The Aftermath – 2009 edition: Part 5
The 2008-09 NHL season is now finished. The Detroit Red Wings stormed through the playoffs only to meet the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final again. This time however, Pittsburgh returned the favour by ending Detroit’s defence of the Championship in their own city.
This six part series will consist of brief, but informal summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 5 will cover the Northwest Division.
Calgary Flames
Final standings: 46W, 30L, 6OTL, 98 points, 2nd Northwest, 5th Western Conference, 10th NHL
This year’s Flames team had a few new faces as at the start they signed forward Todd Bertuzzi, and had eight young players make their NHL debuts. Calgary had a slow start in October before earning a 6 game winning streak that went into early November, which was just one of their more bumpy months. Fortunately for Calgary, a 10 game point streak in December through the beginning of January, and a similar 9 game streak in February provided the Flames with more points to hold onto to, before a very rough March and April over which they went 9-12-0, and eventually were able to hang onto the fifth seed. During the regular season, captain Jarome Ignila, for the second straight season, surpassed another of Theoren Fleury’s franchise records, beating his record of 830 points on the same night he scored his 400th goal against Tampa Bay. Come playoff time, the Flames had a very physical series against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flames played well, but injuries to seven players eventually led to their defeat in game 6, making this the fourth consecutive season in which the Flames failed to make it past round one.
Colorado Avalanche
Final standings: 32W, 45L, 5OTL, 69 points, 5th Northwest, 15th Western Conference, 28th NHL
What the heck happened to the Avs this year? Last season they did well enough to make it as far as round 2 in the playoffs, and yet they somehow came off much, much worse this year, recording their worst season since they moved from Quebec. What didn’t help was the fact that long-time captain Joe Sakic was only able to play in 15 games this season due to an injury, and shortly after the season decided to end his career. The Avs have since, understandably, replaced their coaching staff and general manager, so they could either be a better team next season, or they’ll go into rebuilding… still, at least they did better than Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders in the league standings.
Edmonton Oilers
Final standings: 38W, 35L, 9OTL, 85 points, 4th Northwest, 11th Western Conference, 21st NHL
Prior to this season, the Oilers were sold to a new owner, Daryl Katz, for $200 million. The team also made a few personnel changes, and brought back the fan favourite royal blue and orange Cup-era jersey as an alternate. Edmonton started slowly this year, but then starting earning more wins in December and January. However, after a 6 game points streak in March, the Oilers played poorly for the final eleven games of the season (3-8-0), and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season, missing the playoffs by 6 points.
Minnesota Wild
Final standings: 40W, 33L, 9OTL, 89 points, 3rd Northwest, 9th Western Conference, 19th NHL
Even after winning the Northwest Division and making the playoffs last season, the Minnesota Wild were somehow unable to build on that success. Minnesota appeared to be having a good start over the first two months, but then went 4-9-1 in December, and despite playing fairly well for the rest of the year, they ended up narrowly missing the playoffs by just 2 points. This was due in part to a lack of scoring and offensive effort, and injuries to key players such as Marian Goborik, who played just 17 games for the Wild this season. After their regular season came to an end, head coach Jacques Lemaire, after being with the team since they were first formed in 2000, resigned, and general manager Doug Risebrough was given the sack. Former Penguins assistant GM Chuck Fletcher was hired as Risebrough’s replacement, and in turn he chose Todd Richards to be the team’s new head coach. Perhaps the Wild will be a very different team next season…
Vancouver Canucks
Final standings: 45W, 27L, 10OTL, 100 points, 1st Northwest, 3rd Western Conference, 7th NHL
Prior to this season, the Canucks lost two key veterans, long-time captain Markus Nasland and Brendan Morrison to free agency, and promising young defenseman Luc Bourdon to death: he was killed in a motorcycle accident, and the team paid tribute to him in their season opener against Calgary. Despite finishing as the worst team in the Northwest last season, the Canucks managed to greatly improve on their previous season’s lacklustre record: they began with a good start over the first two months, before underperforming through December (6-7-1) and January (2-5-5), and then playing solid hockey for the rest of the season, winning the Division championship and making the playoffs for the first time since 2007. In the first round, they swept the St. Louis Blues, and then advanced to the next roundto face the Chicago Blackhawks. The Nucks’ ball would soon stop rolling as they lost in 6 games.
Coming up next in the sixth and final part will be the Pacific Division.