PowerPlay περιοδικό

This is part 2 of the article that deals with the players to watch in the coming NHL season. This part will cover players from the other 15 teams in alphabetical order. I will just repeat myself when I say that I have tried to pick players that have a something to prove rather than the biggest stars. Sometimes this may well be the same person. Other times it may be a rookie or a player on the verge of breaking through. Enjoy the reading.

Montreal Canadiens - Scott Gomez

Coming off a disappointing centennial campaign the Habs have made plenty of moves in the off-season. Gomez is one of the many additions. Gomez himself didn't have a vintage season or two with the Rangers. He still has one of the highest salaries in the league and the label of an overpaid star. To really prove his worth would mean to make a huge step forward and put up huge numbers. 58 points which he managed to collect last year is not gonna cut it. To help him on the rise will be his old mate from the Devils era Brian Gionta and another short but gifted scorer Mike Cammalleri. Gomez is the tallest of them and he isn't even 6 feet tall. If they succeed they will defy a major myth in the NHL concerning the size of the players. And to do it in the Habs uniform would make it even more special.

Nashville Predators - Steve Sullivan

Seeing Steve Sullivan back in action was truly amazing. Sullivan missed the entire 07-08 campaign and a total of 142 regular season games and 687 calendar days. Consequently he was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey. He is 35 and the age is soon going to catch up with him. He doesn't have that much time left but that will make him all the more hungry for success. He managed to amass 32 points in 41 games last season. That is not bad if you consider the long time he was kept out of action. At his best Steve is a PPG player and a legitimate top line performer. The Preds will need him in top shape and maybe then they can earn a playoff berth.

New Jersey Devils - Zach Parise

Parise has arrived on the big stage. He has set the bar high with 45 goals and 94 points. How will he fare under the notorious defensive mastermind Jacques Lemaire? Lemaire will surely like the fact that Parise had a plus 30 in the +/- column and he will expect nothing less from the speedy winger this year. Parise has played 4 seasons in the league never missing more than 1 game and he has steadily been improving his numbers. He has become the top offensive weapon for the Devils and one of the best snipers in the league. He is also good at staying out of the penalty box so most of the time he is available to help his team. Eight of the 45 tallies were game winners. Devils will hope that he can remain the clutch player for their offense for a number of years to come.

New York Islanders - John Tavares

Here we are again with a troubled franchise hoping their number one overall pick will be the savior. Tavares will experience the same pressure that was laden on Steven Stamkos last season and many other players before. He will do good if he can keep his feet firmly on the ground and play his game. If he can do that he will be a very valuable player for the Isles indeed. But Tavares alone cannot take them into the playoffs in the first season. Not even Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin could do that. Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos couldn't do it. So much for recent history. Nevertheless, it will be exciting how Tavares will respond to all the attention and if he can be a contender for the Calder Trophy.

New York Rangers - Marian Gaborik

Marian Gaborik is a player capable of scoring 50 goals. However, he is also a player capable of missing half the season with a pulled groin. The Rangers took a risk when they signed him hoping that the surgery he had will help put the groin problems behind him for good. Otherwise it will be the same old story all over again for Gabby. When healthy he is one of the fastest skaters and he has a wicked wrist shot. He has such a quick release that it often catches goalies napping. The Rangers fans remember him as the guy who scored 5 goals in a game against Rangers. He was then playing in a team coached by the above mentioned Jacques Lemaire. John Tortorella, the Rangers coach, intends to give a lot more freedom to Gaborik offensively. You have to wonder what will that do to his numbers.

Ottawa Senators - Pascal Leclaire

Last season was nothing short of a nightmare for both the Sens and Leclaire. After his breakthrough season he was expected to be the man to carry the Blue Jackets into the playoffs. But his season was utterly ruined by an injury and in the 12 games in which he appeared he did not even resemble the guy who had 9 shutouts in 07-08. Now there is a new challenge ahead of him. Steve Mason's rise rendered him redundant in Ohio and he had to move on. The Senators are known for their troubles with goalie and Leclaire is expected to be the solution. If that is to be the case, he needs to recapture his form from 2 seasons ago and avoid injuries. The goalie's confidence is essential and there is no knowing what last season did to Leclaire's confidence.

Philadelphia Flyers - Chris Pronger

There are few players in this league who fit the Broadstreet Bullies image of the Flyers better than Chris Pronger. He is one of the most feared hitters in the league. Not only because his legal hits hurt so much but also because he does not have a problem with using his elbow if needed. For this he is the second most often suspended player in league history. In total he was suspended 8 times during his career. He is also one of the very few defensemen to win the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP. He is still one of the top defensemen in the league. He can support the offensive equally as good as he can hit. He has a hard shot and knows his point man duties on the power play. It is always better to have someone like Pronger on your team and not playing against you.

