Standing at the top of section 317 inside Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators, Weber took aim at the net situated at the opposite end of the rink and delivered a wrist shot that took a friendly bounce and slid directly into the goal.

With six goals on the season, Weber is currently tied with six others for second place among all NHL defensemen in scoring.  However, none of the six shots that produced his six goals were more difficult than this trick-shot.

Canada would eventually go on to win the game by a score of 8-2, but it was Weber’s goal that will be the talk of the town.  With Canada leading 1-0 under three minutes into the second period, Weber got a hold of the puck just inside the German blue line and let go of a shot that most believe had barely missed the net, but upon further review it was clear that the puck had whistled right through it.  Once the play had stopped, the goal was reviewed and confirmed, giving Canada the 2-0 lead.

It may seem as though the goal was not an important one after the Canadians were able to add six more, but had they received an unfavorable call, who knows.  Perhaps things may have turned out much different.  Although, on second thought, that is highly unlikely.  After all, two goals were clearly not going to get it done for the Germans on this night, and they should consider themselves lucky to have even recorded that many.

As for the net which fell victim to Weber’s shot, thankfully it was not harmed as the puck managed to squeeze its way through a hole in the mesh, rather than rip it apart.  However, you can bet that all nets in Vancouver will be trembling at the sight of Shea Weber when the puck is on his stick.  Last night was just a warning.  The next net may not be so lucky.

Total Pro Sports – With the start of the 2009-10 NHL Season upon us it’s time to take a look and see how each team stacks up. As per the norm, each preview will be broken down by division in order of how we think the team will finish.

Lets take a look at the Central Division for the 2009-10 NHL Preview.

1. Detroit Red Wings

Despite suffering a heart-breaking loss in the Cup Finals to Pittsburgh after being up 2-0 in the series, the Wings look poised for another run at the Cup even with the subtraction of some key players from last season.

The loss of Marian Hossa to division rivals Chicago will hurt. Losing both Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson is a big hit to their secondary scoring as well. However, they still have the great combo of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Johan Franzen is another big weapon on the wing and Daniel Cleary has shown an ability to score when paired with the right line mates in the past. Of course there’s Tomas Holmstrom who’ll make life miserable for goaltenders and Valtteri Filppula will look to improve on his 40 points from last season. Jason Williams is another guy to keep an eye on as he played great after going to Columbus last season, can skate like the wind and was part of the Wings 2002 Cup winning team.

Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are probably the best 1-2 punch in the league from the point. Brad Stuart’s been solid since coming to the Wings in ’08 and Niklas Kronwall has established himself as a great top 4 d-man who can dish out hits and collect points. Youngster Jonathan Ericsson also showed in last year’s playoffs that he’s ready to take the next step and looks like a solid defender.

Goaltending rests on the shoulders of one Chris Osgood. If he falters through parts of the season like he did last year things could get dicey as they don’t have Ty Conklin to back them up anymore. Jimmy Howard looks decent enough, but he’s still unproven at this point.

2. Chicago Blackhawks

After finally giving their fans something to cheer about making the playoff and making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season, everything looks nice and promising for the young Blackhawks heading into the 2009-10 season.

Hurt to lose Martin Havlat but the addition of Marian Hossa should help the team, just too bad they didn’t do their due-diligence before signing him to a big long-term contract and wont be playing for Chicago until December. Despite that, the Blackhawks still have a solid forward group lead of course by Patrick Kane and young leader Jonathan Toews. Patrick Sharp should be good for 30+ if he can stay healthy and Dustin Byfuglien should continue to develop as the team’s top power forward. Kris Versteeg will look to build off of a successful rookie campaign along with Dave Bolland who had a solid sophomore season.

Despite the lack of a true hard-nosed/tough defender, the Blackhawks defence looks pretty good. Cam Barker enjoyed a nice breakout season showing why he was picked 3rd overall in 2004 and Brian Campbell is always a threat with his speed, offensive instincts and big hit capability. Duncan Keith also had a bit of a breakout season as well collecting 44 points in 77 games and Brent Seabrook really improved his defensive game putting up a plus/minus rating of plus-23 last season.

Just like Detroit, Chicago has a reliable experienced starter in Cristobal Huet but zero experience behind him in Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi. Huet has shown an ability to be a solid starter in Montreal and for his short time in Washington so I don’t think the Blackhawks have too much to worry about.

