PowerPlayGoal.com – Hockey From A Different Angle

The 2009-10 NHL season is now finished. The Chicago Blackhawks had been waiting for their turn to hoist the Cup for 49 years, and that drought was finally brought to an end after an exciting series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 3 will be covering the Southeast Division.

Atlanta Thrashers

Final standings: 35W, 34L, 13OTL, 83 points, 2^nd Southeast, 10^th Eastern Conference, 23^rd NHL

This year was a special one in Thrashers franchise history, as the team celebrated in 10^th anniversary. Looking to improve their performance after yet another mediocre campaign for 2008-09, Atlanta added Nik Antropov to their roster, with the intention of pairing him up with team captain Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as acquiring defenseman Pavel Kabina from Toronto in exchange for three players. The Thrashers got off to a fairly decent start over the first two months of play, going 14-7-3, but this was followed by a horrendous December during which they won just four out of fifteen games played that month. They began to slowly pick up again at the beginning of the New Year, but in early February, they traded Kovalchuck – their franchise player – away to New Jersey in exchange for three players, partly because contract negotiations were not going too well: this also left the Captain’s position vacant for the rest of the year. After the Olympic break, the Thrashers continued playing as they essentially had been all season long. They came very close, but a painful five game losing streak in March, coupled with mediocre play for the final games of the season was what ultimately prevented them from making the playoffs this year. Understandably disappointed, the Thrashers soon made several changes to their coaching staff afterwards.

Carolina Hurricanes

Final standings: 35W, 37L, 10OTL, 80 points, 3^rd Southeast, 11^th Eastern Conference, 24^th NHL

Despite making it all the way to the Conference Finals last season, the Hurricanes somehow failed to build on this success and were in for a horrific first half of the season, as they lost the majority of their games from October through to December, winning a measly 10 out of 40 games played: along the way was a 14-game winless streak, matching a franchise record for consecutive losses set back in 1992 when the team was still the Hartford Whalers. As January came around, the Canes somehow managed to turn their season around, and ended up winning the majority of their games instead. Like the Thrashers, they came close but still didn’t quite make it to the postseason this year, being only 8 points short of a playoff spot. Looking at their final standings points however, it looks as if they just had another fairly mediocre season, and you may not have known of the embarrassingly horrific early months of their 2009-10 campaign.

Florida Panthers

Final standings: 32W, 37L, 13OTL, 77 points, 5^th Southeast, 14^th Eastern Conference, 28^th NHL

What can I say about the Cats this year? Last season they were good enough to earn their second-best season record in franchise history, and were only 15 goals away from the number 8 seed in the East, being beaten out by the Montreal Canadiens. Rather than make any attempt to build on this near-success, the Panthers had yet another mediocre season, eventually missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, making them the first NHL team to ever do so in one city. Other achievements made by the Panthers this year include a very dull third jersey, getting rid of any traces of red in favour of hopping onto the baby blue bandwagon, and at the very end of the season; they were so desperate for attention that they held a party immediately after losing the final game of the regular season. No really, I’m being serious. I guess all they could really do was laugh off their abysmal campaign.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Final standings: 34W, 36L, 12OTL, 80 points, 4^th Southeast, 12^th Eastern Conference, 25^th NHL

After signing several free agents during the offseason, as well as signing head coach Rick Tocchet to a multiyear contract, the Bolts were looking to improve on their disappointing 2008-09 campaign. They got off to a relatively slow start, going 10-7-8 over the first two months, but their record became even worse in December as they finished an 11-game slump about halfway through the month. The wins started picking up again, but then after the Olympic break Tampa Bay’s season went completely downhill as they lost the vast majority of their games, and failed to make it to the playoffs for the third straight year. In early February, the Lightning were sold to a new owner, Jeff Vinik. The first thing he did immediately after the regular season ended was fire the management team, including head coach Tocchet. Perhaps the Bolts could be in for a fresh new start next season?

Washington Capitals

Final standings: 54W, 15L, 13OTL, 121 points, 1^st Southeast, 1st Eastern Conference, 1^st NHL

This was an almost perfect season for the Washington Capitals: not only was the face of the franchise, Alexander Ovechkin, named team captain in January, but this team also had its best season record in franchise history. This feat was previously accomplished last season, but this season they beat their previous record by 13 points. This year, just like last, they won the vast majority of their games, including a 14-game winning streak, tied for third longest in NHL history. The Caps were also the only team in the Atlantic Division to make the playoffs this year, beating their nearest rival Atlanta by 38 points, and clinched their playoff spot as early as March 11^th. They also won their sixth division title, and their third consecutive one, as well as their first Presidents Trophy. The Caps were predicted to be a Cup contender this year, but surprisingly, that was not to be: in only the first round, the Capitals were on the receiving end of one of the biggest upsets in NHL playoff history as the Montreal Canadiens stunned them in seven games.

That’s it for the Eastern Conference, and Part 4 will begin covering the West, starting with the Central Division.

