Questions About The Northwest

The Northwest Division is going to be a battle from start to finish, and unless something catastrophic happens, any team can win it. Last year saw the Wild grab it and even though they lost Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra, can they defend their title? Or will a new brand come in, like Calgary or Edmonton? Just a hoot, these aren't my predictions, but assumptions.

The Canucks had a busy off-season letting long-time Canucks Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund go, while signing Pavol Demitra. They also offered Mats Sundin a 2-year $20 million dollar contract, but that may not work out, at least for now. The Canucks are going to the road of last season, if though their offense may be a bit improved, it's going to take more than Roberto Luongo and Kevin Bieksa to supply this team not only for the division, but for the playoffs.

Minnesota lost 2 of their best scorers in the off-season, and even when they were around, their offense was hurting under the Lemaire system, so imagine now. They lost Sean Hill to Russia, although they traded for Marek Zidlicky. Many have put them already in the playoffs, but I'm not so keen on them. With the distraction of Marian Gaborik's contract, the Wild will have to fight for a playoff spot.

The Avalanche had an OK off-season, signing former Leafs Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft, although they lost goaltender Jose Theodore, defenseman Jeff Finger, and could potentially lose Joe Sakic. Even without Big Joe, I think this team can make it. If Budaj improves his play and the offense comes out to a fast start, I think they will make the playoffs.

Calgary made some changes this off-season, by re-signing key players, and signing bigman Todd Bertuzzi, who oculd play awesome with Jarome Iginla. They lost Kristian Huselius so right now we will have to see if they can cover that up. Their defense stayed the same and will be dominant as always, and Miikka Kiprusoff will play great again. They have a great chance for the Northwest title but in my mind they're gonna lose it on the last day of the season to......

The Oilers had one heck of an off-season, trading away Jarret Stoll, Matt Greene, Joni Pitkanen, and Raffi Tores for Lubomir Visnovsky, Erik Cole, and Gilbert Brule. The offense will be extraordinary with Andrew Cogliano's speed, Ales Hemsky's playmaking touches, Shawn Horcoff's finishing abilities, Erik Cole's big time scoring, and Sam Gagner's clutch play. Their defense should get bigger and better with a healthy Sheldon Souray and a big puck player in Visnovsky. Tom Gilbert also improved and should continue this year. The only question is goaltending where either can win the starting job but htey should be able to win the Northwest.

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