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Western Mid-Season Reviews:
Pacific | Northwest
| Central Last week we had a look at the Northwest Division
in our mid-way reports. This week, it's the Pacific.
 At 20-10-9-1, the Stars
off-season investments in
Bill Guerin,
Scott Young,
Ulf Dahlen and Phillipe Boucher are paying dividends. But without
Mike Modano recently, the Stars looked very fallible - which should not
be a surprise given the player that Modano is. Turco has been better than
advertised, and
Pierre Turgeon,
Jason Arnott and
Jere Lehtinen has supplied solid secondary scoring. The Stars still have
room to improve - which is bad news for other NHL teams, and great news for
poolie owners with Stars on their teams.
Workhorse: As well as
Marty Turco has played this year; this team is
Mike Modano's. His 14 goals and 38 points in 37 games, is only made more
remarkable when you discover only one of those goals was on the PP. He's
flourished under Tippett, and while seeing a little less ice time than in
the past, it's the quality of the minutes and the team's success that has
Modano "geeked" up about coming to the rink.
Unsung Hero: The smile in
Sergei Zubov's mug has never been broader than it has this year. Coach
Tippett has removed the fetters Zubov was under with former coach Hitchcock,
and the result is 29 points in 40 games and he's a +13. Zubov is playing
very well. If he stays healthy, he might flirt with 60 points this year.
Disappointment: Tough to find one on this very good team, but
Ron Tugnutt would have to be our pick. His numbers aren't brutal, but
we'd thought he'd do better than 4 wins in the 9 games that he's started.
Turco has been able to bear the load, and Tugnutt is a "need to play a lot
to establish a rhythm" kinda goalie. It may still come, but we are not sure.
It likely won't be enough to make him draftable in your pool.
Guy to Watch: Pierre
Turgeon finally looks comfortable in Big D - the first time in three
years. He's got 30 points in 38 games, and routinely has gotten better as
the season winds on. He got good chemistry with Arnott and worth a trade to
acquire if you can.
 Whatever is in the water
that the Kings players are drinking it needs to be replaced. Team "DL" has
had so many players on their roster since the start of the season, Coach
Murray is thankful that their names are stitched on the their backs. Key
injuries to
Jason Allison (twice),
Adam Deadmarsh and
Lubomir Visnovsky among others has made making strides up the playoff
ladder very difficult. At 16-14-4-3, the Kings are doing well considering
their plight.
Workhorse: Despite playing hurt for the majority of this season,
Ziggy Palffy is putting up great numbers: 12 goals, 31 points and a +9 in 31
games. He gets extra attraction with his linemates Allison and Deadmarsh
out, and still manages to lead the Kings. If he can get healthy while
playing, and the Kings can do the same, finishing with 80 points is not out
of the question.
Unsung Hero:
Mathieu Schneider is as good a PP QB as there is in the NHL. He leads
the Kings PP, and has 18 of his 27 points (including 6 of his 8 goals) on
the PP. He logs serious minutes and is leading by example - something
Schneider has never been known to do in the past.
Disappointment:
Bryan Smolinski is having another one of those noggin' scratchin'
seasons. You know, the one where there is no reason why a legit 55-60 point
guy loses the ability to score and begins the descent to 30-40 point guy. In
35 games this season, he has 20 points and 7 goals (which is a bit better),
but he is a -8, which is not great. With all the injuries on the Kings,
Smolinski should have flourished with the extra icetime - but he hasn't.
Guy to Watch: At the start of this year,
Mike Cammalleri was thought to be a good Rookie of the Year candidate.
But, he didn't have a great camp, and found himself in the minors to start.
An early call up had its ups and downs, but Cammalleri just needs an
opportunity to get accustomed to the league before he gets it going (we
think). Rookies are always risky pool picks, but Cammalleri is 20 and ready
to contribute.
 Someone forgot to tell the
Ducks they are not supposed to play this well this year. New coach
Mike Babcock has injected a measure of pride, accountability and fun
into the team - and it shows in the Ducks 15-14-6-3 record. No team has as
many new faces in it's line-up as the Ducks, but they remain undaunted - and
have gotten great contributions from Andy MacDonald,
Stanislav Chistov and veteran Fredric Olausson.
Workhorse:
Paul Kariya was been good, but
Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been the real reason the Ducks are where they
are this season. His 14 wins, 2.46 GAA and .912 SV% have him near the
league's leaders. His 5 shutouts, are best in the NHL - and earned him
player of the week honors. He'll need to keep it going if the Ducks want to
see the playoffs.
