U.S. division predictions

And lastly, but definitely not leastly, the U.S. division.

I thought picking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th here was a tough call, I think all three of those teams are reasonably closely matched. I gave it a shot but really, any final order of those three teams would not surprise me.

U.S. Division:

1. Portland - not jumping on the bandwagon here, as I said before the season that Portland would be first or second in the division this year. Their start to the season merely cements them at #1 in my books....the rebuilding is bearing fruit for the Hawks as they now have an excellent group of young talent there. After struggling to score goals last year, they have two good scoring lines this year, with depth through the third line as well. But the real strength of this team IMO is on defence, where you cannot name another team in the league that has four defencemen under age 18 as good as Portland's quartet of Johnston, Morrow, Rutkowski, and Wotherspoon. Their defence will be quite good for a few years as those guys get older and better. Add in a guy like Brett Ponich and it's a really good group there. And in net, over the last three years Kurtis Mucha has seen more rubber than an interstate and he's finally got a team in front of him that should allow him to post the kind of numbers he is capable of. One other thing, in addition to being full of good young talent, the Winterhawks are the tallest and heaviest team in the entire league, so that could give them an advantage over the long haul. Are they serious contenders for the league crown? Maybe, maybe not - they're a little light on experience throughout the lineup - but they are definitely my pick for regular season tops in the division.

2. Everett - My big question heading into the season about Everett was the quality of their defence. Well, the early returns certainly look like the two new imports plus rookie Ryan Murray have had a big impact on filling the holes there, so perhaps it's not as big a concern anymore. There's enough scoring on this team - six players with 40+ points last year and several of them should top the point-a-game mark this year. Also some good 18, 19 year old veteran depth on the 3rd line, something a lot of other teams do not have this year. They are also fairly set in net with Heemskerk, so no big holes there either. Just a solid top-to-bottom group here, I think a little short of Winterhawks territory but my pick for 2nd-best in the division right now.

3. Spokane - Portland might have the best YOUNG defence but I think Spokane has the best defence overall in the division. Cowen, Spurgeon, Ulmer, and Bartman is a pretty good top four, so good that the Chiefs felt comfortable trading Mike Reddington for Kyle Beach. And Beach joins a good forward group with Wahl, Johnson, and Koper - the depth does run a little thin but that's four certain 70-90 point players there and there's some good young guys to fill out some depth on the 3rd & 4th lines. In net is the one big question, where James Reid inherits the starting job and now must fill Dustin Tokarski's big skates. Is he up to the night-in, night-out job? The Chiefs think so since they haven't acquired anybody to push him. The answer to that question could really determine whether the Chiefs finish here at #3 or a spot lower.

4. Tri-City - 4th place sound so....mediocre, but like I said, I found this a tough division to separate 2nd from 4th, and if the Americans were in the B.C. division I could see them being 2nd or 3rd. There's five or six good forwards here, with Lazo, Hughesman, Reddick, Shinnimin, Feser, and Macek; maybe not as good in quality as the forwards on the three teams I put ahead of them, but there should be enough offence here. Some other good veterans to add some depth to the forward corps here too - always a good thing to have for when injuries hit, etc. The defence has some good veterans - Toll, Plouffe, Schmidt, etc, and a really good prospect in Zach Yuen. Maybe just a little behind the first three teams in overall quality and depth at that position too. In net is where I think the Americans really drop back from the rest though; they don't have an established #1 goalie and tried to land a 19 year old import goaltender to fill that job. That didn't work out so it's back to hoping one of Owsley and Martyniuk step up into that role. I don't think those guys are terrible but I like the starting goalies on four other teams in this division ahead of either of them. And one other note about the Americans - I pointed out that Portland was the biggest team in the league so I would be remiss if I didn't also point out that the Americans are the smallest team in the league, nearly a full half-inch on average shorter than the 2nd-smallest (Medicine Hat). That's a significant size difference. Small and speedy has its advantages too so this might not be a bad thing but it's something to consider.

5. Seattle (miss playoffs) - picking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th was hard....picking Seattle for 5th wasn't. The Birds have a fantastic young goalie in Calvin Pickard but the rest of the team is not nearly as strong. The blueline in particular is one of the weakest groups in the league, something that is going to make Pickard's workload a lot heavier than it would be. There's also not a whole lot in the way of proven scoring up front after you get past Rai, Nielsen, and Parker. I do think there's some good young players on this team at forward and on defence but the veteran group at those two positions is somewhat lacking and overall I think that puts them fifth in the division. One other note though - I put them down as missing the playoffs, but really, all Seattle has to do is be better than both Chilliwack and Prince George. I'm not sure that will happen but I wouldn't rule it out either.