2009-10 NHL Thread

[Abraxas]

and in regards to Sepukku, its really not worth fighting over now, because anything i say up until the start of season can have the rebuttal of "Who are the stanley cup champs?"

once October 2nd comes though... its open season

[Arnwulf]

As far as Olympics go, did you see Canada rolling the line of Iginla - Crosby - Nash? God I love the Olympics lol.

[Abraxas]

yes, and did you see they got outshot 42-22!?

with that much skill, thats pretty crazy

[Palin]

The Morrow - Richards - Carter line tore things up in that game.

[vagus]

Some funny predictions for the west. Can't wait for the sesaon to start. Where my westcoast ryders at. Go 'Nucks go.

[Bweigelt]

My memory is a little fuzzy but judging from his first few posts in this thread Seppuku is the same guy that compared Mark Eaton to Kimmo Timmonen right?


Anyway my predictions for the season:

East
1. Boston
2. Philly
3. Washinton
4. Pittsburgh
5. Carolina
6. NYR
7. Tampa Bay - This would be my bold prediction for the year
8. Montreal

West
1. Detroit
2. Vancouver
3. San Jose
4. Chicago
5. Calgary
6. Anaheim
7. St. Louis
8. Columbus

[Richybear]

I'm just hoping they make 2 solid lines in Tampa between Stamkos, Lecavalier, St Louis and Tanguay. If they load up the top line with a nu wave version of the "French Connection", then once again Stamkos will be left skating with nobody.

Toronto has a chance this year... to not finish last in the East. You know you're in trouble when your biggest "sniper" is a 36 year old guy who had a fluke 40 goal season for NYI a few years ago.

Any fun predictions on Cheechoo? From 56 to 37, to 23, then to 12 goals last year, I think he's due for a breakout season of around 8 goals this year. Watching him play last year just made me think it was a full season of the Patrik Stefan empty net chance vs the Oilers. LOL

[Brill Weave]

Oh God. Someone has already mentioned Mark Eaton. I'll be in the basement making tin foil hats for everyone.

[Brill Weave]

NO BEATIN MARK EATON BITCHES!

[Thoronas]

Man I've seen a few people giving St Louis a decent play off spot. Did they get they somebody good I didn't hear about or something? Last years 8th place spot was partially due to their awesome record in the last half of the season but also in part due to implosions of teams like Colorado and Dallas. I will be honestly surprised if they make it back into the playoffs this year unless they've got some new talent Im overlooking.

[Bregor]

C - A - P - S
CAPS!
CAPS!
CAPS!

This has me worried...

That was 13 games. It doesn't make up for 12 years of experience. I've seen an awful lot of goalies come in at a young age and go into a slump for a year or two. I think Jose has earned and deserves the right (to be) the No. 1 guy.

I really hope Boudreau gives Varlamov the job after the preseason, DC is famous for its QB controversies with the Redskins, and the last thing I want is a goalie controversy hanging over the team's head all season. It's not just that I think Varly is a better goalie right now, but once he came in during the Rangers series, the whole team seemed to have more confidence and more energy, especially the defensemen. That said, if Ovie, Backstrom and Semin all stay healthy, I really don't see how we won't win the Southeast.

PS. Goddammit Brill, I was really hoping the "no beatin' Mark Eaton" thing was gonna die last season.

[Brill Weave]

It will never die buddy. Ever. And wtf at the Theodore vs Varlamov argument? I am going to say something that is slightly crass and try not to think that I'm a heartless bastard. Here goes. I understand that Theodore's baby just passed away and you don't want to kick the guy while he's down by naming Varlamov the starter but come on. The second you start letting your heart affect your decision making you're setting your team up for failure. There should be no favorite in this competition. Let them both go at it head to head and who plays better gets the nod. It's that simple. This is one of the rare times that a supposed feel good move is going to potentially seriously negatively impact a team.

[Gadritan]

NO BEATIN MARK EATON BITCHES!

rofl. I'm never going to be able to get that out of my head.

[Richybear]

Boucher just retired though, so that'll mean more PP minutes for Eaton now, right?

[Palin]

I do think the Pens will still be good this year, but you can't underestimate the people that they lost. Yes they have some young players ready to step in, but I think they'll get eliminated in 1st or 2nd round this year in the playoffs.

Yea, I see a lot of porousness on Pitts blue line to really see them pulling the Division, and I don't really feel Fleury is the type of goalie who can consistently carry his team; though he did have some good games in the Finals, he also had some horrible ones. Then again we're probably overrating Phily and Pronger will end up being a bust, just like all of Philly's big trades.

[Sepukku]

NO BEATON MARK EATON!! How many goals did he score in the playoffs Abraxas? SAY IT. SAY IT!!!

[Ratatapa]

ok season hasnt started yet and i need to rent lol.

I DONT GIVE A SHIT THAT HE IS FROM QUEBEC STOP GIVING CREDIT TO GARON.

HE HAVNT DONE SHIT WITH PITTSBURGH FOR THE CUP DAMNIT.



Thx for listening

[Bweigelt]

Man I've seen a few people giving St Louis a decent play off spot. Did they get they somebody good I didn't hear about or something? Last years 8th place spot was partially due to their awesome record in the last half of the season but also in part due to implosions of teams like Colorado and Dallas. I will be honestly surprised if they make it back into the playoffs this year unless they've got some new talent Im overlooking.

Their defence was absolutely decimated by injuries last year. Erik Johnson and Eric Brewer will both be healthy, that's a huge upgrade in an of itself. Their young players like Oshie, Berglund, and Perron are all a year older, Paul Kariya and Andy MacDonald will surely be healthier than they were last year, and Lars Eller could be a rookie of the year candidate. Honestly it was amazing that they made the playoffs last year with all the injuries they've had. I honestly don't see any way they don't make it this year as well.

[Sepukku]

What do you guys think of my goalie rankings so far for fantasy draft?

1. Martin Brodeur (the return of Jacques Lemaire can only be a plus for Brodeur)
2. Roberto Luongo
3. Mikka Kipprusoff (dipped stats bounce back up with new coach, d-line)
4. Evgeni Nabokov
5. Tim Thomas (he'll remain good, but you can't catch lightning in a bottle twice)
6. Niklas Backstrom
7. Tomas Vokoun (had a silent, but very strong year for the Panthers in 08-09)
8. Henrik Lundqvist
9. Steve Mason (rookies are a little tentative, need to prove themselves consistent)
10. Cam Ward
11. Pekka Rinne (amazing goalie, poor team)
12. Ryan Miller
13. Marc Andre Fleury
14. Chris Osgood
15. Nik. Khabibulin (good goalie, but only getting older - and EDM is a step down from CHI)
16. Ilya Bryzgalov
17. Kari Lehtonen

I left Jonas Hiller / JS Gigure off since it'll be interesting to see who gets the job coming out of training camp - same with the NYI camp full of goalies, as well as the Washington camp; despite the report posted here regarding Bordreau's comments. Also did not include Toronto's new supposed goalie, since I've yet to see him in action. I'm quite concerned, as my friends league is increasing from 10 teams to 12, and rolling 3 goalies per team, which means reliable goalies will be a premium. I may end up taking goalies with 3 of my top 4 picks >_< At least 2 of my top 4.

If it helps in evaluation, btw, we play in a typical Head-to-head league with the traditional Wins/GAA/Save %/Shutouts categories for goalie scoring.

[Richybear]

I noticed "Kari Let-em-in" on that list and no Carey Price.