2007/2008 Hockey Thread

[SeanDMan]

Just to give you a primer, since I support anyone who supports hockey:

The Avalanche!!!

Forwards: The strong point of the Avalanche is a deep forward core who can play a complete game on almost every line. Statsny, Wolski, Hejduk, Svatos, and Sakic will be relied upon for the bulk of the teams goals, with Andrew Brunnette, Ryan Smyth, and ian Laperriere chipping in with solid defensive games and some infrequent bursts of offense. The jury is still out on Tyler Arnason so don't expect him to be given too large a role, and most of the Avalanche's prospect core looks like they are still a year away, although with the salary cap world you might see some of them popping up some time during the season.

Defense: The Colorado defense that used to be anchored by Blake and Foote is now a lot thinner. Having Jordan Leopold as a number one pairing guy is not good. Besides the Slovakian Iron Man, the Avalanche defense looks really, really weak. The addition of Scott Hannan cannot be understated as he almost certainly should now be your number one defensemen. The scary thing for the Avalanche's future is that most of their sure fire prospects are forwards, so no immediate help is visible. This should be an area of concern.

Goaltending: In my opinion, despite what Plubby says, the low point of the Avalanche lineup is in goal. You can discount Theodore getting any major chances given the team hotly debated buying him out in the offseason, and that leaves Budaj as the starter for next year. And while he may have played well down the stretch, a lot of those games were meaningless, with his biggest win coming against the self destructing Oilers, and even then, Colorado still missed the playoffs. Budaj needs to show he has more... he can't be just as good since with more games fatigue will be a factor. he has to be markedly better. Does he have what it takes? The jury is still out.

Prediction: Despite their question marks, the Avs have enough punch to make the playoffs. They play in the toploaded western conference: San Jose, Anaheim, Detroit, and Vancouver will be the top four teams, and Calgary is probably a playofff team again, but beyond that things are hazy. Colorado could finish anywhere from 5th to 8th but have the guns to make someone very nervous in that first round. But I don't think they have the backend to do any more then that.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

For anyone who cares, I've yet to decide on a team to support this year. Buffalo, Colorado and Philly all have strong pros going for them, and even the Leafs could find their way back into my heart. I'm going to watch as many games as I can of these four and pick one from there.

[Cactus Drags]

Ta for that SDM. I can't see Colorado getting past the first round either, and something definitely needs to be done at the back. I'm not so keen on Budaj given what I've seen of him.

[SeanDMan]

I was reading The Score forecaster and they predicted that Colorado would win the division and be second in the conference (behind San Jose). I think that's highly optomistic BUT they are professionals, and they did rightly pick Anaheim to the cup last year. They also said last year's Canucks were a ninth place team and that Detroit would miss the playoffs, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Toe]

I was reading The Score forecaster and they predicted that Colorado would win the division and be second in the conference (behind San Jose). I think that's highly optomistic BUT they are professionals, and they did rightly pick Anaheim to the cup last year. They also said last year's Canucks were a ninth place team and that Detroit would miss the playoffs, so take it with a grain of salt.

Edited September 19, 2007 by Toe

[Plubby]

People are overvaluing the impact of Smyth, and overvaluing the quality of our D.

SDM is also undervaluing Budaj. How can most of our stretch games be irrelevant when we were fighting for a playoff spot game-in and game-out? We played Calgary two or three times in this period.

I again direct your attention to Sakic's comments, who is rare in his public speaking, much less his praise.

[SeanDMan]

Since Gabe is reading this topic and him, I, Plubby, and Dragsy supposedly support Northwest teams...

Predicted Northwest Standings

Vancouver - 1st in Division, 3rd in Conference

Pros: Luongo, Luongo, Luongo. Defense continues to improve and gel together. Lots of potential good pairings. Sedins in the prime of their careers.

Cons: Forwards still an issue. No breakout star on the horizon, though Ryan Shannon adds speed. Injuries always seem to be an issue. Naslund in the twilight of his career.

Verdict: Enough improvements made in development and small moves to take next step. Good room, good goalie, good god I smell a cup run.

Calgary - 2nd in division, 5th in conference

Pros: Kiprusoff continues on drug induced streak. Kept key players around by resigning them before a contract year. Defense is one of the better in the divisions.

Cons: Kiprusoff getting old. Offseason basically a wash without significant upgrades. Mike Keenan unpredictable; could help, could hinder.

Verdict: Probably out in seven when they meet with San Jose or Anaheim.

Colorado - 3rd in divison, 7th in conference

Pros: Offense, and lots of it. Tremendous mix of young talent and veteran leadership up front. Great organization and excellent coaching staff. Showed lots of desire down the stretch.

Cons: Defensive questions, and lots of them. Beyond Hannan, defense lacks blue chippers. Budaj might bust. Choked against the Predators to close the season, ruined playoff chances.

Verdict: Lucky the west is weak, out in first round. Need better goalie, more defense.

Minnesota - 4th in division, 10th in conference

Pros: Slovakian power! Gaborik and Demitra great fit. Goaltending fight good for a team that thrives on riding a hot hand. Great leadership and team philosophy.

Cons: Slovakian power outtage. Lack of consistent top end scoring. Goaltenders both young, could still falter. Defense not impressive. Team lacks identity; can't decide if they still want to sit back and trap.

Verdict: Need a new philosophy; the trap is crap.

Edmonton - Fifth in the division, eleventh in conference

Pros: Still a young team, lots of room to grow. Defense much improved from last year. Patrick Thoresen will fuck you up. Dustin Penner brings winning attitude. Matthieu Garon increases likelihood of sucsexyiness by 69%.

