Ice Hockey: NHL Eastern Conference Team Previews

Last year, the Philadelphia Flyers had to beat the New York Rangers in a playoff to qualify for the Stanley Cup Final; the tiebreaker ended in a shootout that Philadelphia won; had the Flyers lost that game, the Rangers would have appeared in the final.

Eighth place, the last, went to the 11th-seeded Carolina Hurricanes; The 12th-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning missed it by a hair of eight points.

Meanwhile, the number one seed went to the Washington Capitals, with the Presidents’ Trophy to boot.

This year, the Eastern Conference will see tougher competition, with quite a few teams eager to get started. Let’s take a look at the various teams in the Eastern Conference to decide who are the best:

New Jersey Devils:

This year the Devils could have one of the most effective attacks, after signing Ilya Ivanchuk. The Russian will have ample company in Travis Zajac and Zach Parise. Add to that Martin Brodeur guarding the net, and you see the image of a balanced team emerge.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Like the Washington Capitals, the penguins, too, have their core intact despite an all-too-long summer, and all rest well. The Consol Energy Center will witness Pittsburgh kick off this year’s campaign with Evgeni Malkin and Sydney Crosby at the helm. The attack has been bolstered by off-season members with the blue line, Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin.

Philly Flyers:

The presence of Chris Pronger, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards will excite the Flyers to build on last year’s great campaign, emerge as a consistent team early in the season and show that last year’s performance was no flash.

Washington Capitals:

Just as they did last year, the Washington Capitals will look to Alexander Ovechkin to head up their offense, assisted by the trio of Mike Green, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom, plus old war horse Mike Knuble. These key players will be backed by the usual complement of support players.

Atlanta Thrashers:

Last season, the Thrashers just missed the playoffs by the slimmest of five points after Ilya Ivanchuk left for the New Jersey Devils. This year, the Atlanta team will have last year’s cup winners in Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Dustin Byfuglien to provide the youngsters on the team with invaluable guidance on how to win the championship.

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Steven Stamkos had a terrific first season with Tampa last year, and the hiring of Simon Gagne by new general manager Steve Yzerman will only add to the team’s offensive strength that is further embellished by the presence of Ryan Malone, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin StLouis.