PACIFIC DIVISIONANAHEIM DUCKSLAST SEASON: 54-20-8, 116 points. James van Riemsdyk USA Jersey . Won Pacific Division. Lost to Los Angeles in second round of playoffs.COACH: Bruce Boudreau, 4th season with Ducks, 111-55-22; 8th overall in NHL.ADDED: C Ryan Kesler, C Nate Thompson, D Clayton Stoner, LW Dany Heatley.LOST: G Jonas Hiller, RW Teemu Selanne, C Saku Koivu, C Nick Bonino, C Mathieu Perreault, C Daniel Winnik, D Luca Sbisa, D Stephane Robidas.PLAYER TO WATCH: Devante Smith-Pelly. After bouncing between the NHL and the minors for three years, the speedy, tough-nosed right wing is poised to build on his breakthrough effort as Anaheims top goal-scorer in the post-season. Hes likely to get a chance to contribute on the deep Ducks top three lines.OUTLOOK: Kesler and Thompson make the Ducks tougher down the middle, and this deep, balanced club should be in position to contend for the Stanley Cup again. Anaheim is taking its biggest risk in net, hoping Frederik Andersen and prospect John Gibson are ready for full-time NHL duty.___ARIZONA COYOTESLAST SEASON: 37-30-15, 89 points. Ninth overall in Western Conference.COACH: Dave Tippett, fifth season with Arizona, 156-96-42; In 10th NHL season as coach, 427-252-107.ADDED: C Sam Gagner, C Joe Vitale, RW B.J. Crombeen, G Devan Dubnyk.LOST: RW Radim Vrbata, C Mike Ribeiro, D Derek Morris, LW Paul Bissonnette, G Thomas Greiss.PLAYER TO WATCH: C Antoine Vermette. As Ribeiro struggled late last season, Vermette surged to the forefront as Arizonas top centre. He led the Coyotes with 24 goals last season and is a superb two-way player a€” a perfect fit for Tippetts defence-first system. A bigger season could be on the horizon as the Coyotes lean on him more.OUTLOOK: The Coyotes should contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Arizona lost captain Shane Doan for 12 games due to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and goalie Mike Smith was out the final 10 games with a knee injury. Even with the injuries, the Coyotes finished two points out of the Wests final playoff spot. Stay relatively healthy and get back to their defensive ways, they might be in the mix again this season.___CALGARY FLAMESLAST SEASON: 35-40-7, 77 points, finished 13th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.COACH: Bob Hartley, fourth season with Calgary, 383-291-61-45 overall.ADDED: LW Brandon Bollig, D Deryk Engelland, G Jonas Hiller, LW Mason Raymond.LOST: D Chris Butler, LW Mike Cammalleri.PLAYER TO WATCH: Johnny Gaudreau. Offense was a major issue for the Flames, who finished 23rd and 24th, respectively, in goals per game (2.46) and power play percentage (15.7). Gaudreau, the reigning Hobey Baker winner, recorded 80 points (36 goals and 44 assists) in 40 games with Boston College.OUTLOOK: With the possible exception of John Tortorella, who attempted to fight his way into the Calgary dressing room during the first intermission of a Jan. 18 game in Vancouver to ostensibly express his displeasure about a line brawl following the opening faceoff, Hartley and the Flames earned praise around the NHL for their hardworking style of play. Even with the addition of Gaudreau and friends to the lineup, dont expect the Flames to change their modus operandi. But its too much to ask the Flames to compete for a playoff berth.___EDMONTON OILERSLAST SEASON: 29-44-7, 67 points, finished 14th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.COACH: Dallas Eakins, second season with the Oilers, 29-44-7.ADDED: D Mark Fayne, D Nikita Nikitin, F Benoit Pouliot, F Teddy Purcell.LOST: D Anton Belov, C Sam Gagner, LW Ryan Smyth.PLAYER TO WATCH: Justin Schultz: The Oilers signed the defenceman to a one-year, $3,675,000 deal on Aug. 29. Why one year? Justin is going to be a great player and a great Oiler. What we wanted to do as an organization is buy ourselves a little bit of time to negotiate a long-term deal, general manager Craig MacTavish said. We as an organization wanted a little more information, fully aware information can be expensive.OUTLOOK: Six straight years of drafting in the top 10 and stockpiling high-end young talent without showing tangible on-ice improvement tends to create skepticism.