NHL Pacific Division 2009-10: Review and Preview

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Pacific Division    

The third weakest division in hockey last year was the Pacific Division. The .548 winning percentage was brought about by a decline from Dallas and no compensating improvement from LA or Phoenix.

Here’s my look at how these teams finished last year ,what changes they made and how they should do in the coming regular season.

I’m looking at the teams in the order they finished last year.

San Jose Sharks

San Jose won the Presidents trophy for finishing first in the entire league for the regular season.

This was no guarantee of playoff success, as the Sharks lost to a first-round opponent, the eighth-place Anaheim Ducks, who just looked better than them in every aspect of the game. 

GM Doug Wilson promised sweeping change in the new year. It was a long time coming, but change has certainly come. Todd McLellan, brought in last year to replace Ron Wilson, will get another chance to make those changes work. 

Goaltending has been handled by the steady Evgeny Nabokov. One of the NHL’s work horse goalies he plays over 73 percent of his team’s minutes. His .910 save percentage is pretty ordinary among goalies who play at least a third of their teams minutes (25th out of 43).

San Jose gave up the fewest shots in the league last year. You’d expect the team goals against average to be near the top of the league and they were third overall.

Last year's back up, Brian Boucher, has moved on to Philadelphia. They still haven’t settled on a back-up in San Jose.

The fear has to be that Nabokov, who looked ordinary against Anaheim in the playoffs, might be a medium-skilled goalie as opposed to the elite one he is touted to be. Thomas Greiss from the AHL might play behind Nabokov to help the cap-strapped Sharks.

The defense was the strength on this team last year. Dan Boyle has been one of the best Canadian-born offensive defenseman in the league for the last five years. He’s a skilled puck mover and power play quarterback.

Marc Edourd-Vlasic has become the center of this defense. He’s a great skater who doesn’t make mistakes. Huskins missed most of last year with foot problems. The former Duck should be able to give them a solid twenty minutes a night this year.

Douglas Murray hits like a tank and had a great year for San Jose in 2008-09. He gives them a nasty physical edge.

Rob Blake is being called upon to play big minutes for San Jose next year. At age 40 he’s coming off a big offensive year for the Sharks.

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