PowerPlayGoal.com – Hockey From A Different Angle

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 6, the final part of the series, will finalise coverage of the Western Conference with the Pacific Division.

Anaheim Ducks

Final standings: 42W, 33L, 7OTL, 91 points, 2nd Pacific, 8th Western Conference, 17th NHL

This year’s Anaheim Ducks were, not to put too fine a point on it, a complete mess. They began with an extremely slow start, which for a time saw them right at the bottom of the league standings. One of the contributions to this mess was general manager Brian Burke, who after much speculation inevitably stepped down and left for Toronto to be replaced by Bob Murray. Other factors that didn’t help were injuries to key players such as Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin (who was then unable to play for most of the season), and Samuel Pahlsson (who was eventually traded to Chicago). The Ducks’ schedule consistently had them playing more games than the rest of the NHL, which made it difficult to compare them to other teams, and as a result Anaheim spent much of the season at risk of losing their playoff spot to other teams that would soon catch up to them. After a lacklustre January and February (12-13-1), the Ducks made one big, final push through March and April (11-5-1), and miraculously earned the eighth seed, making the postseason for the fourth consecutive season. In the first round, the Ducks met state rivals San Jose in the first all-California series since 1969, and upset them in 6 games. The Ducks then came across familiar playoff foes Detroit, and despite taking the series all the way to game 7, lost in the last three minutes of play.

Dallas Stars

Final standings: 36W, 35L, 11OTL, 83 points, 3rd Pacific, 12th Western Conference, 23rd NHL

A stroke of bad luck definitely hit the Stars this season, despite making it all the way to the Conference Finals last year. Early on, Captain Brendan Morrow was out for the year due to a torn ACL, which would be just one of a few injuries to the Stars this season. For some reason, Sean Avery was also signed, and later suspended by the NHL for making bad comments about his ex-girlfriend prior to a game against Calgary (He was also effectively kicked out of the Stars organisation). The Stars had a rough start to the season, going 8-11-4 over the first two months, but around December things started to look more promising as Dallas played well for the next three months… that is, right until the end of February: due to player injuries, as well as goaltender Marty Turco hitting a bad spell, and the Stars only having other, inexperienced rookie goalies to rely on as backups, the Stars went into a slump at the worst possible time, playing disappointingly for the rest of the season, and then missing the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and only the third time since they moved from Minnesota in 1993. Following this, the Stars hired a new general manager, former player and captain Joe Nieuwendyk, who fired head coach Dave Tippett and hired Marc Crawford to take his place.

Los Angeles Kings

Final standings: 34W, 37L, 11OTL, 79 points, 5th Pacific, 14th Western Conference, 26th NHL

The L.A. Kings looked to make improvements this season, as after many back to back seasons of missing the playoffs, head coach Marc Crawford was fired, and Terry Murray was hired to take his place. They also named Dustin Brown as the new team captain; making him the youngest named captain in franchise history, as well as their first ever US born captain. The Kings initially looked to have a more promising season, and this year they had the youngest roster in the NHL in terms of average age per player, and things started to look promising for this team as they played fairly well over the first three months… however, something went wrong at the end of December, and soon the Kings would be back to their usual ways, making fairly insignificant improvements over their previous season’s record, earning 8 more points, and missing the playoffs once again for the sixth consecutive season.

Phoenix Coyotes

Final standings: 36W, 39L, 7OTL, 79 points, 4th Pacific, 13th Western Conference, 25th NHL

During the preseason, the Phoenix Coyotes made a brief return to their old home in Winnipeg for the first time since they moved down from there in 1996. Sadly, that’s probably the only significant non-financial related thing that happened to this team, as despite playing fairly well during November (6-7-2), December (8-4-3) and January (6-7-0), the Coyotes played mostly mediocre hockey throughout the year, finishing with a worse record than last season, and like the Kings, missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season, finishing with only a marginally better record than their division rival. The Coyotes have also been involved with a load of financial related things such as bankruptcy filing, ownership disputes and the like, which gave the writer of this article a headache, so it has been left out. At the time of writing, the team’s future in Arizona remains unclear…

San Jose Sharks

Final standings: 53W, 18L, 11OTL, 117 points, 1st Pacific, 1st Western Conference, 1st NHL

The San Jose Sharks made a small amount of offseason moves, naming Todd McLellan the new head coach, acquiring defensemen Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich from Tampa Bay, and signing Rob Blake. These few changes somehow gave the Sharks a big boost as they took the NHL by storm, eventually winning their second straight (and fourth ever) division title, their first Detroit Presidents’ Trophy, and they also finished with their best overall record in franchise history, beating the record previously set only last year by 9 points. As well as points, they also earned the most wins and fewest regulation losses in team history. Despite the achievements made this year, the Sharks once again fell early in the playoffs, as they were upset by state and division rivals the Anaheim Ducks, in the first all-California series since 1969, in six games, leaving a very bitter taste in the mouths of Sharks fans.