3. Columbus Blue Jackets

After making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history Columbus will not only look to make it back for the second consecutive year, but to also be a thorn in Chicago’s side and keep St.Louis at bay.

Rick Nash will continue to prove he’s one of the best power forwards in the game and Kristian Huselius will be able to take advantage of team’s focusing on Nash and put up some nice numbers of his own like he did in Calgary playing with Iginla. Jakub Voracek will look to improve after a so-so rookie season and if the pre-season has shown us anything it’s that Nikita Filatov will be in the hunt to win Columbus it’s 2nd Calder Trophy in a row. Derick Brassard is a young guy to keep an eye on as he looked great last season before being sidelined for the year.

Defence is really the only major weakness on this team as they don’t have any defencemen that stand out as true 1st pairing guys. The young Kris Russell showed an ability to put up points and Fedor Tyutin had a great year putting up 34 points while playing in all 82 games. Marc Methot will continue to build his reputation as a tough defender who can put up a few points once and a while and Rostislav Klesla will try to stay healthy as he’s due for a breakout season.

Things look solid between the pipes with Steve Mason coming off his Calder Trophy winning season and Mathieu Garon as his experienced and reliable backup.

4. St.Louis Blues

Like the Blue Jackets, the Blues surprised a lot of people last season by making the playoffs. However, like Columbus, they were eliminated in the 1st round and will look to improve.

Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes lead a group of young talented forwards. Patrik Berglund had a great rookie season along with T.J. Oshie who managed 39 points in 57 games. David Perron had a much better sophomore season reaching the 50 point mark and David Backes emerged as a young up and coming power forward scoring 31 goals and collecting 165 penalty minutes last season.

If everything goes well and players can stay healthy the defence will be better than expected. Eric Brewer leads the defence with hard-nosed Barret Jackman. Carlo Colaiacovo played solid after coming over from Toronto and Darryl Sydor is a solid addition. The wild card this year will be Erik Johnson who had a solid rookie campaign but missed all of the 2008-09 season due to injury.

The names Chris Mason and Ty Conklin don’t jump out at you, but both have proven over the years that they’re solid goaltenders. Mason will be given the #1 role after playing amazing in the 2nd half of last season, but if he falters Conklin will be right there to step in.

5. Nashville Predators

If it weren’t for being in such a tough division the Predators would have a better shot at making the playoffs.

Two very underrated players in Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont lead the Preds forward group. Steve Sullivan looked great when he returned to the lineup last season collecting 32 points in 41 games. David Legwand will look to stay healthy as the team’s 2nd line centre and Martin Erat will be aiming for his first 60+ point season in his career.

Shea Weber had his coming out party in the 2009-10 season collecting 53 points and 80 penalty minutes in 81 games. Ryan Suter also showed that he’s worth his contract putting up 45 points while playing in all 82 games. Dan Hamhuis was his dependable self while Kevin Klein had a decent rookie season.

Despite the departures of Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason over the past few seasons, Nashville is pretty solid in net. Pekka Rinne looked great in his rookie campaign posting 29 wins, a .917 SAV%, 2.38 GAA and 7 shutouts. Dan Ellis is a solid backup and able to step in in case of injury or poor play.

Group A: Canada, Slovakia, Belarus, Hungary.

Group B: Russia, Switzerland, Germany, France

Group C: Sweden, USA, Latvia, Austria

Group D: Finland, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark

Teams to watch:

Canada: Always a favorite in international play, this years edition of Team Canada showcases a lot of young talent on the back end and speed up front.  Rookie phenoms Luke Schenn, Drew Doughty and Steve Stamkos will look to impress, but it will be the likes of Shea Weber and Dany Heatley that will be counted on to lead the Canadian to gold.

Russia: If this years team wants a shot at repeating, they will have to hope that Washington get eliminated in the first round and the likes of Semin, Federov, and of course Alex Ovechkin are willing to make the trip over to Switzerland and play for their country.  If they are so lucky, they will still be a top team with Kovalchuk, Frolov and Radulov, but may not have enough after that.

Sweden: Not much support for the Swedes as many of their stars are still playing in the NHL playoffs and don’t look like they are leaving any time soom.  That leaves a usually strong Swedish side in a tough position to medal at this years competition.

USA: The Americans bring a well rounded team to this years tournament, and especially looking for production from Dustin Brown and Jason Blake.  Watch out for Boston U forward Colin Wilson.  This Nashville Predator first round pick will likely be a star in his NHL career.

