2008 NHL Season Underway

The 2008 NHL season is underway and it promises to be as exciting as always. There are many storylines to follow and many teams that could be in for a huge season. After the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup many assumed that it would be a changing of the guard for the old team led by many veterans. Instead, they reloaded with the best free agent around and are again the favourites over many other strong NHL teams, some led by the best young crop of stars in quite some time.

As mentioned, the Red Wings are coming off a great Stanley Cup win over the young and inexperienced Pittsburgh Penguins. They then lucked into signing Marion Hossa, who took a one year deal for a chance to play with the Red Wings and win a championship. Along with their other young standouts, and led by veteran goalkeeper Chris Osgood and all time defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom, the Red Wings are again the favourite to win the Cup.

Many of the other teams in the Western Conference that were good last season will be good again this year. The Dallas Stars added scrapper Sean Avery to provide some toughness and grit along with some extra scoring. The Calgary Flames aimed for the same kind of addition when they brought in Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi hasn’t been the same player he once was, but reunited with former coach Mike Keenan he’s looking to find some of his old magic back.

The San Jose Sharks are sick of disappointing playoff finishes after promising regular seasons and should be focused to really play when it counts this year. Patrick Marleau knows he has to step up his game because he won’t be excused for it anymore, and Evgeni Nabokov is one of the great goaltenders in the league.

A team that might surprise a few people is the Chicago Blackhawks. After losing just a few games to start the year they have already fired their head coach. That shows they have high expectations for the season and they should, with a talented core of both offensive and defensive players to build around. All together, the Western Conference will once again be very tough and any team that fights into the playoffs could have a chance of winning the Stanley Cup.

In the Eastern Conference, the young stars are all clamouring for their chance to lead a team to the promised land. Of course any list begins with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. If they can find a way to build off the experience they gained and continue to improve, they will be the favourites to escape a suddenly deep Eastern Conference.

The Washington Capitals will be another favourite because they are led by the other shining young star of the NHL. Alex Ovechkin might be the best pure player in the league and coming off a sensational scoring season he hopes that added depth on his roster and their coach in place all year can take them to the Cup. But those two teams aren’t the only ones building around youth.

The New York Rangers jettisoned a few aging and expensive stars and instead are relying on youngsters such as Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan, along with goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The Philadelphia Flyers also have a strong young team that’s ready to capitalize on an unexpectedly solid 2007-2008 season. In the same division, long time playoff competitors the New Jersey Devils may finally be ready to fall off their perch a bit as they continue to age, although Martin Brodeaur remains one of the best in the entire NHL.

One of the big storylines is the resurgence of hockey in a few of the great Canadian cities. The Montreal Canadians added Alex Tanguay to give the team some more presence in combination with their youth and finesse. And the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally turned the corner and have decided to build off their young talent. It will be different for Leafs fans not seeing Mats Sundin on the team, but they are hoping that the youth movement will pay dividends, maybe as soon as this year.

The 2008 NHL season will have a great mixture of youth and experience. Unproven, precocious stars and talented players lining the Eastern Conference will go up with the heavyweights of the Western Conference. Seeing who will come out on top is of course, the best part.

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