NHL Thread

[anticipation]

This just in from Weber and his agent.



Holmgren releases this statement as a follow-up:

[hip hop bunny hop]

Just ****.

[hip hop bunny hop]

Where the **** did the Preds pull this money from? Did someone rob a bank?

[FRED HALE SR.]

Originally Posted by hip hop bunny hop

Where the **** did the Preds pull this money from? Did someone rob a bank?

I always supected Barry was in the Mob.

[Thom Yorke]

With most of the UFAs signing and Luongo looking like the only other big piece that might get traded, I might as well do some predictions (hopefully there isn't a lockout).

East

1. Penguins (Crosby plays 60ish games, gets 80ish points, Malkin over 100 again)
2. Capitals (big rebound for Ovechkin with over 90 points, Backstrom over 80)
3. Bruins (Rask plays nearly 60 games and is solid, Seguin around 75 points)
4. Rangers (Nash disappoints, but the team treads water with Richards and the D stepping up)
5. Sabres (big rebound years for Miller and Myers)
6. Hurricanes (offense doesn't quite live up to expectations but Ward has a monster year)
7. Flyers (most of the team disappoints outside of Giroux and surprisingly Bryzgalov)
8. Jets (squeak in due to young talent stepping it up)
9. Lightning (Stamkos falls back to 40ish goals, 80ish points, major regression for St. Louis, but Lindback surprisingly keeps the team afloat)
10. Devils (Brodeur has a rough year, Kovalchuk and Zajac keep them afloat)
11. Senators (big regression for all of their top 4 scorers this year)
12. Canadiens(just kind of get by with Price and Pacioretty having solid years again)
13. Maple Leafs (JVR is a disaster at center, but performs ok on the wing, Lupul regresses, Kessel drops to about 70 points)
14. Panthers (major regression for the entire team)
15. Islanders (LOL Islanders)

West

1. Canucks (Luongo stays, Schneider gets more starts but both perform well)
2. Sharks (very strong year all-around, Burns gets some Norris consideration)
3. Blackhawks (Toews and Keith with monster years, Kane does fairly well)
4. Kings (Quick takes a step back but the rest of the team actually plays during the regular season this year)
5. Blues (goalies regress, but offense gets a big boost with Schwartz and Tarasenko, and Pietrangelo and Perron having career years)
6. Avalanche (excellent years for the young talent on the team, Varlamov proves to be steady)
7. Wild (Parise doesn't live up to the hype, Suter does well, Granlundhas a big rookie year and Backstrom looks strong in net)
8. Red Wings (carried by Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Howard and Kronwall
9. Stars (Jagr bombs, Whitney drops to about 55 in points, Ryder regresses, but Benn and Lehtonen have very strong years)
10. Predators (Weber has a rough year without Suter, the rest don't perform poorly, but they can't keep up with the rest of the West)
11. Flames (same old Flames, every single year)
12. Ducks (Getzlaf rebounds, Perry is good, Hiller is decent, Ryan plays and is average, but the rest of the team completely sucks)
13. Oilers (Hall and RNH get injured for a significant amount of time, Yakupov does pretty well, Eberle regresses a little bit, the rest are the Oilers..)
14. Coyotes (with or without Doan, the team struggles as Smith regresses, Yandle has an off-year)
15. Blue Jackets (Johansen proves to be the team's lone bright spot)

Hart - Ovechkin (Malkin, Toews)
Art Ross - Malkin (Giroux, Ovechkin)
Ted Lindsay - Ovechkin (Malkin, Giroux)
Norris - Pietrangelo (Chara, Keith)
Calder - Granlund (Schwartz, Yakupov)
Vezina - Ward (Miller, Quick)
Selke - Toews (Datsyuk, Bergeron)
Adams - Sacco (Ruff, Noel)

I could see Pittsburgh, Boston or New York taking the East and St. Louis, Chicago or Vancouver taking the West. Oilers finish 5th last and win the lottery...

[Burning Down]

Damn the lockout.

[Wayfarer]

For anyone interested, you can watch lots of KHL/DEL games here, it's free and legal.

Can't wait for the AHL season to get started. The Marlies are looking pretty stacked.

[LoathsomePete]

Hello 2005, it's good to see you again.

[Thom Yorke]

I think I'll just stick to watching OHL games this year. I have no real interest in watching any of the European/KHL games other than to check up on how some of my favourite players are doing. Man, what a terribly-run league the NHL is.

[Wicked Weasel]

If the season is canceled I say we riot.