Well Isn't That Nice

[GoHabs2002]

So he talked about the Leafs in his segment on the TSN preview show, but check out Damian Cox's comments on about the Canadiens, from his article about all 6 Canadian teams:

MONTREAL

LAST YEAR: 93 points, 7th in East, lost in 1st round.

OFF THE ICE: Bob Gainey hands over the coaching reins to Guy Carbonneau, with Kirk Muller as an assistant. They will almost certainly produce an excellent defensive team.

ON THE ICE: No. 1 goalie Cristobal Huet took the league by storm, but he played only 36 regular season games. With a big new contract, he'd better be the real deal. ... The same defence corps returns: Andrei Markov, Craig Rivet, Mathieu Dandenault and Sheldon Souray. Francis Bouillon, who won't be back from knee surgery until November, is underrated. ... Sergei Samsonov is a small speedster joining a team full of 'em. Still, 18 teams scored more goals.

PIVOTAL PLAYER: C Saku Koivu.

INTANGIBLES: Goaltending is solid, defence is mobile and reliable. Close to being a team that could really make a move.

THE SEASON AHEAD: Could push for division crown.

source: Toronto Star

[Athlétique.Canadien]

Thank you D.C.

[Pierre the Great]

lol of course he couldn't say what he felt on the air or he'd have been in breach of contract I bet. lol

[KoZed]

All those predictions means so little. Our division is wide open because none of the 5 teams have a proven, reliable starter in nets, except maybe Buffalo with Biron.

Boston: Toivonen - Thomas

Buffalo: Miller - Biron

Montreal: Huet - Aebischer

Ottawa: Gerber - Emery

Toronto: Raycroft - Aubin/Tellqvist.

Are the days of the realiable #1 guy over? Seems its all a matter of tandems now, and Montreal perhaps has the 2nd best after Buffalo.

Then you go with D:

Boston: Chara, Stuart, Mara, Jurcina, Stuart, Alberts, Dempsey, York

Buffalo: Lydman, Numminen, Campbell, Tallinder, Spacek, Kalinin, Paetsch

Montreal: Markov, Rivet, Souray, Bouillon, Dandenault, Komisarek, Niinimaa, Streit

Ottawa: Redden, Phillips, Meszaros, Preissing, Volchenkov, Corvo, Schubert

Toronto: McCabe, Kaberle, Kubina, Gill, White, Kronwall, Colaiacovo, Belak

Buffalo maybe has the best overall group, closely followed by Ottawa and Montreal, while Toronto and Boston maybe have the best top 3. Montreal has one edge over all other team and its experience. Only Komisarek is a little green.

Then top 12 forwards on each teams:

Boston: Bergeron, Murray, Savard, Sturm, Kessels, Boyes, Axelsson, Primeau, Donovan,

Buffalo: Briere, Drury, Afinogenov, Vanek, Hecht, Kotalik, Roy, Connolly, Pominville

Montreal: Kovalev, Samsonov, Koivu, Higgins, Plekanec, Ryder, Bonk, Johnson, Begin

Ottawa: Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza, Schaefer, Vermette, Fisher, Eaves, McAmmond, Neil.

Toronto: Sundin, Tucker, Wellwood, Steen, Peca, Ponikarovsky, Kilger, Stajan, O'Neill

Best group of forwards is almost a wash between Buffalo, Montreal and Ottawa. Ottawa has the best top 3 and Buffalo the most offense upside in its top 12, but Montreal has perhaps the best balance between offense/defense and size/speed. Consider this: Begin has almost as good stats as Peca last year, so you know Leafs are shitty.

And if you want to go deeper past 12th forwards, no team can match Montreal who has prospects like Perezhogin, Latendresse, Kostitsyn, Grabovsky and etc. waiting to burst out.

So overall, I'd say it'll be a 3-way fight between Montreal, Buffalo and Ottawa for the division title, with Boston and Toronto trailing behind. But there's still so little edge on either team that not much could make it all change.