Cons: Defense a mixed bag, some good, some awful. Last year was either an abhoration or the Oilers have a whole ton of busts on their hands. Old goalies, some old men on the blueline, and lots of brittle forwards.

Verdict: Still a few years away from mattering again.

[Plubby]

I don't the Sedins are all that.

Nucks will still win the division though.

[Gabriel]

I agree with pretty much everything Sean said there. The one thing that I think may be able to change any of that is whether or not the Flames choose a backup that is capable of taking 10-15 games and keeping them competitive.

At this point, I believe Brent Krahn is still the frontrunner, and if that's the case, I think Kipper will be more well rested for this year's playoffs. If that happens, I see the Flames going past the first round, though the rest of the team play will decide anything past that.

Mike Keenan is going to be hit or miss. Either this will be a Flames team that everyone's afraid to play, plays hard every game and goes fairly deep into the post-season... or it's going to bomb, we'll barely make the playoffs, and Kipper won't be able to push us past game six or seven of the first round.

[SeanDMan]

I don't the Sedins are all that.

Nucks will still win the division though.

Sedins are coming off career years and are 27 years old. They're in the meat of their hockey playing lives, it's time to get crunk.

As for Calgary, Brett Krahn and Leland Irving are both good candidates to take over in Calgary, but neither will be ready for an NHL starting gig this year. And at this time in both their careers they should really be full time AHL starters in order to get more games and more experience and better reads and better instincts... like with the Canucks, Cory Schneider needs AHL time even though most people might think he could be a good backup since he won't need to play much, the less a goalie plays, the less he learns, the worse he is. So putting a rookie behind Kipper, this year, is a bad idea, long term. Either way, I don't think Kipper makes or breaks the Flames, if they finish 5, or 7, they're in deep shit, since I think that talent wise they are outclassed by Anaheim, San Jose, and Detroit. Their best bet would be a first round matchup with the Canucks, which I think is a toss up.

[Toe]

I don't the Sedins are all that.

Nucks will still win the division though.

[Toe]

Toronto wins their second preseason game, beating the Coyotes 3 to 2 in the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. Much better game for the Leafs, less sloppy and less mistakes. Sundin - Blake - Antropov generated a lot of chances, and it was Sundin feeding Blake that tied the game for the Leafs. Andrew Raycroft did not face a ton of shots, but played well, only getting burned on mistakes by his defence.

Overall, the team is progressing well in camp. None of the younger players so far have made an impression, except Gamache laying out a huge hit in the second period.

Next for Toronto is Phoenix again, this time at the ACC. That is tomorrow. All I know so far is that Toskala will be in net (and Maurice is giving all the netminders the full game, not splitting the games) and Anton Stralman will be given a look on the blueline.

[Gabriel]

Word around the grapevine is that the Kings have placed Dan Cloutier on waivers today. That leaves Aubin, Labarbera and Bernier to fight for the two spots on the main roster. Aubin's probably a lock. Labarbera or Bernier will end up as a number one in the AHL this season, potentially sharing the job with Cloutier, should he clear waivers.

[The Sultan of Swank]

In Montreal, Andrei Kostitsyn is a force, he's been playing with Kovalev (who appears to actually want to play) and both players seem to make each other better. Ryan O'Byrne, who will probably play in the AHL is a pretty good defeseman, I was impressed with him last night. Carey Price has displayed some unbelievable skills, but he doesn't seem quite ready for the NHL. Tonight is Higgins first game of the pre-season and I really can't wait to see a game with Higgins, Ryder, Koivu, Kovalev, Kostitsyn and Plekanec all playing. Latendresse has also been very, very impressive.

The best goalie comming out of the camp so far is clearly Huet.

[Toe]

...and Kyle Wellwood is hurt again.

They had to do more surgery to correct his sports hernia which took him out last year. He is out indefinately. The loss of Wellwood will hurt Toronto's offence badly, as he was the key to having a potent scoring second line.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

...and the fact that Leaf fans can combine "Kyle Wellwood" with "potent second line" and a straight face is pretty much why I'm not cheering for them.

[Toe]

...and the fact that Leaf fans can combine "Kyle Wellwood" with "potent second line" and a straight face is pretty much why I'm not cheering for them.

[SeanDMan]

What I've heard from Canucks camp;

Bourdon is going to the AHL. He is not ready for the NHL and looks pretty bad. The Canucks defense will be Ohlund Bieksa, Krajicek Mitchell, Salo Edler, and Aaron Miller, barring injuries.

Grabner looks like the best bet to make the team from juniors. The forwards are going to be Sedin and Sedin, Pyatt, Naslund, Morrison, Kesler, Cooke, Linden for sure. Sedins and Pyatt will play together more then likely. Supposedly Ryan Kesler and Markus Naslund will be the new second line, and they are auditioning linemates. Matt Cooke is a longshot, they like Ryan Shannon, Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond, Janick Hansen, and Grabner. One of them makes that line and probably another one makes it to play with Byron Ritchie and Jeff Cowan. Third line will be Cooke Morrison and Linden, maybe with Burrows or someone filling in when Linden takes games off. Isbister will probably be the healthy scratch, and the other kids would then get sent down.

Also, Curtis Sanford has won the st... nah, I'm just kidding, we all know who will play net in Vancouver this year.

Edited September 24, 2007 by SeanDMan

[SeanDMan]

Also, Jeremy Roenick looked good last night playing with Joe Thornton. I never thought I'd see Jeremy Roenick play after last season, forget looking good, but it happened.

[Plubby]

Liar!

In the Rockies - if Theo takes too long to repair from his excuse - I mean surgery, Tyler Weiman may get to backup Boodes at the start of the season. This normally wouldn't merit a mention except it's highly likely Theo may just not make the lineup if this happens ^_^