2014-15 Outlook: Central Division

Now that we have gone through each team in this division, lets predict where they will finish!

2014-15 Outlook: Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jets

Head Coach: Paul Maurice (2nd Season in WPG)

Arena: MTS Centre (Capacity: 15,004)

2013-14 Record: 37-35-10 (Last in Central Division)

Record vs MIN in 2013-14: 1-3-1

2013-14 Corsi For %: 49.4% (19th in NHL)

Top Scorer: Blake Wheeler (69 Points, 2.12 P/60)

Top Goaltender: Ondrej Pavelec (22-26-7, 3.01 GAA, .901 SV%)

2014-15 Outlook: St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues

Head Coach: Ken Hitchcock (4th Season in STL)

Arena: Scottrade Center (Capacity: 19,150)

2013-14 Record: 52-23-7 (2nd in Central Division)

Record vs MIN in 2013-14: 4-1-0

2013-14 Corsi For %: 52.7% (6th in NHL)

Top Scorer: Alexander Steen (62 Points, 2.20 P/60)

Top Goaltender: Jaroslav Halak (24-9-4, 2.23 GAA, .917 SV%)

2014-15 Outlook: Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators

Head Coach: Peter Laviolette (1st Season in NSH)

Arena: Bridgestone Arena (Capacity: 17,113)

2013-14 Record: 38-32-12 (6th in Central Division)

Record vs MIN in 2013-14: 2-3-0

2013-14 Corsi For %: 49.4% (18th in NHL)

Top Scorer: Shea Weber (56 points, 0.93 P/60)

Top Goaltender: Carter Hutton (20-11-4, 2.62 GAA, .910 SV%)

2014-15 Outlook: Dallas Stars

Dallas Stars

Head Coach: Lindy Ruff (2nd Season in DAL)

Arena: American Airlines Center (Capacity: 18,532)

2013-14 Record: 40-31-11 (4th in Central Division)

Record vs MIN in 2013-14: 2-1-1

2013-14 Corsi For %: 51.5% (10th in NHL)

Top Scorer: Tyler Seguin (84 Points, 2.81 P/60)

Top Goaltender: Kari Lehtonen (33-20-10, 2.41 GAA, ..919 SV%)

2014-15 Outlook: Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche

Head Coach: Patrick Roy (2nd Season in COL)

Arena: Pepsi Center (Capacity: 18,007)

2013-14 Record: 52-22-8 (Central Division Champions)

Record vs MIN in 2013-14: 4-0-1

2013-14 Corsi For %: 46.6% (26th in NHL)

Top Scorer: Matt Duchene (70 Points, 2.55 P/60)

Top Goaltender: Semyon Varlamov (41-14-6, 2.41 GAA, .927 SV%)

2014-15 Outlook: Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks

Head Coach: Joel Quenneville (7th season with CHI)

Arena: United Center (Capacity: 19,717)

2013-14 Record: 46-21-15 (3rd in Central Division)
Record vs MIN in 2013-14: 2-3-0

2013-14 Corsi For percentage: 54.21% (4th in NHL)

Top Scorer: Patrick Sharp (78 points, 2.29 P/60)

Top Goaltender: Corey Crawford (32-16-10, 2.26 GAA, .917 SV%)

Meet The New Divisions: Central Division

7. Winnipeg Jets-The Jets were a team who just missed the playoffs in a bad division. Now, they move into a much stronger division and will learn that they need to play more consistently to win. They have a few good players on this team, but they lack the depth that is necessary to help them win. The Jets fly right into the basement of the Central.

