One New Year's Resolution for Every NHL Coach

'Tis the season to eat a lot of food, enjoy the company of family and make resolutions for the impending new year.

Though the NHL teams and coaches might not be spending too much time with their teammates, they will definitely be making resolutions for their teams in the new year.

With the playoff picture beginning to take shape, teams must identify the thing they need to do the most, and work hard to make it happen.

So here's what is on each coach's resolution list for 2012.

Bruce Boudreau

New Year's Resolution: Learn to win on the road.

Bruce Boudreau has come into an absolute disaster zone with the Anaheim Ducks.

Anaheim is 14th in the Western Conference, with only the Columbus Blue Jackets worse.

The biggest thing that the Ducks need to overcome is their inability to win on the road.

The Ducks are currently 2-10-4 on the road, which is actually worse than the Blue Jackets.

If Anaheim is to have any hope of salvaging its season, then they need to figure out how to win on the road.

Claude Julien

New Year's Resolution: Change nothing.

Boston seemed to be on a bit of a Stanley Cup hangover, but the months of November and December have changed all that.

The have lost only three times, one of them in overtime, since the month of November began.

So in the new year, Julien and the Bruins don't wish to change a thing.

Lindy Ruff

New Year's Resolution: Unite the troops.

The Buffalo Sabres had a good start to the season but are now wavering on the cusp of mediocrity.

After the moves that were made over the summer, a lot more is expected of this team and Lindy Ruff needs to find a way to pull this team together and get them playing as one.

Unfortunately, the team wasn't able to come together after Milan Lucic ran over Ryan Miller earlier in the season.

Sometimes those types of extreme events have a way of making a team more unified than ever.

Since that wasn't the case for Buffalo, Coach Ruff will have to look to find another way.

Brent Sutter

New Year's Resolution: Buy into the rebuild.

Calgary once again is finding themselves in the bottom of their division and their conference.

After some big trades in the offseason that looked like salary dumps in order to focus on rebuilding the franchise, they didn't go all out.

We're witnessing what happens when you do a "sort of" rebuild.

Embrace the rebuild, now is the time.

Kirk Muller

New Year's Resolution: Weather the storm.

You'll have to pardon the play on words, but this is exactly what Muller needs to do.

Taking over a head coaching position in the middle of the season isn't easy for anybody to do, but it's even harder when your team is playing as poorly as the Hurricanes are.

Muller must weather the storm, plan ahead, put in the system that he wants and trust that the talent that is present on this team will get better as time passes.

There is a bright future for this Hurricanes squad, they just need to let the clouds pass.

Joel Quenneville

New Year's Resolution: Get better goaltending.

The bad news is that Corey Crawford is having a year that many people would like to forget.

Crawford's 2.91 GAA is 49th in the league, and his .898 save percentage is tied for 51st in the league.

The good news is that the Chicago Blackhawks have the best record in the NHL even with this brutal goaltending.

If Quenneville and company can help get Corey Crawford out of his funk, then the Blackhawks could be the favorite to win the Western Conference.

Joe Sacco

New Year's Resolution: Win a game in the division.

Colorado has had a very solid end to the 2011 portion of the NHL season.

The have won seven straight games at home and have clawed their way back into the playoff picture.

The team has found an identity, but they just can't win within the division.

To this point, the Avalanche are 1-9-0 in games against the Northwest Division. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that that isn't going to get you into the playoffs.

Fortunately for the Avalanche, they don't have a lot of divisional games in December or January and can possibly get some confidence built before their next divisional game.

Scott Arniel

New Year's Resolution: Stock up on indigestion medicine.

It's difficult to be the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This was supposed to be the year that things changed in the organization. Columbus was aggressive in making moves that were supposed to make them contend for a playoff spot.

Instead, Columbus will once again be competing for the first overall draft pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

It's going to be a long season to ride out in Columbus, and he'll no doubt need that indigestion medicine quite frequently throughout the rest of the year.

Glen Gulutzan

New Year's Resolution: Improve on defense.

Dallas was another team that got off to a hot start that has cooled since the weather began to do the same.

Part of that has been their defense.

Kari Lehtonen stood on his head early to give the Stars a lot of wins, but his hot streak cooled as well and Lehtonen is now on the injured reserve.

The defense needs to tighten up, as they currently allow the most shots per game (32.2), and are 23rd in the league in shots against.

They need to help their goalies out and allow far fewer shots per game than they are.

