Vancouver Canucks Poised to Hoist the Cup in 2011

The National Hockey League is set to begin another season in the start of October and all 30 teams are ready for another shot at the Stanley Cup.

The Chicago Blackhawks come into the 2010-2011 season as the defending champions although with a revamped roster much different than the one they had when they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Cup last June.

With a new season on the horizon in the coming weeks, it’s time to look ahead to see who will be contending for Lord Stanley’s Cup in June 2011.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Winner: Philadelphia Flyers

Dark Horse: Pittsburgh Penguins

The Skinny

The Atlantic Division is the toughest division in hockey, and it is really tough to be able to pick a winner with all the talent in it. The Flyers are the defending Eastern Conference champions and a full year and training camp with coach Peter Laviolette will really help separate themselves in what is sure to be a tough division race in the Atlantic.

In reality every other team in the Atlantic could be considered a dark horse to win the division. The Penguins will always be near the top with great depth down the middle and goaltending. However, Jordan Staal is going to be missing the start of the season due to injury and Marc-Andre Fleury looked unusually shaky in last year’s playoffs where the Pens were upset by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.

The Devils and Rangers will remain in the picture with strong goaltending from Martin Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist respectively and decent offenses.

The Islanders seem like a real long shot to come close to winning the Atlantic, but they will be a competitive team and it will be interesting to see how their young talent will mature this season. That said, Mark Streit will be sorely missed on the Island.

Northeast Division

Winner: Boston Bruins

Dark Horse: Buffalo Sabres

The Skinny

The Bruins should be able to hold off the Sabres in the Northeast this year as long as the injury bug does not bite them during the season. Boston already has to wait for Marc Savard to come back from post concussion syndrome and no one knows when he will be back. The Bruins have the most depth of any team in the Northeast with additions like forwards Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin, the No. 2 pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, which the Bruins acquired in the Phil Kessel trade.

The Sabres will be a strong, fast team all season with Vezina candidate Ryan Miller in goal, while Boston has a comparably talented goaltender in Tuukka Rask. The Bruins have more of a physical presence that will help them finish on top of the Northeast.

The division is rounded out with Montreal and Ottawa, two playoff teams from last year, and Toronto, where GM Brian Burke has really improved the roster with the acquisition of new captain Dion Phaneuf and the trade that brought Kris Versteeg to the Leafs while the Blackhawks cleaned house to make it under the cap this summer.

The Northeast is really shaping up to be more competitive than it has been in recent years.

Southeast Division

Winner: Washington Capitals

Dark Horse: Tampa Bay Lightning

The Skinny

The Capitals are sure to have an outstanding offense yet again this season, and while it may be difficult to match last year’s 121-point total, another year of experience for this young and skilled Caps team will definitely help them have a more successful playoff run this year after getting upset by the Canadiens in the first round in 2010.

The Capitals will be able to win this division with a great offense, good defense, and solid goaltending.

Tampa Bay seems to be the closest team to the Caps in the Southeast, bringing in veteran winger Simon Gagne to add to an impressive top six including Richard trophy winner Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone, and Steve Downie.

Another team on the rise is the Atlanta Thrashers, who had arguably the best offseason with the deals that brought Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Andrew Ladd, and Ben Eager from Chicago. The Thrashers are another team that has young talent that is bound to improve throughout the season as well, like Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian.

It’s hard to see Florida or Carolina being a factor in the division race despite good goaltending. At least the Hurricanes have hosting the All-Star game to look forward to.

Western Conference

Central Division

Winner: Chicago Blackhawks

Dark Horse: Detroit Red Wings

The Skinny

The story in the Central is going to be how the Blackhawks are going to be able to perform a year after winning the Cup, after losing so much talent due to the salary cap including Antti Niemi, Dustin Byfuglien, Kris Versteeg, Brent Sopel, Andrew Ladd, Adam Burish, and Ben Eager.

The Hawks have brought in Marty Turco in goal and are confident in their young players in the system and from all the trades this summer will perform well. Even with such a massive roster turnover, Chicago’s core still remains and will be enough for them to edge out the Red Wings for the Central Division crown.

