Pre-Season Preview: #5 Winnipeg Wasps

Coach: Joel Hafnor
Trophy Case: POH4 Championship---POH5 Wrath of Reid

POH5 Regular Season Finish: 10th
Postseason Finish: DNQ

Pre-Season Rank
Forwards: 5th
Defensemen: 7th
Goaltenders: 1st
Coaching Pedigree: 3rd
Overall: 5th
Projected Win Total: 77

Keepers:
C Nicklas Backstrom (3rd Year in Winnipeg)
RW Chris Stewart (2nd Year)
LW Dany Heatley (3rd Year)
D James Wisniewski (2nd Year)
G Ilya Bryzgalov (3rd Year)

Outlook
Winnipeg Wasps GM Joel Hafnor has been on quite the roller coaster ride over the last 18 months. From winning a Prince's Pot in the spring of 2010, to finishing 41 games under .500 a year later and earning the wretched Wrath of Reid trophy...a stain that will never leave his coaching résumé. Hafnor has made it public that the quest for a second Prince's Pot Championship is his number one fantasy priority, which is saying a lot for a man who eats, sleeps and poops fantasy sports. Up front, the POH6 Wasps are much more respectable than the POH5 version, with first round selection Patrick Kane, Loui Eriksson, Mike Ribeiro and Joe Pavelski adding depth behind the keeper trio of Backstrom-Stewart-Heatley. The blue-line took a significant hit when Hafnor panicked by trading blue-chipper Drew Doughty to Istan in the midst of his contract dispute, but Brent Burns could provide decent return value as he joins the offensive-oriented Sharks. Keeper James Wisniewski is suspended for 1/10th of the regular season after a dirty hit on Cal Clutterbuck in the pre-season. Erik Karlsson is an interesting young prospect whom the Wasps are hoping will build on his 13 G, 45-point 2010-11. If the Wasps are to return to the postseason in POH6, it will be on the back of its three netminders. Bryzgalov moves from Phoenix to Philadelphia in the offseason, which should provide him a lot more offensive support. Jonathan Quick still appears to be the man in Los Angeles, but with Jonathan Bernier lying in wait he may not start 61 games like he did a year ago. Semyon Varlamov is the man in Colorado, and will try and prove himself with the upstart Avs who feature perhaps the largest set of defensemen in the league. (Large doesn't always mean effective, but the Avalanche blue line is filled with giants). We here at Channel 7 expect an improved Wasps club in 2011-12, but a return to championship contention may have to wait another year or two.




Players to Watch:

C-Nicklas Backstrom

The braintrust in Winnipeg views young Nicklas Backstrom as the undisputed No. 1 player in the organization. Last season, his scoring output fell from 101 to just 65 as the Capitals adapted to Bruce Boudreau's defensive minded philosophy. Though the Wasps consider themselves a goaltending-first squad this season, the offense will need more than 65 points from Backstrom in order to punch a playoff ticket.

G-Jonathan Quick

First of all, wake up Jonathan, you look like a dumpster in this picture. Secondly, Quick is the key man in net for the Wasps this season. If he can post similar numbers to the 35 W, 2.24 GAA, 91.8 SV% campaign he enjoyed last year than Winnipeg will have a deadly 1-2 punch in net. But this could very easily become a timeshare in LA as uber-talented Jonathan Bernier continues assert himself.

C-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

This weasely little character your looking at could be a centerpiece for the Winnipeg Wasps organization, or he could be dropped 7 games into the season. Hafnor gave the 2011 No. 1 overall pick  a chance after the Oilers announced Nugent-Hopkins would be on the roster for opening night. There is a possibility the team will ultimately move him to the AHL, as he still has some filling out to do. It will be interesting to see how Hafnor handles the presence of Nugent-Hopkins, and whether he will cut ties with him if the young gun struggles, or if he'll hold onto him for the future.

Pre-Season Preview: #6 Alberta Bears

Coach: Sean Slevin
Trophy Case: POH1 Championship---POH1 Associate's Cup Winner---POH3 Rathje Division Winner---POH3 Manager of the Year---POH4 Rathje Division Winner

POH5 Regular Season Finish: 4th
Postseason Finish: Semi-Final Loss

Pre-Season Rank
Forwards: 4th
Defensemen: 6th
Goaltenders: 10th
Coaching Pedigree: 2nd
Overall: 6th
Projected Win Total: 73

Keepers:
C Eric Staal (3rd Year in Alberta)
RW Martin St. Louis (3rd Year)
LW Zach Parise (3rd Year)
D Dan Boyle (3rd Year)
G Tim Thomas (2nd Year)

Outlook
With five different champions in five seasons, the discussion of "greatest manager in league history" would likely vary depending on who you asked. But with 509 career wins, two division championships, one Manager of the Year award, an Associate's Cup and a Prince's Pot to his name, we here at Channel 7 are comfortable in giving the nod to Slevin until further notice. In his five-year career, not once has Slevin missed the playoffs...and POH2 remains the only year in which he failed to advance to the semi-finals. All that being said, Alberta fans have waited 4 1/2 years since their last championship and the expectation is the same for Coach Slevin as it has been every season: win it all. The offensive firepower should be elevated from POH5, as franchise player Zach Parise returns after missing all of the 2010-11 season. Parise, like fellow keeper Eric Staal, will put the puck on net 300 times if healthy. Slevin did a nice job surrounding finishers Parise and Staal with set-up experts Martin St. Louis (68 A in '10-'11), Claude Giroux (51), and Derek Roy (25 in only 35 games). The defense may be better than I give them credit for, led by keeper Dan Boyle who will play on a very potent San Jose power play unit. Boyle is joined by Keith Yandle (57 pts in '10-'11), John-Michael Liles (46) and Kevin Shattenkirk (43). All I've done is praise the Bears, but here's where I get to explaining their 6th-place projection....goaltending. Tim Thomas comes back for another season after finishing second in the Vezina voting last season. Thomas has little help, however, as Craig Anderson will get a lot of time in net for the probably-not-very-good-Ottawa Senators, while Al Montoya finds himself in the midst of a three-man timeshare in New York with Rick DiPietro and Evgeni Nabokov. I think of the NWT Moose of last season when I think of these Bears, a team that will find a way to sneak into the playoff picture by virtue of  a high-octane offensive attack.
Players to Watch:

LW-Zach Parise

Maybe nobody in Alberta wants to admit it, but everyone knows it: the Bears' success will depend largely on Parise's ability to recover from the knee injury he sustained last year. With him, they are one of the most feared offensive squads in the league. Without him and they become middle class. That won't suffice with the goaltending as questionable as it appears.

SF/PF-Tim Thomas

This versatile big man can really shoot from long range. Nothing that he does on or off the court will affect how the Alberta Bears perform this season.

G-Tim Thomas

The Bears, who are thin at the Goalie position, will be depending heavily on another stellar season from Thomas. The Bruins backstop posted an extraordinary 35 W, 2.00 GAA and 93.8 SV% in 2010-11. With young stallion Tuukka Rask waiting in the wings, and the Bruins hoping to preserve Thomas somewhat for another postseason run at the Cup, it'd be hard to imagine him duplicating a similarly brilliant season.

C-Derek Roy
Roy was on a tear last season before suffering a season-ending quad injury 35 games into the year. The Sabres center had 10 G and 25 A in that span. The Sabres spent the off-season upgrading their offensive talent, and nobody figures to benefit more from that than Roy. He'll be the Bears' No. 2 center alongside Eric Staal, but don't be totally caught off guard if he leads a talented group of centers (Stastny, Lecavalier, Spezza) in scoring.