WESTERN CONFERENCE CAPSULES

* In predicted order of finish

1. COLORADO

Coach: Bob Hartley, third season.

1999-2000: 42-29-11-1, 96 points.

Who’s new: G David Aebischer (rookie), D Nolan Pratt (trade with Carolina).

Outlook: The primary concern is home ice for the second round and conference championship, because the Avalanche has grown weary of losing to Dallas in the playoffs. Goalie Patrick Roy (32-21-8, 2.28 goals-against) is only four wins from passing Terry Sawchuk for the all-time record for victories and has lost 12 pounds in an attempt to get off to a fast start and have the kind of season that commands a new contract. There is offense aplenty in Peter Forsberg (14 goals, 37 assists in 49 games), Joe Sakic (28 goals, 53 assists in 60 games) and Milan Hejduk (36 goals, 36 assists), but the Avalanche’s forte could be defense, with Ray Bourque teaming with Adam Foote for a full season. With a $50-million payroll, this has to be a Stanley Cup season to be considered successful.

2. DALLAS

Coach: Ken Hitchcock, sixth season.

1999-2000: 43-29-10-6, 102 points.

Who’s new: D Sami Helenius (free agent), LW Shaun Van Allen (free agent), Ted Donato (free agent).

Outlook: This is the Stars’ last season in Reunion Arena, a building nobody will miss much, and they enter it with a veteran nucleus that includes high-scoring Mike Modano (38 goals, 43 assists) and Brett Hull (24 goals, 35 assists) and a defense that takes a little offense a long way. They also have goalie Ed Belfour, who at 35 seems to be getting better (32-21-7, 2.10). Two young defensemen, Brad Lukowich and Richard Jackman, join a veteran crew that includes captain Derian Hatcher, Darryl Sydor, Richard Matvichuk and Sergei Zubov to run the trap that confounds and irritates opponents and fans who would prefer to see scoring.

3. ST. LOUIS

Coach: Joel Quenneville, fifth season.

1999-2000: 51-20-11-1, 112 points.

Who’s new: LW Dallas Drake (free agent), D Sean Hill (free agent), G Dwayne Roloson (free agent), Mike Van Ryn (free agent).

Outlook: The Blues, who had the NHL’s best record last season, found that the trip from boom to bust is only seven playoff games long. The lesson was taught by San Jose and prompted new owner Bill Laurie to pony up some of his $1 billion in assets and tell GM Larry Pleau to get some more players. Drake (15 goals, 30 assists with Phoenix) is a gritty winger who can help make sure teams don’t take liberties with concussion veteran Pavol Demitra (28 goals, 47 assists) and Pierre Turgeon (26 goals, 40 assists in 52 games). With Chris Pronger (14 goals, 48 assists), first winner of the Norris and Hart trophies in the same season since Bobby Orr in 1972, and Al MacInnis, the Blues’ defense is sound. The question is whether goalie Roman Turek, so good during the regular season, can recover from a playoff meltdown.

4. DETROIT

Coach: Scotty Bowman, eighth season.

1999-2000: 48-24-10-2, 108 points.

Who’s new: D Jesse Wallin (rookie).

Outlook: The easiest way to be checked into a locker stall is to bring a birthday cake into the Red Wing dressing room, because this is a team that is aging rapidly, with no new blood in sight. Among forwards, Steve Yzerman (35 goals, 44 assists) is 35; Sergei Fedorov (27 goals, 35 assists), 31; and Brendan Shanahan (41 goals, 37 assists), 31. All remain formidable but getting gray. Defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom (20 goals, 53 assists) is 30; Chris Chelios (3 goals, 31 assists), 38; Steve Duchesne (10 goals, 31 assists), 34; Todd Gill (3 goals, 6 assists), 34; and Larry Murphy (10 goals, 30 assists), 39. Goalie Chris Osgood (30-14-8, 2.40) struggled at times last season. The sand is running out on this team.

5. KINGS

Coach: Andy Murray, second season.

1999-2000: 39-31-12-4, 94 points.

Who’s new: D Mathieu Schneider (free agent), LW Stu Grimson (free agent).

