NHL 2009-2010 Season Previews: Introduction

(Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

Welcome to the Alan Bass 2009-10 NHL Season Preview!  Well, the preview of the preview.  You get the point.

Let’s get down to business! 

Here is how the previews will be formatted:

Team Name

Plus:

1. (Positive outlooks for the team this coming season).

2.

Minus:

1. (Two things to watch out for in 2010 that may bring the team down).

2.

Analysis: My awesomely awesome analysis on every team in the NHL.

Prediction: The Alan Bass predictions for the 2009-2010 regular season (because they’re THAT brilliant…kind of).

To quench your NHL preview needs in the meantime, here are some general division roundups going into next season:

Northeast Division

In last year’s Northeast Division, the Bruins and Canadiens were the only teams to make the playoffs and wound up going head to head as the 1 vs. 8 seeds in the Eastern Conference.

On the bottom half of the division were the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres.  The Leafs are in a rebuilding stage, while the Senators and Sabres are trying to stay afloat with the okay talent they have on their teams.

In 2008-09, the Northeast was pretty competitive, but lacked the playoff berths.  Will this year be different?

Atlantic Division

Hands down the toughest division in the Eastern Conference, the Atlantic has four potential playoff teams in the Flyers, Rangers, Devils and Penguins.

Pittsburgh is coming off of a Stanley Cup championship and looking to return to the final for the third straight year and become the first team to do so since the Oilers in the 80s.  The Rangers made some big moves this summer in hopes of driving up their talent and going a bit further in the playoffs.  The Devils have a “new” coach in Lemaire while remaining dormant throughout the summer.

Philadelphia made arguably the biggest splash, trading away future top-four defenseman Luca Sbisa, forward Joffrey Lupul and a helluva lot of draft picks for superstar D-man Chris Pronger, in addition to signing controversial goaltender Ray Emery.

The Islanders are still in a rebuilding stage while phenom John Tavares gets a chance to show the NHL why they should have let him in early.

The big question of the year is this: how many Atlantic Division teams will qualify for the ’09-10 postseason?

Southeast Division

The Capitals are the only sure playoff team in the division, while the Hurricanes and Lightning are the two borderline teams that will challenge for a spot.  Ovechkin will tear up the division this season (as always) and propel the Caps to perhaps their best season in years.

The Lightning buffed up on defense and look to be a solid team in the making (yet again).  The Panthers replaced Jay-Bo with Jordan Leopold yet were unable to help themselves on offense.  Atlanta, though possessing some great young talent, are still one of the worst teams in the league and will be in the running for the Taylor Hall sweepstakes.

Central Division

Arguably the toughest division in the NHL, the Central teams’ only big negative is the fact that they may all bring each other down.  Their point totals may be lower than expected due to the incredible competition between the five squads.  There are two sure playoff teams in Chicago and Detroit in addition to three borderline playoff teams in Nashville, St. Louis and Columbus.

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