Mike Babcock

New Year's Resolution: Win more on the road.

Detroit has always been a team that is around when the playoff discussion comes along.

Currently, Detroit finds themselves in the fifth seed of the Western Conference, largely because they haven't been able to play as well on the road as they have in the past.

At the moment, the Red Wings find themselves just below .500 when playing on the road and won't be able to catch the Blackhawks if they don't improve on the road.

Babcock is a great coach, he just needs to work with his team to find their mojo on the road again.

Tom Renney

New Year's Resolution: Rekindle that magic.

Edmonton got off to one of the hottest starts in the league, surprising everybody and taking an early lead in the Northwest Division.

The Oilers have cooled since, going 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and losing out on some of the spectacular goaltending that helped them at the start.

Renney has a very young team, which can be a dangerous thing when they stop winning games.

Younger players may get down on themselves and focus on how long it's been since they've scored rather than staying focused on the game.

Renney needs to refocus the team and help them get back to the game they were playing earlier in the year.

Kevin Dineen

New Year's Resolution: Don't let success go to your head.

The Florida Panthers have been one of the biggest surprises of the year.

Not only are the Panthers in the playoff picture for the first time in what seems like ages, they are on top of their division with 42 points on the season.

Teams in this position can have a tendency to slip a little bit as a result of their success.

Dineen and the Panthers need to continue to focus on the things that have put them in this position and keep producing them night in and night out.

That kind of consistency is especially difficult to maintain on a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in 10 years.

John Stevens

New Year's Resolution: Motivate the players.

Los Angeles is giving the Capitals a run for their money when it comes to the biggest disappointment of the year.

They are underachieving at a ridiculous rate, almost as if they all got caught up in the buzz that surrounded the Mike Richards trade.

They are so talented, but they just aren't playing motivated hockey.

With all that talent and ability, if the Kings start to really work hard and play motivated hockey then they will be far more dangerous.

Mike Yeo

New Year's Resolution: Keep up with Vancouver.

Mike Yeo has had the Minnesota Wild on top of the Northwest Division and the Western Conference for most of the season.

Over the past couple of months, the Vancouver Canucks have gone on a long winning streak that has pulled them to within just a couple of points of the Wild.

Vancouver is feeling it, and with the same type of roster that they had last season, the Canucks could once again put everybody in their rear-view mirror.

Minnesota is in a position to make a serious push for a division title, but they will have to keep pace with Vancouver if they want to do it.

Randy Cunneyworth

New Year's Resolution: Learn French.

You know it must be a Canadian team when the local government is upset with the new coach hired by the local team.

The Provincial Government of Quebec wants a coach for the Canadiens who can speak French.

If Cunneyworth wants to hold onto this gig, it would behoove him to call that Rosetta Stone number.

Barry Trotz

New Year's Resolution: Woo your defensemen.

The Nashville Predators have two of the best defenders in the game right now, and both of them may end up on different teams before the end of the season.

Trotz and everybody with the Nashville organization needs to make both of these guys feel like there is no place other than Nashville to stay.

Otherwise they'll have to make a choice between Ryan Suter and Shea Weber.

Peter DeBoer

New Year's Resolution: Find the next goalie for the New Jersey Devils.

I don't believe that Martin Brodeur will play in the NHL after his contract finishes up at the end of this season.

The coach and everybody involved in the New Jersey Devils organization needs to start finding who is going to be the next guy in the pipes.

Jack Capuano

New Year's Resolution: Get back to .500.

The Islanders are still in the middle of the rebuild but have fallen down towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

One of the big things that teams in the middle of a rebuild want to do is improve from one year to the next.

Last season the Islanders finished nine games below .500 and were last in their division. If they can get back to .500 by the end of the season then they have made progress and can call it a positive season.

John Tortorella

New Year's Resolution: Gain home ice.

The Rangers will be fighting with the Pittsburgh Penguins to figure out who is going to have the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Both teams have 42 points at the moment, and both could make strong pushes to overtake the Flyers.

These two teams are so evenly matched that the team that has the home ice advantage may be the team to win the series.

Paul MacLean

New Year's Resolution: Keep Daniel Alfredsson.

Daniel Alfredsson is approaching the end of his career and the end of his contract.

It may soon become a time for him to decide whether to stick out the end of his career with the Senators or go somewhere where he can win a Stanley Cup.

Chances are good that the desire to win a cup will eventually win out.

