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As the playoffs approach, and so does your playoff
pool, we take a quick look at the contenders, pretenders and long shots in
this year’s cup chase. We break down each team and give you an idea of their
strengths/weaknesses and players we think will make a fantasy playoff
impact.
Philadelphia Flyers
Analysis: All season, the Flyers look like the Beast from the East.
GM Bob
Clarke kept making moves to make his team bigger and stronger –
anticipating the grind that is the playoffs. They went out and acquired Adam
Oates at the deadline also for that reason and looked poised to easily
cruise to firs in the conference and then …whack…the exact opposite
happens. The Flyers have picked a bad time to start to play mediocre hockey.
Granted, Jeremy
Roenick was hurt and will play hurt for the remainder of this year.
Ditto Keith
Primeau. John
LeClair also looks less than 100% and Simon
Gagne and Mark
Recchi have lost their scoring touches. Roman
Cechmanek is back form injury and looking like Brian
Boucher from last year – average. But..not to panic Flyer fan. The
addition of Oates will take some adjusting. Clarke just hopes the adjustment
is complete before they are upset in he first round of the playoffs.
Strengths: Big forwards, depth upfront,
awesome talent.
Weakness: Goaltending, poor special teams, health of stars.
Lock Picks: Primeau, Oates and LeClair.
Avoid: Roenick (not 100% - so don't take him too high), Jiri
Dopita (MIA), and Eric
Desjardins.
Dark Horse Pick: Simon
Gagne
Conclusion: The Flyers slump is a little
problematic, but coach Bill
Barber has a few games to right this ship. The Flyers are about to find
out if Roman
Cechmanek is “da man”, because they will need him to be even with
their potent line-up.
Boston Bruins
Analysis: At the end of the 1996-97 season,
the Bruins had failed to make the playoffs for the first time in what seemed
like an eternity. That off-season they had two picks in the first round,
selecting Joe
Thornton and Sergei
Samsonov. 5 years later, and the Bruins are vying for the top spot in
the East. Conicidence – ah…No! Joe
Thornton and Samsonov give the Bruins two legit young studs in a stable
of very good players. Bill
Guerin has had a tremendous season and the acquisition of Jozef
Stumpel and Glenn
Murray makes their offense even better. Under-rated Brian
Rolston is excellent insurance with Thornton out. And Lord Byron (goalie
Byron
Dafoe) has been very, very good. Rookie Bruins bench boss Robbie
Ftorek has his team playing well...and it shows.
Strengths: Lots of grit, goaltending and
hard-work.
Weaknesses: Inexperience on blue-line, health of Thornton, no coring
from the back-end.
Lock Picks: Samsonov, Glen
Murray, Guerin and Stumpel.
Avoid: Martin
Lapointe, Scott
Pellerin and Kyle
McLaren.
Sleeper Pick: Rolston
Conclusion: The Bruins needs a healthy
Thornton if they are to challenge to be the team coming out of the East.
They could also be the team ripe for a first round upset – particularly if
its against the hated Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins blue-liners will need
to play above their heads to get Boston close. They are capable of winning
the East.
Carolina Hurricanes
Analysis: It’s quite possible that the
Hurricanes could be the only team in the Southeast Division to be over .500.
It’s also possible they could manage to finish 3rd in the East when they
would probably finish 10th or 11th in the West. That aside, this is a team
that will require exceptional performances from their defense and
goaltending to make it past the first round. Arturs
Irbe must shake off an average regular season and stand tall for this
team. Sean
Hill, Glen
Wesley and David Tanabe will need to play effectively at both ends of
the ice. The exceptional seasons for Ron
Francis and Sami
Kapanen need to continue into the playoffs.
Strengths: Irbe can be brilliant. Francis
is a great all-round player. .
Weaknesses: Rod Brind’Amour and Jeff O’Neill can be inconsistent.
Goals can be rare on the blueline.
Lock Picks: Francis, O’Neill and Kapanen.
Avoid: Any of the d-men, Bates Battaglia
Sleeper Pick: Brind’Amour
Conclusion: Assuming they don’t collapse
in the last week of the regular season the ‘Canes will need hot
goaltending and production from everyone to make it into the 2nd round.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Analysis: Pat Quinn is truly an enigma. For
years he has believed that size and grit should win championships. In his
time with the Leafs he has proven that it never will. Last summer he decided
that speed and scoring might be a better way to go. The problem is he
acquired three players who are on the downside of their careers (two of whom
weren’t even in the league last season). And while Robert
Reichel, Mikael
Renberg and Alexander
Mogilny haven’t been awful, they aren’t the kind of talent to bring
home the Cup. The loss of Curtis
Joseph and Dimitri Yushkevich to late season injuries won’t help with
the playoff placement but a first round meeting with the Senators is looking
more likely.
