HOCKEYGURU'S FIRST BLOG AND CANADIAN PREVIEW

I just wanna take a quick 1st half look at all the Canadian NHL teams. While there were a few who didn't make any major changes there were a couple that made some big ones. We'll start with Vancouver and work our way East.

Vancouver: The Canucks finished last season with a 49-26-7 record. Although failing to make any impact in the playoffs Roberto Luongo remained solid and Markus Naslund faced a horrible mid-season slump. The Canucks will look to improve on last seasons performance. Some notable additions were D Arron Miller and F Brad Isbister. I see the Canucks basically having the same season as last year. Unfortunately they will fold in the playoffs.

My Placing: 3rd in West

Edmonton Oilers: Poor, Poor Edmonton! To say Chris Pronger did a number to this team is an under-statement. The lowly Oilers finished with a dismal 32-43-7 record. While Edmonton was .500 at home to the very loud and boisterous Rexall Place there away record was astronomically bad. The Oilers lost there leaders in Ryan Smyth and Captain Jason Smith. Both to trades, but they got there #1 guy it seems in Joni Pitkanen. The Oilers have been trying to pry this guy away from Philly for a few season and finally landed the fiesty d-man. There most notable acquisition is Sheldon Souray his 26 goal performance from last season should help the Oilers on there back end. They may squeak in. But I don't see it happening.

My Placing: 11th in the West.

Calgary Flames: CAN'T SCORE GOALS!! Instead of trying to remedy this the Flames got D-men to try and stop the other teams from scoring. While I don't see Adrian Aucoin being much of a help or any better than Hamrlik. I do feel he is better defensively. The Flames finished 43-29-10 last season. With Mikka Kipprusoff and Iginla being the main reason for that. I feel they could be a little better physically with the edition of Owen Nolan but he will need to stay healthy something he hasn't been able to do lately in his career. Mikka Kipprusoff will once again have to stand on his head.

My Placing: 6th in West

Montreal Canadiens: Great speed! Great Captain....... Thats where it about ends for Montreal. Cristobel Huet was not even close to the goalie he was the year before and really needs to show that he can be. They lost there second highest scorer Sheldon Souray to Edmonton...... Wait a minute theres obviously something wrong with your team when your second best scorer is a Defenceman. The Habs did nothing major and lost 3 of there best defensive players from last season in Johnson, Souray, Bonk. They will once again struggle to make the playoffs and may not make them at all. The Canadiens finished with a 42-34-6 record. There most notable addition this offseason. Roman Hamrlik is no where near the offensive talent of Souray. They also signed Brian Smolinski for his defensive skills.

My Placing: 9th in the East

Ottawa: The Senators were a hair away from Lord Stanley's mug but faltered in the end. They didn't do much but lose some of the key pieces in last years run. The Sens finished with a 48-25-9 record keeping them up at the top of the pack. This year will be a different storey as they may finish lower than last year with losses of Tom Preissing arguably there best Dman. They also lost Peter Schaefer in a trade which I think is just ridiculous. Shean Donovan is in know way worth the skill Schaefer brings to your team. There most notable addtions were D Luke Richardson and Shean Donovan.

My Placing: 5th in the East.

Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs finished the season with a 40-31-11 record. Laughable for a team where fans expect more. A lot of people have been constantly screaming for JFJ's head but it has gotten them anywhere as upper management feel they wanna give him one more shot. The leafs have gotten drastically better in a number of areas including goal and foward. Jason Blake looking to add to his 40 goal total of last season should be formidable with Mats Sundin as his center. Kyle Wellwood will take over the second line center spot and should play well with Ponikarovsky and Bell as his wingers. Speaking of Mark Bell alot of people feel his off ice turmoils will distract his play. Well this blogger can tell you that this is as far from the truth as possible, he will easily play on the 1st or second line and I have him slated for 25 goals. Vesa Toskala has obviously become the Leafs new #1 and won't take the position lightly he will do what Raycroft could not last season and that is steal some games. While I see the Leafs being a fromicable opponent this year they may have injury problems. But if the stay healthy they may dominate the North East.

My Placing: 3rd in the East.

Anyways this is my 1st blog feel free to email me at vegeta2659@hotmail.com if you have any Canadian team related questions.

HockeyGuru.