NHL: Notorious Northeast No Good?

Ask any hockey buff’s opinion on the strongest division in the NHL and the Northeast Division will top the list. Perennial powers such as the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres struggle for power alongside the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Over the last ten years, the Northeast Division has had strong representation in the Stanley Cup playoffs with all teams being competitive until the final day of the season. In the same breath, Northeast rivals have provided fans with the most dramatic playoff series, such as the scrappy Battle of Ontario series in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004. Boston and Montreal fought out a hard seven game series when the Canadiens came back from a 3-1 series deficit in 2004.

Lately, the Northeast Division’s power has diminished amid trades, signings, and the overall structure of the division’s teams. The studs and duds of the Northeast Division through the first half of the season are as follows:

1. Ottawa Senators (29-11-4, 62 PTS, 1st in East)

Once again the Ottawa Senators have been fueled by a dominant first line of Alfredsson-Heatley-Spezza as well as getting secondary scoring from Fisher, Vermette, and McAmmond. The first line’s dominance is so complete in Ottawa that Spezza is 3rd on the team with 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists), which is 20 points ahead of Mike Fisher, who has 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists). To cap it all off, the entire line has been selected to the 2008 All-Star Game, despite the fact that Dany Heatley might not play due to injury.

Defensively, the Senators are solid. Redden and Phillips lead a very experienced and consistent defensive core. Anton Volchenkov’s stock on the Ottawa blueline has gone up dramatically since his solid play in last year’s playoffs. Ottawa’s strongest, yet fairly unknown strength is in their defense.

Goaltending has been the issue this season so far with Gerber taking the majority of the role going 20-7-1 with a 2.59 GAA and a .917 SV %. Ray Emery, who was dominant in their run to the Finals last season still has to find his niche this season. Emery so far is 8-4-3 with a 2.79 GAA and a .894 SV %, a far cry so far from his 33 win season last year.

Ottawa looks ready and poised to capture the Northeast Division crown with the Buffalo Sabres appearing to be struggling with the departures of Drury and Briere. Look for either Gerber or Emery to finally take over the starting duties because if neither goalie does so soon, the Senators could be in a bind and could lose some dominance if they don’t have it all together in the back end.

2. Montreal Canadiens (22-14-8, 52 PTS, 5th in East)

Surprise surprise. The Canadiens are in a familiar spot in the Eastern Conference. The last few season, the Habs have started out strong and it is usually around this time of year everything falls apart. But so far not yet. Going 8-3-3 in their last 14 games, the Habs are on a roll in a part of the season that has not been overly friendly to the Les Canadiens. Scoring has been resurgent in Montreal, mostly in the form of sniper Alexei Kovalev, who through 44 games has 19 goals, one more than all of last season. The Habs are also getting scoring from Chris Higgins (15 goals in 44 games), Tomas Plekanec (14 goals in 44 games), and Guillame Latendresse (11 goals in 40 games). On a team that has had trouble in the last ten years in scoring, the Habs have many different weapons on any given night.

Stronger defense has to be a key to the Canadiens success so far this season. With Sheldon Souray’s departure to Edmonton, the Canadiens have not looked back, signing veterans Roman Hamrlik and Patrice Brisebois and relying on consistent defenders such as Mark Streit and Mike Komisarek. Montreal’s powerplay has not struggled with Souray’s departure either. Picking up for Souray’s blueline absence has been Streit who also possesses a hard shot. Kovalev has also picked up a team leading 11 powerplay goals.

With Huet back in net, the Habs have a solid #1 goaltender who has the potential to go far in the playoffs. Sending down rookie Carey Price can only help the Habs future franchise player to become a more consistent and solid goalie for the future. Rumors are all around Jaroslav Halak and possibly trading him to make room for Price in the future. All in all, the Habs are on a good pace to end the season.

