Eastern Conference Prediction

[habsfan19]

The east come April 06

1. Philadelphia

2. Ottawa

3. Tampa Bay

4. New Jersey

5. Montreal

6. Boston

7. Pittsburgh

8. Atlanta

9. Toronto

10. Florida

11. Islanders

12. Rangers

13. Carolina

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

Specifics:

Northeast

Ottawa

Montreal

Boston

Toronto

Buffalo

Atlantic

Philadelphia

New Jersey

Pittsburgh

NY Islanders

NY Rangers

Southeast

Tampa Bay

Atlanta

Florida

Carolina

Washington

What do you think?

http://www.habsblog.com

[Dalhabs]

1. Ottawa

2. Tampa Bay

3. New Jersey

4. Boston

5. Pittsburgh

6. Montreal

7. Philadelphia

8. Florida

9. Atlanta

10. Carolina

11. Islanders

12. Toronto

13. Rangers

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

[Prime Minister Koivu]

1. Philly

2. Tampa Bay

3. Boston

4. ottawa

5. Montreal

6. Pittsburg

7. Florida

8. Rangers

9. Atlanta

10. Islanders

11. Carolina

12. Toronto

13. New Jersey

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

[les_glorieux]

1. Philly

2. Tampa Bay

3. Ottawa

4. Pittsburgh

5. Montreal

6. Boston

7. New Jersey

8. Atlanta

9. Toronto

10. Florida

11. Rangers

12. Islanders

13. Carolina

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

[BTH]

Originally posted by les_glorieux

1. Philly

2. Tampa Bay

3. Ottawa

4. Pittsburgh

5. Montreal

6. Boston

7. New Jersey

8. Atlanta

9. Toronto

10. Florida

11. Rangers

12. Islanders

13. Carolina

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

I can't believe some of your thoughts! Not to pick on les_glorieux just his post was on bottom so I posted his.

First of all, Boston has consistently been a better team than Ottawa. In the off-season Boston got better (Leetch) and Ottawa got worse (lost 3 defenseman and the Hossa/Heatley trade) so you tell me how they beat them by 3 ranks.

Also I wouldn't put Montreal in 5. It's a race. New Jersey, Montreal, Atlanta, Florida and Pittsburgh are all pretty tight with Toronto pushing for the playoffs. Who knows who misses the play-offs.

1. Philadelphia

2. Boston

3. Tampa Bay

4. New Jersey

5. Ottawa

6. Montreal

7. Pittsburgh

8. Atlanta

9. Toronto

10. Florida

11. Islanders

12. Rangers

13. Carolina

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

[shortcat1]

I hope that this doesn't betray a bit of a bias but:

1. Montreal :hlogo:

2. Montreal :hlogo:

3. Montreal :hlogo:

4. Montreal :hlogo:

5. Montreal :hlogo:

6, Montreal :hlogo:

7, Montreal :hlogo:

8, Montreal :hlogo:

9. Montreal :hlogo:

10. Montreal :hlogo:

11. Montreal :hlogo:

12. Montreal :hlogo:

13. Montreal :hlogo:

14. Montreal :hlogo:

15. Montreal :hlogo:

What! You mean the other teams have a chance too? Gosh, I thought that they were just there as cannon fodder. :hlogo:

[Edited on 2005/9/7 by shortcat1]

[ch_nl]

1. Philadelphia Flyers

2. Ottawa Senators

3. Atlanta Thrashers

4. New Jersey Devils

5. Pittsburgh Penguins

6. Montreal Canadiens

7. Toronto Maple Leafs

8. Tampa Bay Lightning

9. Boston Bruins

10. Florida Panthers

11. New York Rangers

12. New York Islanders

13. Carolina Hurricanes

14. Washington Capitals

15. Buffalo Sabres

[BTH]

Originally posted by shortcat1

I hope that this doesn't betray a bit of a bias but:

1. Montreal :hlogo:

2. Montreal :hlogo:

3. Montreal :hlogo:

4. Montreal :hlogo:

5. Montreal :hlogo:

6, Montreal :hlogo:

7, Montreal :hlogo:

8, Montreal :hlogo:

9. Montreal :hlogo:

10. Montreal :hlogo:

11. Montreal :hlogo:

12. Montreal :hlogo:

13. Montreal :hlogo:

14. Montreal :hlogo:

15. Montreal :hlogo:

What! You mean the other teams have a chance too? Gosh, I thought that they were just there as cannon fodder. :hlogo:

[Edited on 2005/9/7 by shortcat1]

Traitor! Placing the habs in last place in the league!

