2010 Central Division Preview

Is it October yet?  No, but it is September, which means it time for the preseason hockey and more importantly, a breakdown and prediction for what might be the toughest division in hockey – the Central.  Who will be playing in April and who will be golfing?  Well the more things change, the more they stay the same.

5th Place - Columbus Blue Jackets

After making the playoff’s in 2008-09, the Blue Jackets finished last in the Central the following year managing only 79 pts and 32 wins.  Will new head coach Scott Arniel be able to turn things around?  Probably not right away, which means another losing season for the Jackets.  With no major moves made in the off season, its up to Rick Nash, Steve Mason and R.J. Umberger to find a way to earn some points for this team.  Columbus fans may have a diamond in the rough with Nikita Filatov but is he ready to be the guy for a full season?  My guess is no.

4th Place – Nashville Predators

So why Nashville 4th, especially after coming off a playoff year and giving the Blackhawks all they could handle in the fourth round?  Mostly because I just don’t believe in this team.  Jason Arnott is gone so who fills his spot?  They bring back some great players like Weber, Hornqvist, and Dumont, as well as newcomer Ryan Ellis who is looking to make waves.  But again, Nashville needs to prove that they can play at the top of this division or they should simply go away.  The Norris is just too tough these days to be mediocre and with the return of the Blackhawks and St. Louis’ offseason moves, Nashville’s dance card will remain emply.

3rd Place – St. Louis Blues

St. Louis looks a lot more like Nashville than they do Columbus and that’s a good thing.  I really like signing Halak and if this team plays smart hockey, I think they’ll leapfrog the Preds for the bronze medal.  Vladimír Sobotka, who was acquired from Boston, is a good young player who should bring some energy to this team.  Much like Nashville though, is St. Louis ready to contend for a top spot?  Do they have enough secondary scoring?  Was Halak’s performance last season for Montreal a fluke or is he a top goaltender?  A lot of questions, but I think St. Louis has enough raw talent to find some answers.

2nd Place – Chicago Blackhawks

The defending Stanley Cup champions look to defend their title next month, but they seem to be already behind the 8 ball.  Much debate has been had over the effect of the salary cap cuts would have on the Hawks and depending on who (and where) you ask, you'll get alot of different answers.  In order to shed salary, they lost Sopel, Eager, Ladd, Byfuglien, Fraser, Niemi, Huet and Madden.  I don’t care what anyone says, you can’t lose that many role players and think everything’s going to be alright.  If the salary cap era has shown us anything, its that role players matter, sometimes even more than the core players.  The Hawks did add Goaltender Marty Turco (from Dallas), as well as several promising prospects who will likely get a chance early to show what they're made of. Chicago also had the luxury last season of very few major injuries (save Brian Campell) but will they be so lucky this year? The fact of the matter is this – this is not last years Hawks team and they won’t be nearly as dominating.  They’ll be good, playoff good but this is a second round team, not a Cup Final team.

1st Place – Detroit Red Wings

Detroit fans are still on edge after an injury ridden season in 09-10 and are hoping that the team’s misfortunates are over with for good.  Niklas Kronwall, although playing in camp, still is recovering from off-season surgery and Kris Draper is recovering from a groan pull last week.  However other than that, everyone appears to be healthy.  With a fresh squad, the return on Jiri Hudler (KHL), and the additions of Mike Modano (Dallas) and Ruslan Salei (Anaheim), the Red Wings are expected to make a run not only for the Central title but the Western Conference title as well.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t questions though.  Will goaltender and Calder Cup nominee Jimmy Howard suffer a sophomore slump?  Can Datsyuk and Zetterberg return to past form?  Can Abdelkader, Helm and Eaves take their games to the next level?  Important questions but if those are your team's biggest problems, that ain’t bad.

Playoff Teams – Detroit (2nd Seed), Chicago (6th Seed), St. Louis (8th Seed)