Competition will be fierce in 56-game jaunt

Brevity could bring out best in NHL stars

The lists are seemingly endless. Who are the top 10 players in Canada? Who are the best goalies? Best centres? Best defencemen and wingers? Who has the edge when it comes to coaching?

With the NHL lumping all the Canadian teams together in a North Division this year, everyone with an opinion has spent the past few weeks ranking — and furiously debating — who the top-four teams are in the country? Is Toronto ahead of Montreal? Is Edmonton better than Calgary? Where would you slot Vancouver and Winnipeg? Is Ottawa even worth mentioning?

No matter which clubs you put first and last, the answers all lead to the same conclusion: qualifying for the playoffs has never been more difficult for the seven Canadian teams.

Then again, it's not like the Pittsburgh Penguins have it any easier.

Think qualifying in the top 4 in a division that includes Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg is going to be a challenge? Try beating out Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington, and the New York Islanders and Rangers in the renamed East Division.

“Certainly, the teams in the East are all rival teams that ended up being together,” Penguins GM Jim Rutherford told Postmedia news in a phone interview on Monday. “It's a unique year. We're doing what we have to do. I don't think there's much point in breaking this down into what teams we'd like to see match up against each other.

“It will be really good. A lot of intense games. It will be great for the fans.”

Indeed, getting eight games of Sid versus Ovie could be just as entertaining as watching Connor McDavid versus Auston Matthews battle it out 10 times this year. But the real entertainment could come from watching the standings on a daily basis.

Just don't ask us to rank who will finish among the top 4 in the East Division.

Are the Bruins, who could be without Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak for the beginning of the season, still the team to beat? Where would you slot Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders? How about a Capitals team that lost goalie Braden Holtby and then his replacement in Henrik Lundqvist? Could we see a shift in the balance of power now that the Rangers have No. 1 pick Alexis Lafrenière and the Sabres have Taylor Hall and Eric Staal?

“It's not supposed to be easy,” said Rutherford. “This is a major league sport. There's parity. There's a lot of it in the league. Going back to the last couple of years, there aren't any easy games. In a shortened season, it makes it that much tougher.”

Some teams will obviously have it easier than others. The West Division, which features Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, St. Louis and Vegas, has five teams that ranked in the bottom 11 last year.

The Central Division, meanwhile, has both of last year's Stanley Cup finalists in Tampa Bay and Dallas. But aside from Carolina and Columbus, they also have a lot of middle-of-the-road teams such as Chicago and Nashville, not to mention a Detroit team that should finish last again.

“I'm not making any quotes about our division being easy or whatever, because every team can make the playoffs these days,” said Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. “Every team is good. I'm not being picky or saying anything. We have two Stanley Cup finalists in our group. Nashville is a great team that always makes the playoffs. Carolina is good. Chicago is up and coming. Carolina is good. You better be careful what you wish for.”

And with only 56 games on the schedule, you better come ready to play — especially with a potential fourpoint swing in the standings on the line every night. Like the lockout-shortened season in 2012, which featured 48 games, a couple of bad weeks could mean the difference between making — or missing — the playoffs.

“There's a little bit more room for error in a 56-game season versus a 48-game season,” said Rutherford. “But you don't have a lot of room to be out of it for long.”

“It's going to be like going from a seven-game playoff series to a best-of-five,” said Kekalainen. “When it's a 82 game schedule you have time to correct yourself. You have to get off to a good start. Every game counts.”

Every game should be exciting. Although, without Crosby coming into Canada or Elias Pettersson battling it out against the Golden Knights, there will be something to watch, aside from the fans in the building missing from the action this year as well.

“I love those games,” Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman told Postmedia news of playing against the teams in what was the Atlantic Division. “Montreal, Toronto, Boston — those are great teams and a lot of fun to play against. It is what it is. Guys want to play hockey.”

Who knows? Maybe this is a chance to finally see a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Final. If so, Hedman is crossing his fingers for a Tampa Bay versus Toronto series.

“That would be fun,” Hedman said of the possibility of playing against Toronto in the Stanley Cup Final. “They're a great team and they're trending upwards.”

Jim Rutherford