The rest of the Central Division teams other than Chicago and Detroit are coming off down years. The Predators were not able to advance further than the first round again and the Blues and Jackets missed out on the postseason completely. St. Louis should have a chance to make it back this year with the acquisition of Montreal playoff hero Jaroslav Halak, which has caused most of the hockey world to ponder why the Canadiens still have enough confidence in Carey Price to deal away such a great goalie like Halak.

Northwest Division

Winner: Vancouver Canucks

Dark Horse: Calgary Flames

The Skinny

The Canucks have got to be the favorite in the Northwest and in the Western Conference as well. They have the Sedin twins, very talented depth at forward, a great defense, and an outstanding goaltender in Roberto Luongo. Vancouver is going to be able to compete with anyone as long as injuries do not devastate their season.

The Flames missed out on the playoffs by five points last year but look for them to be back this season. They have Miikka Kiprusoff in net and got a lot of good role players in the Phaneuf, and they still have Jarome Iginla.

Colorado and Minnesota will also be fun to watch with their young talent. The Oilers will still be in the cellar of the Northwest, but the City of Champions is really excited about No. 1 pick Taylor Hall coming to Edmonton as well as some other talented draft picks coming up to the big club this year.

Pacific Division

Winner: San Jose Sharks

Dark Horse: Los Angeles Kings

The Skinny

The Sharks will be able to win the Pacific again this year staving off the Kings and Coyotes. While Evgeni Nabokov has left to play in Russia, the Sharks signed Antti Niemi to play between the pipes, a great replacement fresh off a Stanley Cup win and sweeping San Jose in the Western Conference Finals. The Sharks were able to address the rest of their personnel agenda this summer, resigning Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski to four-year deals.

Look for L.A. to have an even better campaign in 2010-2011. Good young players like Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, and Jonathan Quick in goal will put the Kings in place for another shot in the playoffs. Alex Ponikarovsky was a great pickup and will be able to replace Alex Frolov, who left Tinseltown for the Big Apple and the New York Rangers.

Phoenix will also be competitive this year, but it’s going to be tough for them to match their great breakout season last year out West, although having Wojtek Wolski for a full season will certainly help.

The Ducks and Stars are looking to get back to the playoffs where they have been accustomed to playing—rather than a golf course—in the spring. The Pacific has the potential to be one of the most competitive divisions this year, second to the Atlantic.

Stanley Cup Finals

The Stanley Cup playoffs have proven to be the toughest championship tournament in professional sports year after year. A team that has a weakness in any area of their game does not stand a chance of playing into June and for Lord Stanley’s silver. Two teams that are both skilled and tough will get the chance to play for the Cup in 2011. So here is who is going to make it there.

Western Conference Champions: Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks finally have all the pieces together in a year where the rest of the Western Conference contenders have dramatically reshaped their rosters. While teams like Chicago and San Jose have seen major changes at different positions (across the board for the Hawks and the Sharks with Antti Niemi), the Canucks only solidified their team this summer.

They firmed up their defense for the long haul by bringing in Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard. Luongo will be excellent in the net and Vancouver has a great offense with the Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, and Alex Burrows. They also have solid depth with Mikael Samuelsson, Mason Raymond, and Manny Malhotra, a new arrival from San Jose. Things are really shaping up for 2011 to be the Canucks’ year.

Eastern Conference Champions: Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia has only added to a team that many believed had the most talented depth second only to the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Besides dealing Simon Gagne to Tampa to free up cap space, the Flyers have added Nikolai Zherdev to take his place and three good defensemen in Andrej Meszaros, Sean O’Donnell, and Matt Walker.

Chris Pronger proved to be everything that was expected of him when he arrived in Philly and a full year with Peter Laviolette at the helm is only going to help the Flyers perform even better than last year.

The Flyers have proven to be able to handle top competition in the playoffs over the years with Washington and Boston and a matchup with Pittsburgh looks to be swinging in their favor with the full roster of talent that they have. The Flyers are ready to make a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

2010-2011 Stanley Cup Champion: Vancouver Canucks

Everything will be able to fall into place for the Canucks in 2011 not only to come out of the West but also to win it all. They will have a slight edge on the Flyers with goaltending most likely tipping the scale. This will be a very close series just like last year’s Hawks-Flyers final round. This will be the year for the Canucks.