Alex Ovechkin has a new coach to get used to, and the Rangers may pay a price for their reliance on blocking shots. (Will Schneekloth/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

Every NHL season starts with expectations and conjures up predictions about where teams might finish, but this is a season like no other. You can’t even compare it too closely to the lockout-shortened 1995 campaign, one played with a 26-team NHL, a different conference alignment and playoff format, no shootout or “loser’s point,” and far less parity. And even in a normal season, there is so much uncertainty in sports that preseason predictions are a waste of time.

SI.com colleagues Brian Cazeneuve, Sarah Kwak and Adrian Dater have their thoughts on the upcoming season and you can find them here:

Power Rankings | Milestones | Central | Northwest | Pacific | Southeast | Atlantic | Northeast

Our favorite preseason pastime at Red Light is trying to boil down each team’s success or failure to one or a few essential themes. Each club has them and the answers to these questions, theoretically at least, should go a long way to determining if it plays up to expectations and potential. Keep in mind they all take place within the framework of the shortened season imposing its own unique characteristics on the playoff chase, which we pondered in this post.

Below are the essential questions for each team in the East and here’s the link for teams in the West:

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The Canadiens’ 36-year-old journeyman winger Mathieu Darche is hardly a millionaire, but the perennially struggling Maple Leafs have been ranked by Forbes magazine as the NHL’s most valuable franchise. (Nick Turchiaro/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

The owners and players are continuing their negotiations with the help of federal mediators, and we’re not going to hear anything about what is going on or even where it’s going on until the process is over, one way or another. There’s a gag order on both parties, thankfully, since every previous self-imposed attempt to keep things quiet has failed. Usually, the less heard about what’s going on, the better. We mentioned long ago that when you don’t hear anything about negotiations, that can be a sign that progress is being made, but when things aren’t going well, you’ll hear about it, either at formal press briefings or leaked to the media, and we’ve had lots of briefings and leaks until now.

If you want to know more about the mediation process, Eric Macramalla provides it here at TSN.ca.

UPDATE: Mediation concluded after two days with the sides remaining apart, unable to close the gap on their differences. Here’s TSN’s report.

By the way, if you think this is a battle strictly between billionaires and millionaires, you might want to read Pat Hickey’s story in The Montreal Gazette about Mathieu Darche, who for many years as a pro shuttling between the NHL and minor leagues made around $75,000 and only got his first one-way NHL contract for $500,000 per season when he was 33 years old. Darche, who turned 36 on Monday and is a free agent now, has never made a million a season. He told Hickey that there are 200 NHL players who, going into the lockout, had signed contracts for less than $1 million. It’s a good story and provides some valuable insight into a sizable portion of the player pool: the guys who don’t often show up in the headlines and, just like many of us, have to keep an eye on their spending habits.

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The Florida Panthers are regularly portrayed as an NHL basket case. (Elliott Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

What is this lockout about? That is something that the NHL’s team owners have never clearly articulated, but one thing we’ve been led to believe is that while a group of established clubs are generating huge revenues, many more are not and some are losing boatloads of money. One franchise that is frequently cited as drowning in red ink is the Florida Panthers, which Forbes Magazine pegged as having lost $7 million last year. During the last nine years, Florida supposedly took a $68 million bath, about $7.5 million annually.

But in a new post, Johnathan Willis of The Edmonton Journal’s Cult of Hockey blog writes about how he hunted down and examined publicly available documents of the Panthers’ parent company’s finances and they show a much different and more complicated picture. Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, which owns the team and controls its arena, actually showed a profit of $117.4 million between 1998 and 2012, including a stretch in which the Panthers missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons.

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Until last season’s playoff run, their first berth since 2000, the Panthers were a mediocre to poor club and tough box office sell, factors that have nothing to do with the NHL’s expired CBA. (Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

On Monday, we looked at Jimmy Devellano’s strange remarks about NHL players, who he suggested are viewed by ownership as “cattle.” How many owners actually feel that way might be in question, but another of his remarks might be a more accurate representation of this group’s sentiment as the lockout continues. “The owners simply aren’t going to let a union push them around,” Jimmy D. said. “It’s not going to happen.”

And, apparently, they are going to assert themselves even if it means losing another entire season — or maybe even two, or however long it takes until they can get the players to yield. When former Florida Panthers executive Stu Siegel writes in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated that he’s “depressed” to see another work stoppage and notes “there’s plenty of blame to go around,” you have to take into consideration that the owners’ intransigence is a big component.

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Defenseman Brian Campbell has Stanley Cup experience on a team hoping to end Florida’s playoff series drought. The Devils say that sniper Ilya Kovalchuk (right) is healthy. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

It’s the series that few people are watching and that’s really a shame because it’s been just as compelling as the rest of the first round, but without any of the histrionics that have accompanied most of the other matchups. So if you haven’t seen any of the Panthers-Devils clash, Tuesday is your big chance — there’s no other game on the playoff schedule to compete with their Game 6 encounter.

