The Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have been 46-9-7 since staring the season 5-8-2 in the first 15 games and Daniel Sundin looks like he is posed to match his brother's Henrik's league MVP last season with his 40 goals - 56 assists - 96 points while Roberto Luongo has been on his game after a sluggish start to the season with a league leading 35 wins along with a solid 2.18 GAA and 927 save %. The Canucks will be going into the playoffs on a real roll being almost unbeatable even Cory Schinder has been solid in he net and the Canucks will have home ice advantage as long as they are in the playoffs and there is the question of the year with the lower seeds in the Western Conference getting on a huge roll like Nashville who are 8-2 in their last 10 games and the Anaheim Ducks along with that dreaded Chicago Black hawks rearing its Canuck killing head. So the pressure begins April 13Th when the NHL playoffs begins and those collars on the Canucks jerseys will get tighter.
Montreal Canadiens
It was an amazing start to the season for Carey Price and the Canadiens but the white elephant in the room is still there and that is who will can put the bisect in the basket because Carey Price continues surprise me especially as I felt he would be the sore spot for the team and instead he has been the stainless steel and will single handedly guide the Canadiens into the playoffs even if they can't score a goal as they have been shutout 3 times in a week. Also don't look now but those Boston Bruins may be waiting for them in the first round or the second round and these two teams are on the best of terms right now as they have had a 14 goal fight fest and then people asked what would happen the next time they meet and the answer was Chara sending Max P. into a partition which got Habs fans phoning the police on Chara and then the question was asked what would happen the next time and that was just a 7-0 Bruins shutout.
Toronto Maple Leafs
the thing about the Leafs and not making the playoffs (to be honest there is no way the Leafs are making the playoffs) is the question when should James Reimers have started playing for the Leafs on consistent basis as he was sitting on the bench while Jonas Gustavsson started a number of games while J.S. got hurt. Then when J.S. came back Reimer was sent back to the AHL so J.S. could get a lot of starts to get in a grove to be traded for a pick but got an injury again and was Reimer was brought back up and if he had an extra 10 games in his season the Leafs would of easily made the playoffs. So James Reimer is a Restricted Free Agent and it is going to be interesting to see what kind of cap hit will he be and what is the length of the term and being a sophomore next season will he take a step back or stay at the level he is at right now and also Luke Schenn is also a Restricted Free Agent in the off-season and will get a good increase in his pay. Also Ron Wilson needs to not have to say "are star players did not play like star players and thats why we lost" because like Kessel and Phaneuf need to be the players they are being paid to be while the Leafs need to keep Clarke MacArthur who is also a Restricted Free Agent but will get less than Schenn and around Reimer money which I think will be in the 2 to 3 Million range. The Leafs will have lots of money in the off-season and will need to find a top line player to go with Kessel and the name that has been coming up has been Brad Richards who has been consistently good with at least 20 goals and 60-70 points a season and is a setter-up player which Kessel might need just like Matt Sundin needed somebody for a long time to help him and the only thing is at what price because if you get up in the 6 and 7 mil range the Leafs need to step away from the table.
Calgary Flames
Flames fans don't blame Getzlaf for hiding the puck in the Ducks 4-2 victory over the Flames as you might want to look at the Flames roster first which is the second oldest roster in the NHL like Jarome Iginla started the season with 8 points in the first 15 games and Miikka Kiprusoff 10-14-1 in his first 25 starts this season. The Calgary Flames have little to nothing in the farm system and they may take a last gasped effort next season before blowing the whole thing completely up and starting from scratch like the Oilers have been and if they can get something for Kiprusoff and Iginla in a trade they should look long and hard at making the deal to better the team in the long run. The Flames worked hard for a long time to get back into the playoff picture and then ran out of gas with a 2 and 7 record in their last 9 games and was a diffidently death nail to the playoff chase.
Ottawa Senators
The big question that Senators fans asked themselves is realistically when was the earliest they could have made the Elliot/Anderson trade happen and I believe that the trade could of been done the earliest around the 30 to 40 game point for both the Avalanche (with Anderson having such a great season last year but he fell on his face as an Avalanche and the team went in the same direction) and the Senators (who have been looking for a goaltender ever since Ray Emery lost his mind). Daniel Alfredsson career is coming to a end within the next couple of seasons and it looks like he will end up retiring as a Senator while players like Jason Spezza is often injured while the other skaters have not lived up to the team's expectation or like Sergei Gonchar and Alex Kovalev who have been complete busts.
Edmonton Oilers
Oilers look like they will be getting the first-overall pick again this season and will get another young star to with the likes of Taylor Hall (no more fights for Hall), Sam Gagner, Jordan Elerle, and more young up and coming stars. The thing the Oilers are lacking is a stand on your head goalie like Ilya Bryzgalov who is an unrestricted free agent but I do not know what the cap future is looking like for this team because Ilya Bryzgalov will be looking for huge bucks (in the 6 million range) but if there is anyway to get him under the cap for the next 3 or 4 seasons it would be a great investment and improve the team by leaps and bounds.
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