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 Northwest Division Weakened Avalanche still a force of nature
Posted: Tuesday September 28, 1999 04:28 PM
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Ticker) -- The Colorado Avalanche may have taken the most hits in the offseason, but the talent that remains still makes them favorites to capture the Northwest Division. Colorado went out of its way last season to obtain right wing Theo Fleury from Calgary in an attempt to return to the Stanley Cup finals. Fleury scored 24 points in 15 games with his new team and brought the Avalanche within one win of the finals. Defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre and left wing Valeri Kamensky also fled to Broadway, while center Dale Hunter -- a late-season acquisition -- retired and took a front-office job with the Washington Capitals. The biggest worry among the returnees for second-year coach Bob Hartley is center Peter Forsberg. After finishing fourth in the league with 97 points, Forsberg suffered a torn left shoulder muscle in the playoffs and could miss the first two months of the season. Joe Sakic and Calder Trophy winner Chris Drury will be counted on to fill the void in Forsberg's absence. Sakic was sixth in the NHL last season with 41 goals, while Drury came up with 18 goals and 26 assists. Another injury of concern involves goaltender Patrick Roy, who had offseason hip surgery. Sandis Ozolinsh was in training camp on time after holding out last season. He joins Alexei Gusarov and Adam Foote on a capable if unspectacular defensive unit. Right wings Claude Lemieux and Milan Hejduk, the only Colorado players who appeared in all 82 games, recorded 51 and 48 points, respectively, last season. Shjon Podein, the only experienced left wing in camp, gives an honest effort at both ends of the rink. With Fleury and Kamensky gone, and Forsberg sidelined, Hartley wants his team to commit to a more defensive game. "We need to keep progressing defensively," he said. "One way we can improve is to cut down on goals-against. That's a priority for the start of the season." The Edmonton Oilers finished a distant second behind Colorado last season and have not gotten off to a good start this time around. First-year coach Kevin Lowe was forced to install his system while three key players -- right wings Bill Guerin and Mike Grier and defenseman Roman Hamrlik -- stayed away from training camp. Lowe also lost captain Kelly Buchberger to expansion, but will turn to Doug Weight for leadership. Josef Beranek was an unlikely contributor in 1998-99. Out of the NHL the year before, he was second on the Oilers with 49 points. Left wing Rem Murray was rewarded with a new contract after a career-best 21 goals. Tommy Salo, acquired last season from the New York Islanders to provide stability in goal, was an impressive 8-2-2 with a 2.31 goals-against average and will be the No. 1 goalie. Veteran Bill Ranford returns to Edmonton as Salo's backup.
Lowe was a stay-at-home defensemen during a 19-year career. So he should be able to help a unit that surrendered 226 goals, fifth-worst in the Western Conference. The No. 1 problem for the Calgary Flames last season was in net, where six goalies shared time. Flames general manager Al Coates opted for a short-term fix in 37-year-old Grant Fuhr, who was obtained from St. Louis. The veteran of 845 games was 16-11-8 last season while playing on tattered knees. A key member of the dominant Edmonton Oilers teams of the 1980s, Fuhr will look strange in a Calgary sweater. He'll be asked to school youngsters like Jean-Sebastien Giguere and help the Flames win their first playoff series since capturing the Stanley Cup in 1989. Another problem for Calgary are two players who were not in training camp. After trading away Fleury, the Flames lost center Andrew Cassels and goalie Ken Wregget to free agency. Right wing Jarome Iginla, who led the team with 28 goals, remains unsigned. Promising center Marc Savard was obtained on draft day from the New York Rangers and is expected to provide some much-needed offense. Jason Wiemer and Jeff Shantz, who combined for 21 goals in 1998-99, are the only other options up the middle. Left wing Cory Stillman led Calgary with 56 points and right wing Valeri Bure was third with 53. Stillman will receive help from Rene Corbet, who came over in the Fleury trade and had nine points in 20 games. Derek Morris anchors the defense, a unit that features youth in Denis Gauthier and veteran leadership from Steve Smith and power-play quarterback Phil Housley. The Vancouver Canucks have not been a factor since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1994. At 38, Mark Messier is not getting any younger and has yet to win over Canucks' fans. In the final year of a three-year contract, he will get some help from Cassels, who signed as a free agent. Right wing Markus Naslund, coming off a career season with 36 goals and 30 assists, was rewarded with a three-year, $7.2 million contract and must play up to expectations. Fellow winger Alexander Mogilny has been on the decline since scoring 55 goals in 1995-96, combining for 32 goals over the past two seasons. Like Messier, he is in the final year of a multi-year pact. Left wing is not a particularly deep position for Vancouver. Todd Bertuzzi showed flashes early last season before Messier went down. Then, Bertuzzi suffered a fractured left tibia and torn left ACL. Despite a 20-32-8 record last season, Garth Snow is the incumbent No. 1 goaltender. GM Brian Burke thinks highly of Kevin Weekes, who was acquired in the Pavel Bure trade but is still in search of his first NHL win. Defense should be a strength for the Canucks, even if Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin are holding out. Mattias Ohlund is an emerging star, and 1998 first-round pick Bryan Allen should stick this season. Veteran Doug Bodger was brought in as a stop-gap measure.
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