By By Chris Vaccaro
I’ve waited a full year for hockey, and what a long year it’s been. Although I didn’t decide to attend the University right next to the Nassau Coliseum because my beloved Islanders play there, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t part of the reason. Sure I commute an hour to school from my home in Eastern Long Island, but you can also be sure I will go to as many home games this season as I can, student discounts or not.
Will the Isles win the Atlantic Division? Your guess is as good as mine. After this past off-season – or should I say off year – it will take another full year just to figure out what team everyone is on again. That’s not because of forgetting player’s teams, but because of all the free agent signings that occurred.
University students will be able to visit one of the oldest arenas in the National Hockey League, and one of the most storied as well. Many students, especially those in their freshman and sophomore years, haven’t been able to sit in the Coliseum and fully grasp what it means to be in “Islander Country.”
There is no feeling in the world that can equal sitting in the Coliseum when the crowd is roaring, “Lets go Islanders!”
With all of this in mind, and an exciting NHL ahead of us, let’s visit the “10 Things to Look Out for Heading into this NHL Season”:
10. Islanders defense will not struggle
Is it that big of a deal to lose three all-star caliber defensemen? Well, the obvious answer is yes, and to every Islander fan’s disappointment, they are going into a rather different NHL season, with question marks surrounding a vital part of the game-defense. Adrian Aucoin was stellar for three years with the Isles and will play with the same head-first defensive mind set in Chicago this season. Kenny Jonnson had enough with the NHL and decided to stay in Sweden and play for a team in his home country, while Roman Hamrlik signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Calgary Flames.
The Islanders had some pretty big holes to fill. They went out and made a smart decision, acquiring Alexei Zhitnik via free agency from Buffalo and grabbing Brent Sopel from Vancouver for a conditional draft pick in 2006. They still have Janne Niinimaa and also signed Brad Lukowich from the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
The first two weeks will be a test to the entire team. After losing key players with strong skills on the ice and in the locker room, it is hard to believe something positive will happen. However, the team should be satisfied with its off-season moves and should have one of the most experienced defensive corps in the league.
9. Wayne Gretzky will not dominate as a coach in the NHL
It doesn’t matter if Gretzky is the all-time leading scorer in NHL history, or how many Stanley Cup rings he has, because plain and simple, the Phoenix Coyotes are bad. In 2003-04, they finished dead last in the Pacific Division with a 22-36-18 record. The record was second to last in the entire league (Chicago was last). Their best players are only average (Curtis Joseph and Derek Morris), and they did absolutely nothing in the off-year to the improve the team. If the organization’s plan was to use Gretzky as a marketing tool to get fans in the seats, it isn’t going to work. You can’t play hockey in a suit and tie, and with a poor roster, you can’t win games from behind the bench either.
8. Sidney Crosby will be a positive poster boy
Crosby’s been in magazine ads, television commercials and more importantly, a good-looking prospect for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s hard to go right ahead and compare him to Gretzky, but people have been doing it since he was 15-years old. Playing alongside Mario Lemieux will have a positive effect on Crosby, and it’s only a matter of time until the 18-year old phenom adjusts to the NHL and starts making some noise.
7. Most improved team from a year ago
It may be a stretch to say the Penguins are the most improved team, but the roster has a large amount of added talent since the league departed a year ago. Crosby was drafted, Lemieux is still scoring at age 40, Sergei Gonchar was added to the defense, they signed Ziggy Palffy, veterans John LeClair and Mark Recchi will help with leadership and crunch time play, and Marc Andre Fleury, the team’s first overall pick from 2003, is young and anxious to play. They may not win the division, but if the Pens win more than last season’s total of 23, then it’s an improvement.
6. Best off-season move
Philadelphia’s acquisition of Peter Forsberg was probably the biggest impact move this off-season. Forsberg will add to a solid Flyer roster, which most definitely will be in the top eight teams of the Eastern Conference. Forsberg can help with power play situations and is good for 25-30 goals if he stays healthy.
5. Rule changes were for the best
All tie games are decided by a shoot-out now, which will be pretty exciting. Fans will be anxious to see it, and it will really affect a lot of games come playoff time. Two-line passes were made legal; this will open the ice more and allow for better offensive opportunities. Goalies pads, sticks, blockers and jerseys were all cut in size, making it harder for them and easier for shooters. Goalies will also not be able to handle the puck behind the net, only in a restricted area. As odd as it sounds, they all can relate to a marketing scheme the NHL has to get fans back in the seats. Every league adjustment will affect scoring, and fans want to see goals scored. Overall, the game is going to be faster, quicker paced and the league expects the action to attract new fans and return the old ones.
4. Best team in the tri-state area
There are two other NHL teams in the tri-state area, but there’s no sense in worrying about one of them. The New Jersey Devils have played consistently well for quite some time now, but those Blue Shirts from Manhattan will more than likely be at the bottom of the pile come playoff time.
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur has aged, but his game has been the same for his entire career, and he’s the main reason the Devils will be in the playoff hunt again this year. The Rangers will not make the playoffs and may fall behind an improved Penguins team for last in the division. This region of the country belongs to the Islanders. They have balance, both good defensive minds, and now a powerful two-way threat on offense with Alexei Yashin and Miroslav Satan. Rick DiPietro is going to be all-star in net soon, and don’t forget about last season’s rookie of the year candidate Trent Hunter.
3. Most favorable league change from a year ago
The implementation of a soft salary cap, something the league and players union had different opinions on in regards to the collective bargaining agreement, will be a positive adjustment from the business and financial aspects of the game. Not only will the off-season be filled with player movements and money talks from NHL analysts, but it will provide fans with a sense of assurance that players’ salaries will not keep rising. The cap is set for $39 million per team this season. Each team is also required to spend at least $21.5 million on player salaries.
2. 2005-06 NHL MVP
It would be wrong to say Yashin is going to win MVP, because it is such a stretch and very hard to assume an Islander could win the award. It’s way too early to predict this, but I’ll go out on a limb and say Jarome Iginla will add some hardware to his trophy case and also lead the Calgary Flames to the Western Conference Championship.
1. Stanley Cup Champion prediction
Look for Philly, Tampa Bay and Ottawa to duke it out in the East, with the Islanders in the top five teams also. Ottawa may finally make clinch a conference championship, and if so would play my Western prediction of Calgary in an all-Canada Stanley Cup Final. Calgary will pull the upset, and win its first championship since the 1988-89 season.
Chris Vaccaro is Sports Editor for The Chronicle. He is also a contributing writer for New York Sportscene and staff writer for Long Island’s Ultimate Athlete magazines. You can reach him at [email protected]