NHL Season Preview – Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins return youth and firepower that should lead the club to hoisting the Stanley Cup at the end of the year, after last season’s meltdown against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals (in which they led three games to zero and game seven 3-0). Online betting experts expect a better show from Boston this season.

Boston has the right blend of experience (Recchi, 42 years old) and youth (Sanguin, 18) to get it done at the next level, despite the loss of Marc Savard due to injury (post-concussion syndrome).

If pedestrian, attack that was 30th last year in goals scored while converting only 7.47% of shot opportunities, the offense is a balanced. Patrice Bergeron moves up to the first line at center to lead a balanced attack that also includes David Krejci and Mark Recchi, with the loss of Savard. With the addition of Nathan Horton at RW from Florida, Bergeron (19 goals, 33 assists, 52 points), Krejci (17,35,52), and Recchi (18,25,43) numbers should go up, listed first line on the current depth chart.

Of the Bruin attack, the defense is the cornerstone and is led by team captain Zdeno Chara. in goals allowed, the unit was second in the league and third in the penalty kill and with Tuukka Rask listed as lead goalie (1.97 GAA and .931 save pct.) defense will again shine for Boston.

“Offense wins games, defense wins championships”. As management has put together a young club that should improve on last year’s playoff surge, Boston appears “loaded for bear”.

Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens Preview

The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers, two Eastern Conference rivals, will meet up this Saturday. With significant playoff implications in the offing both teams are just a few points ahead of being out of playoff contention.

With 61 points in 57 games, the 7th place Flyers sit just 2 points ahead of the 9th place Boston Bruins.

60 games into their season the Canadiens are up one point and just one spot ahead of the Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference.

Currently there are 7 teams within 5 points of one another, and there are only three available playoff spots within a reach. The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers appear to be in for a long playoff race that should be very entertaining for the remainder of the regular season.

Tomas Plekanec, who leads the team with 58 points, 43 assists (43 assists place him 7th in the NHL) and will continue to lead the Canadiens on Saturday. Jeff Carter leads the Flyers with his 23 goals so far this season.

The two teams played last on December 7, where the Canadians beat the Flyers 3 to 1. Friday, the two teams square off in Philadelphia and again on Saturday. 2 games in as many nights, a possible 4 points on the line here in this tight rivalry.

Eastern Conference Playoff Dark Horses Part: 2009

By Darryl Dobbs
Here are some fellows from the Eastern Conference worth a look-see in your upcoming playoff pool draft.

Boston Bruins

The Obvious: Marc Savard, David Krejci, Phil Kessel, Tim Thomas, Dennis Wideman, Zdeno Chara, Michael Ryder.
Not So Obvious: Krejci has just 13 points in his last 26 games…After just two points in his first six games as a Bruin, Recchi has six in his last four…
Dark Horses: Chuck Kobasew has eight points in his last 10 games. When healthy, he has shown to be quite productive this season; Milan Lucic has all the tools to be that playoff warrior that becomes a legend. If the B’s play 15 postseason games, Lucic could get 10 or 12 points.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Obvious: Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, Tuomo Ruutu, Rod Brind’Amour, Cam Ward, Sergei Samsonov.
Not So Obvious: Samsonov has 44 points in the last 58 games, which is a 62-point pace…Brind’Amour found his magic anti-aging juice around the trade deadline day. He has 16 points in his last 12 games…
Dark Horses: Matt Cullen had 26 points in 25 games prior to his lower body injury. He’ll be fine for the playoffs and could be back in that form; Joe Corvo has 10 points in his last 11 games. His surge coincides with the rest of the team finding their offensive mojo. So which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well – if both are producing, then feel free to draft the egg; Erik Cole is a dark horse only in the sense that he has 37 points this season. Don’t overrate him, however. Even on the Hurricanes, he is not the point-per-game player he looked to be before all his injuries. In 15 games he’ll get you 10 points and no more.

