2007-2008 HBMHL Season Preview

The off season is rapping up and the skates are being sharpened as the 10th HBMHL season is about to get underway. As usual, it was a busy off season with signings, buyouts and drafts – including an expansion draft that saw two new teams come in the league; Philadelphia Bulls and Winnipeg Bison. Here’s a pre-season look at all 20 HBMHL teams.

-ALBERTA RAMS: Foote is out and Brodeur is in as the team’s new Franchise player. Even though the Rams didn’t go out and sign some big name free agents, they will surprise a few people and will make a lot of money. The average team payroll in the league is $50 million and Alberta sits at just under $28 million, the lowest in the league. Yup, even lower than expansions Philadelphia and Winnipeg. With Marian Hossa, Legwand and Walker on the top line and Brodeur in net, the Rams should at least be a 500 team.

-BOSTON BEANPOTS: This may be the year Joe Thornton really becomes a generational talent and the Beanpots know it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have signed free agents Markus Naslund and Mark Recchi for a serious run at the cup. Last season, Thornton had a career year scoring 111 points in 84 games. Drury, Marleau and Jason Blake should continue to be strong contributors. However, the defence in Boston is not that strong when you consider that Roman Hamrlik and Brent Sopel are your powerplay quarterbacks and Colin White is the only top notch defensive blueliner. But with Roberto Luongo as the undisputed #1 goalie in Beantown, they might get away without having to trade for a star d-man.

-DETROIT MUSTANGS: The rebuild in Motown is 99% complete. The team recently drafted future Franchise centerman Evgeni Malkin this off season to compliment another future Franchise player, winger Alexander Ovechkin. On the right side, you have Shane Doan and on defence, Ryan Suter and Captain Niklas Lidstrom. Plus, the team recently signed goalie Miika Kiprusoff to a 3 year deal worth $18 Million. This team will be the best in the America West division. Is it good enough to make the playoffs?

-EDMONTON LUMBERJACKS: Things are looking up in the Alberta Capital after a crash landing season last year. During the off season, Edmonton made trades that upgraded their offence, including snagging a lot of draft picks for the future – Plus, they acquired Dominik Hasek and even though he’s in the final year of his contract, this team will be 1000% improved from last year. Out are Mikael Samuelsson, Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi and IN are Keith Tkachuk, Jussi Jokinen, Miroslav Satan, Hasek and a truck load of draft picks. The team also signed free agents Ryan Smyth and Chris Osgood. The rebuild is on and it’s looking nice.

-LONDON WEREWOLVES: A successful cinderella run last year brought a Hobey Baker Cup Championship to London. The championship was such a surprise that no one knew who was supposed to accept the cup at center ice. Why? Well, there’s no Captain for the Werewolves. In fact, there hasn’t been one in 2 years. It was quiet a confusing few minutes so finally, playoff MVP Bryan McCabe went up and took the cup and skated around the rink with his teammates. For this year, London clearly wants to repeat because they doubled their payroll from last year. One wonders if Wendling has a skelleton in his closet that Rob Blake knows about. London signed him to a 3 year $18 million contract during the off season! Can Ollie Jokinen create another miracle in London and repeat as champions?

-LOS ANGELES DEVILS: The quietest team in the free agent market yet the most content, the Devils in the city of Angels have built a strong franchise for the future. On offence, you have the Sedin twins, Lombardi and newly drafted Paul Stastny and Alexander Radulov. The defence is just as impressive with Phaneuf, Seabrook, Komisarek and Volchenkov. The only problem in L.A. is goaltending. What’s a bit of a surprise here is that goalie Martin Gerber was left unprotected in the expansion draft. He was selected by Winnipeg and later traded to Vancouver in a deal that included a 1st round pick going to the Bison. Not surprising as Gerber is a solid goalie and could be the Jackal’s number 1 guy next year. L.A. might regret not protecting Gerber. Is L.A. good enough for the playoffs? No, again, because the goaltending is not good enough.

-MONTREAL MOBSTERS: Jason Smith was the biggest off season acquisition in Montreal, luring the talented defenceman away from the defending champs London Werevolves. They also signed Chris Clark and Mike Peca. This team may be the team to come out on top in the Canadian conference. There’s goal scorers in the form of Kovalchuk and Semin and the defence is strong with Boyle, Boucher and Smith. Add Chris Mason as your #1 man in between the pipes and you have a contender. Montreal is serious about winning the franchise’s 3rd Hobey Baker Cup in the league’s 10 years of existence.

-NEW ENGLAND SHARKS: Speaking of the cup. The Mobsters’ opponent in the finals might be the Sharks. Some say this team is the team to beat. If there’s a team out there that can beat New England, they will most likely win the cup. Two seasons ago, this team finished last place overall. Last season, they finished 4th overall and improved by 84 points in the standings! The Sharks have the best #1 line in the league; left wing Dany Heatley, center Sidney Crosby and right wing Martin St.Louis. The defence is also very solid with Tomas Kaberle, Sergei Gonchar, Preissing, Salei, Brewer and Schultz. Rookie goalie Niklas Backstrom, along with newly signed free agents Rod Brind’Amour and Peter Forsberg, should help this team dominate.

-NEW YORK HIGHLANDERS: The Highlanders have decided they wanted to do whatever it takes to try and prevent New England from dominating by signing Sakic, Rolston, Demitra and McCabe to huge contracts, bringing New York’s payroll to $71 Million! The goaltending tandem of Vokoun, Emery and Lehtonen is the strongest in the league and the team could get even stronger if they can trade one of these netminders for even more offence or defence.