Phoenix Coyotes - Kyle Turris

Last season Kyle was a little disappointing. The third overall pick in the 2007 entry draft was expected to be in the running for the Calder Trophy but that never looked like a possibility. The young center is just one of the crop of youngsters developing in the Coyotes system. We have already seen most of them in action. They will all be one year older and more experienced. Turris will no doubt show some progress but the question is how much. Can he become a regular scorer and top 6 forward? His success or failure may determine the future of the franchise. Coyotes are for sale and could be moving out of the Arizona desert unless hockey becomes success in the arid area. But drawing thousands of fans into the arena is perhaps too much to ask of this kid.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Jordan Staal

Another Staal won the cup at an early age. Jordan is yet to fulfill his potential. Unfortunately for him he is only the third center in Pittsburgh and the first two centers don't seem like slowing down for a couple more years. Jordan has the potential for being the top center on a team but as long as he stays in the steel city he will hardly get there. On the other hand he has developed into a very solid two-way forward who spends a lot of time on the penalty kill. He has size and skill and he knows what it takes to go deep in the playoffs. He might be the best third line center in the league. Despite that he still gets almost 20 minutes of ice time per game to develop his skills. What he lacks is top end wingers on his line. Watch out for him to make steady progress though this season.

San Jose Sharks - Dany Heatley

Heatley will not be remembered fondly in Ottawa for the way he left the team. Nonetheless, Sharks will welcome him with open arms and hope that he is the man to put the poor playoff performances behind them. Heatley has an incredible knack at scoring goals. When teamed up with world class passer like Joe Thornton we could see something spectacular. Thornton made Cheechoo into a 50 goal scorer once in his career. Just imagine what he could do with someone of the talent of Heatley. The hopes are high in San Jose that Dany will recapture his best form and remember the good times he had in Ottawa. Last season was hardly stellar for him. Moreover, Heatley has to fix his reputation which took a great hit when he requested a trade out of Ottawa.

St. Louis Blues - Erik Johnson

This time last year Erik Johnson had his head in tears after an episode with a golf cart which caused him to miss an entire season due to knee injury. The Blues picked him as number one overall full three years ago now. Since then he has spent one season at a university developing his skills, one solid rookie season as a full time Blues member and one season rehabbing from a very unfortunate injury. Now finally the Blues hope he can become a real factor and that he will help the team on their rise back to the top flight. The question is how much will an entire season of development at such a crucial age do to his future career. It is always sad to see young players miss a whole year which they could use to improve their skills. On the other hand it may harden him mentally that he was able to overcome this problem. He will definitely be a player to watch this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning - Steven Stamkos

I have mentioned it before. Number one draft picks cannot save a struggling franchise in their first season. Neither did Steven Stamkos manage that. In fact the first half of his season was very disappointing and he couldn't get going. In the second half, however, he has shown why he was picked as number one. He ended the season with a solid 46 points but that was far from what the optimistic front office of the Bolts expected. This year the Lightning fans will be hoping he can be excellent all season long. This year some of the attention will be consumed by the new star Victor Hedman and maybe that will help Stamkos to establish himself as a player the other teams have to watch out for.

Toronto Maple Leafs - Francois Beauchemin

There were plenty of changes in the Leafs camp initiated by the new GM Brian Burke. The Leafs will get an entirely new flavor and they will be a much harder team to play against. Beauchemin is just one of the pieces of the new puzzle. The physical D-man was kept out of action for much of last season. He is well known to Burke who has brought him into the Ducks team and made him an important part of the cup winning team in 2007. This is the second time Burke has decided to acquire Beauchemin. The task for Francois will be to regroup after last season in which he was limited to just 20 games. He was a bargain the first time for Burke, can he do it again?

Vancouver Canucks - Roberto Luongo

Luongo has recently signed a contract extension that will keep him in BC until the end of his career. He has become one of the most respected masked men in the game. He is the first goalie in many decades to be named the captain of the team. Although this is not official due to the rules, it says a lot about how much respect he is given in the dressing room. He is a man that is capable of backstopping a team very deep in the playoffs. Few people doubt that. But he hasn't managed to do that yet. Luongo will not only hope to fix that this season, but he will also try to earn a spot on the Canadian roster at the Winter Olympics which will take place in the Canucks' home arena. That's all the more motivation for Luongo to shine this season.

Washington Capitals - Semyon Varlamov

Do you know why the Caps have turned around the series against Rangers last spring? The reason was Semyon Varlamov. The Russian netminder was probably more valuable in that series than the Ovechkins, Semins and Greens. He has only played 6 regular season games and 13 in the post-season. The 1st round draft pick will be hot contender for the Calder Trophy this year and maybe he could even do a Steve Mason kind of season. But it will not be easy. Goalies often shine and then just burn out very fast and cannot find their best form. Varlamov needs to avoid that and has to stay concentrated to be able to become a true number one goalie for an ambitious franchise aiming for the Stanley Cup. It will certainly be worth keeping an eye on this kid.

This ends the brief list of players to watch this season. I hope you are as excited as I am about tomorrow's start of NHL season and don't forget to keep an eye out for the players mentioned here. Enjoy the hockey!