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Of concern: Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist showed signs of wearing down as the regular season wore on. (Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

If you’re looking for Stanley Cup predictions, you’ve come to the wrong place. As we’ve previously written, predictions are a waste of time. However, we’re willing to take some stabs at what is each playoff team about. What do they have to do to win? What must they avoid to prevent things from going south?

So here are the keys to the first round match-ups in the Eastern Conference. You can find the keys to the Western Conference here.

NEW YORK RANGERS (1) vs. OTTAWA SENATORS (8)

Rangers - Who they are and how they win:  This team is all about character and sacrifice, starting with captain Ryan Callahan. The Rangers play with unmatched passion, and their shot-blocking and energy are exceptional. They don’t lose a lot of races for the puck and they take hits to make plays. They roll four lines and have better team speed than some think, especially up front, which gives them a dangerous quick-strike offense. Some  people believe New York is a one-line team, but it had decent secondary scoring this season and, because coach John Tortorella has juggled lines all year, he can probably correct any imbalance. Solid defensively, the Rangers keep opponents to the outside and have world-class goaltending with Henrik Lundqvist.

What could go wrong: . The Rangers’ shot-blocking and physical sacrifice could lead to injuries and a depleted lineup. Lundqvist was not at his best in the late going and that would be problematic if it continues in the postseason. They also don’t have a great power play and taking advantage of those opportunities in the postseason is crucial. The Rangers could get frustrated if their power play falters. The worst thing they could do is be overconfident or take Ottawa too lightly. The Senators are just as fast a team and they have played well against New York all season.

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A shaky second half by Tim Thomas and backup Tuukka Rask’s injury are causes for concern in Boston. (Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

It’s the oldest adage in the game: You win in the playoffs with great goaltending. But sometimes you win with only good or even average goaltending (as we pointed out a year ago when we looked at how the postseason clubs were fixed at the position on the eve of the annual tournament), but no one can deny how much Tim Thomas meant to the Bruins in their march to the Stanley Cup last season. His winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP marked the 15th time that a goalie has been so honored since the trophy was first presented in 1965.

Suffice to say, it’s hard to go anywhere in the spring if you have a leaky guy standing — or falling — in the crease, so with the playoffs only nine days away, here’s how each Eastern Conference club’s goaltending shapes up. Click here for out Western breakdown Read More…

Under the current playoff seeding format, it’s possible that the Blackhawks and Red Wings would meet in Detroit on the final day of the regular season in a game that each team wants to lose. (Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel
The Sharks jumped into first place in the Pacific Division on Monday night — and good for them, because, as we pointed out last week, they are making the most of their stretch run during which they play almost all of their games  head-to-head against the teams they are fighting for a playoff spot. Of course, finishing first in the division will make San Jose’s points total moot, because that guarantees the Sharks a playoff spot.

Another thing that first place will give the Sharks – as it does all division-winners — is home ice advantage in the first round. And that provision in the NHL playoff format can handicap other teams that have a better record but a lower playoff seed.

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The Rangers hold a tiebreaker advantage over the pursuing Penguins for the overall Eastern lead by having more regulation and OT wins minus shootout victories. (Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

As the days of the regular season dwindle down to a precious few, the playoff picture has begun to get clearer, but only somewhat. Much remains undecided, including the bottom qualifiers in each conference and the first round seedings.

From a strictly mathematical perspective, only the Blues and Rangers have clinched playoff spots and only the Blue Jackets have been eliminated.

Today, let’s look at the East where, realistically, the Canadiens, Islanders, Lightning and free-falling Maple Leafs have little chance of qualifying (and here’s a look at the West). The Hurricanes, who have played well of late, remain barely alive. They are a very long shot with a tall mountain to climb and three teams to climb over.

After that, there’s still lot’s up for grabs.

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This fracas led to P.K. Subban (bottom) being targeted by a remark that was perceived as racist by the referee who heard it. (Doug Murray/Reuters)

By Stu Hackel

The NHL suspended Florida forward Krys Barch for the game the Panthers played Thursday night against the Rangers — and, yes, I am very weary of writing about suspensions, but this one is a bit different.

The reason for the one-gamer was Barch’s use of “inappropriate language” during his team’s game against Montreal in a now-traditional New Year’s Eve afternoon contest. It was an unusual transgression and the whole incident remains murky, which is too bad, because the NHL could have turned it into a valuable, teachable moment or clearly exonerated a player who was wrongly accused of making a racist remark.

Let’s briefly run through the event as best we can. With 1.2 seconds left in a first period that had gotten feisty, there was a face-off in the Florida zone to the right of goalie Jose Theodore. The puck was dropped and Habs defenseman P.K. Subban, who had lined up in the left face-off circle, charged the net in hope of creating some havoc, if not to knock the puck past Theodore.

The puck went harmlessly in another direction, however, and Subban ended up bumping with Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson at the top of the crease. The buzzer sounded, Gudbranson slashed at Subban’s stick, and Subban shoved him with a forearm. Gudbranson then threw his arm around Subban’s neck and wrestled him to his knees as players from both teams, and the linesmen, began to converge.

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