[MAK]

I'm scared of that toivonen. he could be this yers's cam ward or jose theodre( the good one)

[JMMR]

Interesting!

great post KoZeD

[brobin]

Well, when he wrote that, we still had Ribs. On the preview show, he took into account the trade. :LOL

Just kidding...

[Zowpeb]

Ottawa - Ottawa has the best top tier forwards in the division but lacks depth on the 4th line IMHO. Their D has a good combination of depth and top level guys. Gerber is probably the best goalie in the division if he plays like last year. If Gerber performs well they have enough depth at D and a strong enough top 2 lines and PP to make a run for the division against Buffalo.

Buffalo - Buffalo has great balance, speed, depth at every position, including goalie. They strike me as a team that will be tough all year, have limited injuries but probably struggle come playoffs. Their goaltending tandem is probably the best in the division but Miller may steal the show this year. I don't see many weaknesses in this line-up. They should battle for the division, possibly the conference. I don't know if they have enough top tier talent to really make a charge in the playoffs though...

Montreal - Montreal also has very good balance of speed and depth all through...a little lacking at C. Lots of youth that could grab a spotlight, good vets throughout. Montreal COULD challenge Buffalo's tandem if Huet is the real deal. A reliable but unspectacular D...only Markov is a standout. Montreal has the ability to do what Buffalo did last year but need Huet to continue to perform and need 1-2 of Higgins, Plekanec, Latendresse and Perezhogin to have good years(by that I mean 20+ goals, 45+ points). I think the Habs are a lock for the playoffs, may be able to finish ahead of Ottawa if they have injury issues or Gerber stumbles. Best case would be 2nd in the division, worst case 3rd...between 4th and 7th in the conference.

Boston - Some good talent up front but a little thin past the 2nd line. Great trio of D-men lead an otherwise thin group here. Another solid tandem...Toivonen also has the talent to be the top G in the division. They only differ from Toronto in having better goalies and a couple more scorers. They'll compete night in, night out but ultimately will struggle to make the playoffs.

Toronto - No depth up front, limited scoring. A trio of great defenders lead a pretty thin group, not quite as thin as Boston. Their goaltending is a huge risk and question mark...Raycroft could rebound and make them solid here. I can honestly see Toronto being among the worst 3-4 teams in the league...all bias aside. They have Sundin, Tucker, Peca and possibly Steen. Then they have McCabe, Kubina and Kaberle. Then they have a bunch of mediocrity through out the rest of the team. Absolutely not enough talent to score goals up front...

JMHO.

Edited October 5, 2006 by Zowpeb

[Shu]

I think we can win division

[The-Habby2919]

Itll be a scrap between us and Buffalo and Ottawa but without too many injuries we should be ok.

:hlogo:

[huzer]

I think we can win division

As much as I love my Habs, I don't think there's a chance the Habs take the Northeast.

[kaos]

All those predictions means so little. Our division is wide open because none of the 5 teams have a proven, reliable starter in nets, except maybe Buffalo with Biron.

Actually Miller is Buffalo's number 1 goalie

[KoZed]

Actually Miller is Buffalo's number 1 goalie

Let me rephrase so you understand: of all the goalies in our division, only Biron is or has been a #1 for some years. Miller, like Huet, is #1 because he was hot last season. That doesn't make either Miller or Huet "proven, reliable starters". Same for everyone in the division, except Biron.

[BTH]

Let me rephrase so you understand: of all the goalies in our division, only Biron is or has been a #1 for some years. Miller, like Huet, is #1 because he was hot last season. That doesn't make either Miller or Huet "proven, reliable starters". Same for everyone in the division, except Biron.

Aebischer's proven but not necessarily reliable (he had a slump last season and nearly lost his job).

Made a bet with my Bruins-fan friend today. Bet him 5$ that the Habs would make the playoffs. Easy money. :hlogo:

[RobRock]

I think the Sabres are going to miss Jay McKee and J.P. Dumont more than they think. McKee made almost as many saves as Biron and Miller made on some nights, and Dumont was a pretty consistent player for them.