The Only NHL Preview You'll Need
September 20, 2002

Courtesy of On The Wall
Story by: Navin Vaswani

II’m not sure if I’m the only one who’s noticed, but there’s been a different odour in the air the last couple of weeks. As I’ve come to realize, many people aren’t very fond of this tantalizing (to me at least) smell. I know quite a few friends who think it’s actually quite repulsive. But for me, it’s heaven on earth, a sign of the great things to come. It’s the smell of hockey, and it’s in the air my friends!!

That’s right ladies and gentlemen. Those huge hockey bags that were locked away for the summer are back in full effect, and everyone knows the odour a pair of hockey gloves can pack after a summer of inactivity!

For a hockey nut like myself, the beginning of hockey season is like being reborn. There’s actually something to look forward to other than that dreaded sport known as baseball, and of course the CFL.

But then again, does anyone care about the CFL anyway? I didn’t think so.

NHL training camps are set to begin on Sept. 12 and 13, while the exhibition season starts on Sept. 19 in preparation for the season opener on Oct. 9.

A lot has changed since Detroit captured the Stanley Cup last June. A handful of superstars have traded in their old duds for new ones. Curtis Joseph (the devil himself) is a Red Wing. Bobby Holik and Darius Kasparaitis are in the Big Apple. Bill Guerin takes his 40 goals to Dallas. Tony Amonte went from being a Hawk to a Coyote.

Adam Oates, Petr Sykora and Paul Kariya will now make up one of the most dangerous lines in the NHL out on the Duck Pond in Anaheim. The Leafs now have an Eagle instead of a Dog guarding their goal. Theoren Fleury is taking his circus act to the Windy City of Chicago.

It’s gonna be a different year, no doubt. No Olympic break. No Olympic break excuses. No Scotty Bowman. Hopefully more Mario Lemieux. No more talking about Eric Lindros’ health. Best of all, no more Dominik Hasek. Other than the Red Wings and their fans, is anyone really sad to see this guy go?

Probably the most exciting part of the upcoming NHL season is the return of Peter Forsberg to regular season duty. This guy is a joy to watch. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best player in the NHL today.

With the addition of Curtis Joseph, the Red Wings are the favourites to take home the Cup again. The consensus is that the champ will again come out of the West. Colorado pushed Detroit to seven games last year, and with Cujo, the goalie who can’t win the big game, in goal, I’m calling Colorado to reach the Final.

San Jose, Phoenix, and St. Louis are teams that are on the rise, but they will have to play amazing hockey in order to beat the powerhouses known as the Red Wings and Avs. The Blackhawks will be tough pressed to repeat their success of last year, but give them credit. They lost Amonte but found a more than suitable replacement in Sideshow Theo Fleury.

Vancouver and Edmonton need to build on their success of the past year, and try to get over the hump in the playoffs. Calgary, well, they need more than just Jarome Iginla, and that doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen anytime soon.

I’m calling it now. The Carolina Hurricanes will not make the Stanley Cup Final. Last April, if you were to have told me that all that stood between the Leafs and a Cup Final was the Carolina Tropical Storm, I would have laughed, laughed, laughed and probably laughed some more.

Look for New Jersey and Philadelphia to be the number one contenders in the East. Pat Burns and Ken Hitchcock are two men who will turn these underachieving squads around. Boston goes into the season without their top scorer in Guerin and their number one goalie in Byron Dafoe. They’ll need a miracle to finish first in the conference again.

Of course, Saku Koivu makes his regular season return to the Montreal lineup. Hopefully his playoff success will continue. He deserves it.

As for the team at the centre of the hockey universe, Toronto, it will be an interesting season to say the least. Will Ed Belfour be able to do the job as Curtis Joseph’s replacement, only time will tell. However, if healthy, this team can cause a lot more damage than people think.

Can the star-studded, psycho spending, NHL-ruining New York Rangers possibly miss the playoffs again, even with the roster they’ve assembled? I sure as hell hope so.

Individually, this season is shaping up to be fantastic. Will Iginla be able to come up with numbers like he did last year? Will Jose Theodore continue to be the second coming of Patrick Roy? Will Todd Bertuzzi jump off the bench, get a 10 game suspension and cost himself the scoring title again?

As for milestones, this season should see a few. Dave Andreychuk needs only 14 goals to reach the 600 mark in his quiet yet successful career. Joe Nieuwendyk is only six goals shy of 500, while Joe Sakic only needs 17. Ron Francis, who obviously has found some sort of fountain of youth, needs 71 points to pass Marcel Dionne for fourth on the all-time scoring list.

So, is everyone excited as I am? You better be.

Oh, did I mention that Alexander Daigle is back? If the image of Daigle in a nurse’s dress, holding a hockey stick, doesn’t get your mojo running, I don’t know what will…

GO LEAFS GO!!!!