Ice in West Should Be Pretty Hot

If you’re looking for excitement, pay attention to the Western Conference. With several teams ready to knock off the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, the West is not a conference for the weak. Even the Ducks are taken seriously these days.

But along with excitement, there also are a good deal of questions. How will the aging Red Wings respond under new Coach Dave Lewis? Can the San Jose Sharks take the next step? Will a healthy Peter Forsberg carry the Colorado Avalanche back to the top? Will Calgary’s Jarome Iginla repeat as scoring champion?

Those are just some of the hot topics heading into a season that is expected to be one of the best in years. But the team to beat will once again be the Red Wings, who won their 10th Stanley Cup title last year but will be without legendary coach Scotty Bowman and goaltender Dominik Hasek, both of whom have retired.

Lewis, a longtime assistant under Bowman, and Curtis Joseph, who took less money to sign as a free agent with Detroit to replace Hasek, definitely will feel the pressure.

The Red Wings still are loaded with talent headed by veterans Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Brett Hull and Steve Yzerman. Add up-and-coming players such as Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Fischer and it’s easy to understand why Detroit is still a favorite.

But the strongest team in the West may be Colorado, which lost in seven games to Detroit in the conference finals last season. The Avalanche will be stronger with Forsberg available for a full season and the recent trade for talented defenseman Derek Morris. Don’t forget, Colorado Coach Bob Hartley still has Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, Rob Blake and Adam Foote to work with too.

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Capsules in predicted order of finish:

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1. COLORADO

Coach: Bob Hartley, fifth season.

2001-02 record: 45-28-8-1, 99 points; first in Northwest Division, second in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Steve Reinprecht stepped up in the playoffs and helped make Chris Drury expendable.

Outlook: Forsberg’s play in the playoffs after sitting out the regular season proved he’s the game’s most dominating player. It may be smart for Hartley to limit Forsberg’s playing time to make sure he’s healthy for the playoffs. Roy is still one of the NHL’s top netminders and the addition of Morris makes Blake and Foote even better. The key to the season will be if young players such as Radim Vrbata and Reinprecht can take the next step.

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2. DETROIT

Coach: Dave Lewis, first season.

2001-02 record: 51-17-10-4, 116 points; first in Central Division, first in conference.

Player to watch: Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom won second consecutive Norris Trophy and was named MVP of playoffs.

Outlook: Goalie Joseph should do well with the Red Wings, who have such a strong supporting cast. But because Yzerman will be out until at least February after off-season knee surgery, the Wings will not be as dominant as last season when they won the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record. Look for Lewis not to rely so heavily on veterans such as Chelios, Larionov, Hull and Luc Robitaille during the regular season in order to give more playing time to younger players.

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3. SAN JOSE

Coach: Darryl Sutter, sixth season.

2001-02 record: 44-27-8-3, 99 points; first in Pacific Division, third in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Owen Nolan led the Sharks in scoring for the fourth time in seven seasons in 2001-02.

Outlook: Expectations are high for the Sharks, but goaltender Evgeni Nabokov is still unsigned. Backup Miikka Kiprusoff is solid but the Sharks will need Nabokov in order to be a legitimate Stanley Cup threat. Brad Stuart leads an outstanding group of defensemen and Mike Ricci, Vincent Damphousse, Teemu Selanne and Nolan head a balanced offense for the Sharks, who have improved record-wise for seven consecutive seasons.

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4. DALLAS

Coach: Dave Tippett, first season.

2001-02 record: 36-28-13-5, 90 points; fourth in Pacific Division, 10th in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Bill Guerin signed as a free agent with the Stars after scoring 41 goals for Boston last season.

Outlook: Perhaps no team changed as much as the Stars, who will feature a high-powered offense under Tippett, a former King assistant. Goodbye to Joe Nieuwendyk, Jamie Langenbrunner, Randy McKay, Donald Audette, Martin Rucinsky, Roman Lyashenko and Brad Lukowich. Hello to Guerin, Phillipe Boucher, Scott Young, Jason Arnott and Manny Malholtra. The Stars, however, will go only as far as goalies Marty Turco and veteran Ron Tugnutt will take them.

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5. VANCOUVER

Coach: Marc Crawford, fifth season.

2001-02 record: 42-30-7-3, 94 points; second in Northwest Division, eighth in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Todd Bertuzzi is coming off a career high 36-goal, 85-point season.

Outlook: A horrific first half nearly crushed the Canucks’ playoff hopes last season until they rallied to sneak into the postseason. In the playoffs, Vancouver had Detroit on the ropes before running out of gas. The Canucks will be loaded again with forwards Markus Naslund, Trevor Linden and Bertuzzi the big men offensively. Defenseman Ed Jovanovski set a career-high in points for the second consecutive season. Dan Cloutier has emerged as a dependable goalie.

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6. ST. LOUIS

Coach: Joel Quenneville, seventh season.

2001-02 record: 43-27-8-4, 98 points; second in Central Division, fourth in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Pavol Demitra has 287 points in his last 279 games, including 35 goals and 78 points last season.

Outlook: The Blues have plenty of big time scorers in Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight and Demitra, but they’re thin up front after that. The same holds true on defense after all-stars Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger. But the biggest question mark is in goal with Brent Johnson, who showed sparks of greatness but still struggled at times last season. Quenneville is the franchise’s all-time leader in games coached and victories.

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7. KINGS

Coach: Andy Murray, fourth season.

2001-02 record: 40-27-11-4, 95 points; third in Pacific, seventh in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Jason Allison had 19 goals and 74 points in 73 games.

