I watch or listen to nearly every Penguins game. I additionally try to tune in to Versus on Mondays and NBC on the weekends. To boot, I have seen so many damn high school and college hockey games over the last 5 years that I have really become a fan of those levels, too.
I’ve watched a decent amount of hockey games. I’ll check my notebook upstairs for exact numbers. I’m about the most fairweather hockey fan there is. I’m not a true hockey fan so I won’t watch just to watch. But the talent they have now excites me so I try to watch when I can. There really are so many options on TV that I can’t watch a game start to finish. As for a non-Pens game, there’s no chance, unless it’s a huge picture of Melrose’s face on the screen and you just listen to Thorne announce the game. That I’d watch.
After acquiring Smyth, I don’t think that there’s anyway that the Islanders WON’T make the Playoffs. The East is going to be a hotly contested race down the stretch, would should be a lot of fun, while the 8 teams in the West have pretty much distanced themselves from the pretenders.
#1 seed in Western Conference: Jon Frank wrote a long time ago that he thought that the Ducks would be the Western Conference Champion because they will have the ability to send out Pronger and Niedermayer for as many shifts as they want come playoff time. To boot, Anaheim boasts two playoff-tested goalies in Giguere and Bryzgalov (not sure of the spelling there). The Ducks will certainly be a formidable foe come playoff time.
As for #1 seed, though, don’t you just get the feeling that it’s gonna be Detroit? Isn’t Detroit ALWAYS the #1 seed? As good as Nashville and Anaheim have been this season, the Red Wings find themselves right there in the thick of it as the season winds down. Now, I’m not saying that I think Detroit is going to win the West (I like Nashville, Vancouver, Calgary, and Anaheim all better in the Playoffs), but I just see Detroit once again winning the #1 seed out West and, potentially in the process, yet another President’s Trophy.
Most Dangerous Teams: In the East, I think that the Sabres and Devils are the clear favorites, so neither can be considered dangerous. You have to think that the Pens are going to be a tough out with all of their energy, as could be the Rangers, who have been playing good hockey since the All-Star Break. And I can’t imagine that the rest of the Eastern teams would be all that disappointed to see Carolina miss out on the playoffs after winning the Cup last year.
Out West, I consider the Ducks, Preds, and Red Wings to be the favorites, so I’d say that the most dangerous team is the Flames. Kiprusoff has been successful in big games (Stanley Cup, World Cup of Hockey, etc.) and Iginla is as good of a player as there is in the NHL. If Marty Turco could ever translate his regular season success to the playoffs, then Dallas would be a Cup contender. And I think that the addition of Roberto Luongo to the Canucks has made them completely legit.
Buffalo over N.Y. Islanders in 5 games
New Jersey over Tampa Bay in 5 games
N.Y. Rangers over Atlanta in 6 games
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 7 games
Buffalo over Pittsburgh in 6 games
New Jersey over N.Y. Rangers in 5 games
Buffalo over New Jersey in 7 games
Calgary over Detroit in 7 games
Anaheim over Minnesota in 6 games
Vancouver over Dallas in 7 games
Nashville over San Jose in 7 games
Calgary over Nashville in 7 games
Anaheim over Vancouver in 7 games
Calgary over Anaheim in 7 games
Buffalo over Calgary in 6 games
First off, I think that this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is WIDE OPEN. With that being said, I think that Buffalo and New Jersey are the clear class of the Eastern Conference, and I expect both to advance to the Eastern Finals, with Buffalo getting by New Jersey thanks to the stellar play of Ryan Miller. Pittsburgh is dangerous, but I think their youth and inexperience will get the best of them against the Sabre (as Michel Therrien would call them); in a Playoffs-like game last week, Buffalo came into Pittsburgh and waxed the Pens 4-1.
It seems like every year there is some underdog team that rides a hot goalie, or goalies, to the Stanley Cup. We’ve seen Carolina get there a few years back as an underdog, Calgary, and Edmonton last year. My “darkhorse” pick this season is the team that I picked to win the West at the beginning of the season: the Calgary Flames. I have absolutely no real rationale behind this as the Flames have completely stumbled into the Playoffs, but I have a hunch that Kiprusoff and Iginla are going to play key roles in getting the Flames back to the Cup. These matchups in the West look to be amazing on paper, by the way.
When it’s all said and done, I see the Sabres, statistically this year’s premier team and President’s Trophy winner, raising the Cup, with Daniel Briere taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Comments: Atlanta over NYR could actually be considered an upset but other than the Pens I’m going chalk. As I type, Ottawa is dominating Game 1 but I still like the young guns to bounce back. I’ll be there Sunday for Game 3, should be great. Don’t sleep on Tampa but they are just to shallow this year to take over Jersey- lots of warriors missing from the last Cup team. Buffalo-NYI reminds me of St. Pierre-Serra.
WEST
8 Calgary over 1 Detroit in 7
7 Minnesota over 2 Anaheim in 6
6 Dallas over 3 Vancouver in 6
5 San Jose over 4 Nashville in 5
Comments: Well I didn’t plan it this way but it looks just like last year. Dallas-Vancouver looks a lot like NYR-Atlanta, and the Dallas is just a beautiful example of a great defensive system that the players buy into every year. Detroit was my Cup pick until getting banged up but I love Calgary, particularly Iginla and Phaneuf. I like San Jose’s moves and momentum more than Nashville’s. Minnesota is the only pick I consider a true upset, and if Anaheim starts hot they’ll do a lot more than just prove me wrong.
LATER ROUNDS
Buffalo over Pittsburgh, New J over Atlanta, San Jose over Calgary, and Dallas over Minnesota. My Cup pick is Buffalo over San Jose. If I’m terriblt wrong it may be because I’m overvaluing defensive teams like Dallas and New J in the “new NHL.” Don’t sleep on Pittsburgh, especially if they avoid Buffalo in Round 2, orAnaheim with the Pronger-Niederfucker combo.
Its so hard sometimes to gage the NHL playoffs, especially in the last few years (not counting 05) where there has been major upsets, #1 seeds losing in the first rd, etc. So here are my picks East and West.
Buffalo vs. Islanders – Buffalo 4-1
Devils vs. TB – Devils in 4-2
Atlanta vs Rangers – Rangers 4-2
Pittsburgh vs Ottawa – Pittsburgh 4-2
Buffalo vs Rangers – Buffalo 4-1
Devils vs Pittsburgh – Devils 4-2
Buffalo vs Devils – Devils 4-3
I really like Pittsburgh but I think they are 1 or 2 more years away from being a serious contender for years to come. Crosby, Malkin and Fleury will be tough to contend with for a long while. I think Buffalo is just doesn’t have what it takes to make that run. Every year there comes a point where the Devils seem on the brink of becoming just another playoff team. However, with Brodeur playing the best hockey of his career, its going to be tough with his experience for them not to at least get the conference finals and stanley cup.
Detroit vs Calgary – Detroit 4-1
Anaheim vs Minnesota – Anaheim 4-2
Dallas vs. Vancouver – Dallas 4-2
San Jose vs Nashville – San Jose 4-1
Detroit vs Dallas – Dallas 4-2
Anaheim vs. San Jose – Anaheim 4-3
Anaheim vs Dallas – Anaheim 4-2
I don’t know much about the Western Conference, but I know that I like the defensive line that Anaheim has to offer w/niedermayer and pronger is real tough to beat. Plus w/niedermayer’s experience in the playoffs he will lead them without question.
Anaheim vs Devils – Anaheim 4-3
This is a rematch of the 04 stanley cup finals, with anaheim looking at seeking revenge for its previous defeat. The defensive tandum of pronger and niedermayer proves to be alittle to much for the EGG line the Devils has to offer and eventhough the Devils take it to the 7th game, the ducks take the stanley cup.
Looks like we all agree that the East is set up to be pretty chalky.
The West is going to be just as wild, but looking back at my picks I think I picked Calgary as a fan. JD’s Detroit-Dallas prediction would be a barnburner that I’d love to see along with Anaheim-San J if the seeds hold.
I really hat this Pgh-Ott matchup in round 1 but I’m sticking with the pgh pick. The Sens are just set up for a massive letdown if the pens steal game 2. How great would that be- win game 2 4-3 or something in OT and head back to Pittsburgh tied after being totally outplayed. All the momentum and all the confidence, which is all this team needs. As JD alluded to goaltending will be key in other words the flahr needs to bring some intensity.
If the Rangers get by Atlanta I’m gonna take Pit over the Devils and I’d give them a chance over Buffalo if they can get hot and the flahr holds it together.