The 2009-10 NHL season is now finished. The Chicago Blackhawks had been waiting for their turn to hoist the Cup for 49 years, and that drought was finally brought to an end after an exciting series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season. Part 2 will cover the Northeast Division.

Boston Bruins

Final standings: 39W, 30L, 13OTL, 91 points, 3^rd Northeast, 6^th Eastern Conference, 14^th NHL

After a fairly busy offseason, the Bruins got off to a bumpy start to their campaign, alternating between wins and losses for the entirety of October. After a couple more losses in November, the Bruins seemingly stabilised at last, playing decent hockey for the rest of 2009. On New Year’s Day, they hosted the Philadelphia Flyers for the NHL’s annual Winter Classic event, which was won by the Bruins 2-1 in a shootout, oddly making them the first team to ever win an outdoor NHL game at home. Following that was a horrendous slump through the rest of the month, seeing the team go 3-9-2 over January; however they managed to pick up some wins before the Olympic Break. Once the NHL resumed play in March, the Bruins went back to their alternating ways, but then managed to go 4-1-1 in April, clinching their playoff spot in game 81 against Carolina, giving them a playoff spot for the third straight season. In the first round of the playoffs, they beat division rivals Buffalo in six games, and then went on to play the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. The Bruins looked to make quick work of the Flyers as they won the first three games, but this was not to be as Philadelphia then won the next four, beating the Bruins in seven games and making Boston only the third team to have ever lost in this way.

Buffalo Sabres

Final standings: 45W, 27L, 10OTL, 100 points, 1^st Northeast, 3^rd Eastern Conference, 11^th NHL

This was (technically) a special time in Sabres history as it was the franchise’s 40^th year in existence, but because of the lockout was their 39^th in play. Buffalo got off to a good start early on, and played very consistent hockey throughout the earlier months of the season, save for a couple of 4-game losing streaks in November and January. February saw the Sabres stumble, going 1-4-2, however things picked up after the Olympics as they went back to their winning ways, and on March 18^th they clinched their first playoff spot since the 2006-07 season after winning 6-2 in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sadly, their time in the playoffs was brief as they lost to Boston in six games in the first round.

Montreal Canadiens

Final standings: 39W, 33L, 10OTL, 88 points, 4^th Northeast, 8^th Eastern Conference, 19^th NHL

Montreal’s centennial celebrations continued as the Canadiens officially played their 100^th season this year. This was also a year of huge changes for the Habs, including head coach Jacques Martin replacing Guy Carbonneau, a change in ownership, and several player trades and signings: one particularly notable change to the Habs’ roster was the lack of long time captain Saku Koivu, who wasn’t offered a contract and instead signed up with Anaheim: and for the first time in franchise history, the Canadiens started the season without a designated team Captain.  The Canadiens got off to a fairly slow start, splitting their wins and regulation losses in the first two months before picking up a couple more wins in December. There was a rough period through January and February, but after the Olympic break the Habs improved their game and eventually managed to clinch the eighth seed in the East, beating out the New York Rangers by just one point.  The Habs were the underdogs entering the first round of the playoffs as they took on the NHL best Washington Capitals, but after being down 3-1 in the series, Montreal won the next three to upset the Caps in game 7. Round 2 was another surprise for everyone, as Montreal again took the series to game 7 and upset Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens made it to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1993, but then lost in five to Philadelphia.

Ottawa Senators

Final standings: 44W, 32L, 6OTL, 94 points, 2^nd Northeast, 5^th Eastern Conference, 13^th NHL

Before the season even got underway, there was a slight bit of controversy as Dany Heatley, for whatever reason, wanted out. And in September he was traded to San Jose in exchange for Milan Michalek, Jonathon Cheechoo, and a 2010 draft pick. During the preseason on September 19^th, the Senators took part in their first ever exhibition game, against Tampa Bay, in Regina, which hosted its first NHL game in 19 years. After several changes to the Sens roster, the regular season got underway, and Ottawa played some fairly decent hockey until they hit an 8-9-0 slump in December. As the New Year came around, the Senators had a win followed by a nasty 5-game losing streak, after which they fired their goaltending coach Eli Wildon, then went on to win the next 11 games, setting a new franchise record for consecutive wins. As the Winter Olympics finished, the Sens went on to suffer an 8-game slump, before winning the next six games and clinching their playoff spot in a game against Carolina on April 1^st. Sadly, the Senators didn’t last too long in the postseason as they were defeated by Pittsburgh in six games.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Final standings: 30W, 38L, 14OTL, 74 points, 5^th Northeast, 15^th Eastern Conference, 29^th NHL

Clearly, the Leafs are still in rebuilding mode as GM Brian Burke is still attempting to shape the team into a defense-first winner in the future: d-men Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komirasek were both signed to multi-year contracts, and Pavel Kubina was traded to Atlanta in exchange for Garnet Exelby. Toronto’s preseason was good, but sadly the preseason is completely irrelevant as far as team’s standings go: in October, the Maple Leafs got off to their worst start in franchise history, losing the first eight games and going 1-7-4 in October. Things looked more promising as the Leafs won some more games over the next two months, but in January went completely downhill, winning just 3 games and losing the other 12. March was a good month for Toronto, but by then it was far too late as Toronto had no chance of making the playoffs, failing to qualify for the fifth straight year. With Chicago winning the Stanley Cup this year, this now leaves Toronto as the team suffering from the longest Stanley Cup drought, lasting  42 years.

