Central Division

Nashville - They've been the steady rollin' train of the league thus far. As Buffalo has hit a rough patch, the Preds have kept chugging through their opponents, to the tune of seven shutouts, a defense which has given up the fourth-least goals in the conference (they would be second only to the Devils in the East), and an offense which boasts eight goal scorers already in double-digits. All this, and they have suffered through the same disruptive injuries as other top clubs (missing Tomas Vokoun and Jason Arnott for significant stretches) and still rose above Anaheim and Buffalo for the Presidents' Trophy lead. Detroit may have the white-hot Hasek, the Ducks may have an explosive offense, the Sharks may have the best transition and passing games, and the Flames may sneak up on you with a combination of all three, but Nashville can turn on the tap when they need for all of the above at different spots to win games, and do it with expert consistency. Last year was a learning experience. This year, even if they don't keep the Number 1 seed, potential playoff opponents must beware. Who cares if "no one" is watching or going to games? Even if nobody except for the truly dedicated inside and outside Music City are interested, winning, and winning big and winning important games always puts rear ends in the seats. They are a legitimate Cup contender, but I'm still not totally convinced they can fend off a challenge from an underdog and make a deep run to the Finals.

Detroit - I am absolutely shocked at how cohesive the team is despite the loss of the second best leader in the game, as well as his bruising, skilled counterpart. However, the Wings need to score more consistently because they'll need a couple 5 and 6 goal nights when Hasek inevitably succumbs to his over-40 body or his frequent mental vacations. Although Detroit is a 4-seed now, and San Jose is only one point behind, I give the edge in that race to the Sharks because of their younger legs, and a more-mentally-focused goaltending corps. That said, would I be surprised if they make a run this season? No. Yzerman, Shanahan present or not, this franchise is a proud one, too proud to let last year's flameout cause a letdown this time around. Remember, the Wings won 62 games in 1995-96 and didn't even make the Finals, while the following year's club won only 38, and upset Colorado and Philly to win the Cup. It ain't broke, so there's no need to fix it.

St. Louis - Once again, third place in the division is home to the first of the second-division clubs in the conference. For all the hoopla of new ownership and better management, the Blues failed to learn from the mistakes of last season's Penguins team, which faced similar circumstances of trying to breathe new life into a sagging franchise by throwing money at established talent. They have enjoyed a good run under new head coach Andy Murray to jump from absymal to just plain bad. The Blues, like the Flyers, Panthers, Lightning, Coyotes, Blue Jackets and Kings, are a franchise that are in dire need of a total dismantling and rebuild - yet the prevailing idea is that people won't come even if the front office is honest about tearing the whole thing down. Instead, Checketts and Davidson decided to go for broke right away, and they'll be picking through the rubble to find what parts to save, and it will needlessly set the plan back a while. It'll be a long two years in the Gateway City until the new bosses stop thinking like the old bosses and engineer a complete turnaround. It's sad to see so many venerable pros unable to shake the team out of the doldrums. Murray, at the very least, will keep the Blues a step and a half above Columbus and Chicago, but it's a pale shelter for a team that had higher expectations for this season.

Columbus - Ken Hitchcock is no fool. He's perfectly willing to sacrifice the remainder of this season to mold next year's model closer to his image -which means there will be a lot of screwdrivers applied to nameplates above lockers in Nationwide Arena come early April. In that way, the Blue Jackets are light years closer to improving themselves than the Blues or Blackhawks are. And this time, there's an exponentially better chance that the 2007-2008 season will produce better results than this failed season has - provided the front office recognizes that it is time to chuck the likes of David Vyborny, Sergei Fedorov, Nikolai Zherdev, Manny Malhotra, Gilbert Brule, send Adam Foote out to pasture, as well as all three of their goaltenders. Start building around Rick Nash, Freddie Modin, Anson Carter, Ron Hainsey, Rusty Klesla, and go after some good free agents. This season is a total wash, but they will be engaging in taut little wars with St. Louis and Chicago to avoid another last-place finish. There's no chance the Jackets can even be considered in the role of spoiler for Western teams on the playoff bubble for the rest of the season - those teams will feast on a Columbus team that may already be a bit tired of Hitch's autocratic manner.

Chicago - What else can you say? This year, devastating injuries at the worst possible time to their two top free agent signings put this team in the psychological doghouse almost from the start. However, since Martin Havlat came back, he has lived up to expectations, but even his skill and smarts and scoring are no panacea for a perpetually damaged franchise. Nikolai Khabibulin's tribulations in net since he came to Chicago is damning to his reputation, in that even he can't come up with enough good performances to save the Hawks when the defense falters. Signing Peter Bondra midseason was a nice gesture, but does nothing to improve their offensive troubles. Martin Lapointe is treading the line between disappointing and total bust (10 goals, minus-11, lost without the ability to wreak havoc on every shift), and the legions of kids that slip in and out of the lineup don't appear to be learning anything. And what is to become of Eric Daze, lost in the netherworld between chronic injury rehab and refusal to retire at such a young age? At least Denis Savard has the Hawks moving slightly in the right direction, although the shine from the coaching change has all but worn off. They should, at least, be something to watch, alternately scoring and giving up 6-7 goals on some nights. Pride, at least, has returned to Madison, but pride alone isn't anything close to hang your hat on, or to produce enough wins.