Out west it will be who has thew hottest netminder (what else?). I thought about Dallas in the finals before reminding myself of Turco’s meltdowns, Hasek is old, so I still think it comes down to St Joe and the LA Ducks of Anaheim. The JD comments about the big D pairing were dead on,m so I think the smart m,oney is really on the Ducks and……
Chalk except Pens and Rangers in round 1. The Sens will be finished if they lose a tight game 2 and all the momentum thatr would go with it.
Dallas-Detroit war in round 2 but the questions at goaltender make either go down to the winner of the St. Joe-LA Ducks of An. series. I liked JD’s comments about the D, even though they are obvious they are still dead on so I’m going Ducks in 7.
If the Rangers win I think the Sabres smoke em and are just flat out rusty when the pens come to tahn after wiping out the Devils in 6. The Flahr has to bring the heat but I’m going Pens in 7.
And in the Cup………
Pens 4 Ducks 3 fuck my old prediction this is how its happening.
MVP Gary Roberts
PS Mark Recchis stubby arms are 9 inches long and he has fat baby fingers
Calgary will not be stopped with Mike Vernon in the net and Theo Fleury and Joe Niewendyk attacking the goal!!!!!!
Ok, maybe I’m a few years past my hayday but might as well predict. Raible knows everything about every sport and is always wrong so hey, Why not take a stab!?!?
I saw two minutes of the Ottawa Senators and it was all I needed to see to pick them to go all the way. Seriously, why not? If they lose first round I’ll be happy because it means the Pens will have advanced. But they seem like a team that always is supposed to go far and never does. Maybe this is the year people are sleeping on them and they turn it on. Ray “My mom definitely banged Grant Fuhr” Emery might never give up a goal again. I’ve always been a big Jason Spezza fan, and by always I mean ever since 2005 when I drafted him on my fantasy hockey team not knowing anything about him. He was a more than solid contributor for Hoss’s mom’s panties (Sorry but it was my team name). Dany Heatley is really sweet. Because of his ability on the ice, you ask? Hell no. Because he spells Danny with one N. And Daniel Alfredsson. Don’t even get me started on him. No matter what, he continues to be the Senators’s one constant (100% ironic that this is the exact headline of an espn.com article that I just clicked on).
When you have no idea what you’re talking about it’s always great to go with the team with the best goaltender. I just looked at stats and it looks like every frickin team has a good goaltender. I’m gonna go out on a limb here but….drum roll please….whichever goalie gets the hottest could have the inside track at Lord Stanley! God that’s bold!
As for the first round, I think the Sabres are too good to lose. Marty Brodeur also refuses to lose and the Devils prevail. I know far more players (roughly three to zero) on the Rangers than I do the Atlantaters (that’s their name, right?) so I’ve gotta go Rangers in this one. I suppose I’ll predict the Senators since I’ve predicted them to win the Cup.
In the west I’m going with the Flames over Detroit for two reasons. They were my 2nd favorite team 15 years ago and Jonny Frank loves that Phaneuf dude (Dare I say, He can’t get Phaneuf). Anaheim will win because all J.S. Giguerre’s knows in the playoffs is how to stand on his head (wasn’t he a huge bust after that one run? is he now once again an ass-beater?). Vancouver-Minnesota really intrigues me (or doesn’t at all). When Minnesota moved to Dallas why didn’t they become the South Stars? Also, you can’t stop one Sedin, let alone two. For these reasons, the Canucks will roll. To wrap up the first rounders I’m picking the Sharks in a major upset just because I used to have a Sharks garbage can in my room. Why? Because I love their colors! Duh!
Ottawa will beat Buffalo and then New Jersey.
Flames will beat the Sharks but lose to the Canucks. Seriously, you can’t stop the Sedin’s.
UNLESS YOU HAVE SUCH A CONSTANT LIKE DANNY ALFREDSSON BABY.
With Calgary, my preseason pick to win the Western Conference, now eliminated, it is time to take a new look at the NHL Playoffs:
Buffalo vs New York Rangers: This is a great series for me as I get to see my favorite player, Martin Straka, face off against quite possibly my favorite goalie, Ryan Miller. Throw in some Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr and I think we’ve got ourselves quite a series brewing. The Rangers have been very solid since the All-Star Break, even more so since they acquired Sean Avery. Buffalo, the President’s Trophy winner, has been among the class of the NHL since the season began. I would be shocked if the Rangers didn’t at least put up a fight in this series. BUFFALO IN SIX.
New Jersey vs Ottawa: The Devils were tested by a very game Tampa Bay squad, while Ottawa completely blitzed the Penguins in Round One. New Jersey is the favorite on paper, but you get the feeling like many are expecting Ottawa to win this series after the great performance against Pittsburgh. I think the two teams are evenly matched, so the series should come down to goaltending: Martin Brodeur vs Ray Emery. NEW JERSEY IN SEVEN.
I am going to stick with my preseason and pre-playoff prediction of Buffalo over New Jersey in seven, with Buffalo moving on to win the Stanley Cup.
The Western Conference matchups are still to be determined; Detroit will play either Dallas or San Jose, while Anaheim will play either Vancouver or San Jose. Detroit dominated Calgary in their First Round series, only losing two games at the difficult Saddledome. Anaheim was just as dominant in its dismantling of Minnesota, while San Jose was impressive in its dispatching of Nashville in five. The winner of the Vancouver-Dallas series will more than likely be drained, both physically and emotionally.
I think that Anaheim, as Jon Frank said they would, wins the Western Conference before losing to Buffalo in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The only thing I really disagree with here is the Ottawa-Jersey comments. I agree that it will come down to goaltending but only because Jersey will need a dominating performance from Brodeur to even get this one to 6 or 7 games. That could certainly happen, but I think it will have to because these teams aren’t close accross the board in my opinion. Ottawa just has more speed and skill down the roster and if the Senators get either the best of the luck or great goaltending themselves I think we’re looking at another quick thrashing. I’m not counting out Brodeur and New J but I do think he needs to bring his A+ game for this to be a series.
Not that I am complaining, but I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that both the Senators and Penguins were screwed in the First Round. The NHL shouldn’t allow a division winner with a worse record than a division runner-up to receive a higher seed. Atlanta, which had less points than both Ottawa and Pittsburgh, was the #3 seed by virtue of their winning the Southeast Division. If the NHL used the rules employed by the NBA, then Buffalo would have been #1, New Jersey #2, Ottawa would have been #3 and played #6 New York, and Atlanta would have been #4 but would have opened at #5 Pittsburgh (like Utah and Houston in the NBA) in the First Round.
Bygones are bygones, but I think this is something that the NHL should take a closer look at moving forward.
Wow, sounds like two bitter Pens fans here. I am not saying that the Devils will win, but EVERY TEAM is faster and more skilled than NJ, but they have the best goaltender and play great team hockey and have been successful at doing it for over a decade now.
Also, didn’t the NBA just implement this rule? I agree I love it and maybe NHL will follow suit.
Right. My point was pretty much that New J needs Brodeur to be head and shoulders above the other goalie (which he usually is) to win your average second round series. I disgreed that these two teams stack up fairly evenly. I think Ottawa has one of the best forward/defensemen lineups in the league. They have the dependable “defensive” defense pairing needed to match up against the Elias line so I think Emery will be protected well enough. So, if Brodeur stands on his head, which he very well may, I think they have a shot. If he plays like he did in parts of the Tampa series it will be over quickly. Ottawa has better defensemen and a deeper pool of talented forwards than Tampa, so those 3-goal games he allowed may translate to 4-1 losses.
I don’t understand the bitterness thing. Was that directed at me?
It’s unlike Raible to complain about top records in the playoffs. If I can put my 2 cents in, I’d say the wording was strong (once again, shocked Raible’s wording came across harsh). I disagree with saying they got “screwed” if that’s how the rules always have been. If it’s nothing new then it’s nothing new. Maybe unfortunate but not screwed (although screwed could just be an angrier way of saying unfortunate). I do hope like Raible and Wells both suggested, that NHL looks at the Pittsburgh-Ottawa series and follows suit with the NBA. If you remember, the NBA didn’t really change until looking at how bad it worked out last year with the Mavs and Spurs being the two best teams.
Raible and Dean seemed to say different things about the Devils-Sens series but Wells called them both bitter Pens fans. Granted they could be but I don’t understand how that opinion was formed from this discussion.
Hockey experts, Penguins bigger need, Winger to go with Crosby OR defensemen OR pointless to even argue because they need them both (personally my answer but very uninformed opinion).
No my bitter comment was more directed at Raibs. He sounded like if you guys played either Atlanta or NY you’d have a much better chance to advance and even though he said Ottawa and Pitts, I felt like he meant Pitts more. I understand what you are saying about Ottawa and don’t doubt that they are better than the Devils, but the Devils have more than just the Elias line, which isn’t even their top scoring line right now.(Although Zach Parise’s stats kind of inflate his lines contribution.) I also agree that Marty will have to be near flawless, but I just don’t think you can count NJ out because they are have alot of vets who have been here before. Not to mention the checking line being able to press the offensive tempo I think this team is always dangerous.
