The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Our analysis of Canada's seven NHL teams concludes with a look at the three Western Conference members. Edmonton Worst home record. Worst road record. Second-worst goals against. Third-worst goals-for. Fewest points overall. It wasn't pretty, but last season was a necessary step in Edmonton's rebuilding program. The good news is that all of those people calling the Oilers the team of the future are not delusional. But before we get into that, let's examine last season. It is difficult to know who to blame for Edmonton's appalling goals-against record: the defence or the goaltending. Theoretical starter Nikolai Khabibulin, infamous for alternating between dandy and dreadful, was largely in the latter classification. He's 38 now, highly injury-prone and does not have much hockey left. In his place, Devan Dubnyk found his way into 35 games. Dubnyk is still young at 25, but nothing about his play foretells of another Curtis Joseph or even a Tommy Salo. On the blueline, big Ryan Whitney was a bright spot until his season was cut short by an ankle injury. Tom Gilbert ate up major minutes and made some pretty passes, but his -14 rating raises questions about his defensive play. The rest of the blueline, by and large, also disappointed. Offensively, only one Oiler Ð teen rookie Taylor Hall Ð had at least 20 goals. In fairness, if not for a spat of injuries, fellow rookie Jordan Eberle and Ales Hemsky, and possibly Sam Gagner and Shawn Horcoff, would have joined him. Too often, rebuilding teams are reluctant to make significant moves, but no one can accuse Edmonton of that. The most exciting addition is gritty fan favourite Ryan Smyth, who bleeds copper and blue. Now 35, Smyth will provide leadership and a strong power play presence upon his return to the club that drafted him. Also new is faceoff and penalty-killing whiz Eric Belanger, steady blueliner Andy Sutton, tough guy Darcy Hordichuk, depth defenceman Cam Barker and, quite possibly, a kid by the name of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. RNH, the top pick in June's draft, is looking more and more like he will bring his still-developing offensive prowess to Edmonton come fall. Of all the teams in the league, Edmonton is the least predictable heading into 2011-12. If their blossoming talent steps it up, and if Khabibulin or Dubnyk can stay strong, the Oilers could steal a top-six playoff spot. More likely, it will be another season of gradual improvement with an early spring. Calgary When you miss the playoffs by three points, fingers get pointed. And so it has been yet another summer of soul-searching for a squad that has not won a post-season round since coming to within one game of the Cup back in '04. Everyone deserves some blame, with the possible exception of captain Jarome Iginla. He was outstanding as always with a team-leading 86 points, sixth best in the league. Teammates like Alex Tanguay, Olli Jokinen, Rene Bourque and Brendan Morrison did about what you would reasonably expect of them, while Matt Stajan's production dropped off dramatically. Truth be told, however, scoring goals was not Calgary's problem. Keeping them out was, as the Flames ranked 20th in goals-against. Mikka Kiprusoff, the freakishly talented Finn who guarded the mesh in 71 games, was not up to his usual high standard. Kipper's stats Ð particularly his .906 save percentage Ð made him look, well, human. Are too many games taking their toll? Some will question the dependability of Calgary's defensive corps, and with good reason. Coming off a plus-17 season in 2009-10, Mark Giodano was minus-8. Jay Bouwmeester was also on the wrong side of the plus-minus. Anton Babchuk managed a plus-14, but his defensive play is always under intense scrutiny. The Flames shook things up (and created cap room) in late June by dealing Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik to Buffalo for D-man Chris Butler and centre Paul Byron. Butler, an offensive non-factor, supposedly brings a more defensive focus, while Byron is an uncertain prospect who, at least in the juniors, showed he could score and make plays. Having lost out on the Brad Richards sweepstakes, Calgary, one hopes, has another trick up their sleeve. What they need is another steady defenceman and a true upper-echelon centre to play with Iginla. They also need Kiprusoff back cracking the .920 SP mark. Unless those things happen, watch for Calgary to either be barely in or barely out of the post-season once more. Vancouver So close. Yet so far away. The sting of losing the Stanley Cup by one game is still strong in British Columbia. Unsurprisingly, Canucks management and players are asking themselves what they could have done differently Ð or better. They scored the most goals in the league, with twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin combining for a whopping 198 points. They enjoyed superb secondary production from 41-goal man Ryan Kesler and 50-point men Mikael Samuelsson and Christian Ehrhoff. They allowed the fewest goals in the league on the strength of a stellar blueline Ð inarguably one of the best in the league Ð and the Vezina-nominated Roberto Luongo manning the pipes. Vancouver even had a super backup by the name of Cory Schneider, who will one day be a starter for the Canucks or another franchise. Between he and Luongo, Vancouver opponents scraped up an average of just 2.26 goals per game. The 'Nucks also had experience, youth, chemistry and some grit. And while Luongo, whose reputation as a playoff choker precedes him, shouldered much of the blame for the Cup loss, let's remember that hockey is a team effort. Really. In the off-season, the Canucks have made minor alterations, signing forwards such as Byron Bitz, Andrew Ebbett and Mike Duco. In a pair of interesting moves, they handed tryout contracts to the ancient Owen Nolan and the forgotten Todd Fedoruk. The biggest move was the loss of blueliner Ehrhoff, who racked up impressive points and hefty minutes. He is now a Sabre. There is every reason to believe the Canucks will again enjoy immense regular season success. But unless they can replicate that success in the playoffs (i.e. win the Stanley Cup), fans will be none too impressed.