And ch_nl, all I have to say that your point of view sure is original.:/)

[Komisarek the Cruncher]

I can't see why everybody sees Pittsburgh making the playoffs???

1) They have the worst defence in the entire league

2) Not that I don't think that Crosby won't be good, but he Hasn't prove anything yet and will probably take 1 or 2 years before he becomes a force in the league

3) Lemieux is getting old and he's not the Lemieux from 10 years ago, but yes he's still a good player

4) Recchi is also getting old and he's no longuer the great player he was

5) Leclair's back is finished

6) They have no depth and nobody on their 3rd and 4th line

7) These guys have never played together, so there's no guarantee that there will be chemistry and even if there is, it will take a while

Think about it guys, yes they have improved, but not to the point of making the playoffs.

1. Boston

3. Tampa Bay

3. Philadelphia

4. Ottawa

5. Montreal

6. New Jersey

7. Atlanta

8. Florida

10. Toronto

10. Islanders

11. Pittsburgh

12. Rangers

13. Carolina

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

[les_glorieux]

Originally posted by Komisarek the Cruncher

4) Recchi is also getting old and he's no longuer the great player he was

he still finished with 75 points last year! (13th in the league)

[BTH]

Originally posted by Komisarek the Cruncher

I can't see why everybody sees Pittsburgh making the playoffs???

1) They have the worst defence in the entire league

2) Not that I don't think that Crosby won't be good, but he Hasn't prove anything yet and will probably take 1 or 2 years before he becomes a force in the league

3) Lemieux is getting old and he's not the Lemieux from 10 years ago, but yes he's still a good player

4) Recchi is also getting old and he's no longuer the great player he was

5) Leclair's back is finished

6) They have no depth and nobody on their 3rd and 4th line

7) These guys have never played together, so there's no guarantee that there will be chemistry and even if there is, it will take a while

Think about it guys, yes they have improved, but not to the point of making the playoffs.

1. Boston

3. Tampa Bay

3. Philadelphia

4. Ottawa

5. Montreal

6. New Jersey

7. Atlanta

8. Florida

10. Toronto

10. Islanders

11. Pittsburgh

12. Rangers

13. Carolina

14. Buffalo

15. Washington

I made that exact same post a while back and got bashed sentence to sentence;)

Apparently, Lemieux is in a class of his own even at his age and Crosby will swallow the NHL in his rookie year.

And Recchi and LeClair will help bring up the young guns while providing a few goals of their own.

You can't say the defense hasn't gotten better though. Gonchar is one of the league's top 5 defenseman. However, he is strictly offensive wihhc isn't the guy Pittsburgh needed. They also recently signed Lyle Odelein which is HUGE. They now have four satisfactory defenseman in Gonchar, Melichar, Odelein and Tarnstrom.

A problem you haven't mentioned is the hole between the pipes. Thibault is good but that kind of inconsistency doesn't usually carry teams ot the play-offs, let alone win a series. I can't see Pittsburgh going far. In fact, I think it would greatly improve the team to bomb the season, sign one more top defensive prospect and then jump at the 06 season with a more experienced Crosbym and (actually having Malkin) a more eprienced Brooks Orpik and Krys Beech and Marc-André Fleury. I don't suggets for any team to purposewly bomb season I was just pointing it out.

I gave them a 7th seed which is their maximum.

EDIT: quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by Komisarek the Cruncher

4) Recchi is also getting old and he's no longuer the great player he was

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

he still finished with 75 points last year! (13th in the league)

LAST YEAR! He was what 34 then? Now he's 36 (if I'm right thta he was 34 before) and with a worse team. We'll see. I didn't know he had so many points that season though.

[Edited on 2005/9/8 by Bulis_the_Habbie]

[TheAussiePosse]

1. Pittsburgh Penguins - Mario's last year is a big one

2. Atlanta Thrashers - Kovalchuk-Savard-Hossa

3. Montreal Canadiens - KKZ line on fyah! FYAH!

4. Philadelphia Flyers - Broadstreet Bullies get their No.1 pick back

5. Florida Panthers - Gonna get grilled for this, but I believe!

6. Tampa Bay Lightning - Loss of Khabs hurts

7. Ottawa Senators - Hasek crumbles early, Prusek barely survives

8. New Jersey Devils - Barely beats Toronto for 8th spot - Where's Stevens!?

9. Toronto Maple Leafs - Quinn gets sack and standing ovation

10. Boston Bruins - I just don't like them

11. NY Rangers - Jagr and Balej dominate

12. NY Islanders - Mad Mike tries to trade Yashin for Jagr

13. Buffalo Sabres - Hell hath no fury like a traded Satan

14. Carolina Hurricanes - One would hope they could do better... but nope

15. Washington Capitals - Olie cries, then retires

[TheAussiePosse]

Pittsburgh is better than the Habs, IMHO. I love the Habs, but it's true.