Are you guys serious? I said I think that the Devils are going to beat the Senators, so how can I be bitter? And I am a Rangers fan, so obviously the way the NHL seeds its teams didn’t affect me as much as 99% of the other Penguins fans. AND I have made it well known that I was quite annoyed with all of the homers around Pittsburgh thinking that the Pens were simply going to waltz their way to a Stanley Cup title simply because they were in the Playoffs for the first time since 2001.
The point that I was trying to make is that the seeding process in the NHL is flawed, that’s all. Perhaps a better indication of it was last night: You have #3 Vancouver hosting #6 Dallas in a Game 7. Vancouver was the #3 seed based on its winning its Division, but Dallas finished the season with more points. You play that game in Dallas instead of Vancouver and we might have a different outcome; you can never be sure, but I am positive that the Stars would have liked to take their chance at home rather than in Canada.
My apologies that I misconstrued your comments then. Best of luck to your Rangers, maybe we can get a repeat of ‘94 with a different Eastern Finals outcome. Because I don’t think I could go through that again.
But that would be amazing and make for another classic series. I think it’s actually equivalent to Yankees-Red Sox in terms of bitter rivalries. In the west I’d like to see San Jose- Anaheim WCF.
You know the only thing about seeding regardless of divisions? Why have divisions? I agree with points series Raible pointed to and what I said about the Spurs and Mavs last year. The flip side to this, for argument’s sake, is if you’re going to ignore the division winners for playoff seeding (what it’s all about) why even have three divisions? Why not go back to four divisions total, two in each conference? Maybe this is unrealistic but why do we even have divisions if we’re not going to reward division winners? If a conference had two divisions, if by far the two best were in the same division, the worst thing that would happen is they’d be ranked one and three and not meet until the conference finals. Also, can always make the argument with teams like the Pens and Devils, that the Pens had the chance to overtake the division lead at the end of the year and couldn’t come through. Instead of it being, “Oh no big deal, we’ll still be seeded highly” it’s, “Man, that’s a big difference.” If you’re going to have divisions, they should be rewarded. I don’t know how unbalanced the schedule is, but I’m guessing it’s somewhat unbalanced. If winning your division means nothing, they get rid of the third division.
BUF/NYI: Chris Drury – 4 goals, including 2 GWG
NJ/TB: Zach Parise – 6 goals from a second line player
OTT/PIT: Anton Volchenkov – 17 hits and 14 blocked shots
NYR/ATL: Sean Avery – 5 points while agitating Kovalchuk
DET/CAL: Nicklas Lidstrom – 8 points and shut down Iginla
ANA/MIN: Chris Pronger – 6 points and 28:27 ice time/game
VAN/DAL: Marty Turco – 3 shutouts kept Dallas in it
SJ/NSH: Milan Michalek – 4 even strength goals
Although he ended up on the losing end of the stick, I think that Dallas’ Marty Turco was the MVP of Round 1. The guy allowed 11 goals in seven games, and five of those came in the four-overtime loss in Game One. He shut out Vancouver in all three Stars wins, and had a shutout streak of 167 minutes. To boot, Turco has as much pressure on him as anyone in the league due to his past poor performances in the Playoffs (how’s that for alliteration?); I think it’s fair to say that it wasn’t Turco’s fault this year that Dallas lost in the Playoffs.
Lots of hockey action outside of the NHL right now: Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins go for the series clincher tonight against Norfolk in their AHL First-Round Best of 7 Series. Meanwhile, the IIHF World Championships are through one set of games and all 8 favorites (Canada, Russia, USA, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia) sit at 1-0, although the Canucks had to hold off a pesky German squad by a 3-2 score. And Team Pittsburgh captured its first Chicago Showcase championship last week, defeating Team Wisconsin in the final.
I didn’t make my official picks for the 2nd round, although I alluded to the fact that I liked Buffalo, New Jersey, and Anaheim to advance. Without further ado, and to condense all of my 2nd round thoughts to one spot…
Buffalo over New York Rangers in Six
New Jersey over Ottawa in Seven
(I made each of these picks on April 23rd; Man has Ottawa looked good so far)
Detroit over San Jose in Seven
(I feel like I should pick the Red Wings because the Sharks have looked better and it would seem like I was jumping on their bandwagon if I picked them)
Anaheim over Vancouver in Seven
(I picked the Ducks to win the Western Conference on April 23rd, so this is just making that pick official)
Buffalo is the President’s Trophy winner and got to this point last year; Ottawa has probably played better than any team to this point in the Playoffs.
Prediction: Buffalo in 7 games
Western Conference Finals: Anaheim vs Detroit/San Jose
Anaheim has dropped only 2 games thus far in dispatching Minnesota and Vancouver; the winner of the Detroit/San Jose series will have been tested and not have as much rest as the Ducks.
I think that the excitement and intensity of both the NHL and NBA Playoffs take something away from their Regular Seasons. Seemingly every NFL game is a big event, and MLB games tend to mean more down the stretch since only 8 total teams make the Playoffs. But when half of the teams in the league make the Playoffs, as they do in the NHL and NBA, I think the Regular Season then becomes somewhat watered down.
-Pens re-signing Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi & Colby Armstrong, signing Petr Sykora and Daryl Sydor, and extending Ryan Whitney and some dude named Sidney
-Rangers plucking Chris Drury and Scott Gomez off the Free Agency wire
-Anaheim bracing for the expected departure of Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer by signing Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider (and Dan LaCouture!)
Worst Offseason Moves:
-It pretty much all revolves around Buffalo one way or another. First, the Sabres lost co-captain Daniel Briere to Philadelphia for a ridiculous 8-year, $52 million contract. Then, co-captain Chris Drury left Buffalo for greener pastures across the state, inking a deal with the Rangers. However, the icing on the cake was the complete dick move performed by Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who signed emerging star Thomas Vanek to a 7-year, $50 million offer sheet despite knowing that the Sabres really had no choice but to match the offer. The Sabres also lost Danius Zubrus and Ty Conklin (BABY PENS!) to Free Agency, too.
As far as exciting rookies are concerned, I don’t think that there is anyone in this year’s class with the buzz surrounding them like a Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Staal, Johnson, Kessel, etc. Obviously, it is hoped that #1 pick Patrick Kane can help revitalize the Chicago franchise much in the same way as the young guns have done for the Pens. Speaking of the Pens, I feel like the flightless birds got a steal at #20 with Angelo Esposito (although I would be shocked if he made the big club this year).
Crosby not taking the max was the best move of the offseason. The kid could have walked in, said, “I’ll take a Pepsi and a max contract please” and immediately got both. But by taking a little less, it shows the kid wants to win more than anything and what the Pens are building looks he could be a winner rather soon. Any player that signed for more money than Sidney Crosby has to feel like a jackass. Obviously they don’t, but that’s also why they’re not Sidney Crosby.
Letang qualify as a rookie?!?!?! What about Erik Johnson? Maybe this draft wasn’t as great but I didn’t think Johnson played last year. Is he done bein a Golden Gopher yet? Jonathan Toews? I love that for some reason I paid attention to the 2006 Draft!
The Pens have opened training camp with the following line combinations and defense pairings:
Mark Recchi-Sidney Crosby-Petr Sykora
Gary Roberts-Evgeni Malkin-Erik Christensen
Ryan Malone-Jordan Staal-Colby Armstrong
Jarkko Ruutu-Tim Brent-Georges Laraque
Angelo Esposito-Maxime Talbot-Adam Hall
Ryan Stone-Nathan Smith-Jonathan Filewich
Tim Wallace-Dustin Jeffrey-Tyler Kennedy
Connor James-Jeff Taffe-Aaron Boogaard
Darryl Sydor-Sergei Gonchar
Brooks Orpik-Ryan Whitney
Mark Eaton-Kristopher Letang
Alain Nasreddine-Mike Weaver
Rob Scuderi-Joe Rullier
Alex Goligoski-Ben Lovejoy
Coach Michel Therrien’s plan, at least for now, is to play Malkin and Staal, both of whom got some work on the wing last season, in their natural position of center. If that holds, Malkin and Crosby aren’t likely to play together at even-strength unless there are extenuating circumstances, like if the Penguins are desperate for a goal or to alter the momentum of a game.
