With so much attention given to sophomore slumps in the NHL, it’s easy to forget that player development doesn’t stop when a player hits his third year in the league. Do any notable players coming off successful second-year campaigns look susceptible to a step back in 2011-12? TheGP Hockey considers “the third-year jinx.”

The most obvious contender in the Northwest Division is the team that made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. We all know how that ended. Is this the year the Vancouver Canucks finally bring home a Stanley Cup or is a youth-inspired power shift brewing?

Last season marked the first in which all three Californian NHL teams found their way into the postseason at once. With the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings in particular having taken measures to shore up their rosters for the 2011-12 campaign, the Pacific Division is once again shaping up to be a competitive one.

For too long the NHL’s Central Division has been much of the same, year in and year out, with the Detroit Red Wings ultimately standing the only legitimate chance of making noise in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Heading into the 2010-11 season, however, we may be looking at some new storylines. Specifically some that involve the newly-reloaded Columbus Blue Jackets.

There was a time when the Southeast Division was referred to as the South ‘Least’ due to its lack of intrigue and poor attendance records. While attracting fans to the arena on a nightly basis is still a struggle, the Southeast is quickly becoming one of the most electrifying divisions in all of hockey. Most […]

Teams in the Atlantic Division, more specifically the Pittsburgh Penguins, enter the season with great uncertainty as to whether Sidney Crosby, the face of the NHL, will return at some point or continue to man the sidelines. Sir Crosby’s health dramatically affects the outcome of the coastal division, as the 24-year-old’s impact on each game […]

Although three of its five teams advanced to the postseason in 2010-11, in terms of star talent and team success heading forward, the Northeast Division is far from elite. Whereas other divisions, like the Southeast, are anchored by the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos, the Northeast consists of four mediocre teams that only […]

Gone are the days of traditional media dominance; today, in sports and otherwise, it only takes a few clicks before you’re up and running as a blogger. Unlike the generations prior, this new wave of prototypical “connected sports junkies” are making their mark voicing their opinions online through various new media outlets and specifically blogs. […]

NHL teams who prefer to empty their wallets and sign or trade for high-priced players during the offseason have difficulty finding chemistry. As a result, this limits them from making noise in the playoffs. It’s just simple logic. While each team enters the summer with different wants and needs, franchises that make the most subtle, […]

Now that the dust has settled on the free agent market and all of the big name players have been snatched up, the true contenders – from a pre-season standpoint at least – are beginning to emerge. While some teams such as the New York Rangers added to their roster by signing high profile free […]