NHL: Pacific Division Preview

The bright lights! The big stars! The dry heat! Welcome to life in the NHL’s Pacific Division, where tradition means you’ve been around more than five years.

Only the L.A. Kings were around in their present form when the ‘90s began. The Dallas Stars were still in Minnesota, playing before friends and family, the Phoenix Coyotes were calculating wind chills in Winnipeg, and the Mighty Ducks were just a stupid movie on some Hollywood hack’s development board. The Stars have certainly made the most of their new home. Will this be the season someone else steps it up in the mild, mild West?

PLAYER TO WATCH, Pacific Division Brenden Morrow, left wing, Dallas This may seem an odd choice, given the Stars have about a hundred players with more career goals than the 14 Morrow netted as a rookie last season. But if Dallas is going to get back to the Finals, they’ll need to find more young players to step up and take the load off the veteran core. Morrow is the top candidate to do just that. He stepped right in for the injured Jere Lehtinen on a line with two guys you may have heard of, Mike Modano and Brett Hull, and didn’t appear out of place. He’s got good wheels, good hands, and he’s already one of the grittiest players on a team that built its foundation on grit. Morrow fractured his ankle in last year’s playoffs, and missed only two games.

He’s also got the cojones (love that word) to date the daughter of a teammate, former Star Guy Carbonneau, who took the news as a sign to retire, which he did this off-season.

The DALLAS STARS will miss Carbonneau (maybe Morrow won’t, depending on how things work out) and his brilliant face-off work. But if they can avoid the injury big that hit them last year, there’s more than enough talent for another Cup run. Modano has always been a rare offensive talent, but his two-way play has improved dramatically to then point where he’s a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate. He’ll need help though, and a healthy Lehtinen would be a great start.

The two-time Selke Trophy winner fits like a glove with Modano and Hull, who scored 11 times in the playoffs after a career-low 24 in the regular season. Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner, besides giving you a heck of a Scrabble score, make up two thirds of an outstanding second line, if they too can stay on the ice after missing more than 60 combined outings last year. Ed Belfour was simply the best goalie in hockey last year, playoffs included. And the defense isn’t as old as you might think. The big four of Derian Hatcher, Richard Matvichuk, Sergei Zubov and Darryl Sydor seems like it’s been around in Dallas since Jerry Jones was just another annoying rich guy who thought he knew a lot about football.

However, Zubov is the oldest of the four, and he only turned 30 this summer. Wait a minute, Jerry Jones is just another annoying rich guy who thinks…sorry, wrong sport. In hockey at least, it looks like Dallas has another good shot at the title.

St. Louis thought it had a great chance at pulling off the football-hockey title double play last year, until they ran into the SAN JOSE SHARKS in the first round. That was no boating accident, as the Sharks, led by captain Owen Nolan, played their hearts out in winning game 7 in St. Louis. Nolan was a force all season long, scoring 44 goals and hitting anything that moved, but he’s missed the entire camp in a contract dispute (although he probably would have anyway after recovering from hernia surgery.) Last year’s playoff success opened a lot of eyes to San Jose’s impressive young players, like rookie of the year runner-up Brad Stuart. But will they all develop together? On the other side, there are a lot of veterans like Nolan, Vinny Damphousse (one point shy of 1,000,) Mike Ricci and Gary Suter. How much do they have left in their Shark tanks?

There seem to be a lot of expectations for a team that hasn’t even had one winning season. If things start slowly, and Nolan doesn’t come back soon, it could get kind of ugly in San Jose, and I don’t just mean the teal uniforms.

Ever since they left Winnipeg four years ago, the PHOENIX COYOTES have been as predictable as a dry day in the desert. Each year they’ve finished with between 35 and 39 wins, each year they’ve gone out in the first round. Off the ice, they’ve become as unpredictable as Mike Tyson off the medication. For months, lame-duck owner Richard Burke has been trying to sell the team to a group led by developer Steve Ellman and Wayne Gretzky. You read right, folks…Steve Ellman!

Whatever it is he develops, he’s apparently smart enough to let Gretzky handle the hockey decisions. The problem is, by the time the transfer of power takes place, number 99 might actually be 99. If it happens quickly, and the new guys can sign free-agent goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, and coax a big year out of Keith Tkachuk, well, this still looks like an 80-90 point team – best case. Worst case, Gretzky gets so turned off hockey, he blows out of town like a tumbleweed (or Buck Showalter,) first chance he gets.

Then there’s Gretzky’s old team, the LOS ANGELES KINGS. Kind of hard to make a name for yourself playing in Shaq’s house, but the Kings picked up a quiet 94 points last season. They’ll be hard pressed to match that total if the trade rumours swirling around former Norris Trophy winner and impending free-agent Rob Blake turn real, and if they don’t come to terms with unsigned free-agent Jozef Stumpel, who Luc Robitaille calls “our Modano.” That would make Lucky Luc the Kings’ version of Pavel Bure, after a stellar comeback season of 36 goals. The biggest ‘if’ of all is still in goal, where perennial prospect Jamie Storr really should have beaten out Stephane Fiset by now. Maybe this will be the year, but I don’t think even Spielberg could direct Hollywood’s team to 94 points again.

The ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS would be in good shape if it wasn’t for that goon Paul Kariya. The two-time Lady Byng winner for gentlemanly play was suspended indefinitely following a slashing incident in an exhibition games versus Minnesota. Apparently, it was no McSorley-sized hack, and Kariya won’t miss any regular season games, but this isn’t exactly a great omen to start the year with. What’s next, Mickey Mouse whacking somebody Sopranos-style? Of course, you can forgive Kariya if he’s a little sore about he and Teemu Selanne having to carry this team on their backs since 1996. Year after year, the Ducks fail to add on to their great foundation, to the point that that this off-season’s acquisition of 46-point scorer German Titov was heralded mightily by the not-so-Mighty Ducks.

It’s a start, but still far from the answer. If some more help can emerge from a cast of young players, maybe a playoff spot is in order. But until Disney starts putting more thought into its hockey team than that Pokemon crap or whatever it is they’re selling to kids this week, don’t count on it. Hopefully, Kariya won’t beat me up for saying so.