Strengths: A ton of grit, goaltending (when
Joseph is healthy) and veteran, playoff-proven players.
Weaknesses: Injuries. Many players are too long in the tooth. Other
than Mats
Sundin, there isn’t a dependable scorer.
Lock Picks: Only Sundin and Mogilny (if he’s healthy) up front, but
Tomas
Kaberle and Bryan
McCabe would be good d-man picks.
Avoid: Renberg, Reichel and Hoglund
Sleeper Pick: Darcy
Tucker
Conclusion: The only way the Leafs make it
more than a round or two is if they get healthy and play their brains out.
In the East they are just plain out of their league when it comes to talent.
Boston and Philly are head and shoulders above the bunch.
Ottawa Senators
Analysis: The Senators can turn a new leaf
in the playoffs. They don’t need to worry about whether Alexei
Yashin will turn up. They don’t need to worry about their goaltending.
And most importantly they don’t need to worry about their “D” playing
too soft. In fact, the Senators are more of a playoff team than a regular
season squad. They don’t have a dominant scorer and focus much more on the
“committee” approach. Come the post-season this is a team that may
surprise some people.
Strengths: They’ve learned from their
post-season mistakes. They are truly a team. One of the most underrated
“D” corps in the league.
Weaknesses: May still be a bit “soft” up front. Don’t have a
true #1 center.
Lock Picks: Daniel
Alfredsson, Marian
Hossa, Radek
Bonk.
Avoid: Magnus
Arvedson and Martin
Havlat (injury risks) .
Sleeper Pick: Shawn
McEachern
Conclusion: If the Senators don’t make it
to at least the 2nd round this year, there will be many changes. In many
respects they are a better team than previous versions of the squad and
anything less than an Eastern Conference final berth would be seen as a
disappointment for management.
New York Islanders
Analysis: The Islanders made the playoffs
for the first time in seven years. It’s still a bit uncertain who they
will play, but don’t look for them to go far. Alexei
Yashin is far from a playoff performer and there aren’t too many guys
with extensive post-season experience on the roster. Look for a quick exit
no matter who they face.
Strengths: Chris Osgood has the most
playoff experience and they’ll ride him as far as he can take them. .
Weaknesses: Playoff inexperience, lack of depth
Lock Picks: Despite his post-season swoons Yashin has to be here.
Avoid: Marius Czerkawski and Brad
Isbister.
Sleeper Pick: If you think the Isles can make it more than one round
take Mark
Parrish and Michael
Peca.
Conclusion: The Isles did what they had to
do this year. They made the playoffs and got the fans interested in hockey
on Long Island again. Beyond that, don’t expect much else. Look for them
to be gone in the first round of the post-season.
New Jersey Devils
Analysis: The Dark Horses in the East.
Nobody wants to play them. The acquisition of Joe
Nieuwendyk and Jamie
Langenbrunner was the best thing that could have happened to this squad.
The only downside is that they have lost Scott
Gomez for three to four weeks with a broken hand.
Strengths: Lots of grit and playoff
expereince, great playoff goaltending and something to prove.
Weaknesses: Not as deep as they once were. Aging veterans on the
blueline.
Lock Picks: Nieuwendyk, Patrik
Elias, Petr
Sykora, and Bryan Rafalski
Avoid: Sergei
Brylin, Stephane
Richer and Valeri
Kamensky – unless you are in a very, very deep draft and you think the
Devils can make the finals.
Sleeper Pick: Langenbrunner and Bobby
Holik
Conclusion: The Devils are capable of
beating any team in the East. If they aren’t in the Eastern finals we will
be very surprised.
Montreal Canadiens
Analysis: It’s hard not to cheer for the
Habs. They have suffered the curse of Patrick
Roy long enough. And isn’t it ironic that the player to possibly lift
the curse will be another francophone goalie – Jose
Theodore. He is the future of the team. While the Canadiens aren’t Cup
contenders they have that perfect balance of veteran leadership and youthful
ignorance. Add to that the inspiration of a possible return of Saku
Koivu and it has all the makings of a first round upset.
Strengths: Momentum and one of the best
goalies in hockey.
Weaknesses: Inexperience and a lack of depth
Lock Picks: Doug
Gilmour and Yannic Perrault
Avoid: Leave the “D” alone. Don’t touch Koivu or Donald
Audette unless you really think they can make it more than one round.
Sleeper Pick: Sergei
Berezin
Conclusion: We really feel sorry for the
top two teams in the East. They really don’t have enviable tasks. One will
face the Habs and the other will likely meet the Devils.
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