“You have to put Chicago and L.A. at the top of the Western Conference again…they’re still the favorites.” – Jeremy Roenick
“The West appears to be so much stronger yet again.” – Keith Jones
NHL Season Preview Airs Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Season Begins Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN with Flyers-Bruins on Wednesday Night Rivalry, Followed by Sharks-Kings at 10 p.m. ET
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 6, 2014 – Two Days Until Hockey – NHL Live analysts Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones will join host Liam McHugh and analyst Mike Milbury tomorrow night on NBCSN’s NHL Season Preview tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET. The program will provide commentary and analysis as NHL teams prepare for the 2014-15 season, and will also feature segments with NHL analysts Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire.
The puck drops on the NHL regular season in two days, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, when the Boston Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday Night Rivalry, followed by a Pacific Division showdown between the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks at 10 p.m. ET.
Following are quotes from Roenick and Jones heading into the 2014-15 NHL season:
Roenick on the Western Conference favorites: “The Kings have to be the favorites again. It’s extremely hard to repeat…we haven’t had a repeat in nearly 20 years. That’s a tall order, but they have such good chemistry and they are so well-coached. You have to put Chicago and L.A. at the top of the Western Conference again…they’re still the favorites.”
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Roenick on the Colorado Avalanche: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Colorado is ready to make that leap. Tyson Barrie is going to emerge as a top defenseman. Adding Danny Briere, Scott Hannan and Jarome Iginla to that lineup adds more veteran leadership, which is something that they haven’t had. Iginla helping out those young studs like Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon is going to be very valuable. It reminds me of when Ray Bourque went to Colorado to win a Stanley Cup.”
Jones on the Avalanche: “I don’t think they’ll have as many points in the regular season, but they’ll be as good. Paul Stastny moving to St. Louis takes away a veteran player that was very productive in Colorado, but there’s so much more to like with Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene. That’s a Patrick Roy-coached team that will not take any nights off. The main question is – can Semyon Varlamov duplicate his season from last year?”
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Roenick on the San Jose Sharks: “They didn’t do anything in the offseason to improve their team. When you don’t win, it’s always going to come down to your leaders. You’ve got to score goals in big situations. Until that happens, guys are going to be questioned. Joe Thornton is going to be questioned. Patrick Marleau is going to be questioned. Joe and Patty are running into that time in their careers when their legacy is going to be that they were great players in the regular season, but when the playoffs came around, they couldn’t figure it out.”
Jones on the Sharks: “They’re going to be really good. If they don’t lose Marc-Edouard Vlasic in that first-round series last season, they don’t lose four straight to the L.A. Kings. They have to come to the realization that with Vlasic in the lineup, they were a better team than L.A., and we’re not talking about the disastrous collapse, if Vlasic doesn’t get hurt. I’m not worried about San Jose. If I was in the Western Conference and in their division, I would be worried about playing against them.”
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Roenick on Western Conference sleeper team: “Minnesota is a real sleeper. Thomas Vanek is going to be happy playing at home in Minnesota. If they can get their goaltending straight, if Niklas Backstrom can come back and stay healthy – that’s the key for them.”
Jones on Western Conference sleeper team: “Minnesota jumps out to me as a team that will be really dangerous, as do the Dallas Stars. They’ve both improved from the outside, and their younger players gained valuable experience in the playoffs. Both will be right there, and difficult outs come playoff time.”
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Jones on the Tampa Bay Lightning: “Tampa Bay has made some big-time strides this offseason, and should take another step forward this year, especially with a healthy Steven Stamkos to start the year, and Ben Bishop healthy in goal. I look forward to watching that team. They’re going to be near the top of the Eastern Conference.”
Jones on the Boston Bruins: “The Bruins still look like the superior team, but they’re not quite as strong as when they began last season. You can’t keep everybody in this salary cap world. Johnny Boychuk is an example of that. They also had Iginla move on, who had such a good year for them last year. I don’t see the same team as last year, but I still see a lot to look forward to as a Bruins fan.”
Jones on the Detroit Red Wings: “They have been hit by that injury bug to two of their key guys, with both Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk being banged up last year. I’m concerned about that, but I love their depth and the young talent they have. Gustav Nyquist was outstanding last year, and Tomas Tatar showed a lot. The blue line is much better than they get credit for. They’re going to be dangerous – but it’s imperative they have a healthy Datsyuk and Zetterberg for the majority of the season. If they are healthy, they have a chance to come out of the East.”
Jones on the Pittsburgh Penguins: “There are question marks in Pittsburgh. Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik are big losses. The Penguins blue line worries me. The health of Paul Martin for a full season worries me. Evegni Malkin’s mystery injury to start camp is concerning. There are elements up front that are extremely dangerous, but the back end worries me. Marc-Andre Fleury worries me, and you hope in the last year of his contract that he uses it as motivation. But the playoffs are usually the time for motivation, and he hasn’t looked good in the postseason.”
Jones on the New York Islanders: “They’ve brought in two guys (Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy) that will help, there’s no doubt about that. They both have elements to their game that have to make Islanders fans feel pretty good about their chances. Boychuk has one of the hardest shots in the league, and Leddy is a very good puck-moving, offensively-gifted defenseman, so they will help their power play, which can be deadly with John Tavares running the show. The Islanders are a team that you have to give consideration to being a playoff team.”
– NBC SPORTS GROUP –
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