2003-04 NHL Season: Full East & West Preview

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Northeast division

OTTAWA SENATORS
52-21-8-1, 113 points, first in Northeast Division, lost in conference final.
New faces: RW Denis Hamel, RW Glen Metropolit.
Say goodbye to: LW Magnus Arvedson, LW Rob Ray.
Outlook: Making no change was the best strategy for this young, talented team. While budding star Martin Havlat remains unsigned, rich new owner Eugene Melnyk promises to be the man local fans need to keep the team together. Only question mark is whether or not Patrick Lalime is an elite goaltender.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
44-28-7-3, 98 points, second in Northeast Division, lost in first round of playoffs.
New faces: GM John Ferguson, G Mikael Tellqvist, D Bryan Marchment, D Ken Klee, C Joe Nieuwendyk.
Say goodbye to: C Doug Gilmour, LW Shayne Corson, LW Jonas Hoglund, D Jyrki Lumme, D Glen Wesley, D Robert Svehla, D Phil Housley, C Travis Green.
Outlook: Late signing of Klee improved a still dark defence picture, while Nieuwendyk's addition was tremendous for both the dressing room and on ice. Forwards as a group as good as any team's, but goaltender Ed Belfour will need to repeat last season's excellence behind this defence.

BOSTON BRUINS
36-31-11-4, 87 points, third in Northeast Division, lost in first round of playoffs.
New faces: D Jeff Jillson, G Felix Potvin, C Travis Green, coach Mike Sullivan.
Say goodbye to: G Jeff Hackett, D Sean Brown, D Don Sweeney, C Jozef Stumpel, G Steve Shields.
Outlook: Improvement is not going to be easy for rookie head coach Sullivan. While Potvin gives the Bruins a No. 1 goalie at last, they let a good goalie go in Hackett. De-fenceman Bryan Berard is still not signed, and the defence has already lost Jonathan Girard for the season because of a car accident. Scoring is also still a problem. Unless the defence is fixed, playoffs are a stretch.

MONTREAL CANADIENS
30-35-8-9, 77 points, fourth in Northeast Division, missed playoffs.
New faces: GM Bob Gainey, D Mike Komisarek, LW Darren Langdon, LW Steve Begin.
Say goodbye to: RW Randy McKay, RW Mariusz Czerkawski.
Outlook: When whipping boy Patrice Brisebois was booed by the fans, Gainey sprung to his defenceman's defence, calling the locals gutless. That may have marked the start of a long year for the Habs legend who has a lot to fix after becoming GM last summer. If there is to be a rebound, G Jose Théodore has to overcome his problems on and off the ice.

BUFFALO SABRES
27-37-10-8, 72 points, fifth in the Northeast Division, missed the playoffs.
New faces: D Andy Delmore, C Derek Roy, C Chris Drury.
Say goodbye to: D Rhett Warrener.
Outlook: With new owner Thomas Golisano in place, the Sabres can finally look around the NHL with some optimism.
The signing of RW Miroslav Satan shows Golisano is serious. The addition of Delmore and Drury should also help the offence, and if G Martin Biron can develop the potential the team sees in him, this could be one of the surprise teams in the conference.

Atlantic Division

NEW JERSEY DEVILS
46-20-10-6, 108 points, first in Atlantic Division, won Stanley Cup.
New faces: C Igor Larionov, LW Eric Rasmussen, D Sean Brown.
Say goodbye to: D Ken Daneyko, D Richard Smehlik, D Tommy Albelin, D Oleg Tverdovsky, C Joe Nieuwendyk.
Outlook: Some important players were lost over the summer, such as Nieuwendyk, but GM Lou Lamoriello plugged most of the holes. Larionov will not replace all of the offence lost with Nieuwendyk, but rookie C Mike Rupp showed in Game 7 of the Cup final he is ready for a full-time role. The Devils, as always, will be in the hunt.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
45-20-13-4, 107 points, second in Atlantic Division, lost conference semi-final.
New faces: G Jeff Hackett, D Joni Pitkanen.
Say goodbye to: G Roman Cechmanek, D Dmitry Yushkevich, C Marty Murray, RW Joe Sacco.
Outlook: Cechmanek was blamed by all and sundry for the Flyers' playoff loss to a superior Ottawa team. But Hackett is not an upgrade and there are questions about some veterans, particularly LW John LeClair, who is still battling injuries. Matching last year's record will be a challenge.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS
35-34-11-2, 83 points, third in Atlantic Division, missed playoffs.
New faces: Head coach Steve Stirling, RW Mariusz Czerkawski.
Say goodbye to: Head coach Peter Laviolette, D Kevin Haller, C Randy Robitaille, RW Steve Webb.
Outlook: This is one of the worst dressing rooms in the league, given the presence of the vastly overpaid Alexei Yashin. Throw in some malcontents and it all cost Laviolette his job. GM Mike Milbury should be next.

