Season Opener Special: True or False
1. True or False: The Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings will meet for a third consecutive time in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.
→ Brian Roe: False. Both teams will win their divisions, both teams will make a serious post-season run, but only one will reach the Stanley Cup Finals again. Look for the Pittsburgh Penguins to return to the Stanley Cup Finals, but I think they will face a different opponent from the Western Conference.
→ David Notko: False. The Red Wings are getting older and they lack scoring depth with the Marian Hossa departure. Pittsburgh will make a strong run, but I see their cross state rivals representing the Eastern Conference in the Cup Finals.
2. True or False: The Toronto Maple Leafs will make the playoffs.
→BR: False. I believe the Maple Leafs are the most improved team in the NHL. I love the additions they made on defense, I like the risk/reward deal involving Phil Kessel, and 18-year-old Nazem Kadri had a terrific showing during the pre-season. The future looks good, but they are not ready yet. I think they are a contender in 2010-11, but expect to see them out of the playoff picture next April.
→ DN: True. Toronto has made a run at the eighth spot over the last few seasons and their team is significantly improved this year. Vesa Toskala is finally healthy this year and he will lead the Maple Leafs into the playoffs as the eighth seed.
3. True or False: Dave Tippett is crazy.
→ BR: False. I actually think the man is a genius. He had two years left on his Dallas Stars contract and parlayed that into a four-year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes. Yes it’s obviously an unstable situation in Phoenix right now, but Tippett is in a no-lose situation. If the Coyotes finish toward the bottom of the conference like everyone expects no one will blame Tippett. But if the team overachieves he will get credit and gain even more respect around the league. The Coyotes are actually improving and have some nice young building blocks in Kyle Turris, Peter Mueller, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Mikkel Boedker.
→ DN: True. While the contract security is nice, Tippett could be hurting himself down the road. If Tippett fails in Phoenix then he could have trouble finding another NHL head coaching job.
4. True or False: The Edmonton Oilers will regret waiving Rob Schremp.
→ BR: True. I don’t blame the Oilers for putting Schremp on waivers because he has been a massive disappointment and a bust so far in his career. However, this could literally be the perfect situation for Schremp. He’s a native of New York, he’s only 23 years old, and he will get the chance to grow with some talented young players like John Tavares, Josh Bailey, and Kyle Okposo. No one has ever doubted Schremp’s talent and I believe he will one day realize that potential.
→ DN: False. Schremp has not shown much of anything above the major junior level and he just continues to disappoint. He may end up being a serviceable NHLer, but he will never be the 70-80 player he was projected to be. Schremp’s ceiling is probably similar to Mike Comrie; a player probably took his job in Edmonton.
5. True or False: Three teams from the Pacific Division will make the playoffs.
→ BR: True. The San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks are basically locks, but I think the Dallas Stars grab one of the bottom three spots as well. The Los Angeles Kings should keep things interesting. However, I’m not ready to commit to them as a playoff team yet. The Kings are certainly improved though and should stay in the race all year.
→ DN: True. The Sharks and Ducks should battle for the division title all season. Both teams will score a ton of goals this year. The Kings and Stars will be in a race for one of the final playoff spots all season long. To make the playoffs, Dallas will have to improve its special teams while Los Angeles needs to improve its five-on-five play.
Brian Roe is the head writer for NHL Intel. David Notko is a contributor to NHL Intel and a former writer for kingshockey.com.
