Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Where are they now?

So, since the lockout has ended and some of us may be a bit rusty on what transpired before hand, here's a quick look at the new faces in new places. Check out the actual NHL website for a complete listing.

Montreal - New GM Marc Bergevian, Coach - Michel Therrien, Colby Armstrong, Brandon Prust
                 The Habs added some grit and brought back Therrien for another go around. New GM
                 Beregivian will have his hands full trying to get the most out of this team who have a lot
                 young talent, among which PK Subban who needs to be resigned. But a healthy Andre Markov
                 will certainly help on the back end.

Ottawa - Guillaume Latendresse, Mark Methot, Mike Lundin
               The Sens may lose Sergi Gonchar so depth on the blue line is a bit thin with Jared Cowan hurt
               they will be heavily reliant on Norris trophy winner Eric Karlsson to lead the way. Daniel
              Alfredsson is back and looking to make the playoffs again in what may be his final season.

Toronto - James Van Riemsdyke, Jay McClement
               The biggest story in TO is who may be going there as the Roberto Luongo rumours continue to
               swirl. Coach Randy Carlisle will have his first, sort of full, season to try and improve a lacklust
               defense as the leafs try to make the playoffs for the first time since the last lockout.

Winnipeg - Olli Jokinen, Alex Ponikarovsky
                The Jets added size and experience up front with these two veterans in order to help boost the
                offense. Zack Bogosian is still hurt and may miss some time to start the season.

Edmonton - Justin Schultz
                 The addition of Schultz who has been tearing up the AHL with Oklahoma City is a big plus
                 for this talented young club who will be looking to take another step forward as they needed
                 help on the back ended.

Calgary - New Coach Bob Hartley, Dennis Wideman, Juri Hudler
               Hartley is a strict coach who has a veteran team to work with and they added to more veterans
               in the off season. Once again it will be up to Jerome Iginla and Mikka Kiprusoff to lead the way.

Vancouver - Jason Garrison
              Garrison was signed to replace Sami Salo but the big question remains in net where Corey
              Schneider and Roberto Luongo are both legitimate starters so likely Roberto will go.

Anaheim - Sheldon Sourray, Daniel Winnik, Bryan Allen
               Bruce Boudreau gets a full season behind the bench with a team that under performed last year.
               Teemu Selanne is back for another year so Anaheim should contend for the playoffs.

Boston - Tuuka Rask is now the starter as Tim Thomas takes a uh, lets call it a sabbatical. Chris Kelly
              was resigned, Joe Corvo and Benoit Pouliot are now out. Boston is still a threat in the east.

Buffalo - Steve Ott, John Scott
              Buffalo also added some size sending Derek Roy to Dallas for Ott and signing Scott as a free
              agent. The Sabers will once again rely heaving on Ryan Miller to shoulder the load in net and will
              need him to get off to a quicker start this season than last.

Carolina - Jordan Stall, Alex Semin, Joe Corvo
              Carolina added another Stall brother and the enigmatic enigma that is Semin to a talented roster.
              Joe Corvo is also back so Kirk Muller will have to put the new pieces together quickly to have
              success. With the likes of Cam Ward, Eric Stall and Jeff Skinner he has talent to work with.

Chicago - Sheldon Brookbank, Michael Rozsival
              The Blackhawks added a couple of defencemen and if they can get decent goaltending from
              Cory Crawford they could be a threat in the west.

Colorado - P.A. Parenteau, Greg Zanon, John Mitchell
                Colorado is still a relatively young team, their captain Gabriel Landeskog is the young in league
                history, but they have talent with the like of Matt Duschene and Ryan OReiley.

Columbus - John Davidson: Hockey Operation, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon
               These players were added as part of the Rick Nash trade and John Davidson inherits a
               team rebuilding in the tough western conference.

Dallas - Derek Roy, Ray Whitney, Jaromer Jage, Aaron Rome
            Joe Nieuwendyk was busy in the off season adding veterans to his lineup. Time will tell if they
            have anything left in the tank.