Meet The Central Division: Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jets

Head Coach: Claude Noel (3rd Season in WPG)

Arena: MTS Centre (Capacity: 15,004)

2012-13 Record: 24-21-3 (2nd in Southeast Division)

Record vs MIN in '12-13: Did Not Play

Leading Scorer: Andrew Ladd-46 points (18 G, 28 A)

Leading Goaltender: Ondrej Pavelec-44 G, 21-20-3, 2.80 GAA, .905 SV%

Meet The Central Division: St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues

Head Coach: Ken Hitchcock (3rd season in STL)
Arena: Scottrade Center (Capacity: 19,150)

2012-13 Record: 29-17-2 (2nd in Central)

Record vs MIN in '12-13: 3-0-0

Leading Scorer: Chris Stewart-36 points (18 G, 18 A)

Leading Goaltender: Brian Elliott-24 G, 14-8-1, 2.28 GAA, .907 SV%

Meet The Central Division: Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators

Head Coach: Barry Trotz (15th season in NSH)
Arena: Bridgestone Arena (Capacity: 17,113)

2012-13 Record: 16-23-9 (last in Central Division)

Record vs MIN in '12-13: 1-0-2

Leading Scorer: Shea Weber-28 points (9 G, 19 A)

Leading Goaltender: Pekka Rinne-43 G, 15-16-8, 2.43 GAA, .910 SV%

Meet The Central Division: Dallas Stars

Dallas Stars

Head Coach: Lindy Ruff (1st season with DAL)
Arena: American Airlines Center (Capacity: 18,532)

2012-13 Record: 22-22-4 (Last in Pacific Division)

Record vs MIN in '12-13: 1-2-0

Leading Scorer-Jamie Benn: 33 pts (12 G, 21 A)

Leading Goaltender-Kari Lehtonen: 36 G, 15-14-3, 2.66 GAA, .916 SV%

Meet The Central Division: Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche

Head Coach: Patrick Roy (1st season with COL)
Arena: Pepsi Center (Capacity: 18,007)

2012-13 Record: 16-25-7 (Last in Western Conference)

Record vs MIN in '12-13: 1-4-0

Leading Scorer: PA Parenteau/Matt Duchene-43 points

Leading Goaltender: Semyon Varlamov-35 G, 11-21-3, 3.02 GAA, .903 SV%

Meet The Central Division: Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks

2013 Stanley Cup Champions
Head Coach: Joel Quenneville (6th season with CHI)
Arena: United Center (Capacity: 19,717)

2012-13 Record: 36-7-5 (Presidents Trophy Winner)
Record vs MIN in '12-13: 2-0-1

Leading Scorer: Patrick Kane-55 Pts (23 G, 32 A)
Leading Goaltender: Corey Crawford-30 G, 19-5-5, 1.94 GAA, .926 SV%

NHLPA Say "Yes" To Realignment

Yesterday, the NHLPA gave its consent to a revised realignment plan that will see the league move to just 4 divisions and will see the East have 16 teams to the West's 14. The Wild will be in a more central division, with Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis, and Winnipeg. During last season, the NHL's Board of Governors voted in favor of a similar realignment plan, but the only difference is that Columbus and Detroit are moving to Eastern divisions, not staying in the West. My post on this can be found here.

So should the BOG votes in favor of this plan, the league will be realigning for the 2013-14 season. But as we learned last year, we will hold the celebration until it becomes official.

There are some pros and cons to this realignment. A big pro to this is the less travel for all teams (Especially the likes of Detroit, Columbus, Minnesota, and Winnipeg), but a big con to this, is the fact the East will have 16 teams and the West only has 14 teams, giving teams in the West a better chance of making the playoffs (A 7% greater chance to make the playoffs in the West). For more on the pros and cons of this, watch the video below taken from NHL Live last night.

The playoff format for this realignment would be the top 4 teams in the division make the playoffs, and then play each other, with the 2 division winners in each conference playing each other for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Final. But there has been talk of adding a Wild card team, but that has not gone forward yet. Look for that to get voted on once realignment becomes official.

If this goes through, Wild fans can get accustomed to watching divisional road games in the same time zone, with the exception of Colorado, who is an hour behind us. So you can say goodbye to many of those late nights while watching the Wild play a big divisional game.

With the future of the club being as bright as it is, the Wild would be favorites in this division every year, along with Chicago and St. Louis. But dont sleep on the other teams. Colorado has some good young players and are continuing to build. Dallas has a collection of veterans on their roster so dark days could be ahead for them. Nashville has been a pain in the Wild's side in recent years. And Winnipeg projects to be the Wild's new main rivalry, and they are a bubble playoff team in the East right now.