___LOS ANGELES KINGSLAST SEASON: 46-28-8, 100 points. Finished third in Pacific Division. Won the Stanley Cup.COACH: Darryl Sutter, 4th season with Kings, 98-57-24; 15th overall in NHL.ADDED: RW Adam Cracknell.LOST: D Willie Mitchell, C Colin Fraser.PLAYER TO WATCH: D Brayden McNabb. Mitchells departure was the only significant change to the Kings championship roster, and they hope the bruising McNabb can make the full-time NHL leap into his spot.OUTLOOK: This tenacious, balanced team has won two of the last three Stanley Cup titles, playing a record 64 post-season games in that stretch. Theres no reason to think the Kings cant contend for three crowns in four years, an NHL feat that hasnt been accomplished since Edmonton did it in 1990.___SAN JOSE SHARKSLAST SEASON: 51-22-9, 111 points. Lost to Los Angeles in first round of playoffs.COACH: Todd McLellan, 7th season with Sharks, 271-130-57; seventh overall in NHL.ADDED: F John Scott, F Tye McGinn, D Taylor Fedun.LOST: D Dan Boyle, D Brad Stuart, F Marty Havlat.PLAYER TO WATCH: Joe Thornton. Despite finishing second in the league in assists last season, Thornton was stripped of his captaincy this summer in response to the Sharks playoff collapse against Los Angeles. San Jose became the fourth NHL team to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games. That prompted a search for new leaders. Thornton expressed no desire to leave San Jose but how he reacts to the new role and how he plays this season will be key questions going forward.OUTLOOK: The Sharks began the off-season with general manager Doug Wilson talking of rebuilding and becoming a tomorrow team after being a Stanley Cup contender for most of the past decade. Wilson has altered his stance a bit and the players still believe this team can compete with the other powers out West. Much of the success will hinge on continued improvement from younger core players like Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl; Brent Burns move back to defence from forward; and more depth on the bottom two lines to take pressure off Thornton and Patrick Marleau.___VANCOUVER CANUCKSLAST SEASON: 36-35-11, finished 12th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.COACH: Willie Desjardins, first season with the Canucks.ADDED: C Nick Bonino, LW Derek Dorsett, G Ryan Miller, D Luca Sbisa, RW Radim Vrbata.LOST: RW Zac Dalpe, D Jason Garrison, C Ryan Kesler, C Mike Santorelli, C Jordan Schroeder.PLAYER TO WATCH: Ryan Miller. On June 29, 2013, the Canucks had a goaltending tandem of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. When Vancouvers season ended 288 days later, the duo in net was Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom after Schneider and Luongo were traded. In a combined 45 games with Vancouver, Lack and Markstrom were 17-19-5 with a 2.39 goals against average and .908 save percentage. Miller, who was signed to a three-year, $18 million free agent deal, has a 2.55 GAA and .916 save percentage the last four seasons.OUTLOOK: The dismissals of coach John Tortorella and Kesler, traded to Anaheim, can be seen as addition by subtraction. Keslers in-season trade request became a distraction for a team whose 2013-14 campaign was an unmitigated failure. So the Canucks can do nothing but improve in 2014-15. Will there be enough improvement to qualify for a playoff berth? That may be too much to ask for a team in the tough Western Conference. Ryan Callahan Jersey . The alley-oop looked easy -- just like everything else after halftime for the Miami Heat. James scored 32 points, Wade added 22 points and eight assists, and the Heat trailed by 11 early in the second half before running away to a 107-88 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. T. J. Oshie USA Jersey . On Jan. 30 Bryan Colangelo acquired Rudy Gay in a three-team trade, jettisoning Ed Davis and the expiring contract of starting point guard Jose Calderon. Since then, Torontos most consistent area of weakness has been moving the ball.TORONTO -- Canada has gone through more than a few soccer blueprints in the past with a mixed bag of results. Next week, the Canadian Soccer Association unveils its latest road map -- a strategic vision for 2014-2018. And while there have been recent successes on the soccer field, the failure of the national mens program remains a sore issue. Still CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli, who says the new plan "is for the long-term," sees positives on the Canadian soccer landscape. "I feel very good about the foundation that weve placed here over the last number of years for the CSA," he said in an interview. "So while a lot of people talk about the end result -- if we were to say that would be, lets