Western Conference Preview (Tyler Young)

WESTERN CONFERENCE

From 1 through 11, the West may even be tighter this year than in previous seasons. In general the teams fall into one of four categories depending primarily on the likelihood they have of securing a playoff spot. As always though, when it comes to the Wild West, all bets are off.

The Elite: Pain and Flames
These guys stand above the rest of the conference, and making room for the annual Fluke-of-the-Year Team, they should sit on top by seasons end.

The Better: Renegades, Sioux, Achaeans, Wheat Kings
These four teams are slightly better than subsequent group and by that virtue all are better bets for a playoff position. However, unlike the Pain and Flames these guys are fallible and it would not be remarkable to see one or even two of them eliminated.

The Good: Ice, Raiders, Apocalypse, Blades, Blackhawks
As is usual, the annual Fluke will likely come from this group. Most of these teams are good verging on excellent in some positions, but on paper just don't quite match the above squads. Expect all these teams to be quite close together at seasons end, with as many as four qualifying.

The Rebuilding: Resevoir Dogs
In the West, even with Jagr, they just don't have much of a shot. Will compete with the Owls and Rednex for the 1st overall selection.


(1) PAIN

Key Additions: Chris Pronger (trade), Ivan Koltsov (trade), Brock Radunske (trade), Ryan Flinn (trade)

Key Subtractions: Ed Jovanovski (trade), Daniel Paille (trade), Kristian Kudroc (trade), Vladimir Zharkov (trade)

Offense: B+
Defence: B+
Goaltending: B+
OVERALL: B+

Strengths:
A lot. Monkey see, monkey do: Flames pick-up Hamrlik, Pain get Pronger... or is it anything you can do, I can do better?

Weaknesses:
Consistency - the Pain have had a hard time over the couple seasons playing consistantly up to their abilities. The clock is running on the Pain, they are one of the older teams in the league.

Bottom Line:
Finances have forced the Pain to erode somewhat over the past few seasons, but Pronger instantly puts this team back among the elite and the best candidate to take the West. With scant future picks and only one quality player under 23 (Wirtanen) in the system, the Pain have mortgaged everything to win and have about two years to do it.


(2) FLAMES

Key Additions: Barry Brust (trade), Ivan Huml (trade), Roman Hamrlik (free agency)

Key Subtractions: Marian Gaborik (trade), Erik Johnson (trade), Marc Denis (trade)

Offense: B+
Defence: A-
Goaltending: B
OVERALL: B+

Strengths:
The Flames had one of the better defence cores in the league, then they signed the best UFA d-man on the market in several years, Roman Hamrlik.

Weaknesses:
Is Brust a Bust? After a bad season last year, Brust might be a critical liability.

Bottom Line:
There's a lot riding on Brust. The Flames were a scoring powerhouse last year, but in losing Gaborik they gave up 30 sure goals - something most teams don't shrug off. If all things gel, especially with that incredible defense, the Flames could top the Conference. But don't be surprised if they tumble to the middle of the playoff pack.


(3) RENEGADES

Key Additions: Peter Bondra (free agency), Ladislav Nagy (trade), Kyle Mclaren (trade), Carlo Colaiacovo (trade)

Key Subtractions: Riku Hahl (trade)

Offense: B
Defence: B-
Goaltending: A-
OVERALL: B

Strengths:
Shock and awe... and shock and shock and... that was more-or-less the universal reaction to the Renegades season last year. Who could have thought they would top the West? (glad I didn't do one of these last season)

Weaknesses:
The Renegades-spectacular last season was the result of the phenomenal play of Peter Forsberg and Pascal Leclaire, both of whom were perenniel disasppointments. If one or the other goes back to their old selves, then the 'Gades can fall hard and fast (see Blades - TFHL16 to 17).

Bottom Line:
Even if Leclaire and Forsberg step back a bit, there's still enough talent here to keep the Renegades in the middle pack of the West; if those two repeat last season this team will compete with the Flames and Pain again.


(4) SIOUX

Key Additions: Alexei Kovalev (trade), Nikolai Zherdev (trade), Sheldon Keefe (trade), Eric Lindros (free agency)

Key Subtractions: Jaromir Jagr (free agency), Eric Staal (trade), Ivan Huml (trade), Scott Gomez (trade), Ivan Vishevsky (trade), Daniel Alfredsson (free agency), Ivan Huml (trade)

Offense: B
Defence: B+
Goaltending: B-
OVERALL: B

Strengths:
A strong defence will be necessary for all the penalty killing the Sioux will need to do.

Weaknesses:
Kovelev and Zherdev might not pack the punch as Jagr and Staal did.

Bottom Line:
The Sioux have long been a tenacious team, consistenly holding onto a playoff spot. But in the slippery West it doesn't take much for a good team to fall down. Granted a typical season, the Sioux could push their way to the top of the Conference middle boys.


(5) ACHAEANS

Key Additions: none

Key Subtractions: none

Offense: B
Defence: B-
Goaltending: B-
OVERALL: B

Strengths:
The Magic Man, Gregarious G, the Dapper Gent himself: Gregory Campbell.