For the most part, I like what Therrien is doing here, although I think that Malkin might best serve as a wing on Crosby’s line. The move of Christensen to the wing is pretty exciting, as is the possibility of that 3rd line evolving into something pretty solid. I would really like to see Talbot on the 4th line with Ruutu and Filewich; I have no need for Laraque. I would be shocked if Esposito makes the big club out of camp. As for the defense, it’s pretty much what is to be expected, with that 2nd pairing being my personal favorite.
-Hopefully Sydor will prove to be good enough all around to play with Gonchar on the top unit. If he’s not then Eaton will have to take that spot, and he’s the ideal defender to pair with young, small and skilled Letang.
-Recchi is stumpy and slow. He doesn’t belong with Crosby. Sykora on the other hand could work out. He has speed and finishing ability, and the on;y question mark is his tenacity and the ability to play at a high level all game. He probably won’t dig the puck out of the corners (nor would his possible replacement Christensen), but the beauty of Crosby is that he makes all the plays AND does all the dirty work.
-Roberts is a great fit on any line with any linemates.
-Malone is at best a third liner. he’s got good size and good hands but he just isn’t a great player. I’d love to trade him to a dumb GM.
-I hope Malkin comes into his own this year- he’s the biggest wild card, and could be the difference between a 5 seed who goes out in the first round and a contender. If he plays with Crosby I think a Roberts-Staal-Christensen 2nd line would be nice.
There hasn’t been much hockey talk for awhile, so I figured I would take the initiative…
NHL Sweet 16 through games played on October 29th:
1. Ottawa (18 pts): Top line is amazing.
2. Detroit (19 pts): Hasek now injured.
3. Carolina (17 pts): They’re back.
4. Minnesota (16 pts): Gaborik out again.
5. Philadelphia (14 pts): They’re back.
6. San Jose (13 pts): Not playing well.
7. Calgary (13 pts): Big $$$ for Mikka.
8. Colorado (14 pts): Smyth fitting in.
9. Montreal (14 pts): Price owns Pens.
10. Toronto (13 pts): Sundin is the man.
11. Pittsburgh (11 pts): Come on Fleury!
12. Dallas (12 pts): Modano is Mr. USA.
13. Anaheim (10 pts): Struggling.
14. Tampa Bay (11 pts): Bad on the road.
15. Boston (12 pts): Beantown is rocking.
16. N.Y. Rangers (9 pts): Henrik is good.
Hart: Henrik Zetterberg
Vezina: Martin Biron
Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom
Calder: Patrick Kane
Adams: Ken Hitchcock
It looks like we can add Sidney Crosby to the list of people who frequent WCG because The Kid has simply been on fire when I mentioned that it could be Zetterberg, and not Crosby, that could win the Hart Trophy this year.
NHL Sweet 16 through games played on November 19th:
1. Ottawa: A 16-3 record for the defending Eastern Conference Champs. The Sens are really good!
2. Detroit: Will this team ever not be one of the top teams in the NHL? So long as Zetterberg and Datsyuk are around, I doubt it.
3. San Jose: The popular preseason pick to win the Cup has turned it on lately, going 6-2-2 in their last 10.
4. N.Y. Rangers: Another popular preseason pick to win the Cup, and another that has played well recently: 8-2 in their last 10.
5. Carolina: The 2006 Champs have opened a 5-point lead in the Southeast Division, thanks in part to the re-emergence of Cam Ward as a stellar ‘tender.
6. Anaheim: Meanwhile, last year’s Cup winner has come on strong as of late (6-2-2 in last 10). The waiving of Bryzgalov was interesting, though.
7. Philadelphia: Biron continues to be a rock in between the pipes, while guys like Richards and Upshall seem to be the kind of players that Flyers fans have grown to love over the years.
8. Colorado: Jose Theodore needs to step up and be the player that he was when he captured the Hart Trophy in Montreal. A 2.76 GAA and a .901 SV% thus far is a good start on the way back to the top.
9. Montreal: The goalie tandem of Huet and Price has been solid, while Kovalev and Koivu have paced the offense.
10. Minnesota: Another team with great goaltending is having trouble scoring goals (surprise!).
11. Tampa Bay: I always like this team, especially St. Louis. But Lecavalier is clearly the star, as evidenced by his 34 points through 20 games. John Buccigross calls him the 2nd best player in all of hockey, behind only Sid and ahead of Thornton, Zetterberg, and Ilya.
12. N.Y. Islanders: The Isles simply own the Rangers right now, owning 3 wins already over their New York brethren. Ricky D. is playing really well right now (2.26 GAA, .912 SV%).
13. Nashville: They seem to be getting their groove back after a slow start. They need to start scoring some goals, though; maybe they shouldn’t have let Kariya leave.
14. St. Louis: Speaking of Kariya, his 15 assists have helped to lead the Blues back to respectability and into the extremely early Playoff talk.
15. Chicago: The kids are all right, eh? Kane (22 pts.), Toews (16 pts.), etc. have been aided by the presence of solid vets like Robert Lang (19 pts.).
16. Pittsburgh: Call me crazy, but I don’t think that the Pens are as bad as their record indicates. The fact of the matter is that they still have Sid and Geno, which means that a run of success is only a drop of the puck away.
Hart: Henrik Zetterberg
Vezina: Henrik Lundquist
Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom
Calder: Patrick Kane
Adams: Denis Savard
Center: Sidney Crosby
Left Wing: Brian Rolston
Right Wing: Jarome Iginla
Defenseman: Chris Chelios
Defenseman: Brian Rafalski
Goalie: Rick DiPietro
Center: Martin Straka
Left Wing: Ryan Malone
Right Wing: Colby Armstrong
Defenseman: Ryan Whitney
Defenseman: Brooks Orpik
Goalie: Ryan Miller
Head Coach: Herb Brooks
OK, good stuff here. Crosby is the clearly the man. I love American hockey players, and Rolston is perhaps the best two-way one of the bunch. Iginla is simply a horse. Chelios is Captain America, while Rafalski is the best American defenseman. DiPietro gets the nod over Miller for the first team (The First Team…THE CZAB!!!) due to his having a better year thus far.
Second unit is sweeter than the first. Straka is my all-time favorite, Malone is a Pittsburgh dude playing for the Pens, and Colby is my favorite Penguin. Whitney and Orpik are my boys, too.
The only man capable of coaching a team like this is a man who has passed along to bigger and better things. Nevertheless, I am bringing Herbie Brooks (the namesake of Orpik) back from the dead to lead my squad.
The United States finished 4-0 in the preliminary round of the World Juniors and earned a bye to Friday’s (Jan. 4) semifinals, where it will face the winner of Wednesday’s (Jan. 2) Canada-Finland quarterfinal contest. SWEET!
Pens need to find a way to go .500 with Crosby out of the lineup. Do that, and the Black and Gold (…drop the Puck, it’s Time to Go!) should find themselves in the Playoffs for a 2nd straight year.
Rangers: Underachieving much?
Red Wings: Unstoppable much?
Flyers: Thugs much?
All-Star Weekend this weekend. Think anyone will skate faster than Jonny Frank during Saturday’s Skills Competition?
I watch or listen to nearly every Penguins game. I additionally try to tune in to Versus on Mondays and NBC on the weekends. To boot, I have seen so many damn high school and college hockey games over the last 5 years that I have really become a fan of those levels, too.
Raible
March 3, 2007
I’ve watched a decent amount of hockey games. I’ll check my notebook upstairs for exact numbers. I’m about the most fairweather hockey fan there is. I’m not a true hockey fan so I won’t watch just to watch. But the talent they have now excites me so I try to watch when I can. There really are so many options on TV that I can’t watch a game start to finish. As for a non-Pens game, there’s no chance, unless it’s a huge picture of Melrose’s face on the screen and you just listen to Thorne announce the game. That I’d watch.
Haver
March 3, 2007
After acquiring Smyth, I don’t think that there’s anyway that the Islanders WON’T make the Playoffs. The East is going to be a hotly contested race down the stretch, would should be a lot of fun, while the 8 teams in the West have pretty much distanced themselves from the pretenders.
Raible
March 5, 2007
#1 seed in Western Conference: Jon Frank wrote a long time ago that he thought that the Ducks would be the Western Conference Champion because they will have the ability to send out Pronger and Niedermayer for as many shifts as they want come playoff time. To boot, Anaheim boasts two playoff-tested goalies in Giguere and Bryzgalov (not sure of the spelling there). The Ducks will certainly be a formidable foe come playoff time.
As for #1 seed, though, don’t you just get the feeling that it’s gonna be Detroit? Isn’t Detroit ALWAYS the #1 seed? As good as Nashville and Anaheim have been this season, the Red Wings find themselves right there in the thick of it as the season winds down. Now, I’m not saying that I think Detroit is going to win the West (I like Nashville, Vancouver, Calgary, and Anaheim all better in the Playoffs), but I just see Detroit once again winning the #1 seed out West and, potentially in the process, yet another President’s Trophy.
