Pete analyzes the Atlantic Division team-by-team, beginning with King Henrik's New York Rangers.

It was a very good 2006-07 season for the Atlantic Division.  The Division saw four (Devils, Rangers, Islanders and Penguins) of its five teams make the post-season, and although no team made it past the second round, it was the only division in the NHL which could make that claim.  The Devils were the dominant team, thanks in part to an incredible season by goaltender Martin Brodeur.  The 201 goals allowed by the Devils were both the Atlantic Division and Wales Conference’s best.  Pittsburgh went on a meteoric rise to just miss winning the division, falling short by just two points.  The Pens were an exciting, young team that will be among the NHL’s elite very soon.  The Rangers, behind goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and forward Jaromir Jagr, finished 3^rd in the division with 94 points, but were plagued with inconsistent play that cost them some early-season points.  The Islanders, under new coach Ted Nolan, played an aggressive, up-tempo game and squeaked into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season as third-string goaltender Wade Dubielewicz stood on his head during some late season shootouts.  The Flyers were a victim of injuries and poor goaltending and finished in the league’s cellar with just 22 wins and 56 points.

Atlantic Division players (and specifically Penguins) had a very good showing in 2006-07 and finished 1^st in NHL scoring (Sidney Crosby), 2^nd in defence scoring (Sergei Gonchar) and 1^st in rookie scoring (Evgeni Malkin).  Collectively, teams in the Atlantic Division accumulated 1196 goals (3^rd in the NHL), allowed 1206 goals (4^th in the NHL), had a power play percentage of 17.7% (4^th in the NHL) and a penalty killing percentage of 83.5% (2^nd to the Northwest’s 83.6%).  During the course of the season, the division saw many players come (Sean Avery, Ryan Smyth, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Paul Mara, Richard Zednik, Scottie Upshall and Gary Roberts) and go (Peter Forsberg, Alexei Zhitnik, Aaron Ward, Kyle Calder, Petr Nedved, Noah Welch and Dominic Moore).  There were also two coaching changes in the division.  Devils GM Lou Lamoriello fired Claude Julien with three games remaining in the regular season, feeling that the team lacked preparedness as they headed into the playoffs.  Lamoriello stepped behind the bench and got a first-round win against the Lightning but were ousted by Ottawa in the second-round.  The ownership of the Philadelphia Flyers felt that a wholesale change was in order following a 9-1 loss to Buffalo on October 17^th.  Both GM Bobby Clarke and Coach Ken Hitchcock were given the boot with Paul Holmgren stepping in as general manager and John Stevens as coach.

Finally, the Atlantic Division flexed its muscles at the post-season awards ceremony as the Hart Trophy (Crosby), Vezina Trophy (Brodeur) and Calder Trophy (Malkin) all went to Atlantic Division players.

Predicted order of finish:

1. New York Rangers
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Philadelphia Flyers
4. New Jersey Devils
5. New York Islanders