Breaking down the Race

[Neech]

Come on Neech, You're kidding right

Is it to much to ask somebody who disagrees with my opinon to provide something more than their assertion?

You act as though I put up a post that says.

Teams that are in:

Pittsburgh

New Jersey

Montreal

Ottawa

Boston

etc

Well that is pretty much what you did. You put 'New Jersey-they are in, Ottawa-they are in' and so on down the line, and then you put the exact same thing beside Boston. You actually put more of a qualifier beside Montreal than you put for Boston.

I looked at Boston and saw that

1) They might be up by only 3 points but had a game in hand on Philly and 2 on Buffalo

2) They have been on fire lately (as witnessed by their back to back thrashings of Ottawa and Pittsburgh)

3) If you remove the fact that Montreal has owned them they would be 14-9 versus the rest of their opposition this season

4) I refuse to judge Boston on their games vs Montreal, just like Devils, Sens and Leaf fans should not judge Montreal on their performance against them.

I broke down the race. I tried to use variables that might determine winners. I tried to avoid biases (like watching Montreal

pound the snot out of Boston) effect my opinion. Did I use every variable available? No, but I used a hell of a lot more than I am sure you have.

Telling my ranking are premature states the obvious. I have never stated I can read the future, all I am doing is providing info for everybody to analyse and judge for themselves.

So if you want to tell me I am wrong, please provide more reasoning and less conjecture please.

Once again, stating the Rangers are more of a lock than the Bruins, why? Please elaborate.

I can go through every thread in here and tell people that is wrong, that is wrong, that is wrong. What does that accomplish?

What does that teach me? I come here for info, to learn and to exchange ideas. I don't care if you disagree with me, but at least give me

an idea why you do. Just like the Esposito argument. Explain to me your point of view. I respect it, so I would like to hear it.

God, man. You act like every post should be backed up by paragraphs of reasoning; sometimes, in my opinion, it doesn't need to be laid out for you, because you already know it. But alright, here's my thinking for the Rangers, which I hadn't typed out because I had typed it out many times before at various times, and I figured it would be common knowledge to someone who follows hockey as closely as you: better goal-tending, Lundqvist is far superior to Thomas. A team full of veterans with winning experience. (Almost) the same team fought their way into the playoffs last year. There, ok? Nothing you didn't know already.

I agree that Boston is in much better shape than the teams behind it, and I acknowledged the games in hand in my previous post. But you put the same 'they are in' beside them as you put beside New Jersey. In my opinion, it's not premature to say that New Jersey is in, it would take a monumental collapse that is highly unlikely from a team with Brodeur between the pipes. But you can't say that about Boston, who is three points out of 9th place, with Tim Thomas in goal.

[Ecurb]

Excellent analysis, Wamsley.

I think that the Caps will win the Southeast and I'll

explain why I believe that.

First, the Caps have 3 games in hand and are 5 points back of the

Canes. I think they should be able to get 3 points in those 3 games,

possibly more because they have been a different team since Bruce

Boudreau became their head coach.

Second, they have made a huge upgrad at a postion they were

weakest at, goaltending. Kolzig is a shadow of his former self and

Huet gives them very good goaltending.

Third, the Russian factor, having Semin healthy for maybe the first

time this season makes them dangerous offensively. Now that they

have added Fedorov to their top 2 lines I can only see it helping the

Russian players, as it did Zherdev. I'm thinking Fedorov might

have a huge impact on Kozlov's game.

I think this Caps team can be very dangerous and wouldn't want

to face them in the playoffs. If they get Clark back healthy and

somehow Nylander heals for the playoffs, their scary.

I wouldn't give the Canes a huge edge because they will be playing

alot against teams in their division. Those teams wil be playing loose

because they have nothing to lose. And will be motivated to upset the

top team.

Anyway great post, its nice to read intelligent well thought-out posts.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I actually think it made me feel a bit uneasy. 7-10 is bad for a team that's fighting for 1st in the East but it's definitely possible. Right now, I'm counting the wins and I won't be relieved until we clinch.

Have we gone 7-10 at any point this season? Just asking. Maybe in that bad November-December stretch? I dunno, I think this team is better than that...but I hear the nervousness. Like I said, too many failed seasons in recent memory mitigate against glib confidence here.

[Wamsley01]

Excellent analysis, Wamsley.

I think that the Caps will win the Southeast and I'll

explain why I believe that.

First, the Caps have 3 games in hand and are 5 points back of the

Canes. I think they should be able to get 3 points in those 3 games,

possibly more because they have been a different team since Bruce

Boudreau became their head coach.

Second, they have made a huge upgrad at a postion they were

weakest at, goaltending. Kolzig is a shadow of his former self and

Huet gives them very good goaltending.

Third, the Russian factor, having Semin healthy for maybe the first

time this season makes them dangerous offensively. Now that they

have added Fedorov to their top 2 lines I can only see it helping the

Russian players, as it did Zherdev. I'm thinking Fedorov might

have a huge impact on Kozlov's game.

I think this Caps team can be very dangerous and wouldn't want

to face them in the playoffs. If they get Clark back healthy and

somehow Nylander heals for the playoffs, their scary.

I wouldn't give the Canes a huge edge because they will be playing

alot against teams in their division. Those teams wil be playing loose

because they have nothing to lose. And will be motivated to upset the

top team.

Anyway great post, its nice to read intelligent well thought-out posts.

Thanks,

I almost put Washington there. But I figured it was to easy. I wanted to go deeper

than initial perceptions. Washington did improve and I hate the Canes, but I was

trying to remove bias as much as possible. The Canes schedule tipped it just enough

that I left them in 3rd.

I would love for the Caps to overtake them and I agree with everything you said.

It could very easily go either way.

Edited March 1, 2008 by Wamsley01