Raible
March 8, 2007
Most Dangerous Teams: In the East, I think that the Sabres and Devils are the clear favorites, so neither can be considered dangerous. You have to think that the Pens are going to be a tough out with all of their energy, as could be the Rangers, who have been playing good hockey since the All-Star Break. And I can’t imagine that the rest of the Eastern teams would be all that disappointed to see Carolina miss out on the playoffs after winning the Cup last year.
Out West, I consider the Ducks, Preds, and Red Wings to be the favorites, so I’d say that the most dangerous team is the Flames. Kiprusoff has been successful in big games (Stanley Cup, World Cup of Hockey, etc.) and Iginla is as good of a player as there is in the NHL. If Marty Turco could ever translate his regular season success to the playoffs, then Dallas would be a Cup contender. And I think that the addition of Roberto Luongo to the Canucks has made them completely legit.
Raible
March 13, 2007
Playoff Predictions:
Buffalo over N.Y. Islanders in 5 games
New Jersey over Tampa Bay in 5 games
N.Y. Rangers over Atlanta in 6 games
Pittsburgh over Ottawa in 7 games
Buffalo over Pittsburgh in 6 games
New Jersey over N.Y. Rangers in 5 games
Buffalo over New Jersey in 7 games
Calgary over Detroit in 7 games
Anaheim over Minnesota in 6 games
Vancouver over Dallas in 7 games
Nashville over San Jose in 7 games
Calgary over Nashville in 7 games
Anaheim over Vancouver in 7 games
Calgary over Anaheim in 7 games
Buffalo over Calgary in 6 games
First off, I think that this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is WIDE OPEN. With that being said, I think that Buffalo and New Jersey are the clear class of the Eastern Conference, and I expect both to advance to the Eastern Finals, with Buffalo getting by New Jersey thanks to the stellar play of Ryan Miller. Pittsburgh is dangerous, but I think their youth and inexperience will get the best of them against the Sabre (as Michel Therrien would call them); in a Playoffs-like game last week, Buffalo came into Pittsburgh and waxed the Pens 4-1.
It seems like every year there is some underdog team that rides a hot goalie, or goalies, to the Stanley Cup. We’ve seen Carolina get there a few years back as an underdog, Calgary, and Edmonton last year. My “darkhorse” pick this season is the team that I picked to win the West at the beginning of the season: the Calgary Flames. I have absolutely no real rationale behind this as the Flames have completely stumbled into the Playoffs, but I have a hunch that Kiprusoff and Iginla are going to play key roles in getting the Flames back to the Cup. These matchups in the West look to be amazing on paper, by the way.
When it’s all said and done, I see the Sabres, statistically this year’s premier team and President’s Trophy winner, raising the Cup, with Daniel Briere taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Raible
April 10, 2007
As posted by Thegreatawakening
EAST
1 Buffalo over 8 NY Islanders in 4
2 New Jersey over 7 Tampa Bay in 6
3 Atlanta over NY Rangers in 7
5 Pittsburgh over 4 Ottowa in 6
Comments: Atlanta over NYR could actually be considered an upset but other than the Pens I’m going chalk. As I type, Ottawa is dominating Game 1 but I still like the young guns to bounce back. I’ll be there Sunday for Game 3, should be great. Don’t sleep on Tampa but they are just to shallow this year to take over Jersey- lots of warriors missing from the last Cup team. Buffalo-NYI reminds me of St. Pierre-Serra.
WEST
8 Calgary over 1 Detroit in 7
7 Minnesota over 2 Anaheim in 6
6 Dallas over 3 Vancouver in 6
5 San Jose over 4 Nashville in 5
Comments: Well I didn’t plan it this way but it looks just like last year. Dallas-Vancouver looks a lot like NYR-Atlanta, and the Dallas is just a beautiful example of a great defensive system that the players buy into every year. Detroit was my Cup pick until getting banged up but I love Calgary, particularly Iginla and Phaneuf. I like San Jose’s moves and momentum more than Nashville’s. Minnesota is the only pick I consider a true upset, and if Anaheim starts hot they’ll do a lot more than just prove me wrong.
LATER ROUNDS
Buffalo over Pittsburgh, New J over Atlanta, San Jose over Calgary, and Dallas over Minnesota. My Cup pick is Buffalo over San Jose. If I’m terriblt wrong it may be because I’m overvaluing defensive teams like Dallas and New J in the “new NHL.” Don’t sleep on Pittsburgh, especially if they avoid Buffalo in Round 2, orAnaheim with the Pronger-Niederfucker combo.
I like hockey.
Wells
April 12, 2007
As posted by JD…
Its so hard sometimes to gage the NHL playoffs, especially in the last few years (not counting 05) where there has been major upsets, #1 seeds losing in the first rd, etc. So here are my picks East and West.
Buffalo vs. Islanders – Buffalo 4-1
Devils vs. TB – Devils in 4-2
Atlanta vs Rangers – Rangers 4-2
Pittsburgh vs Ottawa – Pittsburgh 4-2
Buffalo vs Rangers – Buffalo 4-1
Devils vs Pittsburgh – Devils 4-2
Buffalo vs Devils – Devils 4-3
I really like Pittsburgh but I think they are 1 or 2 more years away from being a serious contender for years to come. Crosby, Malkin and Fleury will be tough to contend with for a long while. I think Buffalo is just doesn’t have what it takes to make that run. Every year there comes a point where the Devils seem on the brink of becoming just another playoff team. However, with Brodeur playing the best hockey of his career, its going to be tough with his experience for them not to at least get the conference finals and stanley cup.
Detroit vs Calgary – Detroit 4-1
Anaheim vs Minnesota – Anaheim 4-2
Dallas vs. Vancouver – Dallas 4-2
San Jose vs Nashville – San Jose 4-1
Detroit vs Dallas – Dallas 4-2
Anaheim vs. San Jose – Anaheim 4-3
Anaheim vs Dallas – Anaheim 4-2
I don’t know much about the Western Conference, but I know that I like the defensive line that Anaheim has to offer w/niedermayer and pronger is real tough to beat. Plus w/niedermayer’s experience in the playoffs he will lead them without question.
Anaheim vs Devils – Anaheim 4-3
This is a rematch of the 04 stanley cup finals, with anaheim looking at seeking revenge for its previous defeat. The defensive tandum of pronger and niedermayer proves to be alittle to much for the EGG line the Devils has to offer and eventhough the Devils take it to the 7th game, the ducks take the stanley cup.
Wells
April 12, 2007
Looks like we all agree that the East is set up to be pretty chalky.
The West is going to be just as wild, but looking back at my picks I think I picked Calgary as a fan. JD’s Detroit-Dallas prediction would be a barnburner that I’d love to see along with Anaheim-San J if the seeds hold.
I really hat this Pgh-Ott matchup in round 1 but I’m sticking with the pgh pick. The Sens are just set up for a massive letdown if the pens steal game 2. How great would that be- win game 2 4-3 or something in OT and head back to Pittsburgh tied after being totally outplayed. All the momentum and all the confidence, which is all this team needs. As JD alluded to goaltending will be key in other words the flahr needs to bring some intensity.
If the Rangers get by Atlanta I’m gonna take Pit over the Devils and I’d give them a chance over Buffalo if they can get hot and the flahr holds it together.
Out west it will be who has thew hottest netminder (what else?). I thought about Dallas in the finals before reminding myself of Turco’s meltdowns, Hasek is old, so I still think it comes down to St Joe and the LA Ducks of Anaheim. The JD comments about the big D pairing were dead on,m so I think the smart m,oney is really on the Ducks and……
The fuckin Pens baby.
Pens 4 Ducks 3 fuck my old prediction
thegreatawakening
April 14, 2007
New predictions——
Chalk except Pens and Rangers in round 1. The Sens will be finished if they lose a tight game 2 and all the momentum thatr would go with it.
Dallas-Detroit war in round 2 but the questions at goaltender make either go down to the winner of the St. Joe-LA Ducks of An. series. I liked JD’s comments about the D, even though they are obvious they are still dead on so I’m going Ducks in 7.
If the Rangers win I think the Sabres smoke em and are just flat out rusty when the pens come to tahn after wiping out the Devils in 6. The Flahr has to bring the heat but I’m going Pens in 7.
And in the Cup………
Pens 4 Ducks 3 fuck my old prediction this is how its happening.
MVP Gary Roberts
PS Mark Recchis stubby arms are 9 inches long and he has fat baby fingers
thegreatawakening
April 14, 2007
Calgary will not be stopped with Mike Vernon in the net and Theo Fleury and Joe Niewendyk attacking the goal!!!!!!
