South East Division

The South East Division, often gets called the weakest of the 6 NHL divisions, but I think that is extremely harsh. Yes, the division might lack the competitive element that say the Atlantic and Central divisions have now, or even the Pacific Division in the late 90s when they provided 4 teams in the playoffs, but every team, except the Winnipeg Jets, have got to a Stanley Cup final in the last 16 years. It may not be a competitive division, but history has proved that the Division winners have been a genuinely strong team, and that team has changed from one year to the next, no one has every really owned the Division, like say Detroit have with Central Division.

Ever since the original Winnipeg Jets relocated to Phoenix to become the Coyotes in 1996, I have had something of an obsession about wanting to see hockey return to Manitoba. I do hate to see teams having to re-locate, and feel sorry for the many fans of the Atlanta Thrashers, who have twice had to see their re-locate elsewhere. However, the Jets have instantly became my favorite team in this division, and I can only hope of them signing players as good as teemu Selanne again.

Until the re-birth of the Jets, the Florida Panthers, were my top team in this division. They quickly made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1996, after just 3 years of existence, but have never returned since, and have had to contend with a powerful Carolina Hurricanes team. I still have a soft spot for the team from Sunrise, near Miami, and hope they can make the playoffs once again this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning used to be something of a laughing stock after they first joined the NHL in 1992, but finally in 2004, John Tortarella, led them into the playoffs. With the likes of Martin St Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, they marched all the way to the finals before lifting Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time in Franchise history. Who could forget either, the sight of Dave Andrechuk lifting his first Stanley Cup, at the veteran stage of his career. There was something of a fairytale about the Lightning winning that year, and because of that they have gone up in my estimation.

The 'nothing' spot goes to Carolina Hurricanes, who I cant say I either like or dislike, but with their rich owner, they are trying to be another Detroit Red Wings, and with players like the Staal brothers, the canes could well be a team to watch this year.

So, last place goes to the Washington Capitals. Being a pens fan, means I am always going to hate the caps. Some pretty brutal playoff games during the 1990s saw goons like Dale Hunter, provoke Mario Lemieux into fighting them. When Lemieux returned from retirement in the 2000-01 season the Caps did it again, with several or their players attacking the Pens. Granted Alex Ovechkin is a great player to watch and deserves to be playing on a much better team than this current Caps team.

Teams ranked by likeness
1 - Winnipeg Jets
2 - Florida Panthers
3 - Tampa Bay Lightning
4 - Carolina Panthers
5 - Washington Capitals

2012-13 Predicted Rankings
1 - Carolina Hurricanes
2 - Florida Panthers
3 - Washington Capitals
4 - Tampa Bay Lightning
5 - Winnipeg Jets