Highlanders give love to Buccigross

Doug writes to AR: Yup. I've been pretty busy of late but I've gone back and read some of his (Buccigross) previous columns and they were similarly amazing.

AR: Agreed. He makes the other ESPN hockey writers (especially Terry Frei and Scott Burnside) look like grade schoolers. Case in point the predictable anti-Bettman rant from Frei about the reinstatement of Bertuzzi. You can set your watch by Frei as master of the obvious article plot.

DM: So, what do we think of the new NHL landscape?

AR: I think it is the first time we've ever seen a level playing field. I have to admit, I like how it looks. A lot.

DM: Do you think the Pens have added enough firepower?

AR: The Pens can never have enough firepower. They should trade to get Jagr back.

DM: With offense versus defence the classic debate, who now is the best team in Pennsylvania?

AR: Philly. Until the Pens sign a goaltender and a stay at home defenseman they are still second fiddle to the very well balanced Flyers. Coincidentally, they too need a goalie. I see Cujo solving the Pens netminder problem in the short term, and MA Fleury doing so in the long term. How Bob Clarke handles his goaltending situaton is ALWAYS interesting, just never successful.

DM: My revised top 5 list: M.Lemieux, T.Bertuzzi, S.Gonchar, Z.Pallfy, M.Recchi.

AR: It's hard not to see Bertuzzi cracking the top 5 now that he is going to play 82 instead of 62 games. Interesting that you have Recchi ahead of St. Louis, and where is Lecavalier? Since I am at pick 7 it's nice to know that one of them will drop to me, and if Brian does the insane thing and tries to poach Richards, then I'll have two of those seven to choose from.

DM: What is P.Kariya doing in Nashville?

AR: Making up for his $1M flop season in Colorado. Word from a friend here is that Kariya was looking to stay as far away from the West coast as he could get (the rumour is negative family issues) and Nashville suits that desire for a low profile to a 'T'. He'll make Sullivan even more dangerous and with the developing defense corps in Nash, they should make the playoffs.

DM: Is Selanne desperate enough to follow him?

AR: Maybe, but Nashville isn't desperate enough to sign him. I see Selanne heading over to SJ where the weather is nice and he can add scoring punch to a contender.

DM: With Khabibulin in Chicago, will they make the playoffs?

AR: Probably. The forwards still aren't great for the Chi-Hawks, but the defense (with Aucoin) and net are now solid. The foundation is finally being set in place for them to be more than a turnstile of players for other teams.

DM: In fact, who doesn't make the playoffs? On my list are Washington, Carolina, Buffalo, Toronto, Islanders, Florida, and the NYR out east.

AR: I think Florida with their development and additions make it. I think TBay is going to find it really tough to compete with John Graham instead of Khabby. Washington is simply a disaster, and the Islanders are likely going to be even worse. New Jersey could concievably be missing both of their best defensemen (Stevens and Niedermayer), and while Brodeur is the best their is, there may not be enough offense for them to succeed if Elias is down with his Hep A battle for any length of time.

DM: In the West I'd have to say Minnesota, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Nashville, Chicago and, shockingly Calgary.

AR: You are on glue. Calgary just went to the finals and they improved themselves this off-season with the additions of Amonte and McCarty, and the re-signing of Iginla. Barring a wipe-out season by Kipper they are a real threat to get back to the finals. I see trouble for other teams; especially Detroit - who will not have a deep defense corps nor great goaltending (Osgood /Legace) moving forward - and where they are still relying on Chelios and Yzerman too much to carry the mail. Dallas could also be in trouble, they have Morrow and Turco still growing into stardom, but they also have aging legends like Guerin, Modano and Zubov and their diminishing returns may not be enough to get them back.

DM: If ALL 14 teams on my list do make the playoffs would you really be that surprised?

AR: I'd be shocked. Especially since I see Edmonton as a better bet to miss the playoffs than Calgary. Sure Pronger is a God, but they have Conklin and Markannen in net, and after Pronger the D is weak (Steve Staios? Igor Ulanov? Semenov? C'mon, they are filler at best). They also need a #1 pivot - cuz as we know, Peca is the perfect #2 (ditto for Buffalo's Drury).

DM: Any chance of you making it out for the draft now, Bob seemed to suggest it was a possible?

AR: There is an excellent chance I will be there for the Sunday. Dan has (kindly isn't a sufficient word) volunteered to pick me up at the tail end of my holidays in Fairmont and return me to Calgary, and then I will stick around for half a week to do some work for RV before flying home. So far, looks like my unblemished streak of attendance will be maintained.

DM: Are you going to answer all of my questions in turn or just redirect me to your web-site?

AR: Both! Website baby, website!

DM: Why isn't the hockey forum front and formost on your site at all times?

AR: Technically, I don't know how to preference hockey in the list of my posts, nor do I understand yet how to add 'folders' for different topics. Frankly, I'll be thrilled if I can figure out how to do a 'blogroll' at some point.