Apart from having Lemiux and Crosby, they've improved 10 times from last season.

Lemieux, Crosby, Palffy, Leclair, Recchi are top line forwards. Malone, Beech, Surovy and even Fata and Koltsov are young talents who are very underrated (the first three especially). Roy is solid, Vandenbussche is solid, etc.

Gonchar is better than Souray in what he does (scoring). Tarnstrom is better than Markov in scoring as well. Jackman is above average, and will continue to improve, Orpik hits like a train, can also improve, and Odelein is equivalent to Rivet.

Thibault can be solid when he gets breaks. Fleury will do well as long as he is worked in slowly. Both goalies will hopefully work Minnesota-tandem-style to keep the crease.

Hopefully the Habs kick ass as well, but I love Pittsburgh's team this year, and it's a shame you guys don't.

[BTH]

The problem is that well the bottom half of the list rises to the top of the charts, the top half falls off. LeClair and Recchi are winding down. Lemieux can still make very accurate passes and is still skilled but this is likely to be his last season. Crosby will most likely win the Calder Trophy but we don't know. In a couple of years, he will be great (of course you all know this) and so will the rest of their prospects. That's what happens when you get top draft picks for half a decade. They're good team, but first in the Conference is huge stretch. We're you joking? I couldn't tell. It seemed more like you were puting what you were hoping the standings would be rather than what you thought they'd be judging by the comment next to each team. Also, apparently Fleury isn't developing into what he was supposed so I don't know about that.

Will have to wait and see on this. I'll remind you at the end of the season (if I'm right of course:D)

[Habs Duude]

YEA OKAY OTTAWA 2ND MY ASS!!

[Habs Duude]

why does everyone think montreal is ganna be 5th or 6th atleast 4th or if we have a really good season 3rd in the east we have a well balanced team wit some quite good offence but thats my opinion will see

[BTH]

Originally posted by Habs Duude

why does everyone think montreal is ganna be 5th or 6th atleast 4th or if we have a really good season 3rd in the east we have a well balanced team wit some quite good offence but thats my opinion will see

The thing is that we can't completely rank our team's rank without looking at the other team. I can't see the Habs finishing ahead of Boston, New Jersey, Ottawa and the rest. It's possible but it's so close that they can finish in any order.

[sakiqc]

Originally posted by Bulis_the_Habbie

Originally posted by Habs Duude

why does everyone think montreal is ganna be 5th or 6th atleast 4th or if we have a really good season 3rd in the east we have a well balanced team wit some quite good offence but thats my opinion will see

The thing is that we can't completely rank our team's rank without looking at the other team. I can't see the Habs finishing ahead of Boston, New Jersey, Ottawa and the rest. It's possible but it's so close that they can finish in any order.

It'll be a really hard battle for the Habs. They always had trouble againts the division rivals. It will all be close games. We will get some beating sometimes, but we'll manage to grab some wins. I don't see the Habs giving a beating to anyone in the N-E (maybe once vs Buffalo? )

What is so special about New Jersey? They will have a hard time this year. No coach Pat Burns, no norris Nierdermayer, no captain Stevens.

Yes they have McGillis, Matvichuk, but still..

If Langenbrunner is finally emerging it could be a more interesting team. Elias-Gomez-Mogilny on 1st line? What about Zednik-Koivu-Kovalev??

[sakiqc]

1 -(3) Philadelphia 116 pts (could get near 60 wins)

2 -(5) Ottawa 108 pts

3 -(1) Tampa Bay 104 pts

4 -(10) Atlanta 92 pts (Advantage with shoot-outs and intradivision's games)

5 -(4) Toronto 90 pts

6 -(2) Boston 88 pts

7 -(7) Montreal 84 pts (tough time vs division rivals)

8 -(15) Pittsburgh 83 pts

9 -(8) NY Islanders 82 pts

10 -(6) New Jersey 82 pts (not the same old devils)

11 -(9) Buffalo 78 pts

12 -(13) NY Rangers 76 pts

13 -(12) Florida 71 pts

14 -(11) Carolina 64 pts (no more tied game)

15 -(14) Washington 54 pts

:ghg:

matchup 1st round

d'oh OTT-MTL

PHI-PIT matchup ouch

[Edited on 2005-9-8 by sakiqc]

[Dalhabs]

It seems Im the only one who considers the flyers will have a hard fight to make the playoffs. I think those Dmen will be too slow with the new rules.