Czech Republic: There is not much to offer on this years edition.  Relying on many players from European leagues, it is not likely they will compete for gold.

Finland: The Finns have seen better days, but they do have Rising young star Pekka Rinne in goal.

Switzerland: The Swiss may be this years surprise.  They are capable of pulling off big upsets, as seen in the 2006 Olympics when they beat Canada.

Outcome:

After a strong run, the home side from Switzerland loses to the Americans in the final, while the Canadians get revenge in a tight game against the Russians.

In the Finals, the Americans and Canadians will face off in a tough matchup, but it will once again be decided in a one goal game, this time in favour of the USA, their 3rd every IIHF Gold Medal.

Total Pro Sports – With the NHL  regular season over and the NHL playoffs now under way it’s time to take a look back at the 2008-09 the NHL season and see who some of the top players were in terms of fantasy.

This entry will take a look at some of the players, 10 to be exact, who increased their value or surprised during the season. We’ll be keeping out the usual suspects, so if you’re looking for Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin you wont find them.

Lets take a look at the 2008-09 NHL Fantasy Studs.

LW – Zach Parise – New Jersey Devils: These weren’t your typical New Jersey Devils this year as they finished in the top 15 for goals for with 238 and were lead by the young gun Zach Parise. In 82 games this year Parise scored 45 goals and had 49 assists for 94 points with 30 of those points coming on the power play. Zach also registered 24 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-30, 364 shots on goal and 8 game winning goals.

C – Jeff Carter – Philadelphia Flyers: The Philadelphia Flyers were a goal scoring machine this year finishing 5th for goals for with 260 and a large part of that had to do with the great play of  the young goal scorer known as Jeff Carter. In 82 games this year Carter netted 46 goals and had 38 helpers for 84 points with 24 of those points coming while on the power play. Jeff also registered 68 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-23, 342 shots on goal and 12 game winning goals.

C – Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks: The Anaheim Ducks had a disappointing season this year but still managed to make it into the playoffs and Ryan Getzlaf was a major reason why. In 81 games this year Getzlaf scored 25 goals and had 66 assists for 91 points with 37 of those points coming on the power play. Ryan also had 121 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-5, 227 shots on goal and 2 game winning goals.

C – Marc Savard – Boston Bruins: The Boston Bruins surprised everybody this season by winning the Northeast Division and finishing 1st in the Eastern Conference and Marc Savard ‘s top notch playmaking abilities were a big reason why. In 82 games this year Savard scored 25 goals and had 63 assists for 88 points with 30 of those points coming on the power play. Marc also registered 70 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-25, 213 shots on goal and 5 game winning goals.

RW/LW – Alexander Semin – Washington Capitals: The Washington Capitals finished 3rd for goals for with 268 and, aside from Ovechkin, Alexander Semin was a key factor in Washington’s offence. In 62 games this year Semin scored 34 goals and added 45 assists for 79 points with 30 of those points coming on the power play. Alexander also had 77 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-25, 223 shots on goal and 8 game winning goals.

D – Mike Green – Washington Capitals: In what will surely be a Norris Trophy season for the offensive d-man, Mike Green played a big role in the Washington Capitals winning the Southeast Division and finishing 2nd in the Eastern Conference. In 68 games this year Green scored 31 goals and had 42 assists for 73 points with 38 of those points coming on the power play. Mike also registered 68 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-24, 243 shots on goal, and 4 game winning goals.

D – Dan Boyle – San Jose Sharks: Definitely a big rebound year for Dan Boyle who was instrumental in the San Jose Sharks winning the Pacific Division, finishing 1st in the Western Conference and winning the Presidents Trophy as the league’s top team. In 77 games this year Boyle scored 16 goals and added 41 assists for 57 points with 32 of those points coming on the power play. Dan also registered 52 penalty minutes, a plus/minus rating of plus-6, 213 shots on goal and 4 game winning goals.

D – Shea Weber – Nashville Predators: The Nashville Predators weren’t quite able to make the playoffs this year but it was a great breakthrough year for their #1 d-man Shea Weber. In 81 games this year Weber scored 23 goals and added 30 assists for 53 points with 19 of those points coming on the power play. Shea also registered 80 penalty minutes, a plus/mius rating of plus-1, 251 shots on goal and 4 game winning goals.