Outlook: Improvement can come from the power-play addition of Schneider (10 goals, 20 assists) and the assimilation of RW Ziggy Palffy (27 goals, 39 assists) into the offense. Luc Robitaille (36 goals, 74 points) wants to play for a Stanley Cup champion before he retires, and Rob Blake wants to stay in Southern California with a new contract. Keys here include either Jamie Storr or Stephane Fiset stepping up in goal and signing center Jozef Stumpel.

6. SAN JOSE

Coach: Darryl Sutter, fourth season.

1999-2000: 35-37-10-7, 87 points.

Who’s new: LW Scott Thornton (free agent).

Outlook: Sutter has a chance to join Al Arbour and Lynn Patrick as the only coaches to improve their teams in four consecutive seasons, but to do so the Sharks will probably have to play .500 hockey for the first time in franchise history. They need to get captain Owen Nolan (44 goals, 40 assists) signed and recovered from an Aug. 19 hernia operation. He is the last Shark holdout after training camp opened with eight. Goalie Steve Shields (27-30-8, 2.56) was also a late signee, as was heir apparent backup Evgeni Nabokov (2-2-1, 2.17).

7. EDMONTON

Coach: Craig MacTavish, first season.

1999-2000: 32-34-16-8, 88 points.

Who’s new: D Eric Brewer and LW Josh Green (trade with Islanders).

Outlook: Goalie Tommy Salo (27-28-13, 2.33) is the one with the shoulders stooped from carrying the Oilers. He played 70 games last season, and Edmonton would like to cut that by five or 10 because Salo wearied in the closing weeks. In center Doug Weight (21 goals, 51 assists) and wingers Bill Guerin (24 goals, 22 assists) and Ryan Smyth (28 goals, 26 assists), the Oilers have a line that can score with anybody, but it gets woefully thin after that. There is talent on the other lines, but no consistency, and injuries to Josh Green and Ethan Moreau have retarded developing depth.

8. MIGHTY DUCKS

Coach: Craig Hartsburg, third season.

1999-2000: 34-26-12-3, 83 points.

Who’s new: C German Titov (free agent), RW Dan Bylsma (free agent), RW Jim Cummins (free agent), D Patrick Traverse (trade with Ottawa).

Outlook: Losing center Steve Rucchin (19 goals, 38 assists) for a month because of a broken hand didn’t help, but adding center German Titov (17 goals, 29 assists) helps. With Titov the Ducks will try to establish a second scoring line to take the pressure off Paul Kariya (42 goals, 44 assists) and Teemu Selanne (33 goals, 52 assists). Everyone is watching defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski, 20, who could be a physical presence. Goalie Guy Hebert has to rebound.

9. PHOENIX

Coach: Bobby Francis, second season.

1999-2000: 39-35-8-4, 90 points.

Who’s new: C Joe Juneau (trade with Minnesota), LW Brad May (free agent).

Outlook: Who owns Team Turmoil? Who wants to play for it and for how long? Who will run it? Until the Steve Ellman-Wayne Gretzky regime takes over--presuming it does--this will be a team looking to the future. Word is that future will include signing free agent Claude Lemieux (20 goals, 27 assists with New Jersey and Colorado last season), Gretzky’s neighbor in Thousand Oaks. It also apparently will bring back goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, once an NHL all-star, but last season a Long Beach Ice Dog because the Coyotes wouldn’t pay him $5 million a season. Jeremy Roenick (34 goals, 44 assists) is an upcoming free agent and Keith Tkachuk (22 goals, 21 assists in 50 games) wants to make more than the $8.3 million he earns now. This could be a fun team to watch--from a distance.

10. VANCOUVER

Coach: Marc Crawford, third season.

1999-2000: 30-37-15-8, 83 points.

Who’s new: LW Daniel Sedin and C Henrik Sedin (rookies).

Outlook: OK, now, Daniel Sedin is the one with a small scar under his chin, but when he and 20-year-old red-haired identical twin Henrik are old enough to shave, nobody will be able to tell them apart. They are the hope for a Canuck team that is trying to build on a 15-10-5 finish last season that left them just short of the playoffs. The key is veteran goalie Felix Potvin (17-27-10, 2.83) and stopping enough pucks for a young defense and the Sedins to mature. And for center Andrew Cassels (17 goals, 45 assists) to step in for Mark Messier in production and leadership.