say, the mens national team -- I think weve laid a solid foundation to move forward for the sport in our country." That includes restructuring the associations governance, the success of the national womens program, retaining womens coach John Herdman in the face of rival offers, success at the mens under-17 level and hiring a veteran respected coach in Benito Floro for the senior mens squad, among other healthy developments. As the official governing body for soccer in Canada, the CSA oversees everyone from kids kicking a ball around to top pros. But many judge the association on the performance of the mens national squad, seen as the flagship team -- and for many, the face of Canadian soccer around the world. The Canadian men are currently stuck on a bumpy road that stretches back to the 8-1 humiliation in Honduras in October 2012 that knocked them out of World Cup qualifying. Stephen Hart threw himself on his sword in the wake of that lopsided defeat, resigning as manager. His overseers continued at the helm. CSA president Victor Montagliani and Nick Bontis, board member and chair of the strategic committee, will join Montopoli on Jan. 23 in unveiling the new plan. Montopoli says there are many sides to soccer in Canada. "It should not be lost on people that were doing well in terms of where we are with a lot of other things," he said, pointing to player registration and the fact Canada ranks in the top five per cent of qualifying for FIFA competitions. Still, the Canadian men have not won since being knocked out of World Cup qualifying. A 2-0 loss to Slovenia on Nov. 19 in Celje stretched the Canadian mens winless streak to 14 games. Canada is 0-11-3 over the streak and hasnt scored in 10 games. The winless run has seen the Canadian men outscored 27-2. Canada has not won since a 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Cuba in Toronto ffour days before the Honduras debacle. Mike Komisarek Jersey. In the national teams defence, Canada has played tough opposition in Australia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Slovenia and the U.S. And Floro has looked to young talent since taking over the squad last summer. The Canadian men were No. 111 in the world, prior to Thursdays new rankings. That put them 11th in CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean. Canada was ranked 86th in January 2009 at the start of the last blueprint. Its highest position since was No. 53 in October 2009; the lowest was No. 114 (an all-time worst) in November 2013. But some may have forgotten that while Canada went unbeaten 15 games straight during Holger Osiecks 46-game tenure as coach -- a streak that including the 2000 Gold Cup win -- Canada was also shut out 16 times under the German. The CSA was hit and miss on the "major 2013 milestones" identified in its Strategic Plan 2009-2013. It succeeded on a medal by the senior women at a World Cup or Olympics (2010 Olympic bronze). And it came through on its goal of hosting the 2015 Womens World Cup. But it failed on World Cup qualification by the men, taking its annual budget past the $25-million mark and has yet to surpass one million registered players in Canada. In 2009, the association budget was $12 million or $13 million. It went on to top $20 million some years but did not make $25 million. The current association budget is around $20 million. As for player registration, the number has come close to 900,000. But the latest figures for 2013 are not yet in. The Canadian senior women are currently ranked seventh in the world as they prepare for the 2015 World Cup. Canada is also hosting the 2014 FIFA-20 Womens World Cup. Montopoli says the CSA is running "one of largest womens budgets worldwide" and looking after the mens youth programs. "Theres no shortcuts taken on the mens youth side or on the womens entire program." Montopoli said it was hard to compare mens and womens senior budgets given the different stages the teams face during the quadrennial cycle. Asked if the women were better bankrolled than the men, he replied: "In certain years the answer would be yes." While the CSA is "putting a lot of emphasis" on the women, it is not "shortchanging the mens senior or youth programs, Montopoli said. He pointed to the fact the men played 13 games during 2013, when in the past the senior program has but all been shuttered the year after a failed World Cup qualification. 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