Thursday, September 24, 2009

Bubble Boys-- Pacific Division

It's time to end this bit and we'll end it with the otherside of the continent. Huzzah.

ANAHEIM DUCKS: With the addition of Saku Koivu, it will be between Ryan Carter, Petteri Nokelainen and Andrew Ebbett for the final center spot. Ebbett seems to be the long-shot in this. Defensively, Luca Sbisa, Brett Festerling, and Brendan Mikkelson will be fighting for the sixth spot, though Sbisa could go back as an overager to the Junior ranks to get more seasoning.

DALLAS STARS: It was a rough season last year, but the Stars got a lot of new stars to fill the void, including one Jamie Benn. However, the battle will be on the blue line with Karlis Skrastins, Mark Fistric, Jeff Woywitka, and Ivan Vishnevskiy for the fifth and sixth defensemen on the team. Though, the defense could be the biggest question mark in the whole line-up, as everything is set for the most part.

LOS ANGELES KINGS: On the right hand side, Teddy Purcell will be in rough with John Zeiler on his heels, as Marc-Andre Cliche and Brayden Schenn will battle for a center spot, especially with Oscar Moller being sent down to the minors. Trevor Lewis will need a good camp in order to get Raitis Ivanans off of the roster. Of course, the battle in net will be something between the three goalies there, though Jon Quick seems to have the edge over Erik Ersberg and Jonathan Bernier.

PHOENIX COYOTES: Wow....what is there to say about this club that hasn't been debated in court already. The battle of the back-ups will be between Jason Labarbera and Al Montoya to see who will catch Ilya Bryzgalov when he falters. Daniel Winnik and Viktor Tikhonov will be fighting for the right wing spot since Radim Vrbata was added back to the roster. With the addtion of Vernon Fiddler, Kyle Turris could be pushed back to the minors unless he surprises people in camp.

SAN JOSE SHARKS: With the addition of Dany Heatley, the pressure will be on. However, that helped clear up the left wing spot. Up the middle, Scott Nichol will be fighting Logan Couture for the last center spot and both could battle Torrey Mitchell for the third line slot.

That's it. Thanks for imploring me through this gimmick and here's hoping for better things ahead on this blog. And for imploring me, I give you this:

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