This is the second of two parts of the National Hockey League preview. Today, I will preview the dominant Western Conference and its divisions: the Central, Northwest, and Pacific.

Central

Once again, this division should be won by the Detroit Red Wings. They have the best of everything in the NHL. They do not have many weaknesses, but if there is one, it is the special teams. For a team that has as much talent as they have, the special teams were average at best last season. However, they have so much depth, defense and scoring to overlook that.

They will be moderately challenged by the St. Louis Blues, who are now in need of depth since the losses of Brett Hull, Steve Duchesne and others. They were the highest scoring team last year, but now they will have to rely on a defense that must improve. They should be a playoff team, but they won’t be fourth overall in the league like last year. However, this is one of the weaker divisions in the league.

The Best of the Rest:

The Chicago Blackhawks have made strides to improve. They acquired star-quality players such as Doug Gilmour and Paul Coffey. Every year, they play great defense but have lacked offense. Now they have the best of both only in older versions. They have added new coach Dirk Graham, a former Blackhawk, to the team. If they make the playoffs, they will be a low seed but they have certainly gotten better.

The Nashville Predators start NHL play this season, so they will probably finish near the bottom of the league. The team is comprised of hard workers and have a solid goalie, Mike Dunham, who came from the New Jersey system. There isn’t much hope here but they may even be better than the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. For the cellar in the league, it will be a fight between these three.

Northwest

The Colorado Avalanche will win this hands down. They have one of the best teams in the Western Conference and won’t be challenged. They have superstars everywhere: Patrick Roy in goal, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg at forward and good group of defensemen. There is too much talent here to not win. The only way they will lose it is if they forfeit games.

The Best of the Rest:

The Edmonton Oilers, a used-to-be above average team, will probably suffer badly because Curtis Joseph left the team to join the Toronto Maple Leafs. That has to be their biggest concern because they are deep everywhere else. They are going to have to score more and kill penalties better just to be in the hunt for a playoff spot. Don’t expect much this year unless they get these areas solved.

The Vancouver Canucks won’t make the post-season. They need solid goaltending and better team defense to make any noise. Also, they need better special teams, which finished in the bottom fourth of the league last season. They have a lot of old players such as Mark Messier who are well past their primes. They could be good in a couple of years when the old guys retire, but don’t expect much this year.

The Calgary Flames have good talent, but that is all. They are a young team with 12 players between 22-25. Letting them develop will take time, but the time isn’t this year. They need better goaltending for this year and more offense from the defense position. Derek Morris led the team with 29 points at defense and that has to improve. They will probably place ahead of the Canucks in the division.

Pacific

The Dallas Stars are the reigning President’s Trophy winner for best record in the league. There is no reason why they shouldn’t win this division, which is inconsistent to say the least. The Stars have super depth with great talent, and awesome special teams and goaltending. There are no weaknesses with this team.

The Best of the Rest:

The Los Angeles Kings are a fast-improving team. They improved last year when they finally made the playoffs. They should make the playoffs this year, but are probably a year away from contending for the Stanley Cup. They need help killing penalties and scoring on the power play, but are solid after that. With good, young talent, they should improve some more this year.

The Phoenix Coyotes have great talent on paper, but consistency at goalie is a problem. Nikolai Khabibulin is good, but won’t win in the playoffs. Turmoil between players and management could make the playoffs a dream, but they have the tools to get home-ice in the first round of the playoffs if things get straightened out.

It’s hard to believe the Anaheim Mighty Ducks made the playoffs two years ago. Now, they are a below-average team. Even with star talent in the oft-injured Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, they are bad. The defense was awful last year when it gave up the third most goals in the league. The team is owned by Disney and they need to shell out some cash to be considered average. Simply put, no playoffs.

The San Jose Sharks look either very good or very bad. If not for a 4-11-1 start last year, they would’ve been in the playoffs. They have to score more goals and find more depth. They can go up or down depending on depth because everything else is pretty solid.