The Cold and Bitter NorthWest

Since we have been talking about the sunnier divisions in hockey, i thought, why not cool things down a little. So much for that. The NorthWest Division is one of the hottest competitions in the NHL. With just 7 points separating 1st and last place in the division, it only takes a small winning streak to change the look.

Minnesota Wild
The Wild are showing this season that last years division title was no mistake. With a 15-8-1 record they sit atop the Northwest division. As a team they have the second lowest goals against per game, and have the fewest goals against in the league. Captain Mikko Koivu seems to have finally come into his own, sitting 12th in the league scoring with 9 goals and 28 points. The Wild are like any other team in the division, in that they need to keep winning to stay where they are. They are a good bet for the division title, but you never can know with this division.

Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are probably where everyone put them before the beginning of the season. Their off season signing of Darcy Tucker has proved all but nothing, Tucker has a measly 4 goals and 3 assists. Many of the Av's players are struggling to play to their potential. Ryan Smyth, Wojtek Wolski, and Marek Svatos have combined for only 15 goals. Paul Stastny has clearly taken over the lead of this team as he is their only consistent player night in, and night out. Don't look for too much in Denver this year, because there wont be many surprises.

Calgary Flames
The "shames" , are all Jarome Iginla once again this year. He leads the team with 12 goals and 29 points. The off season acquisitions of Mike Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzi have proved well as they each have 20 and 16 points respectively. The Flames seemed to have found their stride as well as they are keeping pace with Vancouver and Minnesota for the division lead. The biggest difference is the play of goalie Mikka Kipru-soft, his play has been tremendously better since the first ten or so games of the season, and as long as he is solid between the pipes, the SHAMES have a fighting chance. (at being more lame then the Cunucks)

Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers may be the biggest disappointment of the Northwest. At the beginning of the year the Oilers were predicted to be in hot competition for the division lead. As of right now, the Oilers are just struggling to stay above .500. The big under performers and maybe the reason for the disappointment for the team as a whole are young center Sam Gagner, hulking forward Dustin Penner, and newcomer Erik Cole . All of whom are way below where they should/were expected to be. The Oilers have a lot of youth and hopefully resilience. Watch them close, as a few good wins could set them on fire.

Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are probably the biggest surprise of the Northwest, as they have found a way to put the puck in the net. The Canucks are currently 8th in the league for Goals for per Game, while last year they ended up at 23rd. Weird as that is, it almost happened with some addition by subtraction for the Nucks. They lost both Brendan Morrison and captain Markus Naslund in the off season, however with a strong youth movement the Canucks have found their way. The injury to Roberto Luongo hasn't really hampered them either as they have called up blue chip goaltending prospect Cory Schneider who has shown his worth, and more. Watch out for the Canucks youngsters, as there is a possibility of them slowing down.

The Northwest may be one of the hardest divisions to predict in hockey, as proven this year once again. The team to watch right now is the Minnesota Wild , and the team not to watch is definitley the Flames! (noone likes those F*#!@ing losers anyways!)