Column: NHL Western Conference preview

It had been since 1995 that the Western Conference did not hold the Stanley Cup in one of its arenas.

Thanks to the Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars, the West had a stranglehold on league supermacy until the New Jersey Devils ripped the championship from the hands of the Stars. Look for teams from the West to push around the teams from the East and regain the Stanley Cup this coming season.

In last year's Stanley Cup finals, the Devils made the Dallas Stars looked old and tired. The Stars of 2000 are a bit younger, but in the process, have lost huge contributors in Scott Thornton, Guy Carbonneau and Brian Skrudlund. The Stars also lost defensive mainstays Sylvain Cote and Shawn Chambers and did not add anybody of great importance. They still have Brett Hull, Mike Modano and Ed Belfour, which will be enough to push them into the conference semis. Head Coach Ken Hitchcock, who has been runner-up as coach of the year three times, will have to win that award this year as his team will drop in the standings without an exceptional coaching job from the Captain Kangaroo look-alike.

It's good to be a King. A member of the Los Angeles Kings that is. This should be the year the team that Wayne built makes a serious run at the Pacific Division title. Kings captain Rob Blake is not signed past this season due in large part to a bad move by management. Blake is the Kings and should be compensated in that matter. However, this year's Kings will look sharp at times with Ziggy Palffy and Luc Robitaille, not to mention the addition of Mathieu Schneider. If the Kings can get improved goaltending from Jamie Storr and Stephane Fiset, the 94 points they scored last year should be enough to win the Pacific this year.

The San Jose Sharks need to lose the excuse of being a young team that needs another year. The Sharks, under the tutelage of Darryl Sutter and his defensive style of hockey, have the tools of a championship team. With some small tinkering, the Sharks will be right there at the end. However, as of the start of the season, Owen Nolan is still unsigned. Nolan led the league in shorthanded and power play goals last season and his absence is important to the success of the Sharks.

The Phoenix Coyotoes are a dangerous team, especially if they get Wayne Gretzky in the owners box, plus Nikolai Khabibulin and Claude Lemieux on the ice. Right now, Gretzky is still on the outside looking in, but that should change soon. The Coyotes score goals with Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk, but defense can be a real liability.

It's the same old story for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks: Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, but nothing else. Coach Craig Hartsburg is a good young coach with a limited team, but the Ducks failures will cost Hartsburg his job.

You can bet the St. Louis Blues had a miserable summer thinking about their round one loss to the Sharks. However, with the acquisition of winger Dallas Drake and defensemen Mike Van Ryn and Sean Hill, the Blues acknowledged some problems.

With league MVP Chris Pronger and goalie Roman Turek guiding the Blues on the defensive side of the puck, the Blues should have another successful regular season.

The Detroit Red Wings are getting older and slower. In last year's playoff loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Detroit captain Steve Yzerman was held scoreles and showed signs of his age for the first time. Tough guy Joe Kocur has retired. Chris Osgood drives this team and will need a spectacular defense around him for this team to make any noise at all.

Geriatrics Larry Murphy and Chris Chelios are the best the Wings can do on defense and now that Brendan Shanahan has his big contract, watch him as he fades into obscurity.

The Chicago Blackhawks hired European Alpo Suhonen to bring a more exciting type of game to Chicago and he has a few good parts to try and do that. Tony Amonte and Eric Daze are legitimate goal scorers, but the management of the Blackhawks should be thinking about trading to improve the play at the blue line. The Hawks may sneak into the playoffs, but will need some help.

The Colorado Avalanche are the class of not only the puny Northwest Division, but the entire Western Conference. If the Avalanche can avoid the injuries that cost them the third most games lost due to injury last year, it should be a successful year in Denver.

Patrick Roy is three wins away from becoming the all-time wins leader in the National Hockey League. For those of you who say big deal, think again. This record is comparable to Hank Aaron's home run record. Incredible is the only word that describes it. The Avs have Ray Bourque for an entire year and sport the best duo in the league when both Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic are healthy.

Adam Foote is the best defenseman in the league this side of Chris Pronger and Rob Blake and is always counted on to stop the opposition's key goal scorer.

The Western Conference should be dominant again, but no team has the guns like Colorado. They look destined to win their second Stanly Cup in six years.

Some things to watch for in the Western Conference this season are:

If the Sharks do not get Owen Nolan signed within the first 10-15 games, they may be doomed for the rest of the season.

The Detroit Red Wings, after dealing many of their young prospects for players that have since retired, will fall gracefully. That's a shame.

If Craig Hartsburg can last 30 games before being fired in Anaheim.

Will Ray Bourque win that elusive Stanley Cup. My bet is yes.

Can Wayne Gretzky turn Phoenix around and get this team to perform to their expectations?

(Trevor Smith the the Nevada Appeal hockey columnist.)