Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.

On Wednesday, five bloggers - Shaune Vetter of the Calgary Flames, Bill Meltzer of the Philadelphia Flyers, Richard Cloutier of the Edmonton Oilers, Adam French of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Pete Tessier of the Vancouver Canucks - weighed in on two intriguing early season races from the Eastern and Western Conference?

The first? Bitter division rivals in the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. There's always fireworks when these two meet, and already, we're seeing a rise through the Eastern Conference standings. But, who's better?

Out in the Western Conference, surprises abound - none bigger than the Edmonton Oilers or Dallas Stars, though. Again, which team is the superior of the two?

Weigh in below.

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New York Rangers or Philadelphia Flyers?

Richard Cloutier: Flyers or Rangers? Clouts says Rangers.

Why would I go with the Rangers? I'll give you a few different reasons:

1. Brad Richards. He's the best leader on either team. There will come a point where the Rangers will become his team, and he'll will carry them to victory after victory.

2. Lundqvist is a better goalie than Bryzgalov.

3. Pressure to win: The goal for the Flyers this season, while I wouldn't say it was a "rebuild" year, was just to prove they can play without Richards and Carter. They are succeeding in that respect. The goal for the Rangers was to win. You don't bring in Brad Richards and spend a stack of cash if the goal isn't to challenge for a cup immediately.


Bill Meltzer: Regarding the Flyers and Rangers, I don't think it's even all that close yet. The big x-factor for Philly was -- and still is -- how healthy Chris Pronger will be over the rest of the season and how well Kimmo Timonen holds up to the big minutes.

If those two guys are sound physically, Philly is in great shape. Th team is stacked up front -- considerably deeper than the Rangers. Bryzgalov is an upgrade in goal, although this may finally be the year Henrik Lundqvist wins the Vezina.

If Pronger goes down and if Timonen gets worn down from too many early season minutes, then the Flyers are vulnerable defensively. The rest of the group has shown a tendency to drop off in their play without Pronger, while playing well when he's around. A sustained defensive meltdown by Philly is really the only way I can see the club finishing behind the Rangers this year.


Travis Yost: If the question was purely about talent, it'd be the Flyers in absolute runaway fashion. Philadelphia's deeper at almost every position, and there's few - if any - teams that are capable of scoring with such clockwork regularity.

With that said, I'm going to give New York the slightest of edges, if only because of the man between the crease. It's hard to put so much value into one singular entity, but Henrik Lundqvist is truly that good. He's a gamechanger every time he steps on the ice, and if you don't think so, take a look at the team's he's brought to the playoffs over the years. Last season's assembly of mediocrity somehow grabbed a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and if this team even plays average defense in front of their venerable netminder, he's capable of shutting out any team.

After the addition of Brad Richards, New York finally has a top-six that has to be considered a credible threat. And, the rest of the complementary pieces are starting to fit. I'm not sure New York is capable of battling with the top dogs like Washington and Pittsburgh, but they should be right in the mix late in
the season.

Pete Tessier: In the case of Philly or the Rangers believe Philly comes out on top at season's end. Plain and simple they are a deeper team and eventually the defense and goalie(s) will find some synergy in play. The team has mad talent and true experience leadership in Chris Pronger and without some of the distractions from previous seasons this group will put it all together later and end of ahead of the Rangers.


Shaune Vetter: In the East, when talking about the Flyers and the Rangers we're talking about teams that were largely expected to be pushing not just for playoff spots, but for home-ice advantage and even division crowns. Sure, the Rangers have been perennial underachievers since the day Slats lit his first cigar in MSG and the Flyers blew-up their roster in the summer and have been searching for a #1 goaltender since the late 80's but it was assumed that both may have finally gotten their acts together once the pucks were ready to be dropped in October. The Flyers big free-agent acquisition, Bryzgalov, struggled early but he will certainly provide the team with the goaltending it needs (in the regular season at least) to be competitive on a nightly basis. Henrik Lundqvist will continue to do the same for the Rangers as he has for the last several seasons but the Rangers finally look like they might be able to garner some offense which means they might not need a final day gift just to make the playoffs.

The Flyers have a more seasoned defensive core, and the Rangers are without one of their top defensemen, but the Rangers finally having what looks like a more balanced team should be enough to help Lunqdvist finally get a chance to do more than be a post season also-ran or first round fodder. This battle should be a slug-fest as the teams are division-rivals to boot. Over the long haul, and due to the fact that in the regular season last season goaltending wasn't the Flyers issue, I'll take the Rangers to finish ahead.


Adam French: Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers have the best forward in hockey right now in Claude Giroux and a potent offense that is 3 lines deep. While I love Richards, Gaborik and Callahan I don’t think for a second anybody would pit them against the massive depth the Flyers have. The Flyers PP is absolutely deadly; Giroux and Jagr are a nasty pair. Their defence is better than New Yorks especially with Staal out and as we have seen with Pronger in the Flyers are just on another level. In net things get a bit hazy and Lundqvist is one of the few goalies in the league that can steal about 20 games in a year, even though he is clearly the best goalie between the two I just don’t know if the Rangers have the depth in front of him to be ahead of the Flyers. Both Bob and Bryz have been very disappointing, I would border it on terrible. I’ve watched Bryz play some amazing hockey these past few seasons and I know he is much better than he has been so far, he will pull it around...maybe not to All-Star level but to solid number 1 at least.


Dallas Stars or Edmonton Oilers?

Richard Cloutier: Stars. Why would I go with the Stars?