Weaknesses:
Hnilicka was a bit of a surprise last season, but he held his own playing behind a defensive Achaean squad. His ability to repeat last year's performance makes the Achaeans something of a risk. There's not a lot coming up through the system.

Bottom Line:
It would be shocking for the Achaeans to miss the playoffs, but they may end up having to fight it out down the stretch. They managed to retain Keith Tkachuk, which was absolutely critical


(6) WHEAT KINGS

Key Additions: Mike Modano (free agency), Zigmund Palffy (free agency), Roberto Luongo (trade), Rostislav Olesz (trade), Cam Barker (trade), Patrick Dwyer (trade)

Key Subtractions: Craig Conroy (free agency), Glenn Murray (free agency), Matt Ellison (trade), Sandis Ozolinsh (trade), Dan Snyder (trade)

Offense: B
Defence: B-
Goaltending: B+
OVERALL: B

Strengths:
You can do worse than having a Conn Smythe winner in net as the #1 and a former Vezina winner as his back-up.

Weaknesses:
Offence from defence could be a problem.

Bottom Line:
The Wheaties barely snuck into the playoffs last year, but then went on to win the league championship. Their off-season moves generally improved the supporting cast around their core. Modano, Palffy join Hennessy, Bernier, Bergfors and Kazionov to give the Kings their best offensive squad since the President Trophy winners in TFHL14. A repeat may be a long shot, but you never know?


(7) ICE

Key Additions: none

Key Subtractions: none

Offense: C+
Defence: B-
Goaltending: B+
OVERALL: B-

Strengths:
The Ice always make the playoffs.

Weaknesses:
Won't score... nada. And some Ice players make the Hanson Brothers look like huevitos.

Bottom Line:
The Ice are the best defensive team in the league, meaning they could put a pilon in net most nights. The old saying 'the best defence is a good offence' evidently has no bearing here.


(8) APOCALYPSE

Key Additions: none

Key Subtractions: Peter Bondra (free agency)

Offense: B-
Defence: B
Goaltending: B-
OVERALL: B-

Strengths:
Deceptively deep in scoring and a good defence core.

Weaknesses:
No real elite players other than Sundin.

Bottom Line:
The Apocalypse nearly managed to make the playoffs last season and should be in a similar situation again. Of the group of the Ice, Hawks, Blades, and Apocalypse, they are likely the hardest to figure out: one can easily see them either on top of that group or on the bottom.


(9) RAIDERS

Key Additions: Patrick Lalime (free agency), Chad Denny (trade)

Key Subtractions: none

Offense: B-
Defence: B-
Goaltending: B
OVERALL: B-

Strengths:
Nabakov remains one of the most bankable goalies in the league.

Weaknesses:
In a sort of limbo between rebuilding and trying to remain competitive, the Raiders can only really ice two respectable lines.

Bottom Line:
Will the Raiders continue their rebuilding? As it is they have a good enough roster to make a push towards the playoffs, although the Apocalypse, Blackhawks, and Blades are capable of out-staging them. The addition of Lalime and the fact that they didn't dump any of their aging veterans seems to show that they do not intend to go silently into the good night.


(10) BLACKHAWKS

Key Additions: Jeremy Roenick (free agency), Jason Smith (free agency)

Key Subtractions: none

Offense: B
Defence: C+
Goaltending: B-
OVERALL: B-

Strengths:
Colby Armstrong single handedly carried the team last season.

Weaknesses:
Can Colby Armstrong single handedly carry the team this season?

Bottom Line:
If Colby Armstrong single handedly carries the team, they could force their way into the playoffs. Khabibulin also played quite well last year despite a porous defence, he'll need to be similarly solid in net.


(11) BLADES

Key Additions: Alex Kangas (draft)

Key Subtractions: none

Offense: B
Defence: C+
Goaltending: B-
OVERALL: B-

Strengths:
Spezza, when healthy, and Hartnell are among the league elite. Then there is the magical spell whereby a Blade forward who would be useless on any other team somehow manages to score a point a game (and gets a correspondingly impossible rerate).

Weaknesses:
Their defence would put most Pee-wee teams to shame.

Bottom Line:
Oh the Blades... aka the streakiest team in the TFHL. On paper alone they are are good team, with solid forward depth and a couple elite players in Spezza and Hartnell, a relatively weak defence, and a rookie in net as their #1. But in real life the Blades, as has been the case for the last few seasons, will be entirely dependent on which way the wind is blowing and when. Two years ago they shot up to among the league's best; last year not so much. So just hold you breath, wait and see.


(12) RESEVOIR DOGS

Key Additions: Jaromir Jagr (free agency), Craig Conroy (free agency)

Key Subtractions: Jonas Johansson (trade), Kyle Mclaren (trade)

Offense: C+
Defence: C
Goaltending: C+
OVERALL: C+

Strengths:
Overall well-rounded squad with some quality prospects.

Weaknesses:
Not enough scoring, rather just not enough everywhere to force themselves up the Western pecking order.

Bottom Line:
The Dogs would have a good shot at making the playoffs in the East, even with the improvements there this year. But in the West, unless they have a helluva hot streak, the playoffs are likely a long shot. Trading Johansson was a bit time risk which likely won't pay off for a few years, but it may prove smart in the long run.