Florida Panthers

The Obvious: Stephen Weiss, David Booth, Cory Stillman, Nathan Horton, Jay Bouwmeester and Tomas Vokoun.
Not So Obvious: Weiss has 38 points in the last 43 contests…Booth had streaks of 16 in 11 and 11 in six. That means that in the other 49 games he had just 24 points. That screams “streaky”. So he’ll either be hot in the playoffs or he’ll be a huge bust – be careful…After 65 points in 45 games last year in junior, Michal Frolik had just six points in nine playoff contests – and was a minus-4.
Dark Horses: Goaltender Craig Anderson has started and won two games in a row. If the Panthers get into the playoffs on his back then he’ll backstop them once they get there, as well; Gregory Campbell will probably be used to shut down the opposition’s big guns, but he is a great candidate to be this year’s Sami Pahlsson-type and post eight points in 15 games.

Montreal Canadiens

The Obvious: Andrei Markov, Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn, Alex Tanguay.
Not So Obvious: Since the minor Kostitsyn controversy that was all over the Montreal papers, Sergei played his way back to the American League (and is pointless since his recall) and Andrei has stumbled with just two points in 14 games. Steer clear of both…You can kid yourself into believing that Jaroslav Halak is a better goaltender than Carey Price, or that he has earned the top job. Doesn’t matter, regardless of the level of truth of those statements. The Habs will be riding Price every second they can…Robert Lang’s return will hurt Tomas Plekanec, who put up horrible numbers while Lang was in the lineup but strong numbers when Lang was hurt, so watch for that.
Dark Horses: Lang may not return until the second round, or perhaps he’ll catch some first round games. Regardless, he led the team in scoring before he suffered the injury to his Achilles tendon; Since joining the Habs for his second stint, Mathieu Schneider has 13 points in 18 contests.

New Jersey Devils

The Obvious: Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner, Travis Zajac, Brian Gionta and Martin Brodeur.
Not So Obvious: Brendan Shanahan has just eight points in his last 22 games. Regardless of his track record, stay away…This is a two-line team, so barring an injury to one of their top six, you won’t see points from the likes of Shanny, John Madden, Bobby Holik or Brian Rolston.
Dark Horse: Defenseman Paul Martin has 14 points in his last 17 games and is the man the Devil’s turn to run the power play.

NY Rangers

The Obvious: Nikolai Zherdev, Nik Antropov, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Michal Rozsival, Henrik Lundqvist.
Not So Obvious: Drury has 10 points in 12 games since Antropov joined the squad…Markus Naslund has just four points in those same 12 games. Another big name who you should steer clear of…Rozsival had just one point in 11 games prior to his lower body injury…
Dark Horses: Ryan Callahan is on fire and he plays with the hustle and spark needed in the postseason. He has 10 points in his last 11 games; Sean Avery is playing very well in his return to New York. He has nine points in 12 games.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Obvious: Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Daniel Briere, Kimmo Timonen.
Not So Obvious: Five times this year Joffrey Lupul has gone through stretches of at least three games without a point…Mike Knuble has just eight points in his last 17 games.
Dark Horses: Martin Biron has started 10 of the last 11 games and won seven of them. He heats up every season at the right time; Claude Giroux will be a prolific producer in the NHL and he is seeing plenty of ice time right now. It’s very feasible that he puts up numbers at least as good as what Hartnell can do.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Obvious: Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, Petr Sykora, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Gonchar. Oh, and some guys named Sid and Evgeni.
Not So Obvious: Miroslav Satan has seven points in six AHL games. The salary cap will keep him out of the league during the regular season. It won’t be a factor for the postseason…Since the trade deadline, Sykora has one point in eight games. That’s the impact of adding Kunitz and Guerin.
Dark Horses: Kris Letang has eight points in 11 games. Clearing Ryan Whitney off the roster is really helping his numbers; Jordan Staal frequently plays 20 minutes a game and is out there during crunch time.

Washington Capitals

The Obvious: Anyone named Alex. Also Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Viktor Kozlov Jose Theodore.
Not So Obvious: Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr have shown that they can produce, but both are immersed in a horrible slump and not worth taking unless a key injury strikes the roster…Michael Nylander is not the same player anymore. Just stay away…Laich has nine points in his last 10 games. He was hot down the stretch last year as well, and he carried that into the postseason.
Dark Horses: Sergei Fedorov still produces in spurts and occasionally the coach throws him on a line with Alexander Ovechkin. If you like the Caps to go deep, he’d be a decent pick in the final round; Fleischmann has just one point in 17 games during his horrible slump. To look at it in a more positive light – he had 31 points in 50 games before that, so the potential is there.