Ok, maybe I’m a few years past my hayday but might as well predict. Raible knows everything about every sport and is always wrong so hey, Why not take a stab!?!?
I saw two minutes of the Ottawa Senators and it was all I needed to see to pick them to go all the way. Seriously, why not? If they lose first round I’ll be happy because it means the Pens will have advanced. But they seem like a team that always is supposed to go far and never does. Maybe this is the year people are sleeping on them and they turn it on. Ray “My mom definitely banged Grant Fuhr” Emery might never give up a goal again. I’ve always been a big Jason Spezza fan, and by always I mean ever since 2005 when I drafted him on my fantasy hockey team not knowing anything about him. He was a more than solid contributor for Hoss’s mom’s panties (Sorry but it was my team name). Dany Heatley is really sweet. Because of his ability on the ice, you ask? Hell no. Because he spells Danny with one N. And Daniel Alfredsson. Don’t even get me started on him. No matter what, he continues to be the Senators’s one constant (100% ironic that this is the exact headline of an espn.com article that I just clicked on).
When you have no idea what you’re talking about it’s always great to go with the team with the best goaltender. I just looked at stats and it looks like every frickin team has a good goaltender. I’m gonna go out on a limb here but….drum roll please….whichever goalie gets the hottest could have the inside track at Lord Stanley! God that’s bold!
As for the first round, I think the Sabres are too good to lose. Marty Brodeur also refuses to lose and the Devils prevail. I know far more players (roughly three to zero) on the Rangers than I do the Atlantaters (that’s their name, right?) so I’ve gotta go Rangers in this one. I suppose I’ll predict the Senators since I’ve predicted them to win the Cup.
In the west I’m going with the Flames over Detroit for two reasons. They were my 2nd favorite team 15 years ago and Jonny Frank loves that Phaneuf dude (Dare I say, He can’t get Phaneuf). Anaheim will win because all J.S. Giguerre’s knows in the playoffs is how to stand on his head (wasn’t he a huge bust after that one run? is he now once again an ass-beater?). Vancouver-Minnesota really intrigues me (or doesn’t at all). When Minnesota moved to Dallas why didn’t they become the South Stars? Also, you can’t stop one Sedin, let alone two. For these reasons, the Canucks will roll. To wrap up the first rounders I’m picking the Sharks in a major upset just because I used to have a Sharks garbage can in my room. Why? Because I love their colors! Duh!
Ottawa will beat Buffalo and then New Jersey.
Flames will beat the Sharks but lose to the Canucks. Seriously, you can’t stop the Sedin’s.
UNLESS YOU HAVE SUCH A CONSTANT LIKE DANNY ALFREDSSON BABY.
In the Stanley Cup, Ottawa…..in 3 of course!!!!!!
Haver
April 14, 2007
With Calgary, my preseason pick to win the Western Conference, now eliminated, it is time to take a new look at the NHL Playoffs:
Buffalo vs New York Rangers: This is a great series for me as I get to see my favorite player, Martin Straka, face off against quite possibly my favorite goalie, Ryan Miller. Throw in some Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr and I think we’ve got ourselves quite a series brewing. The Rangers have been very solid since the All-Star Break, even more so since they acquired Sean Avery. Buffalo, the President’s Trophy winner, has been among the class of the NHL since the season began. I would be shocked if the Rangers didn’t at least put up a fight in this series. BUFFALO IN SIX.
New Jersey vs Ottawa: The Devils were tested by a very game Tampa Bay squad, while Ottawa completely blitzed the Penguins in Round One. New Jersey is the favorite on paper, but you get the feeling like many are expecting Ottawa to win this series after the great performance against Pittsburgh. I think the two teams are evenly matched, so the series should come down to goaltending: Martin Brodeur vs Ray Emery. NEW JERSEY IN SEVEN.
I am going to stick with my preseason and pre-playoff prediction of Buffalo over New Jersey in seven, with Buffalo moving on to win the Stanley Cup.
The Western Conference matchups are still to be determined; Detroit will play either Dallas or San Jose, while Anaheim will play either Vancouver or San Jose. Detroit dominated Calgary in their First Round series, only losing two games at the difficult Saddledome. Anaheim was just as dominant in its dismantling of Minnesota, while San Jose was impressive in its dispatching of Nashville in five. The winner of the Vancouver-Dallas series will more than likely be drained, both physically and emotionally.
I think that Anaheim, as Jon Frank said they would, wins the Western Conference before losing to Buffalo in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Raible
April 23, 2007
The only thing I really disagree with here is the Ottawa-Jersey comments. I agree that it will come down to goaltending but only because Jersey will need a dominating performance from Brodeur to even get this one to 6 or 7 games. That could certainly happen, but I think it will have to because these teams aren’t close accross the board in my opinion. Ottawa just has more speed and skill down the roster and if the Senators get either the best of the luck or great goaltending themselves I think we’re looking at another quick thrashing. I’m not counting out Brodeur and New J but I do think he needs to bring his A+ game for this to be a series.
thegreatawakening
April 23, 2007
Not that I am complaining, but I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that both the Senators and Penguins were screwed in the First Round. The NHL shouldn’t allow a division winner with a worse record than a division runner-up to receive a higher seed. Atlanta, which had less points than both Ottawa and Pittsburgh, was the #3 seed by virtue of their winning the Southeast Division. If the NHL used the rules employed by the NBA, then Buffalo would have been #1, New Jersey #2, Ottawa would have been #3 and played #6 New York, and Atlanta would have been #4 but would have opened at #5 Pittsburgh (like Utah and Houston in the NBA) in the First Round.
Bygones are bygones, but I think this is something that the NHL should take a closer look at moving forward.
Raible
April 23, 2007
Wow, sounds like two bitter Pens fans here. I am not saying that the Devils will win, but EVERY TEAM is faster and more skilled than NJ, but they have the best goaltender and play great team hockey and have been successful at doing it for over a decade now.
Also, didn’t the NBA just implement this rule? I agree I love it and maybe NHL will follow suit.
Wells
April 23, 2007
Right. My point was pretty much that New J needs Brodeur to be head and shoulders above the other goalie (which he usually is) to win your average second round series. I disgreed that these two teams stack up fairly evenly. I think Ottawa has one of the best forward/defensemen lineups in the league. They have the dependable “defensive” defense pairing needed to match up against the Elias line so I think Emery will be protected well enough. So, if Brodeur stands on his head, which he very well may, I think they have a shot. If he plays like he did in parts of the Tampa series it will be over quickly. Ottawa has better defensemen and a deeper pool of talented forwards than Tampa, so those 3-goal games he allowed may translate to 4-1 losses.
I don’t understand the bitterness thing. Was that directed at me?
thegreatawakening
April 23, 2007
T Hav, 7-1 in the first round!
It’s unlike Raible to complain about top records in the playoffs. If I can put my 2 cents in, I’d say the wording was strong (once again, shocked Raible’s wording came across harsh). I disagree with saying they got “screwed” if that’s how the rules always have been. If it’s nothing new then it’s nothing new. Maybe unfortunate but not screwed (although screwed could just be an angrier way of saying unfortunate). I do hope like Raible and Wells both suggested, that NHL looks at the Pittsburgh-Ottawa series and follows suit with the NBA. If you remember, the NBA didn’t really change until looking at how bad it worked out last year with the Mavs and Spurs being the two best teams.
Raible and Dean seemed to say different things about the Devils-Sens series but Wells called them both bitter Pens fans. Granted they could be but I don’t understand how that opinion was formed from this discussion.
Hockey experts, Penguins bigger need, Winger to go with Crosby OR defensemen OR pointless to even argue because they need them both (personally my answer but very uninformed opinion).
Haver
April 24, 2007
For the record,
After the first round….
T Hav-7-1
Raible-5-3
Dean-3-5 (2nd predictions, 6-2 I believe)
DellaFave-6-2
Sincerely yours,
The girl from your NCAA bracket poll
Haver
April 24, 2007
No my bitter comment was more directed at Raibs. He sounded like if you guys played either Atlanta or NY you’d have a much better chance to advance and even though he said Ottawa and Pitts, I felt like he meant Pitts more. I understand what you are saying about Ottawa and don’t doubt that they are better than the Devils, but the Devils have more than just the Elias line, which isn’t even their top scoring line right now.(Although Zach Parise’s stats kind of inflate his lines contribution.) I also agree that Marty will have to be near flawless, but I just don’t think you can count NJ out because they are have alot of vets who have been here before. Not to mention the checking line being able to press the offensive tempo I think this team is always dangerous.
