PowerPlay περιοδικό

Can you feel it? Are you ready for it? It is almost here. Another season, another chance for your team to lay their hands on the holy grail of hockey. I bring you the list of players to watch in the coming campaign. I have picked one player from each team. Not necessarily the most valuable ones but rather players that have an interesting story and a point to prove. Do they deserve their salary? Can they live up to the hype? We shall see.

Anaheim Ducks - Jonas Hiller

The swiss goalie has shown a lot of good stuff last season. He was the saving grace for the ducks in a season when J.S. Giguerre was going through a tough period in his personal life. He stepped up as the number one goalie for the ducks and was one of the main reasons why the Ducks have ousted the top seeded Sharks in the first round of the playoffs. Giguerre will want to bounce back and Hiller will have a really tough competition in the crease. How will he respond? Will he be able to keep his number one status he gained last season? We are about to find out.

Atlanta Thrashers - Nik Antropov

The huge Kazakh center has spent most of his career in Toronto. Now he comes to a region where hockey is not such a big sport and perhaps less pressure from media. Antropov will use his frame to get himself into scoring opportunities. He is a strong player and he has some skills. Question is if he can get some chemistry going with Ilya Kovalchuk. If they play on the same line that is. At least they should meet on the power play. Kovalchuk will likely be point man in the power play with Antropov screening the goalie and deflecting shots. Antropov will have a chance to play in an environment without the constant attention from the media. Will that prove to be his advantage?

Boston Bruins - David Krejci

The Czech youngster was one of the revelations of the previous season. He was scoring at ppg rate and he led the league in plus/minus. It was truly an incredible season and he was one of the reasons for the ascendancy of the Bruins. The Black and the Gold had the best season in years and they want to go even further this year. Krejci has to prove last year was no fluke. On the ice he looks like he has been in the league for 10 years. At times he makes hockey look like a very simple game. He has very good vision and he keeps a cool head at all times.

Buffalo Sabres - Tim Connolly

Tim Connolly has dressed up for a total of 98 games in the last 3 seasons. That means he has missed a total of 148 games. Unfortunately we have not been able to see all his talent develop. Tim has truly great hands and he can make really nice dekes. It is a joy to watch him when he is healthy. If he manages to last 80 games it will give the Sabres a good chance of making the playoffs. He is a ppg player and quite underrated because of his injuries. Can he finally become a star this year?

Calgary Flames -  Dion Phaneuf

The still young blueliner was favored last year to replace Nicklas Lidstrom on the throne of the league's premier defenseman. However, Phaneuf had a rather modest season and he was not even in consideration for the Norris Trophy. This year he will try to put that disappointment behind him. Phaneuf is especially known for his bone-crushing center ice hits on the border of clean hitting. He spreads fear among the opposing forwards and it is worth keeping your head up when you share an ice sheet with this monster. Phaneuf also has a blast of a slap shot which terrify the league's goalies. He has all the guns to be one of the biggest stars of the league. Which Phaneuf will show up this season?

Carolina Hurricanes - Eric Staal

Two of the four Staal brothers now have a Stanley Cup ring. Eric is the oldest one and the one who won it first. It was in 2006, his breakthrough season. But since then his development has somewhat stalled (pun intended). He was never able to come close to the 100 point mark since then. But in the second half of last season we were beginning to see the guy who was instrumental in the surprise Stanley Cup run of 2006 again. The Canes made it to the playoffs for the first time since the said season and they made another surprising run after winning two thrilling series. Staal was once again the driving force. Now he has to prove he can string two good seasons together.

Chicago Blackhawks - Marian Hossa

The Hawks made a big splash on July 1 by landing Hossa. The Slovak winger has been on the losing team in the Stanley Cup final for two seasons in a row. He signed a contract that will keep him in the team for the rest of his career. He just has to hope that this time he picked the right one. The Hawks haven't won the Cup since 1961 but they are young, talented and on the rise from the ashes. Hossa will be out at least until the end of November rehabbing from a surgery. Then he will jump into it and try to prove his critics wrong. He has a point to prove especially in the playoffs. This year he will come into playoffs a bit more rested because of the late start for him. Will it benefit him in the end?