-NOTRE DAME HOUNDS: Nicknamed “the team that never trades”, the Hounds did sign some major talent in the form of Saku Koivu, Mike Ribeiro and Adam Foote. This team is strong in all departments but the goaltending is a little suspect… or is it? Rookie Mike Smith might have something to say about this. This guy has a huge frame which helps him cover a lot of the net. But that’s still little consellation to Hounds fans because it’s taking a long time to turn this team into a champion.

-PHILADELPHIA BULLS: One of two expansion teams for 2007-2008, the Bulls are now run by former St. Louis Browns GM Jim Danila. The best pickups were Ladislav Nagy from New York and JP Dumont from Suffolk. They drafted well too by picking future #1 centerman Anze Kopitar.

-PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS: The Willie Mitchell hangover has begun. The team needs to move on from that trade which eventually saw New England draft goalie Niklas Backstrom 2nd overall. The Winterhawks rebuild continues. Modano, Lehtinen and Langenbrunner were big additions during the off season and that makes Alex Tanguay happy. The defence in Portland is weak but the netminding is strong. Martin Biron and Vesa Toskala should help make the birds somewhat competitive.

-QUEBEC CITY REVOLUTION: Last season’s hail mary didn’t work and the Revolution couldn’t stop cinderella London in winning the cup in the finals. Gilbert Brule was a good pickup in the draft and we should see him play on a line with Patrice Bergeron in the near future. JS Giguere was signed to a 1 year Franchise contract but is adding Doug Weight and Michael Nylander enough to bring this team to the promised land?

-SAN JOSE CHUCKLEHEADS: San Jose also attempted a hail mary by making huge trades near the trade deadline last year to try and go for the cup. This year during the off season, they were a little quieter, signing Mats Sundin to 3 year deal worth over $18 Million after they lost Peter Forsberg to New England. In the draft, they selected forward Eric Perrin. The goaltending is alright with Cristobal Huet in charge but the team clearly does not have enough of what it takes to even make it to the playoffs. The prediction here is that Sundin won’t last the season in San Jose and he’ll be dealt for some future.

-SASKATOON BEARS: Shawn Horcoff, Gary Roberts and Todd White are the new signees in Toontown. This is another team on the rebuild that probably won’t make it to the big dance either. There’s just not enough substance here. No big time goal scorers and no big time set up men. The goaltending is average with newly drafted youngster Jaroslav Halak. For the future, the Bears did draft Phil Kessel. If the team is smart, they’ll keep him in the minors this year and let him develop. The last thing Saskatoon needs is a 1st round dud.

-ST. LOUIS BROWNS: After GM Jim Danila gave up Martin St. Louis to New England via waivers last year, the Browns owners reportedly told Danila he’d better not make the team regret its decision. Enter new GM Zac Davis. So, did Danila leave or was he quietly fired? In any case, Davis is the new man and he inherits a very competitive and solid franchise built BY Danila and the positives left behind in St. Loo are what Danila will be remembered for. Look out, Henrik Zetterberg and Pascal Leclaire are about to emerge as Franchise players. With the team drafting Travis Zajac, the future is bright for this team at center.

-SUFFOLK FOX: Three words; Do or die. It’s official, “The Firm” in Suffolk has been cancelled. Co-GM lawyer Pete Dallara is gone to run Winnipeg and some say that finally leaves fellow lawyer Don Rettaliata the opportunity to go wild with the team’s money. But could the 2nd richest team in the HBMHL become the poorest team come July 2008? During the off season, the Fox signed free agents Holik, Niedermayer, Shanahan and Jovanovski to big time contracts bringing Suffolk’s total payroll to a whopping $93 Million! That’s almost 4 times Alberta’s payroll. Retalliata figures that with sub par goaltending, he’s going to have to purchase the Hobey Baker Cup with offence and defence alone. Well, even if Suffolk wins the cup and they went .750 during the regular season, they would profit $65 Million. That’s a total of about $87 Million when you add their current balance. That would leave the cup champs with a deficit of $6 Million (again, that’s IF they win it all) which might cause them a few headaches when trying to re-sign their free agents come next off season… apparently, it’s worth the risk. One wonders if Captain Brenden Morrow will also be handed a receipt when he accepts the cup at center ice?

-TORONTO WOLFPACK: Always a solid and competitive franchise, the Wolfpack were busy during the off season. Although the defence is a little suspect, the offence and goaltending could make up for it. GM Tom Welch added some big time guys in the form of Jaromir Jagr AND Daniel Alfredsson to play with centermen Daniel Briere and Jason Spezza and other wingers such as Rick Nash and Jochen Hecht. The #1 goalie is Henrik Lundqvist so you know they’re solid there but there’s no real reliable backup. Niitymaki won’t get the job done when the King is hurt so is Toronto done dealing before the start of the regular season?

-VANCOUVER JACKALS: Another solid, solid franchise here with future galore and without sounding creepy, this team is like a smorgasborg of youth. Trading for Martin Gerber was the best off season move, including drafting defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and signing Sergei Zubov to be his defence partner. From the goaltending to the D, straight up to the offence, the Jackals will be the team left standing with Montreal in the Canadian conference.

-WINNIPEG BISON: The 2nd of the two expansion teams, former Fox Co-GM Pete Dallara branches out on his own and leaves the US of A for the Great White North. Are the Winnipeg Bison going to be built like the Fox? The guess is, yes. Take a look at the current roster. The team is already ressembling Suffolk. The focus seems to always be on quantity to achieve quality.

***CUP PREDICTION*** The 2007-2008 HBMHL season gets underway shortly. Who will win the Hobey Baker Cup? That’ll be decided in Game 7 of the 2008 HBMHL Finals between the Montreal Mobsters and the New England Sharks.