Northeast Division Update

I'm sorry I haven't written in quite a while, but it's that time of year when everything's hectic! So let's dive right in today with an update on the Northeast Division.

Ottawa Senators

Record: 25-9-4
Last 10: 7-2-1
Offence: Ottawa keeps raking in the goals thanks mainly to the Big 3 of Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. Spezza actually has the best points-per-game average in the league. Also, players like Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette have started chipping in, finally giving Ottawa some valuable secondary scoring. No problem here.
Defence: The Sens still have a solid defense, but sometimes it just doesn't show up in their own zone. Defensive play was extremely ugly in the Sens recent 8-6 loss to Washington, as the Capitals converted on so many Ottawa giveaways. Wade Redden has been playing better, but is still underachieving, while Phillips continues to be solid without Anton Volchenkov. Here's hoping A-Train will come back soon... the Senators clearly need his stay-at-home defensive skills.
Goaltending: Martin Gerber continues to be solid, though he has allowed a few soft goals in his past couple games. Generally, however, Darth Gerber has been an extremely important reason of the Senators' success this season. As for Ray Emery, treat the recent news of his "unprofessionalism" as maybe a little bit exaggerated by the media. This happens to many players, and Emery, I think, will come to accept the challenge and start playing better.


Montreal Canadiens

Record: 19-13-6
Last 10: 5-3-2
Offence: Can someone say inconsistent? I really don't know what to make of this forward corps that should be able to produce a lot of goals, but so far hasn't shown up all the time. Alex Kovalev is doing okay and the Kostitsyn's have been a pleasant surprise, but I've been unimpressed by the likes of Chris Higgins, Saku Koivu and Micheal Ryder. Even-strength scoring remains a problem.
Defence: Ryan O'Byrne is starting to look more and more like a rookie. I think I've seen him on the wrong side of a highlight goal 4 or 5 times in the past couple weeks. the rest of the Habs defence is faring okay, as the Habs have actually allowed pretty much the same number of goals as Ottawa. Kudos to Roman Hamrlik, who may be their best defensive defenceman this season.
Goaltending: Cristobal Huet still looks like the better goaltender, but it's not like Carey Price has done a bad job. If Montreal's out of a play-off spot by the trade deadline, expect Huet to be traded for help in another department, as Price looks ready for more NHL duty and should be even better next season.

Buffalo
Record: 19-16-2
Last 10: 6-3-1
Offence: Sure, they're only 3 games over .500, but the Sabres are, according to me, the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, after Ottawa. Look for them to start winning many more games in the 2nd half of the season, and this means underachieving players like Thomas Vanek might start producing a bit more. Buffalo's firewagon style should be feared with all of their availabe weapons. Jason Pominville has been maybe their best forward this year, but he should have a little more offensive help in 2008.
Defence: The Buffalo shutdown pair of Toni Lydman and Henrik Tallinder hasn't gotten the job done this season, and that has enabled teams to score more against the Sabres. Brian Campbell looks like maybe the most solid Buffalo defenceman so far, and Jaroslav Spacek has done a surprisingly good job. However, while Sabres defenceman are doing a good job offensively, they must do a better job in their own zone.
Goaltending: Rough year for Ryan Miller so far, certainly not helped by Buffalo's porous defence. But like the rest of the team, Miller should play better in 2008, but I feel he was a bit overrated last year, being touted as maybe the best American goaltender in the game while his GAA was hovering around 3.

Boston
Record: 18-16-4
Last 10: 3-6-1
Offence: Since the start of the season, Boston has had trouble scoring goals, as evidenced by their Division-low 97 goals for. The Bruins have been missing Patrice Bergeron's presence, but the main reason is the trap system they play under Claude Julien. Scoring about 2 goals per game seemed enough at the start of the season when Tim Thomas was maybe the best goaltender in the league, but since then Boston's inability at scoring has cost them many games.
Defence: Zdeno Chara has definitely played better than last year, but after him, there's not much in the way of Bruins defence. Players like Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference and Dennis Wideman have been solid, but they hardly look like an intimidating bunch, as the main force behind the Bruins' impressive GAA is Tim Thomas' play and the trap system imposed by Claude Julien.
Goaltending: Tim Thomas is perhaps the most underrated goaltender in the league, and it's always fun to watch him play an incredibly intense game. Manny Fernandez has been a rather complete bust this season, and it looks like his backup job has been stolen by Alex Auld, who has done an admirable job since coming from Phoenix. The Bruins won't be bringing in any goalie help, because they'll eventually want Tuukka Rask to take over the starting reins.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Record: 15-16-8
Last 10: 3-5-2
Offence: Mats Sundin. Need I say anything else? Nik Antropov has a lot of points, too, but that's because he's been playing a lot with Sundin. While many have been complaining about Jason Blake being a bust, at least he's trying and creating scoring opportunities. He's first on the team in shots by about 40 more than Sundin. The Leafs need players like Kyle Wellwood to play better or else Toronto will not improve.
Defence: The Maple Leafs defensive corps is perhaps one of the worst in the league. Tomas Kaberle is probably the only dependable guy. Meanwhile, Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina have posted a decent number of points, but their penchant for giveaways is alarming. The same can be said for Hal Gill. There is also an important lack of speed in this group that almost always gets completely exposed whenever the Leafs meet the Senators.
Goaltending: Andrew Raycroft is still not performing well, while Vesa Toskala has definitely been the most solid of all Leafs netminders, even after a rough start to the season that had Leaf Nation already calling him out. But he's injured his groin now and it doesn't look like Raycroft is an adequate replacement. The problem is the Leafs defence, who are not helping Raycroft in any way.