The Central division is one of the more predictable divisions, but up and coming teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators will give the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings a harder time than people expect. Here are my predicted standings for the Central division...
Central Division
Detroit Red Wings 118 Points
Chicago Blackhawks 96 Points
Nashville Predators 90 Points
Columbus Blue Jackets 82 Points
St. Louis Blues 77 Points
It is hard to believe the Red Wings actually improved from last season's Stanley Cup champion team, but with the addition of play-maker Marian Hossa it is not irrational to believe the Red Wings will repeat.
When the Red Wings are talked about it's usually about their great defensive style of play, but the Wings now have one of the most potent offenses in the NHL. Henrik Zetterbberg and Pavel Datsyuk do not get any publicity and may be a better duo than Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Players like Tomas Holmstrom, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filpula will add blue-collar hustle to the Wings line-up.
Defensively the Red Wings are one of the top five in the NHL. They have an incredible mix of puck-moving defenseman and hard hitting blue-liners. Niklas Lindstrom and Brian Rafalski bring offensive and veteran presence to the blue-line for Detroit, along with Chris Chelios and Andreas Lilja the Wings have an enviable amount of experience. The Wings also have young solid defenseman like Niklas Kronwall and Brett Lebda.
The Red Wings goaltending will be solid this season. Goaltender Chris Osgood had an exceptional season for Detroit. The loss of veteran goaltender Dominik Hasek will slightly hurt the Wings' goaltending, but the acquisition of Ty Conklin will help give the Red Wings a solid backup net-minder.
It will be a season that Blackhawks fans have desperately waited for. The year Chicago makes the playoffs.
The Blackhawks are young and exciting at offense. Youngsters Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp will lead formidable offense. Veteran Robert Lang, Martin Havlat and Craig Adams will be relied on to provide solid supporting offense and leadership for this young hockey team.
The Blackhawks have a stellar defense with plenty of offensive ability as well. The blockbuster signing of defenseman Brian Campbell will add puck moving ability to the Hawks' defense. Another young puck-moving defenseman that you do not hear a lot about is Duncan Keith.
Keith has tremendous upside and offensive ability and could make for a fabulous point man on the power-play with Brian Campbell. Cam Barker is another young defenseman with plenty of upside. Veterans Brent Sopel and Brent Seabrook also will have solid defensive years and will add valuable experience to the Hawks.
The Hawks made huge improvements in between the pipes, by adding Cristobal Huet. Nikolai Khabibulan will also bring Stanley Cup experience to the Hawks in net.
The Nashville Predators achieved a very surprising playoff berth, and will try to repeat last season's success.
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