Colorado Avalanche - Paul Stastny

The son of Peter Stastny will have big shoes to fill. Not only after his legendary father but now also as the man to replace Joe Sakic as the Avs' top center. Last season he missed half a season due to injury and he did not play so well in the other half. The whole team had a dismal season and they will be trying to bounce back this year. Stastny will have to show some leadership and stay healthy and on top of his game for the Avs to have any shot at a playoff berth. Paul excels in much the same things which made his father one of the leagues best players in the 1980s. He has great vision and anticipation and has the ability to become one of the best playmakers in the game.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Nikita Filatov

The Russian youngster excelled last year at the Junior Worlds and he is now ready to make the big league. Last year he was called up for only 8 games but he managed to record a hattrick. Filatov is expected to be a serious candidate for the Calder Trophy. Filatov is a pure goalscorer and expect him to shine in the offensive zone. He is one of the latest breed of talents coming out of the Russian system. Blue Jackets made the playoffs for the first time ever last season and they will be favored to repeat it this year. Expect Filatov to spend time on power play and to break into the top 6 forwards on the Jackets team.

Dallas Stars - Loui Eriksson

Eriksson emerged as an unlikely hero for the Stars last season. He managed to put the puck in the net 36 times and he was easily the top sniper on the team. It seems to be a custom with Swedish players that they mature to stardom a little bit later. Many of them stay in the Swedish Elitserien and develop there until they are ready for NHL. Eriksson is now 24 and he is getting better with every season. If he manages to keep up this trend he will become the real go-to guy on the stars team. If the stars are to make the playoffs this season Eriksson will have to step up and prove that he can carry the team with his goals. Can he handle the pressure?

Detroit Red Wings - Ville Leino

Apart from the usual suspects, Detroit will have a few new faces in the team to watch out for. Ville Leino is one of them. He has seen some NHL action last season but he spent most of the time with the Griffins in the AHL. Leino was never drafted and he is 25 already. The scouts noticed him after he put up great numbers in the top tier Finnish league SM-Liiga. In the little time he spent in the stacked Wings lineup last season he has shown some nice moves and he will be expected to show more in the coming season. Several players have left the Red Wings to make room for the likes of Leino, Helm and Abdelkader.

Edmonton Oilers - Nikolai Khabibulin

The Bulin Wall is a strange man. For most of his tenure in Chicago he was looking like a really bad buy. He looked hardly interested in the game and his numbers were mediocre at best. When he came to his last year of the contract and saw some competition in the crease with the arrival of Huet he stepped up and carried the team to their best season in over a decade. It seems like he always plays his best hockey in the last year of his contract. It was so with the Coyotes, with the Lightning (he won the Stanley Cup in his last season there) and with the Hawks. He is 36 now and he has 4 years on this contract. Did the Oilers make a good move by giving him such a long term contract? If Khabibulin follows his pattern the Oilers will surely miss the playoffs again.

Florida Panthers - David Booth

David Booth is proving to be a solid second round draft choice by the Panthers. He is improving every year and last season he has topped the 30 goal mark despite missing 10 games. Making the playoffs, however, will be a tall order for the Panthers. They missed out narrowly last season and then they were then forced to trade away their top blueliner Jay Bouwmeester. Unless guys like Horton, Weiss, Olesz, Frolik and Booth explode in the offense the Cats will struggle to stay in contention. Booth was the only Panther to surpass 30 goals and he will need to at least repeat that and someone will have to join in the goalscoring at the same time.

Los Angeles Kings - Anze Kopitar

Is Anze Kopitar a legitimate franchise player? He sure has a contract like he is. Last season was a setback for the only Slovenian ever to play in the NHL. His numbers slumped a little and he didn't attract that much attention any more. He has loads of talent but he needs some support. Will the addition of indestructible Ryan Smyth help Kopitar? Kopitar needs someone to make use of his brilliant passes. Smyth is a veteran of many seasons and he is capable of scoring 30 goals just with his determination. Kopitar has the skills to be a dominant player on the ice, the one that makes plays happen. He will have to regain his composure in the coming season.

Minnesota Wild - Martin Havlat

There were plenty of changes in the Wild camp over the summer. New GM, new coach and a new glass man. The Wild decided to let go of their oft-injured franchise player Gaborik and they signed a bit cheaper, yet equally injury prone Havlat. Havlat will need to stay healthy and try to put up the numbers that Gaborik did when he was healthy. Havlat is not a pure goalscorer like Gaborik but he is a better playmaker and he is equally exciting to watch. The whole team is in the mood for a lot more offensive minded game than was the case in the days of Jacques Lemaire. Havlat will be the leader of the offensive ranks. He has a hat full of tricks and you never know what he is going to do. Marty will be under the microscope in probably the most hockey knowledgeable state in the USA.

This is the end of part 1. Part 2 coming up soon. Thank you for reading.