I don't anticipate this thread getting too much traffic, but hey, who knows? I'm stoked that hockey is back and now I'll be getting season tickets to my beloved Coyotes in between streaming Rockets games. Let's drop the puck and watch all of these teams go from 0 to 60 with only 6 days of preseason training. Who is going to take it all? Who is going to struggle to adapt? I think the Kings are poised to make noise again. The playoffs will be a dog fight; one big losing streak and you're toast.
I'm happy too that Hockey is back. 48 games should be fun, better than no games at all. Blachawks still have a gaping hole in the goalie dept. Until they replace Crawford, they won't be contending. I can't blame the front office for not getting a replacement since there was a lockout, but they better get something done by the trade deadline.
saturday is gonna rock! can't wait to go to the Maple Leaf pub with some friends and watch the games all afternoon and evening
The wife and I are talking about moving to Raleigh, so I'm going to try to follow Carolina this year. What's their story?
Cup Champions in the mid 2000s I believe. Best player in Franchise history was Rob Brindamour or Ron Francis. Formally, the Hartford Whalers.
They traded for Jordan Staal to go along with Eric Staal. In addition they already had Jeff Skinner and signed Alexander Semin in FA which gives them 4solid forwards for their top 6. Defensively there are no standouts, but they have Cam Ward in net whose a solid goalie. They should be in contention for the playoffs and could even challenge for their group with Washington being the frontrunners in the south.
Going into this shortened season alot of teams are in good position to make their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Here are the teams I consider to be the strongest from each conference and thus favorites to represent their conference in the Finals. Eastern Conference: Boston Bruins Champs 2 seasons ago still have the same core that won it all. Biggest change is in net with Thomas taking the year off, but Tukkaa Rask is a solid golaie and should pick up the slack. Strong up front with Seguin turning into a star and great talent around him like Horton, Lucic, Krejci and Marchand. Defensively they are strong and Chara is still a beast. Pittsburgh Penguins Like Boston they are stacked all across the board. Offensively they have Crosby, Malkin and Neal who are all studs, defensively they are strong and can score from defense with the likes of Letang. And Flurey solidifies the back end in goal. Like Boston there are no real holes and nothing to worry about other than injuries. New York Rangers Huge offseason aquisition of Rick Nash gives them a true star forward to pair with Richards on the top line. This also takes pressure off of Gaborik which should increase his output. Strong defensively with Del Zotto and Staal and Lundqvist may be the best goalie in the game. Western Conference Los Angeles Kings Defending champs return the same squad. Addition of Carter last season gives them 2 legit top 6 lines, strong defensively and shoud be better with Doughty no longer in limbo and Quick is the other goalie in the conversation with Lundqvist for the top spot in the league. No reason to see a drop off in their game. Minnesota Wild Huge offseason aquisitions of Parise and Suter give them a top forward and defensemen to add to an already good team. Koivu and Parise should hook up early and often and if Backstrom can stay healthy this team can rise up from middle of the pack to the top. Vancouver Canucks The window is closing in on this squad but they are still as good as they have been but with more question marks. Secondary forwards like Burrows and Kesler have injury concerns and while Schnider should be fine in net Luongo may still be their come seasons start which could create some problems. I would be very suprised if the
Glad to see some other NHL fans on here. New fans always welcome! I'm also interested to see how the Minnesota Wild perform. They've acquired tons of top offensive talent but haven't been able to put it all together. Rick Nash on the Rangers will also be dirty.. It's going to be an awesome whirlwind season. Big TV schedule today: Pitt - Philly and Chicago - LA on NBC starting now, with games the rest of the night! And here's the funniest headshot of the pre-season (thanks Yahoo news): Spoiler
Solid performance. Not much rust showing up in the movement of the play or the passing game. Can't say I'm thrilled about hosting the Hawks at the Coyotes home opener tomorrow. We had a good game against the Stars today; lost on a back-breaker giveaway. Jagr and Whitney were great; something like 3 goals and 6 points between them.
A week in and teams like Detroit and Philadelphia who are perenial top teams look to be in trouble. Detroit just has too many injuries on the blue line coupled with Lidstrom's retierment and it looks like their playoff streak could come to an end. Especially when it looks like they could easily finish fourth in their group behind St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago. Philadelphia is a weird one to gauge. The talent is there but they do lack a lock down defensive pairing and they seem to have no faith in Bryzgalov which in turn has hindered the teams performance. I still expect them to bounce back as the offense is their and in Giroux they have one of the best players in the game. I plan on posting here as much as I can so I should take this time to introduce my favorite team and it is the Colorado Avalanche. Born and raised in Michigan I never really cared for home teams and growing up I really didn't care for hockey. Back when Colorado won their first cup they played the Wings in the 2nd round. I was at my friends house and he is a die hard Wings fan. Watching the game I started pulling for the Avs because I had to oppose him on everything sports related. It was a good choice as I found out about Roy, Forsberg, Sakic and all the other great players they had. Didn't take to long for me to understand the game and really become a fan. Coming out of the 04-05 lockout my love of the game grew with new stars like Crosby and Ovechkin entering the league. I stuck with the Avs and now I have a new young team moving forward with potential stars like Duchene and Landeskog to build around moving forward.
Blackhawks looking good to start off the season. I'm still not convinced that Crawford will be enough in the playoffs. I've heard Luongo's name pop up, but I'm not sure if I think the Hawks should go after him. He'd definitely be an upgrade over any of our goalies.
Anyone see Yakupov's goal celebration yesterday? It's getting some decent pub today as pundits are going back and fourth on weather it was excessive or warrented. Either way its pretty sweet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfysDNnuX64&feature=player_detailpage
The guy at the :16 mark doesn't think so. I think it's awesome. Anytime you score a goal with 4.6 seconds left to tie or win it, it's a huge deal. FYI, I love Marleau and E. Staal. Helping my fantasy team early!
