Northwest Division

The Northwest Division, for so long, was dominated by the Colorado Avalanche, but with their collection of stars disappearing one-by-one, so did their grip on the division. Despite being something of a Red Wings fan, I should really hate the Avalanche, but instead, I admired the quality they always had in their teams, and how invariably either the Wings or the Avs would make it to the Stanley Cup finals, and even meet each other along the way. Now it is a case of re-building the franchise, to a level back where they belong.

When Minnesota joined the NHL in 2000-01, much like the Columbus Blue Jackets, I took a shine to them. In just their third season of existence, they made it to the Western Conference Finals, with players of the calibre of Marion Gaborik. Since then, the Wild have never quite been able to emulate that success, but with the team they are building right now, it is an exciting time for the State of Hockey.

Vancouver takes third spot on my list, for so long I didnt really care much about the Canucks, in fact in 1999, they sucked, even with players like Mark Messier and Markus Naslund in the line-up. Recently though the Canucks have improved and even got to the Stanley Cup finals in 2011, and with this new team, I have started to take a much greater interest in them. They are, in fact, fast becoming one of my favorite teams.

Edmonton, may have had a dominate team during the 1980s with Wayne Gretzky, but over recent years they have struggled. They do have some really exciting young players making a name for themselves though and in a few years could well be a force to be reckoned with once again.

The Calgary Flames get 5th spot, not sure why, but I have never had much of a liking for the Flames. Their best team in my time of following the sport came in 2004, when they lost the Stanley Cup finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

My Rankings
1 - Colorado Avalanche
2 - Minnesota Wild
3 - Vancouver Canucks
4 - Edmonton Oilers
5 - Calgary Flames

Expected Finish
1 - Vancouver Canucks
2 - Minnesota Wild
3 - Colorado Avalanche
4 - Calgary Flames
5 - Edmonton Oilers