If Ottawa wants to make the playoffs, they will need their biggest leader. While his talents have diminished a bit with age, his leadership has not.

Ottawa needs Alfredsson if they want to go anywhere.

Peter Laviolette

New Year's Resolution: Keep the chemistry.

The Flyers are rolling and feeling good as they approach the end of the season sitting atop the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers are a perfect mix of toughness and skill that the only thing they really need to do is to allow the chemistry to continue to flow.

Jaromir Jagr and Claude Giroux have found an amazing connection that has propelled this team to the top of the conference.

There are things to overcome with the loss of Pronger, but as long as this team continues to score at will, they will be hard to beat.

Dave Tippett

New Year's Resolution: Get past the first round of the playoffs.

Dave Tippett is a great coach, evidenced by the way he has managed to keep his team focused despite the circus that has been finding a new owner for this team.

Perhaps something that will convince an owner to buy the team and keep them in Phoenix would be to get past the first round of the playoffs.

The Coyotes haven't done this in their entire existence.

If there's a coach that can get them past this, it would be Dave Tippett.

Dan Bylsma

New Year's Resolution: Get home ice.

The Penguins and the Rangers seem to be fighting for second place in the Atlantic Division.

Pittsburgh isn't intimidated by playing on the road, but any team will tell you that they would prefer to have home ice in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh needs to push hard to try and catch Philadelphia because if they do fall just short, they still stand a very good chance of winning the fourth seed.

Todd McLellan

New Year's Resolution: Win the division.

San Jose will always be a dangerous team when they are in the playoffs, and this year doesn't look to be any different.

Since they have had so many issues in the past in the playoffs, it's important for the Sharks to make it as easy on themselves as humanly possible.

The best way for San Jose to do this is to win the division so that they can start out the playoffs with home-ice advantage.

That way they can get into a groove in their own building and get some momentum on their side.

Ken Hitchcock

New Year's Resolution: Improve the special teams.

St. Louis has the worst power play in the league at 10.6 percent efficiency. That is a brutal number.

They also have the 20th ranked penalty kill, which has improved a great deal since Hitchcock took over, at 81.4 percent.

St. Louis is winning games, but they will need much more help from their special teams as the year progresses.

Guy Boucher

New Year's Resolution: Get more shots on goal.

Tampa Bay is currently ranked 22nd in the league with 28.8 shots on goal per game.

The Lightning are also 19th in the NHL in goals scored, with 87.

With all of the offensive talent that is on this team, these numbers should be much higher. Twenty-eight shots on goal isn't bad, but with the players on the Tampa roster, it is quite modest.

Part of this is a product of the 1-3-1 system that the Lightning play. It is very passive and is much more of a counterattack system than anything else.

If Tampa wants to climb out of the 13th seed in which they find themselves, they'll need to get more shots on goal.

Ron Wilson

New Year's Resolution: Make the playoffs.

With the start that the Toronto Maple Leafs had, Ron Wilson could stand a chance of being tarred and feathered if the Leafs manage to miss the playoffs.

There is a lot of talent on this team and Toronto should be in the mix for the rest of the year, but the fans in Toronto are not forgiving if they see things falling apart in front of them.

Alain Vigneault

New Year's Resolution: Get tougher.

The Canucks are incredibly skilled, but they aren't tough enough as a team.

This lack of toughness could be the reason that they lost the Stanley Cup last season. It wasn't because they were the less skilled team, they just got manhandled.

Vigneault and the Canucks need to find that toughness if they want to be on the other side of the Stanley Cup this year.

Dale Hunter

New Year's Resolution: Inject his attitude into his team.

Dale Hunter is one of the most hated players in the history of the NHL, but one thing that everybody agrees upon was how intense he was as a player.

The Washington Capitals are one of the least intense teams in the league right now, and Alex Ovechkin is the poster child of this.

Washington is the biggest disappointment of the season to this point, and if they want to be more than a passing afterthought when the playoffs begin, they should look at their coach and emulate that kind of intensity.

Claude Noel

New Year's Resolution: Continue to lay the foundation.

Winnipeg has the ability to begin their rebuilding process in a city that will be happy to wait it out.

They are only a point out of a playoff spot at the moment, but it is definitely important for the Jets to think long-term.

Keep developing the players they have and make certain they will have success beyond just this season. Everybody wants it to work out in Winnipeg this time.

Kevin Goff is a Featured Columnist for the Colorado Avalanche and NHL on Bleacher Report. For more NHL news and discussion,