Wells
April 24, 2007
Are you guys serious? I said I think that the Devils are going to beat the Senators, so how can I be bitter? And I am a Rangers fan, so obviously the way the NHL seeds its teams didn’t affect me as much as 99% of the other Penguins fans. AND I have made it well known that I was quite annoyed with all of the homers around Pittsburgh thinking that the Pens were simply going to waltz their way to a Stanley Cup title simply because they were in the Playoffs for the first time since 2001.
The point that I was trying to make is that the seeding process in the NHL is flawed, that’s all. Perhaps a better indication of it was last night: You have #3 Vancouver hosting #6 Dallas in a Game 7. Vancouver was the #3 seed based on its winning its Division, but Dallas finished the season with more points. You play that game in Dallas instead of Vancouver and we might have a different outcome; you can never be sure, but I am positive that the Stars would have liked to take their chance at home rather than in Canada.
Raible
April 24, 2007
My apologies that I misconstrued your comments then. Best of luck to your Rangers, maybe we can get a repeat of ‘94 with a different Eastern Finals outcome. Because I don’t think I could go through that again.
But that would be amazing and make for another classic series. I think it’s actually equivalent to Yankees-Red Sox in terms of bitter rivalries. In the west I’d like to see San Jose- Anaheim WCF.
Wells
April 24, 2007
You know the only thing about seeding regardless of divisions? Why have divisions? I agree with points series Raible pointed to and what I said about the Spurs and Mavs last year. The flip side to this, for argument’s sake, is if you’re going to ignore the division winners for playoff seeding (what it’s all about) why even have three divisions? Why not go back to four divisions total, two in each conference? Maybe this is unrealistic but why do we even have divisions if we’re not going to reward division winners? If a conference had two divisions, if by far the two best were in the same division, the worst thing that would happen is they’d be ranked one and three and not meet until the conference finals. Also, can always make the argument with teams like the Pens and Devils, that the Pens had the chance to overtake the division lead at the end of the year and couldn’t come through. Instead of it being, “Oh no big deal, we’ll still be seeded highly” it’s, “Man, that’s a big difference.” If you’re going to have divisions, they should be rewarded. I don’t know how unbalanced the schedule is, but I’m guessing it’s somewhat unbalanced. If winning your division means nothing, they get rid of the third division.
Haver
April 24, 2007
Some candidates for First Round MVP:
Zach Parise: NHL-leading 6 goals
Scott Gomez: NHL-leading 9 points
Michael Nylander: 4 goals, +7 in Rangers Sweep
Marty Turco: 3 wins (all shutouts), 1.30 GAA, .952 SV %
Henrik Lundqvist: 4 wins (1 shuthout), 1.50 GAA, .939 SV %
Roberto Luongo: 4 wins, 1.41 GAA, .950 SV %
How about a look at each series’ MVP:
BUF/NYI: Chris Drury – 4 goals, including 2 GWG
NJ/TB: Zach Parise – 6 goals from a second line player
OTT/PIT: Anton Volchenkov – 17 hits and 14 blocked shots
NYR/ATL: Sean Avery – 5 points while agitating Kovalchuk
DET/CAL: Nicklas Lidstrom – 8 points and shut down Iginla
ANA/MIN: Chris Pronger – 6 points and 28:27 ice time/game
VAN/DAL: Marty Turco – 3 shutouts kept Dallas in it
SJ/NSH: Milan Michalek – 4 even strength goals
Although he ended up on the losing end of the stick, I think that Dallas’ Marty Turco was the MVP of Round 1. The guy allowed 11 goals in seven games, and five of those came in the four-overtime loss in Game One. He shut out Vancouver in all three Stars wins, and had a shutout streak of 167 minutes. To boot, Turco has as much pressure on him as anyone in the league due to his past poor performances in the Playoffs (how’s that for alliteration?); I think it’s fair to say that it wasn’t Turco’s fault this year that Dallas lost in the Playoffs.
Raible
April 25, 2007
Good point on Turco. Also nice to see Alfredson and the Sens…………………no wait it was terrible.
thegreatawakening
April 25, 2007
My picks for the 2nd round……
Ducks over Canucks 4-0
Detroit over San Jose 4-3 (coinflip)
Buffalo over NYR 4-3
Ottawa over New J 4-2
thegreatawakening
April 25, 2007
I know I’m not Wells but no one gonna answer my Penguins offseason question or my rebuttal to the playoff seeding?
Three of my 2nd round picks are still alive so no need to change them. Calgary is out so I’ll go San Jose over Detroit. Still because of the colors.
My MVP of 1st round-Sean Avery
A. He had an incredible interview with Bill Clement that led to Clement wanting to hang out
B. He dates Elisha Cuthbert
Haver
April 25, 2007
Lots of hockey action outside of the NHL right now: Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins go for the series clincher tonight against Norfolk in their AHL First-Round Best of 7 Series. Meanwhile, the IIHF World Championships are through one set of games and all 8 favorites (Canada, Russia, USA, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia) sit at 1-0, although the Canucks had to hold off a pesky German squad by a 3-2 score. And Team Pittsburgh captured its first Chicago Showcase championship last week, defeating Team Wisconsin in the final.
I didn’t make my official picks for the 2nd round, although I alluded to the fact that I liked Buffalo, New Jersey, and Anaheim to advance. Without further ado, and to condense all of my 2nd round thoughts to one spot…
Buffalo over New York Rangers in Six
New Jersey over Ottawa in Seven
(I made each of these picks on April 23rd; Man has Ottawa looked good so far)
Detroit over San Jose in Seven
(I feel like I should pick the Red Wings because the Sharks have looked better and it would seem like I was jumping on their bandwagon if I picked them)
Anaheim over Vancouver in Seven
(I picked the Ducks to win the Western Conference on April 23rd, so this is just making that pick official)
Raible
April 29, 2007
Eastern Conference Finals: Buffalo vs Ottawa
Buffalo is the President’s Trophy winner and got to this point last year; Ottawa has probably played better than any team to this point in the Playoffs.
Prediction: Buffalo in 7 games
Western Conference Finals: Anaheim vs Detroit/San Jose
Anaheim has dropped only 2 games thus far in dispatching Minnesota and Vancouver; the winner of the Detroit/San Jose series will have been tested and not have as much rest as the Ducks.
Prediction: Anaheim in 6 games
Raible
May 7, 2007
I think that the excitement and intensity of both the NHL and NBA Playoffs take something away from their Regular Seasons. Seemingly every NFL game is a big event, and MLB games tend to mean more down the stretch since only 8 total teams make the Playoffs. But when half of the teams in the league make the Playoffs, as they do in the NHL and NBA, I think the Regular Season then becomes somewhat watered down.
Raible
May 12, 2007
Best Offseason Moves:
-Pens re-signing Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi & Colby Armstrong, signing Petr Sykora and Daryl Sydor, and extending Ryan Whitney and some dude named Sidney
-Rangers plucking Chris Drury and Scott Gomez off the Free Agency wire
-Anaheim bracing for the expected departure of Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer by signing Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider (and Dan LaCouture!)
Worst Offseason Moves:
-It pretty much all revolves around Buffalo one way or another. First, the Sabres lost co-captain Daniel Briere to Philadelphia for a ridiculous 8-year, $52 million contract. Then, co-captain Chris Drury left Buffalo for greener pastures across the state, inking a deal with the Rangers. However, the icing on the cake was the complete dick move performed by Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who signed emerging star Thomas Vanek to a 7-year, $50 million offer sheet despite knowing that the Sabres really had no choice but to match the offer. The Sabres also lost Danius Zubrus and Ty Conklin (BABY PENS!) to Free Agency, too.
As far as exciting rookies are concerned, I don’t think that there is anyone in this year’s class with the buzz surrounding them like a Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Staal, Johnson, Kessel, etc. Obviously, it is hoped that #1 pick Patrick Kane can help revitalize the Chicago franchise much in the same way as the young guns have done for the Pens. Speaking of the Pens, I feel like the flightless birds got a steal at #20 with Angelo Esposito (although I would be shocked if he made the big club this year).
Raible
July 20, 2007
Crosby not taking the max was the best move of the offseason. The kid could have walked in, said, “I’ll take a Pepsi and a max contract please” and immediately got both. But by taking a little less, it shows the kid wants to win more than anything and what the Pens are building looks he could be a winner rather soon. Any player that signed for more money than Sidney Crosby has to feel like a jackass. Obviously they don’t, but that’s also why they’re not Sidney Crosby.
Letang qualify as a rookie?!?!?! What about Erik Johnson? Maybe this draft wasn’t as great but I didn’t think Johnson played last year. Is he done bein a Golden Gopher yet? Jonathan Toews? I love that for some reason I paid attention to the 2006 Draft!