Beantown Loves Their Special K(s)

By Darryl Dobbs
It’s certainly a lot more complicated than this, but a macro look at a successful hockey team tells us that it has strong goaltending, a stud defenseman four star forwards and strong secondary scoring. Heading into 2008-09, the Boston Bruins had Zdeno Chara as their defenseman, Marc Savard as a star forward, and they hoped that Patrice Bergeron could recover from is concussion to be that second big scorer. The B’s also hoped that the tandem of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez would keep them in enough games to squeak into the postseason.

Two of their kids becoming sensations so quickly was not something the Bruins could have counted on, but they’ll take it. And so will their fantasy owners.

David Krejci was supposed to be their “third-line” center behind Savard and Bergeron. Phil Kessel was a promising young player without a clear role. That was in September. Today, these two kids and fellow youngster Milan Lucic are the Boston Bruins.

In fact, Savard – a $5 million player who has twice topped 95 points – has just seven points in his last 10 contests, while the so-called third-line center has 16 in that span. Going back further, Krejci has 20 in his last 12 games. Ice time? He doesn’t need any. Four times this season Krejci has played fewer than 15 minutes in a game. He totaled six points in those contests.

The 22-year-old was a standout for Gatineau of the QMJHL, he was a standout for Providence of the AHL and now he is a standout for Boston of the NHL. I can’t think of one player in the league who I have bumped up their upside so frequently – as a prospect, I had Krejci’s ceiling at 65 points. By the end of 2006-07 I bumped it up to 70. After the way he ended 2007-08 (nine in his last seven regular season games, plus another five points in seven playoff tilts), I pushed his upside to 75.

Counting the postseason, Krejci has 43 points in his last 44 games. That’s more than half the season, so it’s time to give him his due – this guy can get 90 points. I would say 80 to 85 is a more likely career high for him, but 90 is feasible.

With Phil Kessel, the expectations were much higher. At times in 2005 and into 2006 he was considered the top prospect in his draft class. He ended up being selected fifth overall, but his stock hadn’t really fallen a whole lot. He made the team as an 18-year-old, but his 29 points disappointed poolies who had hopes of an immediate impact. His second year saw an improvement to 37 points, but fantasy owners were still unhappy – in many cases he was dealt or dropped in leagues across North America.

Heading into this campaign, fantasy owners didn’t even know what position he was playing. Center? Left wing? Right wing? Would he be on the top line? The third line?

Patience wins keeper leagues and experienced poolies know that these players need a few years – usually three to five – to gain in strength and experience. It’s Kessel’s third season and he has 31 points in 30 games playing right wing on the top line with Savard and Lucic.

Kessel and Krejci will be big names in fantasy hockey and it starts now…

Meanwhile…

If you are looking for an under the radar winger who can give you two points for every three games, you should take a flyer on Joakim Lindstrom. The Coyotes picked him up from Anaheim a couple of weeks ago in a little-talked-about deal, but the 25-year-old is blessed with a lot of skill. He has nothing left to prove in the AHL and has not had great opportunities at the NHL level. The knock on him has been his size, but so far in Phoenix he is clicking nicely with rookie Mikkel Boedker. Lindstrom has three points in three games so far…

B.J. Crombeen has had an excellent season so far. First he unexpectedly made the Stars out of training camp and then later, when the team tried to sneak him to the AHL through waivers he was scooped up by St. Louis. He has eight points in 13 games for the Blues, but seven in his last five. He also has 26 penalty minutes. There is nothing in his history to suggest that he could ever get more than 40 points in a season, but he does have the pedigree to support 150 penalty minutes. Sean Avery (who is likely out of the NHL for this season) could recoup much of their losses by scooping up Crombeen. Forty points and 150 PIMs is close to the 45 and 250 that Avery would have provided.