If the Wild were to put together a consecutive string of playoff appearances, this would be the format most favorable to that happening.

Again, lets not get too happy right now. The BOG must still vote on this new plan. But it is expected that they move forward with this too.

Here's to hoping the Smyth Division returns.


Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell

NHL 2013 Preview: Central Division

5. Columbus Blue Jackets-This is just about the poorest looking hockey team, one has seen in quite some time. Their top line consists of Artim Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, and RJ Umberger (Anisimov and Dubinsky came in the return package for Rick Nash). They finally found someone to talk over for Steve Mason as the #1 goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky, but Bobrovsky has not played #1 minutes before. They have a blueline of overrated players (led by James Wisniewski and Jack Johnson), and a coach who couldn't win with better talent on a different team (Former Wild bench boss Todd Richards). Columbus is a lock to finish last in this division, and finish last in all of the NHL.

4. Nashville Predators-Nashville was poised to make a deep playoff run last year. But, all they could do was get past the first round, then bow out to Phoenix in the second round. But despite the loss of Ryan Suter in the offseason, this is still a pretty good team. They rely on defense (Led by Norris finalist Shea Weber) and goaltending (Pekka Rinne enters 2013 as one of the best in hockey between the pipes) to win games. They don't scare you much offensively, so if you can get up past 3 goals a game on them, you have a good chance to win. Nashvilee has a good core, but they lack scoring to be a serious threat to win the division. They will be a team battling for a low playoff seed in late April.

3. Detroit Red Wings-Last year, we Detroit's run of dominating the Central division come to an end. They finished 3rd in the division and were sent home by Nashville in the first round of the playoffs. Then in the offseason, they lost their team leader, Nicklas Lidstrom, to retirement. To replace him, the Wings will have youngster Brendan Smith take the spot on the top Defense line. The Wings are still solid up front, with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg leading the charge. The defense is now pretty average that Lidstrom is gone, and their attempts to replace him with a high profile name (Ryan Suter, Justin Schultz), failed. Jimmy Howard is sneaky good between the pipes, but Jonas Gustavsson will have to step up his game as the back up after coming over. This is still a playoff team, but they are not anywhere close to being at the top of the West hierarchy, like they used to be.

2. Chicago Blackhawks-Perhaps no team has underachieved more in the last 2 seasons than the Chicago Blackhawks. They barely made the playoffs in 2011, and they were handed a first round playoff exit by Phoenix in 2012. And no player has taken more heat than Patrick Kane (23-43-66 in 2011-12), in the last year, when it comes to underachieving. The Hawks have a weakness at center (Jonathan Toews and Dave Bolland are the only 2 established centers on the team), but can make up for it with their talented wingers. All eyes will be on Corey Crawford, and if he can handle the team's role of being a #1 goaltender. If not, maybe the Hawks go out and get a goalie before the trade deadline. Chicago comes in a distant second to St. Louis in this division. But, can they avoid a third straight first round exit in 2013?

1. St. Louis Blues-In a shortened season like this one, you need two solid goalies on your roster. And look no further than St. Louis, for the best goalie tandem in the league. Last year, Brian Elliott (1.56 GAA in 2011-12) and Jaroslav Halak (1.97 GAA in 2011-12) allowed the fewest goals (155) in the NHL. The Blues rely heavily on defense and goaltending to win, and they are very strong at both areas. Their defense, led by blooming stars Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo, is young, but exceptionally good. Up front , the Blues have 2 solid forward lines, but lines 3 and 4 need much improvement. After the success of last year (Central Division Champs), this team looks to move further on in the playoffs. Its hard to see that with their lack of depth at forward, but their defense and goaltending gets them the Central crown once again.


Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell

Wild Moving To Central Conference

Today, Craig Leipold, his staff, and the entire State of Hockey can feel good when going to bed tonight. Starting next year, the Minnesota Wild will take part in the NHL realignment which will see the league go to a 4 conference set up (2 conferences of 8 teams, 2 conferences of 7 teams). Ever since taking over as princpal owner of the Wild, Leipold has lobbied for the Wild to get moved into a division with these teams, and he finally got his wish. Leipold will watch his team play in the more centralized conference with Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Nashville, St Louis and Winnipeg. Also, any team not in your division you play a home and home series with them that year. The rest of your games come within your own division.

