Every season brings surprises and disappointments. Who would have expected the Montreal Canadiens to improve off their 90-point campaign in 2006-07 and finish with the most points in the Eastern Conference? Even captain Saku Koivu stated last September that Montreal was not going to be a Stanley Cup contender.

The East was a conference in transition last season as the three teams that finished 10th, 14th and 15th two years ago not only made the playoffs, but two of them - Montreal and Washington - earned home ice advantage in the first round. The other club (Philadelphia) improved from the worst record in the league to make it all the way to the Conference Finals!

The same cannot be said for the West as seven of the eight teams that reached the second season in '06-'07 made the playoffs once again last year. Still, it's interesting to note that only three squads attained the 100-point plateau after seven pocketed over 100 the year before.

The Red Wings, the regular season point leader with 115, won their first Stanley Cup in six years after knocking off Pittsburgh in six games. They are the prohibitive 10-3 favorite to become the first back-to-back winner since Scotty Bowman's Wings proved victorious in the '97 and '98 campaigns.

The other 29 teams will be hard-pressed to stop Detroit, especially with the addition of prized free agent, Marian Hossa. Since the Red Wings appear to be the class of the league, the best way to attack the upcoming season, in terms of wagering, is to concentrate on team point totals.

THE TWO BEST BETS

There are five teams to focus on, but the two with the best chance for success are Vancouver, at OVER 85.5 points, and Anaheim, also OVER the number of 100.5.

The Canucks finished last year losing seven of their final eight games, and their 88 points were 17 less than the previous season when they won the Northwest Division.

Two factors were responsible for the major decline. Roberto Luongo's mind was on more important things as the season moved into the latter stages and the defense was decimated by injuries all year long.

After 69 games, the Canucks were 35-24-10, good for 80 points. If one would prorate that total to a full 82-game schedule, they would have finished the season with 95 points, almost 10 more than the 85.5 total set for this year.

Looking at Luongo's numbers over his final 13 starts, it's easy to see he wasn't focusing on the game as he had throughout his entire career. The all- world goalie was about to become a father for the first time and the big day came on March 27. The NHL was an afterthought for Luongo, who went 4-9 with a 3.36 GAA and a .896 save percentage from March 12 through the end of the season.

Injuries to the backline were the other major factor that precluded Vancouver from making the playoffs. The defense was hit with the worst set of circumstances one could imagine, as only one of the original top six defensemen played more than 63 games, and the unit as a whole lost 174 man games to injury.

The Canucks return eight of their top 10 scorers from a year ago and Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier should come close to, if not surpass, the 34-goal total that Markus Nasland and Brendan Morrison accounted for in 2007-08. Along with a healthier defense and a goalie free of off-the-ice concerns, look for the Canucks to finish first or second in the division en route to at least 95 points.

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