Coming up next in Part 3 will be the Southeast Division.

The 2009-10 NHL season is now finished. The Chicago Blackhawks had been waiting for their turn to hoist the Cup for 49 years, and that drought was finally brought to an end after an exciting series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

This six part series will consist of brief summaries of every team’s performance this season, starting with the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey Devils

Final standings: 48W, 27L, 7OTL, 103 points, 1^st Atlantic, 2^nd Eastern Conference, 6^th NHL

Despite some changes to coaching staff, with the Devils hiring Jacques Lemaire to replace Brent Sutter as head coach, New Jersey followed up their 2008-09 campaign with another good year all around, aside from a bumpy January and February. One notable event to take place this year was a home game against Tampa Bay, on January 8^th, being left unfinished because of lighting problems with 9:12 left to go: the Bolts were 3-0 up, but the game was resumed two nights later with Tampa Bay winning 4-2. New Jersey later made it to the playoffs for the 13^th straight season, however for the third year in a row; they were out in the first round, losing in five games to division rivals Philadelphia.

New York Islanders

Final standings: 33W, 37L, 11OTL, 79 points, 5^th Atlantic, 13^th EC, 26^th NHL

Nope. The Isles haven’t changed much since last year. Well… OK, they made a few trades and named Doug Weight as the new team captain, but the mismanagement of this team continues as they only finished with a slightly better record than last season, winning seven more games and moving up to a slightly higher place in the standings. Overall attendance figures were down from last year, totalling an average of about 12,735 for all their home games. But hey, at least they did better than Phoenix.

New York Rangers

Final standings: 38W, 33L, 11OTL, 87 points, 4^th Atlantic, 9^th EC, 21^st NHL

The Rangers appeared to be on a roll during October, but following that was a disappointing 5-8-0 record for November, and from there the Blueshirts went downhill into a fairly mediocre season. Come Winter Olympic time, they contributed five players to the tournament, yet as soon as it finished the Rangers made a final surge through March and April in hopes of making it to the postseason. However, in the final game their playoffs hopes were smashed to pieces as they lost in overtime to the Flyers, and in turn lost the eighth seed to the Montreal Canadiens by just one point, making it the first time in five years that the Rangers failed to qualify for the postseason.

Philadelphia Flyers

Final standings: 41W, 35L, 6OTL, 88 points, 3^rd Atlantic, 7^th EC, 18^th NHL

During the offseason, the Flyers made some huge changes such as letting goalies Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki go in favour of bringing in Ray Emery and Brian Boucher. They also acquired the big bad Chris Pronger from Anaheim, in exchange for Lucas Sbisa, some draft picks, and ironically enough, Joffrey Lupul. As the regular season started, Philadelpia got off to a good start in October and early November, but from there went into a huge 17 game slump that saw the Flyers go 3-13-1. During this time head coach John Stevens was fired in favour of Peter Laviolette, and after the slump ended the team looked to improve its then horrendous record. From there, everything went smoothly for the Flyers until they hit another slump of 9-10-3 after the Olympic break, eventually clinching the 7^th spot in the East. In the playoffs, they made quick work of New Jersey in just 5 games, but their second round matchup against Winter Classic opponents Boston was perhaps one of the most significant of the whole tournament: after falling to the Bruins in the first three games, the Flyers then went ahead and miraculously won the next four, making them only the third NHL team in history to do so. They then brushed the Montreal Canadiens aside in the Conference Finals and then, meeting expectations from even before the season started, the Flyers were a Cup contender, meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Finals and making it this far for the first time since 1997. The Flyers were now the underdogs in this series, and unfortunately for them their Cinderella run was brought to an end in six games.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Final standings: 47W, 28L, 7OTL, 101 points, 2^nd Atlantic, 4^th EC, 8^th NHL

This was a significant year in Pittsburgh Penguins history, as not only were they the defending Stanley Cup Champions, but it was also their final season in the Mellon Arena, aka “The Igloo” from which the team derived its name from, after playing there for their entire 43-year existence (minus the lockout), as the brand new Consol Energy Center will be ready for next season. The Pens looked to make this final year in the Igloo one to remember as they went an impressive 11-3-0 over October, followed by only a few minor slumps before the Olympic Break, after which they improved their record and ended up finishing in the exact same standings positions as last year. Come playoff time, the Penguins won in six games against the Ottawa Senators. However, Sidney Crosby’s Championship reign was brought to an end as he and his Pens were upset by 8^th-place Montreal in seven.

Stay tuned for Part 2 as the Northeast Division will be covered.