That’s it for the Aftermath 2009 Edition… and I managed to get it done three days earlier than last year. Go me.

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.

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 4 will begin coverage of the Western Conference with the Central Division.

Chicago Blackhawks

Final standings: 46W, 24L, 12OTL, 104 points, 2nd Central, 4th Western Conference, 6th NHL

New owner Rocky Wirtz’s brief rebuilding of his Chicago Blackhawks seems to have paid off. Looking to improve on their fairly good season last year, the Hawks immediately fired head coach Denis Savard after just 4 games, and replaced him with Joel Quenneville, who would lead Chicago as they had one of their best seasons in years, earning 16 more points than their previous season, and making the playoffs for the first time since 2002. This year, Chicago hosted the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, home of MLB’s Chicago Cubs, where they played against long-time rivals the Detroit Red Wings, losing to them 6-4. When they playoffs came around, the Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks in 6 games in the first and second rounds, before running out of steam and losing to Detroit in 5 in the Conference Finals, ironically much like the last time Chicago made it that far in 1995.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Final standings: 41W, 31L, 10OTL, 92 points, 4th Central, 7th Western Conference, 16th NHL

Last year, the Blue Jackets had their most successful season, winning 80 points which was, at the time, the most in franchise history. After failing to make the playoffs, Columbus fans were in for a pleasant surprise this year as their Blue Jackets, despite a slow start in October, played very good hockey for the rest of the season, keeping well away from the bottom of the league standings and earned a playoff berth for the first time ever, meaning that all 30 of the NHL’s currently active teams have made the playoffs at least once. Their first taste of the postseason, sadly, didn’t last very long as the inexperienced Blue Jackets lost to division rivals Detroit, being swept.

Detroit Red Wings

Final standings: 51W, 21L, 10OTL, 112 points, 1st Central, 1st Western Conference, 3rd NHL

Entering this season as the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings had a slightly more disappointing overall record than last year, earning 3 points less and also not winning the President’s Trophy for the second consecutive season. They visited Wrigley Field in Chicago to play their long-time rivals the Blackhawks, where the Wings won 6-4. As ever, Detroit had a consistently winning season, with only two slumps: a 6 game stretch (0-4-2) through the end of January and beginning of February, and a 10 game slump (3-6-1) through the end of March and into April. The Wings went on to make the playoffs for the 18th consecutive season: in the first round, they swept playoff newbies Columbus, then played a tough seven game series against playoff rivals Anaheim in the second round, and then defeated Chicago in 5 games in the Conference Finals. In the Stanley Cup Final, they met the Pittsburgh Penguins, who they had previously met in the Final last season, making this event the first in 25 years in which the Cup finalists from the previous season had met in back-to-back Finals. The Red Wings, however, could not hold onto the Cup as Pittsburgh defeated them in Detroit in game 7, making the Wings the first NHL team in 38 years to lose a Game 7 at home.

Nashville Predators

Final standings: 40W, 34L, 8OTL, 88 points, 5th Central, 10th Western Conference, 20th NHL

This year was the Nashville Predators’ 10th season of play (but due to the lockout that cancelled the 2004-05 season, the 10 year anniversary patches were worn on their jerseys last season instead). Sadly, it wasn’t really worth remembering as the Preds failed to make any real improvements over last season’s record and playoff berth. They played mediocre hockey for the first four months, but then somehow, they started playing much, much better through February and March, but they soon failed to qualify for the playoffs, missing out on the number 8 spot by just 3 points, making them the only team from the Central Division to miss the postseason.

St. Louis Blues

Final standings: 41W, 31L, 19OTL, 92 points, 3rd Central, 6th Western Conference, 15th NHL

Here is another pleasant surprise from the Central Division in the form of the St. Louis Blues, who this year made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They greatly improved on their record by shooting right up in the standings, and earning 13 more points. Expectations were low early on due to injuries to key players such as Erik Johnson, Andy McDonald and goaltender Manny Legace, as well as shoddy play during December (4-10-1). However, things began to look good for the Blues by the time the New Year came, as they played much better hockey for the rest of the season. Their playoff run would unfortunately be very brief, as they were swept by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round.

Coming up next in Part 5 will be the Northwest Division.