2009 Odds to win the Stanley Cup: 5\/1<\/strong> Players Added: <\/strong>Kris Newbury, Jeremy Williams, Doug Janik Preview:<\/strong>By now the hockey world should have learned its lesson: the Detroit Red Wings, no matter who is and isn\u2019t on their roster, will be a contender for the Stanley Cup. There is no line-up in the NHL (though Pittsburgh and San Jose come close) as good and multi-talented as the Red Wings. Detroit\u2019s nine players making up the first three forward lines are all stars in their own right. Don\u2019t expect Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg to slow down at all. Dan Cleary, Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, Valtteri Filppula, and even young playoff sensation Darren Helm are all consistently beneficial to the Hockeytown dynamic that has made Detroit the most decorated sports franchise in the last fifteen years.<\/p>\n Defensively, the Wings still have a prime Nick Lidstrom, who, without question, is the best defenseman in the game. Chris Osgood may need to improve how consistent his regular season game is, especially now that the Wings have lost backup Ty Conklin. Mike Babcock is too good a coach not to have the Wings meet every expectation dealt their way, and I expect a better goaltender to find his way to Detroit by the deadline should Osgood not deliver.<\/p>\n While San Jose might still look better on paper, in an easier division, the Red Wings are still the top team in the Western Conference, and will once again show it come postseason, even if they fall a little short in regular season points. After all, the Sharks won\u2019t have to play Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks every month.<\/p>\n
\n2009 Odds to win Conference: \u00a05\/2<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nPlayers Lost: <\/strong>Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler, Tomas Kopecky, Ty Conklin, Chris Chelios<\/p>\n![\"Sports](\"http:\/\/www.bodogaffiliate.com\/resources\/ca-banners\/sportsbook\/square\/250x250\/250x250g-sportsbook.gif\")
<\/a>Looking at this year\u2019s team it seems they\u2019ve lost some substantial talent and replaced them with some guys who are relatively unknown. This won\u2019t change a thing for Detroit.<\/p>\n2009 NHL Predictions – Detroit Red Wings<\/h3>\n