McCabe sucked with similar rules last year.

[Komisarek the Cruncher]

Originally posted by Dalhabs

It seems Im the only one who considers the flyers will have a hard fight to make the playoffs. I think those Dmen will be too slow with the new rules.

McCabe sucked with similar rules last year.

I agree with you that there not as great as everybody seems to think, but the only team that can beat them in their division is the Devils and I think the Flyers will finish ahead of them.

New Jersey

1) lost Niedermayer and Stevens ( 2 great D)

2) sign Mogilny at 3.5M$ ???

3) Elias as Hepatitis A and will miss a good portion of the season

4) they are presently 5M$ over the cap, so will have to get ris of some valuable players

5) They are max out (and even over) for the cap

Really not all that dangerous, but still good!!!

Flyers

1) big slow D will hurt with new rules (can't believe Clarke sign Hatcher, Rathje & Therrien, 3 slow moving D?

2) Will Forsberg last all season? doubtful

3) can you really like and trust "Robert can't stop a puck Esche"? I don't.

4) They lost Roenick, Amonte, Leclair, Zhamnov, Makakhov, Recchi !!! and replaced them by Forsberg, Knuble, Hatcher and 2 young unproven players in Richards & Carter !!!

5) They are max out for the cap

Really not all that dangerous, but still good!!!

If you really look carefully, some teams are not as good as people see them.

Also, if Atlanta doesn't sign Kovalchuk, I change my predictions as them definetly not making the playoffs.

I don't know why, but I think Kovalev will be awesome this year and will make us finish in a good position. He looked great at the Habs golf tournament and seems really excited about playing for Montreal and its great fans. You can tell that being away from the pathetic Rangers made him appreciate hockey again, especially with the lock-out (he said he didn't enjoy playing in Russia last year and couldn't wait to come back to the NHL).

:hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo:

[johnnyhasbeen]

i also think the Flyer D will look like pilons in thier orange jerseys. great offense though. If they beat out the leafs again that is fine with me. A whole new stat becomes involved this year and it will be important, goalies shootout save percentage. Esche wont help them much here.

Tampa----Habbie is over rated, one year so what

Ottawa

Philly

New Jersey

Pitts---dont laugh

Boston

Atlanta

Montreal/Toronto/Wash

[sakiqc]

Originally posted by Komisarek the Cruncher

4) They lost Roenick, Amonte, Leclair, Zhamnov, Makakhov, Recchi !!! and replaced them by Forsberg, Knuble, Hatcher and 2 young unproven players in Richards & Carter !!!

They got rid of old wood. Richards and Carter are the type of players who could step up in the NHL the way Patrice Bergeron did. They had an amazing road from juniors to WJC to AHL playoffs.. and now probably on the NHL.

Hatcher, Rathje, Therien: 3 big towers

Pitkanen, Johnsson, Desjardins.. good mobile/offensive dmen

Esche has good stats with Philly so far.

With Forsberg-Gagné on first line, 3 good centers.. they can do damage

[~moeman]

1. Ottawa

4. Habs

15. leaf

[Komisarek the Cruncher]

Originally posted by sakiqc

Originally posted by Komisarek the Cruncher

4) They lost Roenick, Amonte, Leclair, Zhamnov, Makakhov, Recchi !!! and replaced them by Forsberg, Knuble, Hatcher and 2 young unproven players in Richards & Carter !!!

They got rid of old wood. Richards and Carter are the type of players who could step up in the NHL the way Patrice Bergeron did. They had an amazing road from juniors to WJC to AHL playoffs.. and now probably on the NHL.

Hatcher, Rathje, Therien: 3 big towers

Pitkanen, Johnsson, Desjardins.. good mobile/offensive dmen

Esche has good stats with Philly so far.

With Forsberg-Gagné on first line, 3 good centers.. they can do damage

And now Forsberg and Hatcher are injured and will be missing most of the training camp...LOL!!! Hatcher could even be out longuer...

I said it in my previous post, no way Forsberg will last a whole season...

One big tower down, only 2 left to skate around like orange cones...

As for Richards and Carter, yes they are good prospects but what Bergeron did is extremely rare and exceptional. I don't think that these 2 will do same, at least not both of them. Also, they can't replace 4 or 5 guys by themself (Amonte, recchi, Leclair, Zhamnov...).

Be realistic and trust me on this one, the Flyers are way over rated!!!