CREAM OF THE CROP

Mario Russo

The pinnacle of sport undoubtedly lies in the middle. When east meets with west. The moment when the best of the best meets it’s defining competition; only to deliver a lineup of pristine moments that will immortaly stand the test of time.

That irreplaceable timeshot of the king donning it’s crown for the first time shares it’s unshaken prominence in the sporting world with every passing champion. Narrow down your focus to a domestic level, and you shall find a list of kings in the making- all of which find themselves residing in the fiercely competitive Atlantic Division of the National Hockey League.

To the surprise of nobody, earning one’s stripes in the NHL holds some form of correlation with hockey’s most competitive family of teams. Remember sport’s defining moment? When east meets west?

Over the last 5 seasons, one of the eight team’s that the Atlantic has to offer, found itself in the Stanley Cup Finals. Heck, even two of them in the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning dueled it out before the Bolts picked up their second straight league title in 2021.

The point is very simple: the league runs through the Atlantic Division. But how close are we to seeing the league be swallowed up entirely from this group of teams that has spent the last several years making the NHL worthwhile.

Of course, it’s not entirely difficult for a division to garner interest when its historic team is putting up a historic amount of consecutive first round exits. After all, bad publicity is still publicity.

Or even when the team that’s the furthest south from the hockey hub of the world continues to find a place in the Stanley Cup Final year after year. Certainly that will draw attention the Atlantics way.

But what happens when the kings of the division- those top three teams- have no more floor mats to wipe their feet on? What will the division look like when the basement dwellers climb enough steps to reach the main floor?

This ongoing offseason in the NHL has provided hockey fans such as myself to propose these questions that have yet to be asked for as long as I can remember. Always has their been disparity in the Atlantic, with the Sabres and Sens being the metaphorical punching bags over the last few years.

But with the Bruins, Leafs, Lightning and Panthers all taking a step forward this offseason, it has been the moves from the Sabres, Habs, Wings and Sens that have piqued the leagues interest as of late.

The Sabres found late life in last year’s regular season, seeing it’s young stars in Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens take their offensive prowess right to some of the divisional best. With a bright pool of prospects at their disposal, Buffalo is 2-3 years away from potentially latching on to a playoff spot.

Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings spent the offseason bringing in proven pieces to help take this team to the next phase of it’s rebuild- one that involves winning more games than you lose. Headlined by David Perron’s surprising move to motown, the Wings look like a team that could potentially be months away from playing meaningful hockey once more in the Atlantic division.

The Habs have the best tool of them all at the moment: time. Year one of the rebuild was painful, yet they earned themselves a second tool in Juraj Slafkovsky that will pair nicely with that “time” Montreal has.

And last but certainly won't be the least anymore, the team that has been getting bashed for years on end may have finally gotten it right this season following a series of monumental offseason moves. Pierre Dorion and the Sens have made themselves relevant once more with the attracting of Claude Giroux, Alex Debrincat and Cam Talbot to name a few. The team now possesses a mix of young skill and proven prosperity within its lineup that only has one test left to pass: winning hockey games.

And that’s what makes sports great. Seeing the cream of the crop square off. Yet with every team in the Atlantic taking a step forward this offseason, it may be time we see the league's rich ‘cream’ come from the same crop.

The Atlantic was already scary with the likes of Boston, Toronto and the two teams from Florida running the show. This year will spring upon a beast like no other with each of the upcoming team’s in the Atlantic making their individual push to not just a resurgence in relevancy, but a chance at landing their hand on the crown.