11. CALGARY

Coach: Don Hay, first season.

1999-2000: 31-41-10-5, 77 points.

Who’s new: G Mike Vernon (trade with Minnesota).

Outlook: After watching the Flames put four players on the blue line and send one on the forecheck, it’s going to be a delight to see Hay’s new attacking defense that lets forwards Valeri Bure (35 goals, 30 assists) and Jarome Iginla (29 goals, 34 assists) try to cause some turnovers and score quick goals. Behind them, though, is a dearth of offense that isn’t helped by the holdouts of center Marc Savard (22 goals, 31 assists) and defenseman Derek Morris (nine goals, 29 assists). With Vernon and Fred Brathwaite, Calgary has strong goaltending and is going to need it because scoring will be a challenge.

12. CHICAGO

Coach: Alpo Suhonen, first season.

1999-2000: 33-39-10-2, 78 points.

Who’s new: RW Valeri Zelepukin (free agent), D Steve McCarthy (rookie).

Outlook: In right wing Tony Amonte, Chicago has a strong foundation, but the walls are shaky and need more than a coat of paint. Suhonen has installed a high-paced, shoot-and-ask-questions-later offense that asks defensemen Boris Mironov (nine goals, 28 assists) and Bryan McCabe (six goals, 19 assists) to jump into the attack, but scoring hasn’t been the Blackhawks’ problem. Stopping the other guys has, and goalie Jocelyn Thibault (25-26-7, 2.76) needs a better start than last year’s stumble to keep the Blackhawks from emulating their 4-10-4 beginning. He also needs to be stronger in the third period, when Chicago gave up 93 goals last season.

13. NASHVILLE

Coach: Barry Trotz, third season.

1999-2000: 28-47-7-7, 70 points.

Who’s new: Nobody.

Outlook: Goalies Mike Dunham (19-27-6, 2.85) and Tomas Vokoun (9-20-1, 2.78) shared the work a year ago and will again, and their lots will be no better. They will still face more shots than a shooting-gallery bird, and they will still have to hold teams to two or fewer goals for the Predators to win. Only center Cliff Ronning (26 goals, 36 assists) and winger Patric Kjellberg (23 goals, 23 assists) scored more than 16 goals for Nashville, the lowest-scoring team in the conference last season, and the Predators gave up an average of 2.89 goals a game, second worst in the West. Nashville will stay with a low-budget, hard-working team that is trying to build with youth and relies on the patience of its fans in its third season.

14. MINNESOTA

Coach: Jacques Lemaire

Who’s new: Everybody.

Outlook: OK, goalies Manny Fernandez and Jamie McLennan can play, and defensemen Sean O’Donnell, a former King; J.J. Daigneault, a former everybody; Brad Bombardir and Andy Sutton can help clear away traffic from in front of the net, but who is going to score? Lemaire has spent an entire training camp teaching and, after coaching successfully at Montreal and New Jersey, is adapting to working with less talent. Much less talent. Sergei Krivokrasov, an expansion veteran, scored 25 goals two years ago at Nashville, but tailed off to 10 last season when he was traded to Calgary. Scott Pellerin was a third- and fourth-line player on a good St. Louis team, and Jeff Nielsen showed promise with the Ducks. The rest? Get ready for a long first season in the NHL’s return to the Twin Cities after a seven-year hiatus.

15. COLUMBUS

Coach: Dave King, first season.

Who’s new: Everybody.

Outlook: The Blue Jackets, whatever a blue jacket is, signed defenseman Lyle Odelein as a free agent, and goalie Ron Tugnutt came along for the ride and the cash. That gives the new team two recognizable players, which helped when 70 others reported for training camp. Adding goalie Marc Denis, who backed up Patrick Roy at Colorado, can help keep order in games that will get out of order fast. Wingers Geoff Sanderson and Steve Heinze can score, as can center Robert Kron, but Columbus is going to have to introduce defense first to new hockey fans who will probably come to the new Nationwide Arena looking for Buckeyes and first downs.