Top 10 Reasons Why the Canucks Win the Northwest Division

The Canucks may not have had playoff success recently, having twice been bounced in the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks.

But they have had regular season success. In four of the last six seasons, the Canucks have been the Northwest Division champs.

2003-2004 Vancouver Canucks

2004-2005 Lockout

2005-2006 Calgary Flames

2006-2007 Vancouver Canucks

2007-2008 Minnesota Wild

2008-2009 Vancouver Canucks

2009-2010 Vancouver Canucks

Here are 10 reasons why the Canucks will repeat as Northwest Division Champions in 2010-2011.

#1: Sedin Dominance

Henrik and Daniel Sedin are the best two offensive players in the division, hands down.

Last season Henrik put up 112 points to win the Art Ross trophy. Daniel missed 19 games with a broken foot and still managed 85 points, which was more than any forward playing for the Oilers, Flames, Wild or Avalanche.

They've spent their whole career in Vancouver, and after almost a decade the other teams still haven't figured out how to stop them. Don't expect that to change this year.

This season, look for both Sedin twins to put up 100+ points and again be the two highest scoring forwards in the Northwest Division.

#2: Canucks Offense

The Canucks scored the most goals in the Western Conference last year.

The prime movers for that offense are all returning this year: the Sedin Twins, Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson up front, with Alex Edler and Christian Erhoff on the backend.

With the exception of Samuelsson, those players are all on the sunny side of thirty, and can reasonably be expected to improve on last season's point totals.

Consider the addition of Manny Malhotra & Raffi Torres, plus possibly rookies Jordan Schroeder or Cody Hodgson, and the Canucks could again score the most goals in the West, if not the League.

No other team in the Northwest Division comes close to that sort of offense depth.

#3: Reinforced Defense

With the additions of Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard, the Canucks fixed one of the weak spots from the last few seasons, namely the patchwork nature of their defense.

Lately the Canucks were decimated by injuries on the backend, but these two newcomers are both in the prime of their career (age 29) and also extremely durable.

No other team in the Northwest Division has the sort of defense depth the Canucks now have, even if Bieksa is traded as expected.

#4: Luongo on the rebound

Roberto Luongo should come back more focused and ready to play than he was last season. A new full time goalie coach, the mental relief of no longer being captain*, and a max of ~60 games played should all combine to help his mental focus.

And a focused Luongo is not a good thing for the opposition.

*It is widely expected that Luongo will hand over the C to Henrik Sedin or Kesler later on in training camp.

#5: Rick Rypien = Best Fighter in the NW Division

With the departures of Derek Boogard (Wild) and Brian McGrattan (Flames), Rick Rypien isn't just the best pound for pound fighter in the division, he is simply the best overall.

Last season four of the Northwest Division teams finished in the top eight teams in the entire NHL for fighting majors: Calgary (74 fights), Vancouver (62 fights), Colorado (60 fights) and Edmonton (59 fights).

That the Canucks have the best fighter, and that he can actually play a regular shift, is a huge advantage in a scrappy division like the Northwest.

#6: Contributing Youth

Aside from returning all the veterans listed in the previous slides, the Canucks are also looking to get contributions from highly touted prospects such as Cody Hodgson, Jordan Schroeder and Cory Schneider this year.

Ok, Hodgson /= Taylor Hall, but he doesn't exactly have to be for the Canucks to be successful with the other skaters around him.

#7: Calgary Flames

The man in the picture is the #1 reason why the Flames won't be challenging for the Northwest Division title anytime soon.

Bringing back Jokinen after you ran him out of town? Trading Phaneuf for a bunch of spare parts? How many years since Iginla had a decent center? Or since Kipper had a backup the coach trusted to play a few games?

The Flames need to dump Darryl Sutter as GM and clean house. Trading some vets for picks and prospects could accelerate the rebuild process, but all Sutter has done recently is hire family members and make bad trades.

#8: Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall is the future, and the Oilers have plenty of other great young prospects. But the emphasis is on young.

Expect the Oilers to have another top 10 pick in the draft this year, but be a playoff contender the year following, and then a cup contender shortly after.

The Souray debacle doesn't help things in the short term either.

#9: Minnesota Wild

The Wild are stuck in a bad place, similar to the Flames.

They aren't bad enough to force a rebuild, but they aren't good enough to be contenders either.

Right now they seem to be lacking in focus, missing both Lemaire's defensive schemes and Gaborik's gamebreaking ability.

I feel bad for Wild fans, they deserve better.

#10: Colorado Avalanche

I saved the Avalanche for last, as they are the top threat to the Canucks for the Northwest Division crown.

Last season the Avalanche wildly outperformed expectations to make the playoffs, finishing 8 points back of the Canucks. However, they did it on the backs of rookies (see Matt Duchene in the picture) and a backup goalie who took his opportunity and ran with it (Craig Anderson).

If Anderson falters again under a heavy load of games as he did last season down the stretch, or if any of those rookies hits the sophmore jinx, the Avalanche will be in trouble. Plus this year the Avalanche won't be taking anyone by surprise like they did early last year.

All in all, I think the Avalanche make the playoffs, but again fall short of the Division title.