Baseball Guru
10-08-2002, 08:43 AM
1) Philadelphia Flyers
The NHL's Team Dysfunctional: Two goals in five playoff games. Dead power play. Everyone hates the goalie. Humungous payroll. No plan. And don't forget Bob Clarke's expertise in public relations. Ken Hitchcock jumped at the chance to coach this team. Says he enjoys a challenge. No kidding.
2) Dallas Stars
Signing Bill Guerin was a great move. But this is a good team with more questions than a quiz show. Is Marty Turco a top flight NHL goalie? Is Pierre Turgeon grossly overpaid or just highly overpaid? Are Arnott, Young and Hatcher up to the task? Can the manager manage? Can the coach coach? Mike Modano is a sure thing, about the only one in this lineup.
3) Washington Capitals
Lots of injury trouble last year. They also played lousy defense, struggled to accomodate Jaromir Jagr and finally missed the playoffs altogether. This summer they signed Robert Lang as the new number one centre, hardly a safe bet. They also replaced the coach. But why blame coaching? With Jagr, Bondra, Gonchar and Kolzig, most teams could make the playoffs with Austin Powers behind the bench.
4) Boston Bruins
A big, talented team with a flair for self-mutilation. In 2001 the Bruins gave a fat contract to the solid but unspectacular Martin Lapointe. But this year they refused to find the cash to keep one of the NHL's emerging stars, Bill Guerin, or their top goalie, Byron Dafoe. All this after running Jason Allison out of town last season. Hello, front office. Is anyone home?
5) New Jersey Devils
Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, Oleg Tverdovsky: What do the Devils have in mind? An all-defense power play? Too bad none of them play centre, because the loss of Bobby Holik leaves New Jersey's forward unit with a big hole and many question marks: Joe Nieuwendyk? Jamie Langenbrunner? Scott Gomez? General manager Lou Lamoriello has made a career of proving doubters wrong. Take it away, Lou.
6) Colorado Avalanche
This team will almost surely be a Stanley Cup contender. But so many important player are coming off subpar or unhealthy seasons: Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Drury, Tanguay, Foote. Even Patrick Roy followed up a great regular season with an ordinary playoff. Last spring ended on a bad note: an 8-0 blowout at the hands of the Red Wings. If they start slow this year it may be time for a minor tune-up.
The NHL's Team Dysfunctional: Two goals in five playoff games. Dead power play. Everyone hates the goalie. Humungous payroll. No plan. And don't forget Bob Clarke's expertise in public relations. Ken Hitchcock jumped at the chance to coach this team. Says he enjoys a challenge. No kidding.
2) Dallas Stars
Signing Bill Guerin was a great move. But this is a good team with more questions than a quiz show. Is Marty Turco a top flight NHL goalie? Is Pierre Turgeon grossly overpaid or just highly overpaid? Are Arnott, Young and Hatcher up to the task? Can the manager manage? Can the coach coach? Mike Modano is a sure thing, about the only one in this lineup.
3) Washington Capitals
Lots of injury trouble last year. They also played lousy defense, struggled to accomodate Jaromir Jagr and finally missed the playoffs altogether. This summer they signed Robert Lang as the new number one centre, hardly a safe bet. They also replaced the coach. But why blame coaching? With Jagr, Bondra, Gonchar and Kolzig, most teams could make the playoffs with Austin Powers behind the bench.
4) Boston Bruins
A big, talented team with a flair for self-mutilation. In 2001 the Bruins gave a fat contract to the solid but unspectacular Martin Lapointe. But this year they refused to find the cash to keep one of the NHL's emerging stars, Bill Guerin, or their top goalie, Byron Dafoe. All this after running Jason Allison out of town last season. Hello, front office. Is anyone home?
5) New Jersey Devils
Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, Oleg Tverdovsky: What do the Devils have in mind? An all-defense power play? Too bad none of them play centre, because the loss of Bobby Holik leaves New Jersey's forward unit with a big hole and many question marks: Joe Nieuwendyk? Jamie Langenbrunner? Scott Gomez? General manager Lou Lamoriello has made a career of proving doubters wrong. Take it away, Lou.
6) Colorado Avalanche
This team will almost surely be a Stanley Cup contender. But so many important player are coming off subpar or unhealthy seasons: Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Drury, Tanguay, Foote. Even Patrick Roy followed up a great regular season with an ordinary playoff. Last spring ended on a bad note: an 8-0 blowout at the hands of the Red Wings. If they start slow this year it may be time for a minor tune-up.