1. The Oilers still don't have the D needed to sustain their current success. Sooner or later, this group is going to wake up.

2. Lehtonen is a better goalie than Dubey or Khabby.

3. The Oilers have for the last few seasons experienced an incredible number of injuries that derail and demoralize the team. Hemsky, Whitney, Horcoff, Gagner...all key players; all frequently injured. If the Oilers can stay healthy, they are a match for Dallas.

All of this being said, the Oilers, Flyers, Rangers and Dallas are all capable of making the playoffs this season. There are no really bad teams in this group.


Bill Meltzer: Dallas is a club that only missed the playoffs last season by virtue of a loss on the final day of the season. Down the stretch, it really was not Brad Richards' team any more. Jamie Benn had taken over as the team's step-up guy, along with Loui Eriksson.

The Stars have improved their defense -- although it remains to be seen if Sheldon Souray's game will hold up at both ends of the ice the way it has so far. They have also added depth up front. Bottom line, this is a very good hockey club with a nucleus either in its prime or just about to hit its prime (Benn).

The Oilers are clearly going to be a force to be reckoned with in years to come, but the nucleus is still a tad young. They are off to a great start, but I don't think they'll hold up as well as Dallas. The Stars will also not be able to keep up their current pace, but they aren't going to tumble nearly as far as some pundits thought before the season. I think it's a playoff team if they stay reasonably healthy.


Travis Yost: Two of the most exciting teams in hockey pinned against one another? Sheesh - talk about a difficult decision.

I've mentioned - almost exhaustively - that the Dallas Stars are the best watch in hockey right now, and I'll go one-step further picking them to finish ahead of the Edmonton Oilers here. Why? Well, same reason for both - they work their absolute asses off on every single shift. It's almost like there's an internal competition on the daily for ice time, and full marks to the coaching staff for instilling that kind of mentality on a veteran team that could've mailed it in early this year.

Obviously, the big mistake made by the media - self included - was writing off the loss of Brad Richards as insurmountable. No, this team's actually responded quite well to his departure. Loui Eriksson is an absolute animal up top, and in the back, they're getting quality goaltending from Kari Lehtonen.

Most importantly, though, is that they're taking advantage and capitalizing on seemingly every single opportunity they're given. That's rare in even the best of teams. Look no further than Dallas' 5-2 victory over Washington a cuople of nights ago. It's a game where Washington controlled tempo at times, but Dallas responded with scoring on key turnovers and turned the game into a downright rout.

Edmonton's a solid team, but I'm still fading their goaltending. The smoke and mirrors between the crease will have to subside at some point. If they don't? Well, this team's going deep.


Pete Tessier: As for Edmonton and Dallas, this prediction is a bit trickier as it seems far too obvious to say both teams are playing above their heads. Edmonton has been expected to break out of the cellar for years now but every season it appears they have some new 'event' which causes them to crash and burn horribly. Dallas, on the other hand, has been getting so much out of their team no matter how many players they ship out or let go. This team is better WITHOUT Brad Richards, go figure.

For both these teams the common element is goal-tending, Lehtonen has .936 GAA and Khabibulin a .963. The wins and points for both teams are coming off spectacular keeper performances and timely goal-scoring something neither team has had at the same time in any recent season. The easy prediction is to think that this year the 'kids' in Edmonton fade down the stretch but this year will be different- they'll hang on. As for Dallas they will fade, teams will begin to figure them out and once again there will be a bit of heartache at the end of the season. This one goes to the kids who squeak into the post season while Dallas misses out again.


Shaune Vetter: Although The Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers have made pundits around the league look foolish by having the start to the year they've had, it's hard to believe that they will be able to maintain their great starts throughout the season. That being said, it won't be impossible. The factor that both teams have been able to harness, and seem to have an abundance of, is energy. Both clubs have "bought-in" to what their coaches have laid out as paths to success, and both teams are getting inspired play from their entire rosters. Jamie Benn might be the league MVP right now, and Nikolai Khabibulin is certainly the early Vezina front-runner, but when you watch these teams, it's the commitment throughout the roster that impresses the most. These two clubs are showing that a commitment to hard work can go a LONG way to success.

Over the long haul, if I had to chose one team to finish higher in the standings at the end of the season (which I obviously do since that's the point of this blog) I'd say the Oilers are more likely to finish ahead. I just think that the Oilers overall have more depth and more "high pressure" experience than the Stars, especially when you consider players like Horcoff, Smyth, Hemsky, and Khabibulin, the Oilers have players who have been able to have success on hockey's biggest stage and they are supplemented by what might be the best teen line in hockey history. Although a great story on its own, Dallas has more question marks when it comes to their long-term outlook: Can Lehtonen stay healthy, can Souray continue his season, can Ryder and Ribeiro keep up their pace? I give the Oilers the edge.


Adam French: Dallas Stars. I have been waiting for Lehtonen to reach his ungodly potential for years now and he finally has, after years of never working hard enough to get into game shape which caused most of his injuries he is now serious. Dallas has the goaltending to steal games every night. They have one of the most potent offenses in the league led by young superstars Jamie Benn and Louis Eriksson. They have a top-6 any team would envy. I think the biggest factor in Dallas is the coaching, under Crawford they played his stupid run and gun all the way into the ground, no team can survive that mentality. Now they have a great team game devoted to backchecking and clogging the slot, this has masked their rather weak defensive group. Like I always say, names mean squat if you don’t have a system they can play.

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Thanks for reading!

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