3. Boston Bruins (22-18-4, 48 PTS, 8th in East)

The Bruins never seem to go away. They keep rebuilding and winning at the same time. Boston’s success this season has been in their ability to get secondary scoring and a lot of it. To name the Bruin’s top goal scorer this year would be a stretch (Chuck Kobasew with 14 in 44 games) but perennial hotshot Marc Savard has provided scoring on a regular basis alongside Zdeno Chara (29 points in 44 games), Marco Sturm (28 points in 43 games) and Phil Kessel (22 points in 44 games).

Boston’s lack of a flashy goal scorer proves a point for how solid their defense core is, despite it’s young talent. Zdeno Chara leads a mix-match of defensive players including Aaron Ward, Denis Wideman, Andrew Ference, Shane Hnidy, to name a few. The point differential between leading scorer Savard and second place Zdeno Chara gives the defense all the more recognition for the teams 117 goals against, second lowest in the Eastern Conference.

The second lowest goals against also gives kudos to goaltender Tim Thomas and to a lesser extent Alex Auld, who filled in brilliantly for the injured Thomas. Thomas is once again proving himself the hard way. After a rough 06-07, Thomas has come into his own leading the league with a .930 SV % and posting a 13-11-3 record with a 2.33 GAA. The Bruins are in good hands and if they keep producing they’ll make the playoffs.

4. Buffalo Sabres (19-18-6, 44 PTS, 12 in East)

A dramatic fall from grace is the headline in Buffalo this season. After the departure of Chris Drury to New York and Daniel Briere to Philadelphia in the off-season, the Sabres have not been able to produce the speed, spark, and energy that they had last year. Through the first 43 games, the Sabres look flat, and barely above .500. Scoring has been a problem for the Sabres, who’s leading goals scorer Jochen Hecht has only 14 goals in those 43 games. Last year’s leading scorer Thomas Vanek has only 12 through 43 games, a far cry from his 43 goals last year. Jason Pominville leads the Sabres with only 35 points in 43 games and the stats do not appear any better for the Sabres.

Defensively, the Sabres have one of the best cores in the NHL. What team would not want smooth-skating, Bobby Orresque Brian Campbell on their blueline? Campbell has continued to consistently produce this season posting 29 points (4 goals, 25 assists) in 43 games. Alongside Jaroslav Spacek, Toni Lydman, and Henrik Tallinder, the Sabres defensive core has changed very little since last season.

In net, Ryan Miller has been having a tough go at it this season. Miller is 17-15-5 with a 2.54 GAA and a .910 SV% through 39 games. Last year, Miller posted a 40 win season and seems to be playing on pace yet with the lack of scoring, Miller’s duties in the Buffalo net have seemed to increase in importance this season. If the Sabres can keep working hard they still have the depth and the determination to make the playoffs.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs (16-21-8, 40 PTS, 14 in East)

What’s new with Toronto? Ferguson still maybe being fired? Nope, old news. Maurice fired? Still old news. What about Mats Sundin getting traded? Where? Many fans and critics of Toronto are getting tired of the rumors surrounding Canada’s most famous hockey team, but will they just not go away? Amid a season of hardship, captain Mats Sundin became the all-time leading Leafs scorer and has posted all-star numbers despite being snubbed for a trip to Atlanta. Sundin’s 49 points (20 goals, 29 assists) through 45 games just goes to show how much Sundin bleeds blue and white. However, only if the rest of the team could do the same. Nik Antropov is 12 points behind Sundin with 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists) in 45 games.

Toronto’s biggest woes have been on defense this season. McCabe was ridiculed heavily in the first half of the season for scoring in OT against his own team. Now he’s faded into the background, not as dominant or as cocky as he once was. Kaberle is on the way to the all-star game, having a typical Kaberle season with 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists) in 45 games. With the highest paid blueline in hockey, they haven’t been producing or preventing goals as they should be with all the money they are getting.

In net, when Toskala’s healthy the Leafs have a winning chance. Toskala is 13-13-4 with a 2.69 GAA and a .906 SV%, accounting for most of Toronto’s victories. With Raycroft obviously on his way out of TO, Toskala is the future of the Leafs goaltending and is a very good goalie to help them along. Toronto is probably going to rebuild at the end of the season. It’ll be a long off-season in the centre of the hockey world.