Detroit - Carlo Colaiacovo, Jordin TooToo, Jonas Gustavsson, Damien Brunner, Mikhael Samuelson
            The loss of Nick Lidstrom will obviously be a big one in the motor city, and they have tried to
            plug the caps but it will have to be done by committee if there is to be any success. Brunner lead
            the Swiss league in points last season.

Florida - Peter Mueller, Filip Kuba, George Parros
             After making the playoffs last season Florida added some depth and role players to help them
            get back. The Roberto Luongo saga hangs over them as well with Stephen Weiss being
            rumored to go the other way.

Los Angeles - What do you get the team that has a Stanley Cup? Nothing apparently. Aside from siging
           Jonathan Quick, Dustin Penner and Dwight King to extensions the kings are status quo and ready
           for another cup run.

Minnesota - Zack Parise, Ryan Suter, Torrey Mitchell, Zenon Konopka, Jake Dowell
            This was a game changer. At least the Wild hope so. Fans in Minnesota have much to be excited
             about with these two additions signed long term. After getting off to a great start last season they
             faded terribly down the stretch so are looking to bounce back, especially after spending all that
             money, nearly 200 million.

Nashville - Scott Hannon, Chris Mason
             Having to watch Suter go was hard, and watching Shea Weber play hard ball even tougher but
             the Preds resigned their captain along with Paul Gaustad, Sergi Kostitsyn and Colin Wilson.

New Jersey - Bobby Butler
             Jersey resigned leader Martin Brodeur to a two year deal and added Butler to ideally help the
             offense. Bryce Salvador was also resigned but replacing captain Parise will be tough.

New York Islanders - Brad Boyes, Lubomir Visnovski(??)
             Yes there is a question mark beside Lubomir as he may stay home and play in Slovakia in the
             KHL. This is currently under discussion. The big news was the teams plan to move to Brooklyn
             for the 2015 season.      

New York Rangers - Rick Nash, Jeff Halpern, Aaron Asham, Taylor Pyatt, Michale Haley
             The Rangers made a big splash acquiring Nash to help boost an anemic offense and look poised
             to make a serious cup run if they stay healthy.

Philadelphia - Luke Schenn, Bruno Gervais, Ruslan Fedotenko
             The question again remains about goaltending. Luke Schenn will get a chance to play with his
             brother Braydon and Fedotenko was brought in to help replace Jaromir Jagr. Daniel Briere may
             miss some time with an injury to start the year.

Phoenix - Zbynek Michalek, Steve Sullivan
             The Coyotes ownership situation looks a bit more stable and after winning the division last year
             much will be expected of captain Shane Doan, who was resigned for 4 years, and his team.

Pittsburgh - Brandon Sutter, Tomas Vokoun, Ben Ferriero, Phillipe Dupuis, Tanner Glass, Dylan Reese
              The Penguins look ready to make another cup run with a healthy Crosby back in the lineup.
              The Stall trade brought back Sutter to fill the gap so as long as Marc Andre Fleury plays up to
              par they deserve to be a favorite.

San Jose - Brad Stuart, Adam Burrish, Assistant Coach Larry Robinson
              The Sharks have been one of those teams on the verge for quite a while now so it will be
              interesting to see if they can finally make a serious run in the playoffs.

St. Louis - The Blues resigned TJ Oshie and David Perron to keep their core together. They are a talented
               team with good goaltending who could be a threat in the west.

Tampa Bay - Anders Lindback, Sami Salo, Matt Carle, Matt Taormina, Benoit Pouliot, BJ Crombeen,
                The Lightning definitely reloaded and GM Steve Yzerman will expect a lot out of his club this
                season. After missing the playoffs last year, Steve Stamkos and co will look to make a serious
                run this time around.

Washington - New Coach Adam Oates, Mike Ribiero
               Dale Hunter returned to London so Adam Oates steps behind the bench. The Caps have an
               offensively talented group but can they hold it together defensively in the playoffs?
           


















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