Outlook: Goaltender Felix Potvin’s 2.31 goals-against average was his lowest in the NHL but backup Jamie Storr was even better at 1.90. They will have be a force again this season for the Kings, who have dropped a notch defensively with the departure of Phillipe Boucher. In Ziggy Palffy, Adam Deadmarsh and Allison, the Kings have three of the best forwards in the league. For the Kings to gain home-ice advantage in the playoffs, they will need Bryan Smolinski and Steve Heinze to regain their scoring touch.

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8. CHICAGO

Coach: Brian Sutter, second season.

2001-02 record: 41-27-13-1, 96 points; third in Central Division, fifth in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Eric Daze finally played up to his potential last season with a career high in goals with 38.

Outlook: After a five-year drought, the Blackhawks returned to the playoffs last season, and are hoping to build on that promising performance. With Theo Fleury, a free agent signee, joining Alexei Zhamnov, Steve Sullivan, Eric Daze, Michael Nylander and Kyle Calder up front, Chicago should score a lot of goals. Phil Housley is the Blackhawks’ top scoring defenseman but they are steady enough to complement goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.

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9. PHOENIX

Coach: Bobby Francis, fourth season.

2001-02 record: 40-27-9-6, 95 points, second in Pacific Division, sixth in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Tony Amonte re-signed with the Blackhawks and holds the NHL’s longest active consecutive games streak at 410.

Outlook: Don’t count out one of the hardest-working teams in the league. Francis has installed a system that brought the best out of players such as Daniel Briere, Daymond Langkow and Danny Markov. Goaltending should remain a strong point, thanks to veteran Sean Burke and newly acquired Brian Boucher. The defense has a strong mix of experience with Teppo Numminen and Markov teamed up with youth in Paul Mara and Ossi Vaananen.

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10. EDMONTON

Coach: Craig MacTavish, third season.

2001-02 record: 38-28-12-4, 92 points; third in Northwest Division, ninth in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Anson Carter is coming off a career season with 28 goals and 22 assists.

Outlook: Edmonton needs winger Ryan Smyth to stay healthy and Carter’s second line to become more consistent. On defense, the threesome of Janne Niimimaa, Eric Brewer and Jason Smith remains one of the best in the league, but they’ll have to splitting more of the workload with the trade of Tom Poti. Goaltender Tommy Salo needs to have a better season than he did a year ago in order for the Oilers to earn a postseason berth.

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11. CALGARY

Coach: Greg Gilbert, second season.

2001-02 record: 32-35-12-3, 79 points; fourth in Northwest Division, 11th in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Jarome Iginla is looking to improve on his league-leading 52 goals and 96 points from last season.

Outlook: Re-signing Iginla kept hope alive for the Flames, who have not made the playoffs since 1995-96. But Calgary still lacks enough scoring punch beyond Iginla to reach the postseason. Picking up Chris Drury from Colorado will help but giving up defenseman Derek Morris may have been too much of a gamble. Goaltender Roman Turek was a workhorse last season and finished with a decent 2.53 goals-against average.

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12. MIGHTY DUCKS

Coach: Mike Babcock, first season.

2001-02 record: 29-42-8-3, 69 points; fifth in Pacific Division, 13th in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Petr Sykora, acquired in a trade with New Jersey, should help the Ducks’ scoring: he has averaged 28 goals and 67 points over the last four seasons.

Outlook: By adding veterans Adam Oates and Sykora along with Russian rookie Stanislav Chistov, the Ducks took some pressure off Paul Kariya, who had only 32 goals and 57 points last season. Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere is solid and the defense will be led by steady Keith Carney, who finished with a plus-14 plus/minus last season despite the Ducks’ losing record.

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13. COLUMBUS

Coach: Dave King, third season.

2001-02 record: 22-47-8-5, 57 points; fifth in Central Division, 15th in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Ray Whitney led the Blue Jackets in scoring last season with 61 points despite missing 15 games.

Outlook: The Blue Jackets did well in picking up free agents Scott Lachance, Luke Richardson and Andrew Cassels and drafting Rick Nash with the No. 1 overall pick. But Columbus still has questions with Marc Denis, who has yet to prove he can perform as a starting goaltender. The depth on defense, featuring Richardson, Lachance and promising Rostislav Klesla, has improved, but the Blue Jackets do not have much depth to go with Espen Knutsen, Mike Sillinger and Whitney.

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14. MINNESOTA

Coach: Jacques Lemaire, third season.

2001-02 record: 26-35-12-9, 73 points; fifth in Northwest Division, 12th in conference.

Player to watch: Forward Marian Gaborik led the Wild with 30 goals last season.

Outlook: It may have gone unnoticed outside of Minnesota, but the Wild improved noticeably last season and have a future all-star in Gaborik, who nearly doubled his point total last season from his rookie season two years ago. But other than Andrew Brunette and former King Cliff Ronning, Minnesota is weak up front. But Lemaire always has his teams play hard and may win more games if goaltenders Manny Fernandez or Dwayne Roloson can step up.

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15. NASHVILLE

Coach: Barry Trotz, fifth season.

2001-02 record: 28-41-13-0, 69 points; fourth in Central Division, 14th in conference.

Player to watch: Goaltender Mike Dunham set career highs with 23 victories and a 2.61 goals-against average last season.

Outlook: There’s a lot riding on this season for the club, even to the point of their ownership offering partial refunds to season-ticket holders if the Predators fail to make the playoffs, which is very likely. For Nashville to take the next step to playoff contention, they must have improved performances from forwards Denis Arkhipov, David Legwand, and Scott Hartnell, while sophomores Martin Erat and Vladimir Orszagh must build on their rookie campaigns.