Haver
July 20, 2007
Hoping for some Jonny Frank action here…
The Pens have opened training camp with the following line combinations and defense pairings:
Mark Recchi-Sidney Crosby-Petr Sykora
Gary Roberts-Evgeni Malkin-Erik Christensen
Ryan Malone-Jordan Staal-Colby Armstrong
Jarkko Ruutu-Tim Brent-Georges Laraque
Angelo Esposito-Maxime Talbot-Adam Hall
Ryan Stone-Nathan Smith-Jonathan Filewich
Tim Wallace-Dustin Jeffrey-Tyler Kennedy
Connor James-Jeff Taffe-Aaron Boogaard
Darryl Sydor-Sergei Gonchar
Brooks Orpik-Ryan Whitney
Mark Eaton-Kristopher Letang
Alain Nasreddine-Mike Weaver
Rob Scuderi-Joe Rullier
Alex Goligoski-Ben Lovejoy
Coach Michel Therrien’s plan, at least for now, is to play Malkin and Staal, both of whom got some work on the wing last season, in their natural position of center. If that holds, Malkin and Crosby aren’t likely to play together at even-strength unless there are extenuating circumstances, like if the Penguins are desperate for a goal or to alter the momentum of a game.
For the most part, I like what Therrien is doing here, although I think that Malkin might best serve as a wing on Crosby’s line. The move of Christensen to the wing is pretty exciting, as is the possibility of that 3rd line evolving into something pretty solid. I would really like to see Talbot on the 4th line with Ruutu and Filewich; I have no need for Laraque. I would be shocked if Esposito makes the big club out of camp. As for the defense, it’s pretty much what is to be expected, with that 2nd pairing being my personal favorite.
Raible
September 17, 2007
PENS NOTES:
-Hopefully Sydor will prove to be good enough all around to play with Gonchar on the top unit. If he’s not then Eaton will have to take that spot, and he’s the ideal defender to pair with young, small and skilled Letang.
-Recchi is stumpy and slow. He doesn’t belong with Crosby. Sykora on the other hand could work out. He has speed and finishing ability, and the on;y question mark is his tenacity and the ability to play at a high level all game. He probably won’t dig the puck out of the corners (nor would his possible replacement Christensen), but the beauty of Crosby is that he makes all the plays AND does all the dirty work.
-Roberts is a great fit on any line with any linemates.
-Malone is at best a third liner. he’s got good size and good hands but he just isn’t a great player. I’d love to trade him to a dumb GM.
-I hope Malkin comes into his own this year- he’s the biggest wild card, and could be the difference between a 5 seed who goes out in the first round and a contender. If he plays with Crosby I think a Roberts-Staal-Christensen 2nd line would be nice.
thegreatawakening
September 17, 2007
There hasn’t been much hockey talk for awhile, so I figured I would take the initiative…
NHL Sweet 16 through games played on October 29th:
1. Ottawa (18 pts): Top line is amazing.
2. Detroit (19 pts): Hasek now injured.
3. Carolina (17 pts): They’re back.
4. Minnesota (16 pts): Gaborik out again.
5. Philadelphia (14 pts): They’re back.
6. San Jose (13 pts): Not playing well.
7. Calgary (13 pts): Big $$$ for Mikka.
8. Colorado (14 pts): Smyth fitting in.
9. Montreal (14 pts): Price owns Pens.
10. Toronto (13 pts): Sundin is the man.
11. Pittsburgh (11 pts): Come on Fleury!
12. Dallas (12 pts): Modano is Mr. USA.
13. Anaheim (10 pts): Struggling.
14. Tampa Bay (11 pts): Bad on the road.
15. Boston (12 pts): Beantown is rocking.
16. N.Y. Rangers (9 pts): Henrik is good.
Hart: Henrik Zetterberg
Vezina: Martin Biron
Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom
Calder: Patrick Kane
Adams: Ken Hitchcock
Raible
October 30, 2007
It looks like we can add Sidney Crosby to the list of people who frequent WCG because The Kid has simply been on fire when I mentioned that it could be Zetterberg, and not Crosby, that could win the Hart Trophy this year.
Go Pens!
Raible
November 2, 2007
NHL Sweet 16 through games played on November 19th:
1. Ottawa: A 16-3 record for the defending Eastern Conference Champs. The Sens are really good!
2. Detroit: Will this team ever not be one of the top teams in the NHL? So long as Zetterberg and Datsyuk are around, I doubt it.
3. San Jose: The popular preseason pick to win the Cup has turned it on lately, going 6-2-2 in their last 10.
4. N.Y. Rangers: Another popular preseason pick to win the Cup, and another that has played well recently: 8-2 in their last 10.
5. Carolina: The 2006 Champs have opened a 5-point lead in the Southeast Division, thanks in part to the re-emergence of Cam Ward as a stellar ‘tender.
6. Anaheim: Meanwhile, last year’s Cup winner has come on strong as of late (6-2-2 in last 10). The waiving of Bryzgalov was interesting, though.
7. Philadelphia: Biron continues to be a rock in between the pipes, while guys like Richards and Upshall seem to be the kind of players that Flyers fans have grown to love over the years.
8. Colorado: Jose Theodore needs to step up and be the player that he was when he captured the Hart Trophy in Montreal. A 2.76 GAA and a .901 SV% thus far is a good start on the way back to the top.
9. Montreal: The goalie tandem of Huet and Price has been solid, while Kovalev and Koivu have paced the offense.
10. Minnesota: Another team with great goaltending is having trouble scoring goals (surprise!).
11. Tampa Bay: I always like this team, especially St. Louis. But Lecavalier is clearly the star, as evidenced by his 34 points through 20 games. John Buccigross calls him the 2nd best player in all of hockey, behind only Sid and ahead of Thornton, Zetterberg, and Ilya.
12. N.Y. Islanders: The Isles simply own the Rangers right now, owning 3 wins already over their New York brethren. Ricky D. is playing really well right now (2.26 GAA, .912 SV%).
13. Nashville: They seem to be getting their groove back after a slow start. They need to start scoring some goals, though; maybe they shouldn’t have let Kariya leave.
14. St. Louis: Speaking of Kariya, his 15 assists have helped to lead the Blues back to respectability and into the extremely early Playoff talk.
15. Chicago: The kids are all right, eh? Kane (22 pts.), Toews (16 pts.), etc. have been aided by the presence of solid vets like Robert Lang (19 pts.).
16. Pittsburgh: Call me crazy, but I don’t think that the Pens are as bad as their record indicates. The fact of the matter is that they still have Sid and Geno, which means that a run of success is only a drop of the puck away.
Hart: Henrik Zetterberg
Vezina: Henrik Lundquist
Norris: Nicklas Lidstrom
Calder: Patrick Kane
Adams: Denis Savard
Raible
November 20, 2007
All-Raible, NHL version –
Center: Sidney Crosby
Left Wing: Brian Rolston
Right Wing: Jarome Iginla
Defenseman: Chris Chelios
Defenseman: Brian Rafalski
Goalie: Rick DiPietro
Center: Martin Straka
Left Wing: Ryan Malone
Right Wing: Colby Armstrong
Defenseman: Ryan Whitney
Defenseman: Brooks Orpik
Goalie: Ryan Miller
Head Coach: Herb Brooks
OK, good stuff here. Crosby is the clearly the man. I love American hockey players, and Rolston is perhaps the best two-way one of the bunch. Iginla is simply a horse. Chelios is Captain America, while Rafalski is the best American defenseman. DiPietro gets the nod over Miller for the first team (The First Team…THE CZAB!!!) due to his having a better year thus far.
Second unit is sweeter than the first. Straka is my all-time favorite, Malone is a Pittsburgh dude playing for the Pens, and Colby is my favorite Penguin. Whitney and Orpik are my boys, too.
The only man capable of coaching a team like this is a man who has passed along to bigger and better things. Nevertheless, I am bringing Herbie Brooks (the namesake of Orpik) back from the dead to lead my squad.
Raible
December 7, 2007
The United States finished 4-0 in the preliminary round of the World Juniors and earned a bye to Friday’s (Jan. 4) semifinals, where it will face the winner of Wednesday’s (Jan. 2) Canada-Finland quarterfinal contest. SWEET!
Raible
December 31, 2007
http://buffalonews.typepad.com/sabres/2008/01/im-assuming-we.html
Raible
January 4, 2008
Pens need to find a way to go .500 with Crosby out of the lineup. Do that, and the Black and Gold (…drop the Puck, it’s Time to Go!) should find themselves in the Playoffs for a 2nd straight year.
Rangers: Underachieving much?
Red Wings: Unstoppable much?
Flyers: Thugs much?
All-Star Weekend this weekend. Think anyone will skate faster than Jonny Frank during Saturday’s Skills Competition?
Raible
January 25, 2008