G – Steve Mason – Columbus Blue Jackets: A terrific season for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and the shoe-in for the Calder Trophy goalie Steve Mason had a lot to do with it. In 61 games this year Mason recorded 33 wins while posting a 2.29 GAA, .916 SAV% and a league leading 10 shutouts. The future obviously looks bright for this young goaltender and is a must have for the 2009-10 fantasy season.

G – Niklas Backstrom – Minnesota Wild: A disappointing season for the Minnesota Wild as they failed to make the playoffs but it wasn’t from a lack of effort by their goaltender Niklas Backstrom. In 71 games this year Backstrom recorded 37 wins while posting a 2.33 GAA, .923 SAV% and 8 shutouts. Niklas also made a whopping 1900 saves during the season. Although things appear to be up in the air with the Wild right now, Backstrom is still a solid fantasy option and should be good for at least 30 wins again next season.

Remember to check back tomorrow to take a look at our 2008-09 NHL Fantasy Duds.

This entry will take a look at some of the players, 10 to be exact, who either increased their value or surprised many of us. So, if you’re looking for Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin you wont find them on this list.

Lets take a look at the 2008-09 NHL First Half Fantasy Studs.

C – Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks: It’s no surprise he’s one of the bright young players in the league, but no one expected him to do this well. He currently sits tied for 4th overall in the league for points with 56 (17 goals & 39 assists). He’s also managed to rack up 85 penalty minutes and 26 power play points.

C – Jeff Carter – Philadelphia Flyers: Carter had a promising rookie campaign back in 2005-06 but had troubles improving on it the last two seasons. That all changed this year as he’s currently 2nd overall in the league for goals scored with 30.  He’s also managed 21 assists for 51 points on the season so far.

LW – Zach Parise – New Jersey Devils: For being on a team not known for scoring, Parise is having himself one helluva season. Zach is tied for 5th overall in the league for points with 55 (28 goals & 27 assists). He also has a +/- rating of plus-20, 193 shots on goal and averaging 1.17 points per game.

C – David Krejci – Boston Bruins: Look up the word “surprising” in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of this man right beside it, although most people probably don’t even know what he looks like. Krejci has played a big part in the Bruins success thus far and if you don’t believe me just look at his stats. He’s in the top 10 in the league for points with 52 (17 goals & 35 assists), has a +/- rating of plus-25 and has put up 15 power play points.

RW – Devin Setoguchi – San Jose Sharks: A team like the Sharks already stacked with players like Thornton, Marleau, Michalek and Boyle no one really expected anything out of sophmore Setoguchi. However, he’s already more than doubled his points from last season in the same amount of games, 44 points in 44 games, and has a +/- rating of plus-16.

D – Dennis Wideman – Boston Bruins: Just like Krejci, Wideman has played a big part in the turn around of the Boston Bruins this season. He’s tied for 6th amoung defencemen in the NHL for points with 31 (9 goals & 22 assists) and has a +/- rating of plus-26.

D – Shea Weber – Nashville Predators: On what has been an up and down season for the Predators they’ve been able to rely on one constant the whole season, Shea Weber. Weber is tied for 5th amoung defencemen in the NHL for points with 32 (14 goals & 18 assists). He’s also managed 11 points on the power play and has a +/- rating of plus-6, which is pretty good for being on a not so good team.

D – Rob Blake – San Jose Sharks: Just when it seemed like Blake was on the decline of his career he goes and proves everyone wrong. Blake currently has 29 points (7 goals & 22 assists) and a +/- rating of plus-13.

G – Steve Mason – Columbus Blue Jackets: Not even the Blue Jackets expected this one. He started out the season in the AHL but due to an injury to Pascal Leclaire he was called up and never looked back. Mason has collected 17 wins, and posted a league leading 2.05 GAA, .926 SAV% and also leads the league with 6 shutouts. Oh, and I forgot to mention he’s done all of that in just 30 games so far on a weak Columbus team who are fighting for 8th in the West because of his great play.

G – Scott Clemmensen – New Jersey Devils: When Martin Brodeur went down due to injury everyone thought the Devils season went down with it. However, a man by the last name of Clemmensen had something to say about that. In 30 games so far he’s collected 19 wins while posting a 2.29 GAA and a .922 SAV%.

Remember to check back tomorrow to take a look at our 2008-09 NHL First Half Fantasy Duds.

Week: | 1-2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Total Pro Sports – Things have seemed to settle down a bit in this week’s NHL Power Rankings as 9 teams remain in the top 10 from last week with the Wild dropping out and the Flames moving in.

