Northwest Division Preview

1st - Colorado
2nd - Minnesota
3rd - Calgary
4th - Vancouver
5th - Edmonton

Colorado - Okay. I may be a little biased from the game last night, but the Avs look pretty good. Statsny was unreal last night getting a hat trick against the Dallas Stars. He plays on the second line. Wolski, Sakic and Smyth make a formidable first line, and I expect that this team will outperform last year's result.

Minnesota - This is a good team, but not a great team. Gaborik needs to stay healthy if this team wants to be really competitive for the division crown, but it may be difficult considering Gaborik's history.

Calgary - The Flames will perform similarly to last year. Phaneuf is only getting better, but other teams in the conference have got some good young talent as well. The Flames are a solid team, but I can't consider them upper-echelon. They will battle for a playoff spot.

Vancouver - Last year, Vancouver's saving grace was Roberto Luongo, and this year is no different. Luongo is amazing, but the rest of the Canucks are mediocre. Besides Luongo, the closest player to an All-Star is Rory Fitzpatrick. The Sedins are good, but they cannot carry this team. I expect Vancouver to trade Naslund at the deadline in order to get some prospects.

Edmonton - Brian Burke may be happy to see the Oilers here. After the Dustin Penner debacle and the Vanek offer sheet, there are probably a lot of GM's that hate this team. There are a couple of guys on Edmonton that should be fun to watch though. Sam Gagner should be an interesting one. Overall, this team fell apart with the loss of Ryan Smyth. I believe that they have not replaced him yet and Colorado is now a better team for it.