Lets finish up the Eastern Conference with the Southeastern Division where the league MVP thus far Alexander Ovechkin leads a hot Washington club.
Southeast Division Standings 1/15/09
1. Washington Capitals 59 points
2. Carolina Hurricanes 47 points
3. Florida Panthers 46 points
4. Tampa Bay Lightning 36 points
5. Atlanta Thrashers 33 points
Washington Captials
Washington is red hot as of la! te going 7-3 in their last ten games, including last nights victory over their new rivals in the Pittsburgh Penguins. OV8 has gotten the better of Crosby and Malkin yet again through his physical play. Ovechkin to me is the clear MVP of the league thus far, with Boston's Marc Savard in second. OV8 is a fantastic goal scorer, we know that. But what many do not realize how physical he is and how that elevates his game. Ovechkin is the complete package. He has a great supporting cast as well lead by Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom. These two guys continue to develop into great skaters for this team. Washington also has the league's most underrated defenseman in Mike Green. To me though this team is weakest at the goalie position. Jose Theodore is a solid guy, but is not a feature goaltender. They need to find him a complement. Brent Johnson has been great, do not get me wrong, but I still think they need more to compete with Boston. Washington is very close to a Stanley ! Cup and will run away with this division.
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina missed out on the postseason last year because of a late run by Washington. The Capitals were only team to make the playoffs from this division last season. This year Carolina has a chance at the 7th or 8th seed if they keep up their play of the first half. This is a team that needs to be active at the trade deadline because Florida is in their rear view mirror and Buffalo and Pittsburgh are hanging around for those slots as well. It starts betw! een the pipes with Cam Ward. When he is at his best, this team is at its best. Ward has been up and down so far, he needs to be consistent. Offensively this team has some good pieces like Eric Staal and Ray Whitney, but the depth is not there. Rod Brind'Amour is one guy in particular that needs to raise his game. Carolina will be in it till the end, but unless they add some more talent they will find themselves on the outside looking in once again.
Florida Panthers
Florida does not ! have the superstars, but they have depth and great chemistry. ! Players like David Booth and Stephen Weiss are there best scorers and playmakers neither marquee names, but they get the job done. I like the make-up of this team. Two decent goalies in Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson sit in the net. Vokoun has always been a good goalie, but I would like to see Anderson get more starts because he has been great in the time he has had. If they get him in the net more, this team will continue to compete. I like this team and I think they sneak into the playoffs as an 8th seed. If they do that, they would likely play Boston a team they have had a lot of success against the past few seasons. Do not sleep on the Florida Panthers.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay was everyone's darkhorse this year because of all their offseason acquisitions and the hiring of longtime ESPN analyst Barry Melrose. Well, that didn't last long as we was fired very early in the season. This move doomed this team right then and there. I hate the firing of a new coach this quick, are you kidding me? You cannot expect things to get better after ten games. The season is a marathon not a sprint. Bad front office decision and that is why this team has no hope this year. They have the talent all over the ice, except in the net. Mike Smith is not a premiere starter, in fact he should be a backup. Olaf Kozlig has been abyssmal as well. This team has no shot until they stop making bonehead firings and find a goalie.
Atlanta Thrashers
Notice a trend yet? Well you should, teams without good goaltending are in the cellars of their division. Atlanta is one of those teams. Neither Johan Hedberg or Kari Lehtonen are starting goaltenders and that is all Atlanta has. This team is dead, forget about them. They have a star in Ilya Kovalchuk, but not much else. This team needs a makeover this offseason starting between the pipes. Until then they will be a cellar dweller in the East's weakest division.
Next up we begin the Western Conference divisions, starting with Central Division home of the defending champion ! Detroit Red Wings.
