Uneasy sits the crown in Edmonton, where last May the Oilers brought home the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years.
Paul Coffey, two-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the National Hockey League's best defenseman, has not yet reported.
Goaltender Andy Moog, who carried the bulk of the load during the regular season but was used only twice in the playoffs, has joined the Canadian Olympic team.
Winger Kent Nilsson and defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen, instrumental down the stretch last season, both returned to Europe.
And there has been speculation that the Oilers, who were pushed to seven games by the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals and then had seven players involved this summer in the Canada Cup, may be susceptible this season to injuries and mental fatigue.
But the Oilers, of course, still have Wayne Gretzky, the eight-time Most Valuable Player and seven-time scoring champion, whose brilliance has allowed him to transcend the sport.
The NHL, which opens its 71st season Thursday night, may be at its most competitive level in more than 20 years--only 42 points last season separated the first-place Oilers from last-place Buffalo, the smallest differential since the 1964-65 season--but "the mere presence of Gretzky makes the Oilers a cut above everyone else," King Coach Mike Murphy said.
Gretzky, who enters his ninth season with a new five-year contract, needs only 71 points this season to pass Phil Esposito and move into third place on the all-time scoring list behind Gordie Howe and Marcel Dionne.
He should do that by mid-season.
Bringing home a fourth Stanley Cup will be a little more difficult.
A look at the four divisions:
Smythe Division
Gretzky doesn't do it alone. Right wing Jari Kurri, who had 54 goals and 54 assists, enjoyed his fifth straight 100-point season. Mark Messier had 107 points. But for all their offensive firepower--they led the league with 372 goals--the Oilers also had a strong year defensively. They allowed just 284 goals, the lowest total in franchise history. And goaltender Grant Fuhr (14-5 in the playoffs) is considered one of the NHL's best.
The Calgary Flames' best season included a 6-1-1 record against Edmonton, 21 victories away from home, the third-best record in the NHL--and an upset series loss to Winnipeg in the first round of the playoffs. And then Coach Bob Johnson left to become executive director of the Amateur Hockey Assn. of the United States. Terry Crisp inherits a team that includes right wing Joey Mullen, who led the Flames with 87 points and the league with 12 game-winning goals, and two of the league's most offensive-minded defensemen, Al MacInnis and Paul Reinhart, who ranked third and fourth in scoring among the NHL's defensemen.
Rookie goalies Eldon Reddick and Daniel Berthiaume combined last season for a 3.21 goals-against average for the Winnipeg Jets, who scored only eight more goals than they allowed but still wound up with the sixth-best record in the NHL. The Jets' 83.6% efficiency in penalty killing ranked first in the league. Offensively, the star was center Dale Hawerchuk, whose fourth straight 100-point season included 47 goals and 53 assists. Right wing Paul MacLean scored 32 goals and had 74 points.
The Kings are young--they placed three players on the all-rookie team last season, including Rookie of the Year Luc Robitaille, who led the team with 45 goals and 84 points--and appear to be improved. Some say center Jimmy Carson, who was third in the Rookie of the Year voting, will be a better player than Robitaille. Goaltender Rollie Melanson had a great second half last season. Still, the Kings gave up 341 goals, more than all but the New Jersey Devils.
Only Buffalo won fewer games last season than the Vancouver Canucks, whose 29-43-8 record represented their 11th straight losing season. The Canucks were 6-26-8 on the road. President and General Manager Pat Quinn, formerly of the Kings, hired former Philadelphia Coach Bob McCammon to "establish a sense of pride in this organization," he said. Last season, Tony Tanti led the Canucks with 79 points.
Norris Division
Although they failed to produce a .500 record, the St. Louis Blues (32-33-15) won what has been described as hockey's worst division--certainly it is the most competitive--for the second time in three years. The Blues' 17-8-7 intradivision record was the best in the NHL. Bernie Federko, who had scored more than 100 points in three straight seasons, was limited by injuries to 64 games and 72 points, so Doug Gilmour took over as the team leader. Gilmour wound up fifth in the league in scoring with 105 points, including 42 goals.
