Dvisional Breakdowns

So over the next few days I will be giving my very own divisional breakdowns. I will give a brief overview for each team in the division, some predictions, and some leader board stats. So today I will begin with the oh so loved Pacific Division.

San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are currently the class of the NHL right now with a record of 20-3-1 and a home record of 12-0-1. They lead the league in points with 41, the next closest is 5 points back. 3 of their forwards are in the top 20 in NHL scoring. That would be Devin Setoguchi, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Thornton. The off season acquisitions of Dan Boyle and Rob Blake seem to be working out extraordinarily well. It seems that San Jose may be on their way to their first Presidents Trophy, and possibly a trip to the Cup Final.

Dallas Stars
The Stars are finding things hard these days as they bring up the rear of the Western Conference. Things haven't gotten any easier for them as they lost captain Brendan Morrow for quite a while with a torn ligament and will not be back any time soon. Luckily for the Stars, Sergei Zubov has returned to the lineup. None of the Stars forwards are performing quite so well either as their top scorer, Brad Richards, isn't even in the top 30 with only 21 points. The Stars are gonna need a big push sometime soon so that their future does not look so bleak. As of right now, I wouldn't put them any higher then 11th come March.

Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks currently sit in fourth in the west. This is probably where they will stay for the season. They are playing well, just not as well as the Sharks. The signing of Teeemu Selanne proved to be a good one as he leads the team in goals with 13. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are playing well and Chris Pronger is his usual sturdy (douche bag) self. The Ducks are one of those teams that will just continue to play well all season but stay exactly where they are. Id have them exactly in 4th place come playoffs.

Phoenix Coyotes
Have been fairly silent. Not a whole ton of hype about them, probably because there isn't a whole lot of good things, or bad things, going on in the desert. The "Yotes" are on the verge, and have been for a couple years, of the playoffs. They have not given anyone any reason to believe that the playoffs are a realistic idea just yet. None of their all star players have stepped up yet (cough Jokinen cough Doan cough). The youth movement that seemed to be happening may have slowed down. I wouldn't look for them to make the playoffs just yet, it seems like they are still missing a piece of the puzzle.

Los Angelas Kings
A big surprise so far this year. The Kings youth movement is working wonders for them. Kopitar, O'Sullivan, and Dustin Brown, have all become great young leaders on this team. All three bring something important to the game. This LA team could be very scary in the next few years, and they may even make the post season this year. I love the look of this team and they have even more talent coming up through the system. The biggest key for this team to making the playoffs is goal tending, if they can pick up a quality "tender" at the trade deadline there is no doubt they will still be playing hockey mid April.

The winner of the Pacific Division seems to be written on the wall here. I wouldn't even expect a whole lot of movement within the division throughout the season. The team to watch is the Kings, and the team to not watch is the Stars, they are ugly right now. Devin Setoguchi and Teemu Selanne are on pace for a division leading 41 goals, while Ryan Getzlaf looks to lead the division in points as he is on pace for 100.