This is terrific news for the State of Hockey. They no longer have the long Canadian road trips from playing in the Northwest division, more road games will be starting at friendlier times for Wild fans (6, 630, or 7 pm), and they can rekindle the old North Stars rivalries with Chicago and St. Louis (These games are pretty intense already). The only main rival the Wild have currently are the Vancouver Canucks, and lately this rivalry has been boring and lopsided (In favor of Vancouver). So this is a perfect time for the team to relocate.

But perhaps the best news of all, is the fact this will be the weaker division in the foreseeable future. So this will give the Wild a better opportunity to win and make the postseason (Something the Wild have yet to achieve with Leipold running the show). The front runner here will obviously be Chicago and they will have sustained success with core players (Kane, Toews, Hossa) locked up for years to come. St. Louis is a team on the rise and will pose a big threat Detroit is a sinking ship due to largely the fact that their star players are getting older and past their prime. Dallas and Nashville will be wild cards for now as they have had recent success, but do not have any marquee names power the team past the next few years. And then you will have the bottom feeders Columbus and Winnipeg who will not be successful in the near future, but a top draft pick could easily change that.

So clearly, with the talent the Wild have and the talent they have coming up, they have the potential to be successful in this division for many years to come. And their record against the Central teams so far this year (7-0-1 against CHI, CBJ, DET, NSH, STL) is a huge positive for them moving forward.

The Wild and their fans are a big winner in this realignment. Now all they have to do is build a solid hockey team that contends for years to come. And they can get far closer to achieving that in this new division...

Here's the other conferences and their teams:

Anaheim, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver

Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Toronto

Carolina, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington

NHL 2011 Preview-Central Division

5. Columbus Blue Jackets-Within an hour of the Kings acquiring Mike Richards from Philly, Columbus got in on the action and got C Jeff Carter from the Flyers as well. But that wasn't the only big move the Jackets made over the summer. They signed D-Man James Wisniewski to a ridiculous 6 year/$33 million deal. But behind their top line, this team has way too many question marks (2nd & 3rd lines, defensive depth, and goaltending) for them to be relevant this year. It will be a long year in the basement for Columbus.

4. St Louis Blues-For some reason, people are picking St. Louis to be a playoff team. I just don't see it. They have a balanced scoring attack, but no real big scorer. They have a nice young defensive core, but nothing that says they are gonna be great this year. And I like their goalie Jaroslav Halak, but can he step up and be the big time goalie they need him to be? Many things need to go right for St. Louis this year, for them to get a playoff spot. And I just don't see that happening.

3. Nashville Predators-Nashville had the 3rd best defensive team in the NHL last year behind Vancouver and Boston. So the Preds, are really bringing the same team back in 2011. It was also the same team that finished 22nd in scoring last year. They also bring back Vezina Trophy (Top Goalie) finalist Pekka Rinne between the pipes. As much as their offense doesn't score, they still have a great defense. And it will keep the Preds in the hunt for a playoff spot all year.

2. Detroit Red Wings-Really ever since the mid '90s, the Red Wings have been the best in this division. But, that run is quickly coming to an end. Their stars are getting older, and their farm system doesn't look like its going to produce any good replacements any time soon. But, this team was still one of the best scoring teams in the NHL last year. But that will only take them so far, with all the good defensive teams there are out there. The Wings will still have a stellar 2011-12 season, but they certainly won't be tops in this division.

1. Chicago Blackhawks-Prior to Last year, the Blackhawks literally watched half their roster get turned over following their Stanley Cup championship. They then suffered the championship hangover, as they underperformed, but still made it into the playoffs (You can send a thank you card to 199 W Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN). This year, the Hawks should be back in prime form. They have a great offense (lead by Kane, Toews, and Hossa), a solid defensive core (lead by Seabrook and Keith), and they may have solved their goaltending issues for a while with Corey Crawford. The Hawks are lock to win the division this year, and also should be a Cup contender once again.

Tomorrow, we will look at the last division, the Northwest division.