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Unlike last year, the NHL has not rented its soul to the people who run the Olympics. Mostly that is because there are no Games this winter, but let's just be grateful that the entire emphasis on the first half of this season won't be about who will play under what flag in February.
|  | | How much longer will Mike Richter be a Ranger? |
Instead, all eyes are focused on the NHL season, and the long grind to June is sure to provide as many surprises as expected highlights. So, with the same trepidation as anybody who ever picked the Phoenix Coyotes to win a playoff round, here are some predictions and projections for the 2002-2003 season:
Forget the idea of first-year coach Bryan Trottier successfully melding all that talent into a dynamo at Madison Square Garden. The collection of personalities and playing styles stuffed into the Rangers locker room would test the likes of Scotty Bowman, let alone a first-year coach, and not even the presence of Bobby Holik will ignite the team.
As a result, by the trade deadline you can count on seeing headlines about general manager Glen Sather trying to work a deal for Mike Richter and Brian Leetch, while Mark Messier is making his farewell tour.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be involved in a playoff race only if general manager Craig Patrick can make enough deals to keep the team above water. Not even a healthy Mario Lemieux can breathe any real life into a team that actually thinks Alexander Daigle is part of the answer. By December the players in the locker room will be asking that Kevin Stevens come back to take the place of Daigle.
The Los Angeles Kings will emerge as a power in the West. And by January, Mike Cammalleri will be with the big club, gaining some attention as a possible Rookie-of-the-Year candidate.
The San Jose Sharks will get off to a rocky start, and some of the blame will be placed on the stalled contract negotiations of defenseman Brad Stuart and especially goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, which kept both players out of camp. There will also be stories that hold some truth about a possible coaching change in order to lift the Sharks to the level they are capable of being at -- a Stanley Cup champion.
The East will have to contend with a growing power in the New York Islanders. If they can get off to a decent start while Michael Peca heals, they will be a fair choice to come out of the East and reach the Stanley Cup finals.
The Montreal Canadiens and goalie Jose Theodore will prove themselves for real, and Saku Koivu will make people consider him for an MVP.
A little further south, the Buffalo Sabres will flop badly. With a season ticket base fewer than 10,000, they will spend the second half of the season checking out real estate in Portland and Seattle as the rumors begin to gain credibility that the franchise is on the move.
The Atlanta Thrashers will be in the thick of the playoff race, but the hockey map might as well stop in Georgia. The battle for the best in Florida between Tampa Bay and Florida is not going to be pretty.
By Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) the Toronto Maple Leafs will be in a nosedive, and the the solution to the problem is likely to involve a call to Dallas to find out of Bob Gainey is available to help Pat Quinn divide the duties of coach and general manager.
The Carolina Hurricanes will prove themselves for real, but this season they will make a major move at the trade deadline for a star player.
The Colorado Avalanche will benefit from a full year of Peter Forsberg, and the addition of Derek Morris at defense will allow for a sling-shot offense in which Morris launches an NBA-type fast break with lead passes to Forsberg and Joe Sakic.
The Dallas Stars will benefit from Bill Guerin, but miss Ed Belfour. The Detroit Red Wings will miss Scotty Bowman and Dominik Hasek. The result? Colorado finds its biggest threats in the West to be on the coast in San Jose and Los Angeles -- this despite the fact that Sergei Fedorov finds a higher plateau atop the NHL list of elite players.
The pressure of making the playoffs will likely cost a very good coach his job in Nashville.
The Philadelphia Flyers will keep coach Ken Hitchcock the entire season, but they will be looking for a goalie at playoff time. There will be an attempt to lure Hasek out of retirement, but they will wind up with Richter.
When all is said and done, the Los Angeles Kings will defeat the New York Islanders for the Stanley Cup.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.
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