at the talent they’ve brought in: Roberto Luongo, as Dave Bolland, Shawn Thornton, Jussi Jokinen and, fresh from a Stanley Cup title with the Kings, Willie Mitchell. Sure, aside from the first guy on the list, none of the others are names that’ll jump out at you as superstars, but they’re talented, hardworking, dependable and veteran guys, which Florida have not had in large supply recently.
It all starts between the pipes, and I think Luongo is going to flourish in a more laidback part of the hockey world than his last stop, Vancouver. If he’s relaxed, and not pressured, he’s more likely to play like the goalie who got that giant contract to go to the Canucks all those years ago. Not named above is his back-up, Al Montoya: another solid pickup.
The rebuild of the Panthers starts here and now, and, really, to be in the hunt for a playoff berth in the final third of the season will be a massive achievement.
Dallas: Tyler Seguin last year, Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky this year. The Stars have made some big-time splashes, adding key names to an already solid roster, featuring the likes of emerging superstar Jamie Benn, and after a somewhat-surprising playoff run last year, expectation is sky high in Big D heading into the new season.
Spezza and Hemsky add a nice chunk of offensive firepower (not to mention some veteran presence) to a Stars team that didn’t exactly have trouble putting pucks into the back of the net last year. If they were dangerous last year, they’re shaping to be white-hot this year, and with talented Finnish net minder Kari Lehtonen anchoring things on the back end, the Stars shape as being tough to score on in their defensive zone, and tough to keep out of the net when they’re up the other end. Not a bad combination.
There’s a lot of pre-season love around the League for the Stars, and with their acquisitions, it’s not hard to see why. My only real concern is that Dallas finds itself in the cutthroat Central Division of the Western Conference (which is also rather cutthroat), but winning there should stand them in good stead come the playoffs. Someone’s gotta emerge out of the Central, and it might well be the Stars. Certainly, you wouldn’t bet against them.
Tampa Bay: The Lightning began a huge turnaround last year (after winning only 18 of 48 games in 2013-13) that looks set to continue into this season, and will likely – barring any calamitous and unforeseen circumstances – have their two best players on the ice. One is Steven Stamkos, and he’s as good as they come in the NHL, managing to score at better than a point a game last year, in the handful of games he dressed for in an injury-riddled campaign.
The other is Ben Bishop, a great discovery in goal for the Lightning. Before being injured late last season, his efforts to propel the Stamkos-less Tampa squad into an unlikely playoff berth was nothing short of amazing, and had he been between the pipes for the entire season, he might well have figured in the Vezina Trophy (awarded annually to the NHL’s best goaltender) race.
Alas, Bishop barely rated a mention, but his presence in net for 2014-15, and that of Stamkos on the Lightning’s top offensive line, may well mean that Tampa pose a serious threat in the Eastern Conference. They have the momentum from last year’s surge to the playoffs and a General Manager in Steve Yzerman – who learnt from the master of GMs, Ken Holland in Detroit – who knows how to build a good hockey team. The Lightning appear set to strike in 201-14. Bad pun, I know, but also the truth.
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