NHL Power Rankings Movers And Shakers

The biggest Shakers in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Toronto Maple Leafs moving down 5 spots landing at #27.

The second biggest shaker was the Columbus Blue Jackets also falling 5 spots to end up at #23.

The biggest Movers in our NHL Power Rankings this week were the Edmonton Oilers climbing up 4 spots to sit at #17.

Lets take a look at the rest of the league: NHL POWER RANKINGS for Week 9.

Rank	Team	Record	Previous	Comment
1		22-3-2	-	The machine just keeps on runnin’. JoeThornton is now leading the team with 32 points while Dan Boyle leads the defence with 24 points.
2		18-4-4	-	Seems like their determined to prove that this isn’t a fluke. They outscored their opponents 7-1 in their two games last week.
3		18-4-4	1	Bounced back from a so-so week by winning all three of their games. Marian Hossa now leads the team in points again with 29.
4		18-10-2	1	Seem to be going through a bit of a rough patch losing two of their three games last week and scoring just 6 goals in those three games.
5		15-7-4	-	Up until last week Dany Sabourin had done a great job filling in for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury, but he might be slowing down a bit after a not so great week.
6		15-6-5	2	Solid week for the Habs collecting 5 out of a possible 6 points. Saku Koivu continues to lead the team with 22 points.
7		15-10-3	1	Ryan Getzlaf continuing his great play now leading the Ducks with 34 points in 27 games.
8		15-10-3	1	The Sedin twins are keeping up with their solid play scoring a combined 53 points in 28 games.
9		16-10-1	2	Good week for the Flames winning two of their three games and Jarome Iginla continues to lead the team with 32 points.
10		15-10-3	-	An alright week for the Caps going 2-2. Bruce Boudreau splitting starts between Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson seems to be working so far.
11		13-7-6	2	Philly seems to be hitting their stride winning 8 of their last 11 games.
12		15-10-1	3	The surprising Mikko Koivu is maintaining his point per game pace with 29 in 26 games.
13		14-8-2	1	Devils managed to win both of their games in Overtime last week. Scott Clemmensen seems to be on a hot streak right now, only question is how long will it last?
14		12-6-7	-	The Blackhawks’ young players are continuing to put up good numbers and Jonathan Toews scored a highlight reel goal against Detroit on Saturday.
15		14-10-2	2	Won all three of their games last week and Shea Weber is continuing his impressive play with 25 points and a plus-12 rating.
16		13-12-3	1	Looks like the Canes will need more than just a coaching change to get things back on track.
17		13-11-2	4	The up and down season continues for this young team winning all three of their games last week.
18		12-11-3	2	Thomas Vanek is trying his best to get wins for his team as he’s leading the league with 20 goals.
19		11-11-4	-	Disappointing week for the Kings losing to the Leafs, Coyotes and then the Oilers in Overtime.
20		13-13-1	3	Good week for the Avs going 2-1-1. Surprise, surprise, Paul Stastny still leads the team with 24 points.
21		11-11-3	1	Brad Boyes leads the team with 25 points and Carlo Colaiacovo has looked good since coming over in a trade with the Leafs.
22		12-13-2	2	An okay week for the soon to be extinct Yotes going 2-2. Their captain Shane Doan leads the team with 26 points.
23		11-13-3	5	Kristian Huselius and Derrick Brassard are finally giving Nash some secondary scoring but so far it doesn’t seem like it’ll be enough to push them into the 8th spot in the West.
24		10-10-4	2	Thanks to some solid goaltending and the improved play of Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza the Sens got two big wins last week.
25		11-12-3	2	Good week for the Panthers going 2-1. Jay Bouwmeester has picked up his play lately and now leads the team with 16 points.
26		10-12-4	2	Just like the Panthers, the Stars went 2-1. Despite their bad record they’ve been getting widespread scoring as Mike Modano, Mike Ribeiro, Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards all have 20+ points.
27		9-12-6	5	Disappointing West Coast trip losing to the Sharks and Coyotes then come up flat against the Capitals on Saturday night.
28		10-14-2	3	Horrible week losing both of their games while being outscored 10-3
29		9-14-3	-	Ilya Kovalchuk has picked up his play of late leading the team with 26 points. It’s just too bad the rest of the team isn’t following suit.
30		6-12-8	-	Nothing going right for the Lightning right now. They only have one win in their last 13 games…I repeat one win in their last 13 games.

Be sure to check back next week with our NHL Power Rankings for Week 10.