Devils Case Study

The regular season ended with the Millionaires in first place followed by the Northside. Bringing up the rear was Glace Bay who, according to reports, managed just two wins. All clubs, however, qualified for the postseason. More on the playoffs later.

Finally, the Montreal defense is improved in the sense that it is as deep as it ever has been. General manager Marc Bergevin has definitely put emphasis on defensemen this off-season. The signings of Joel Hanley, Ryan Johnston, Mark Barberio and the drafting of Noah Juulsen and Simon Bourque demonstrates this focus.

A video of enforcers Daniel Maggio and Brian McGrattan fighting went viral. They were landing punches during the game. Ultimately, the hockey fight led to an unconscious McGrattan. When Justin Abdelakder watched the video, it reminded him of hockey's history of fighting. In the past, fights in hockey were a common occurrence.

The Rangers might be the biggest regression candidate this year. They are a perennial playoff team—they’ve

The Nashville Predators have been going through a seemingly endless process since entering the NHL in 1998. It did not take the Predators long to establish a successful and competitive nature among the franchise. Their first five seasons they struggled becoming a team and missed the playoffs, however, they have come together and made the playoffs every year since. The Predator’s on-ice performance was consistently among the top three teams in the league, but still faced many challenges.

AAAA Players caught in between the AHL and NHL. AAAA comes from Baseball meaning a player caught between AAA and the MLB. Hockey is no different with the AHL and NHL. These players do have many short comings these players just can’t seem to put a complete game together. The NHL is just a step faster step more physical everything is just intensified that little bit more. The NHL is a very cautious league in were a little mistake can cost you a game something can’t afford a third or fourth line player to cost you.

In spite of the fact the Sun Devils had a solid record on the 2014 season, that record might be a little deceiving given the fact the Sun Devils had a season of highs and lows and probably weren't as good as its record indicated. That said, the offense certainly did its part by racking up solid numbers across the board. The team scored 36.9 PPG while taking good care of the ball with only 13 turnovers throughout the season.

Toronto’s first season under Mike Babcock was one to forget since they are in the rebuilding process and finished 30th overall with 69 points. The Leafs also traded away star players Phil Kessel, captain Dion Phaneuf, and James Reimer in order to start from scratch and create a new team identity. They are looking to improve after securing the first overall pick in the upcoming draft and will most likely take prospect Austun Matthews to help get them back to the playoffs after being out since the 2012-2013 season.

It has taken some time to adapt to the new NHL rules, both watching the game and playing the

Quality of competition aside, the Knights have been the recipients of some extreme puck luck. While Marc-Andre Fleury has been an exceptional goaltender, his last season with the Penguins indicates he won't be able to uphold anywhere near the .963 save percentage he's sporting now, especially with the Knights' giving up the 29th most shot attempts in the league so far. James Neal is looking like the elite goal scorer he was a few seasons ago, but you'd better not bank on him shooting at 45% all year.

So in all they turned one player in Josh Norman who was going to require a max deal into nine players. Many of who are vital to the success and chemistry of this team the lesson here is be loyal to Carolina they'll be loyal to you. If not it's okay will find quality players that want to be in the Queen city. Don't mess with Dave Gettleman he's not afraid to play

Is it the coaching?A lack of skill? Or just bad luck? Whatever the reason the team has underperformed. Matt Engler said, “We haven’t been finishing chances, and have been a little unlucky, we have showed so much progress, but have to make sure we are doing the simple stuff right”. From watching the team you could tell what the problem is. The defense is great though the first 8 games they had 5 clean sheets in 9 games. The offense has was the problem, they have been inconsistent and unable to capitalize on good chances, and set pieces. The first 8 games, they beat up on low level teams such as Bridgeport Central, and Trinity Catholic where they scored 7 and 6 goals respectively, but had been held to 2 goals or fewer in the other 6

Greyhounds will rely on KJ Davis , and Travis Ingram to fend off former teammate Dereon Seabron and his current teammate Joe Bryant Jr. Both teams come into this game with an unblemished record, one team will leave will not leave that way. When you have a game with this much superstar power it sometimes tends to be the role players and coaching

He does outstanding outreach and is always engaging fans off the rink. On the rink, he serves as a member of the best fourth line in hockey. Split on whether he comes back or not, as you know some of the more aggressive, non-cost conscious general managers out there will offer him way too much money for his role. Knowing Martin and having been around him for four years now, I get the feeling the Islanders will get the first and last shot to retain his services. Said yesterday he respects it’s a business, but absolutely loves it

Even though the offensive numbers have been slow to arrive (Chimera with 4-5-9 in 25 games but three goals past five games and Ladd 3-3-6 in 25 games but 1-2-3 in past five games), they have combined with existing veterans to help the Islanders out of the types of malaise that struck the team during the months of October (4-5-0) and November (4-5-4).