[trackercowe]

The one thing I am going to disagree with is that it's all the surprising. We knew going in that it was going to be unlikely for the Flames, Oilers, and Jets to make the playoffs. Maybe some didn't expect the Oilers to be this bad, but the smart fan had to know they'd finish near the bottom of the league (again...).

The Canucks are on the downslope and are in a new division where three teams are far better than them going forward (Ducks, Kings, Sharks). They also dealt away their only strength (goaltending), and poor management and coaching to boot. Things will probably only get worse, unless Gillis tries to go for the quick fix and sign a big name free agent (or make a bold trade). Even then they need to rebuild if they want to contend with the three other elite teams in the division.

The Senators seemingly duped everyone last season (including me). I think loss of identity may be part of it, especially with Alfredsson being dealt, but unlike last year they had a healthy Karlsson and Spezza for most of the season (plus the addition of Bobby Ryan). They also seem to have issues with ownership all the way down to coaching. MacLean worked wonders last year, but it doesn't help matters if the rumors he's having with Brian Murray are true. Again moving into a new division probably didn't help, nor did having to play a full 82 game season. Results can completely change in a full campaign. I don't think anyone would be surprised if the Sens tank for McDavid next year. I think they are in a heap of trouble though with no first rounder this year, and Spezza and Ryan only having a year left on their contracts. They don't have a whole lot outside of Erik Karlsson, and a few prospects.

Then there are the Leafs, whose sudden downfall could sort of be considered a surprise I suppose. But it was to be expected at some point. They were barely a playoff team last year (once again in a shortened season), and very vastly outplayed on many nights this season. They won many games despite being outshot by significant margins. The coach and fans might blame goaltending, but the team has a very lackluster commitment to defense. Bernier has played great for much of the year, and even Reimer was decent enough until the last month. Another issue is they made some miscalculated free agency signings, and suffered significant injury woes down the middle for much of the season. A lot of credit should be given to Phil Kessel (and the rest of his line) for carrying the team for much of the season, but they can only be expected to do so much. They've made commitments to certain players, so the only real change they can make is letting Carlyle go in the off-season. It probably won't do a whole lot, but they can keep being a fringe playoff team for years if that's what ownership really wants. I don't think they are a whole lot worse than the Habs, and they could swap spots next season with a few small changes on either end.

As a Flames fan it's sort of good to see our organization to be placed in such a rarefied air. At least for this season I'd rank us second to the Habs in terms of positivism. There are very few negatives I would take away from our year. Obviously it's too soon to say we're definitely on the right track, but for the first year of our rebuild I am very happy where we are at.