NEW YORK RANGERS
32-36-10-4, 78 points, fourth in Atlantic Division, missed playoffs.
New faces: D Greg de Vries, LW Martin Rucinsky, LW Jan Hlavac, LW Chris Simon, RW Sheldon Keefe, D Joel Bouchard.
Say goodbye to: D Dave Karpa, D Sylvain Lefebvre, RW Ron Petrovicky, RW Sandy McCarthy, C Ted Donato.
Outlook: Only de Vries will make an impact among the new arrivals and he is a third or fourth defenceman, not someone to take the offensive load off the aging Brian Leetch. Boss Glen Sather put together the most dysfunctional team in the league and now RW Pavel Bure is gone for the year.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
27-44-6-5, 65 points, fifth in Atlantic Division, missed playoffs.
New faces: Head coach Ed Ol-czyk, C Mike Eastwood, C Kelly Buchberger, RW Konstantin Koltsov, D Drake Berehowsky, D Marc Bergevin, D Nolan Baumgartner, G Marc-Andre Fleury.
Say goodbye to: G Johan Hedberg, D Joel Bouchard, D Jamie Pushor, D Hans Jonsson, C Kent Manderville, LW Ville Nieminen.
Outlook: Oy vey, that Olczyk must be some optimist to take this job. Or a great believer in the power of Mario Lemieux. This is a team just holding on until Mario and his financial people can put together an arena deal

Southeast Division

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
36-25-16-5, 93 points, first in Southeast Division, lost conference semi-final.
New faces: C Cory Stillman, RW Eero Somervuori, D Pascal Trepanier.
Say goodbye to: D Janne Laukkanen, D Marc Bergevin, D Nolan Pratt, D Stan Neckar, LW Vaclav Prospal.
Outlook: Until they crashed into the Devils, it was a breakthrough season for the Lightning in the playoffs. There is no doubt C Vincent Lecavalier, C Martin St. Louis and LW Brad Richards will continue to bloom but G Nikolai Khabibulin has to show his crash-and-burn against the Devils was an aberration.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS
39-29-8-6, 92 points, second in Southeast Division, lost in first round of playoffs.
New faces: C Brian Willsie.
Say goodbye to: D Ken Klee, D Calle Johansson, LW Sergei Berezin.
Outlook: Given that owner Ted Leonsis demanded an austerity kick after expensive flameouts by Jaromir Jagr et al, any improvement will have to start with the Czech superstar. And that's doubtful, since the defence was hurt by the loss of Klee and Johansson.

ATLANTA THRASHERS
31-39-7-5, 74 points, third in Southeast Division, missed playoffs.
New faces: D Ivan Majesky, C Tommi Santala, C Randy Robitaille, LW Karl Stewart, C Serge Aubin, RW Ron Petrovicky, G Jani Hurme.
Say goodbye to: D Uwe Krupp, C Tony Hrkac, RW Jeff Odgers, RW Per Svartvadet.
Outlook: The Thrashers were considered a dark horse to make the playoffs this season, but those hopes were dashed by the tragic car accident that took the life of Dan Snyder and left rising star Dany Heatley with a serious knee injury and a broken jaw. Heatley, who was driving his Ferrari when the car crashed, faces serious charges and is unlikely to play this season. Can the team overcome the emotional loss of Snyder? The Thrashers did show improvement under new coach Bob Hartley last year. They went 19-14-5-1 when he took over and closed out the season at a 9-4-1-1 clip.

FLORIDA PANTHERS
24-36-13-9, 70 points, fourth in division, missed playoffs.
New faces: D Lukas Krajicek, G Steve Shields, C Vaclav Nedorost.
Say goodbye to: D Ivan Majesky, G Jani Hurme, LW Stephane Matteau, LW Peter Worrell.
Outlook: The Panthers have great young players in G Roberto Luongo and D Jay Bouwmeester, but it's going to take them, plus all the magic head coach Mike Keenan can muster, to have a hope of making the playoffs.

CAROLINA HURRICANES
22-43-11-6, 61 points, fifth in Southeast Division,
missed the playoffs.
New faces: D Danny Markov, D Bob Boughner, D Glen Wesley, C Marty Murray, G Jamie Storr.
Say goodbye to: D David Tanabe, LW Jan Hlavac.
Outlook: GM Jim Rutherford has upgraded his defence, but bouncing back from last season's fall to the bottom of the conference is still questionable.
Goaltending is so-so and the team's best forwards, Ron Francis and Rod Brind'Amour, are getting on.


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