Unsung Hero: Anyone else recognize how much
Steve Rucchin was missed by the Ducks last year? Rucchin has regained
his 99-00 form, posting 11 goals and 31 points in 38 games. He plays both
special teams and is an excellent leader - sorely missed by the hapless
Ducks for the past 2 seasons. If he stays healthy, he'd have a shot as our
comeback player of the year - if Mario wasn't playing.
Disappointment: 14 points in 23 games isn't bad, but it's not what
the Ducks were hoping for when they signed
Adam Oates. Granted, a broken hand saw him miss almost 5 weeks, and he
looks to be getting into a rhythm of sorts, but still Oates is playing with
Kariya and Sykora - which isn't too shabby.
Guy to Watch: Mike
Leclerc is consistently raising eyebrows with his solid two-way play and
great size. Slowed by a mid November injury, Leclerc could be the second
line power forward in the 2nd half that the Ducks have been hoping he'd turn
in to.
 This year was supposed to
be the year that the Sharks ascended to the elite in the Western Conference,
but as things stand right now, they're fighting to just make the playoffs. A
slow start was compounded by contract holdouts by Evgeni Nabokov and
Brad Stuart and the retirement of veteran
Gary Suter. It got so bad, that
Darryl Sutter lost his job and was replaced by
Ron Wilson. The road to make the playoffs is going to be steep - but if
the Sharks get there as a low seed, there won't be many teams that will want
to play them in the first round.
Workhorse: With all due respect to
Teemu Selanne's revitalized 20 goals,
Patrick Marleau was been the Sharks go to guy this season. In 37 games,
he has 15 goals and 33 points. He's playing both ends, both special teams
and we all have to remember, the guy is just 23. He and Selanne have great
chemistry and are now the team's #1 unit.
Unsung Hero: The other guy playing the left wing for Selanne and
Marleau is
Marco Sturm - and his 13 goals and 26 points in 37 games have him on
pace to set career highs in goals and points. A fearless fore-checker and
excellent defensively, Sturm is Germany's best NHL gift to date.
Disappointment: As good as
Adam Graves once was, he is now just a shadow of his former self. On
pace for a 9 goals and an 18 point season, Graves no longer has the scoring
ability that made him a 40 goal guy a few years back - in a different
jersey. He is not that player and a pool waste pick at this point in his
career.
Guy to Watch: Vincent
Damphousse (or Vinnie Wetshack as we like to refer to him) is the
consummate 2nd half player. To date, he's got 10 goals and 28 points in 37
games, but his trigger-man Nolan has been hurt, which affect Vinnie's
numbers. He's 35, but ready to make the push for the playoffs and a great
guy to have in the 2nd half.
 The 'Yotes are
your classic case of over-achievers from one year, unable to bottle their
magic and apply it again the next.
Sean Burke's injury wasn't helpful, but the team was actually supposed
to be better than it was last year with the additions of Amonte, a healthy
Brian Savage, and a year under the young guns' belts. That has not
happened, and the Coyotes will need a herculean effort from Burke if they
hope to improve on their 14-16-6-3 record and climb back into the playoff
hunt.
Workhorse: Last year it was
Sean Burke, and this year it would have been again had he not missed
almost 6 weeks on the DL. So with that in mind,
Shane Doan is our 'Yote workhorse. His move to the center position has
meant more freedom to roam the ice and translated into 14 goals in 37 games
this season.
Unsung Hero: For the first time in this category to date we have a
tie:
Mike Johnson and
Ladislav Nagy. Johnson has regained a measure of the scoring touch he
seemed to lose some years ago, while Nagy is always one of our under-valued
players when it comes to draft time. Both guys have played well, despite
Phoenix's inconsistent play (Johnson: 10 goals, 30 points, and Nagy: 10
goals and 26 points). Nagy is likely to keep it going while for Johnson we'd
expect a cooling off period.
Disappointment: Look no further than the Coyotes high priced UFA this
off-season;
Tony Amonte. Granted, Amonte has taken some time to get accustomed to
his new zip code, but 10 goals and 26 points in 38 games is not indicative
of his talent. One factor may be his reduced ice-time and all poolies hope
that may change. That said, Amonte may not be the wisest acquisition at this
stage of the season.
Guy to Watch: Sean
Burke has made us into believers. With him back between the pipes, and
hopefully healthy (whoops, spoke too
soon!), the Coyotes will be a lot harder to play against, and he will
improve their win-loss record by himself.
Western Mid-Season Reviews: Pacific |
Northwest | Central |
