Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Predictions: Northwest Division
Its almost time for the regular season to begin. Its that time for me to post predictions, which will prove I am unable to successfully predict anything. Last year my predictions for the West Conference and East Conference successfully predicted both eventual Stanley Cup finalists would miss the playoffs. Whether that was incompetence or or a lack of elite teams thus making the difference between good and bad smaller (and hence the impact of luck larger), is still an open question.
At any rate, here are my northwest division predictions.
1. Calgary Flames They won this division last year despite Jarome Iginla havonmg a subpar year. They did it with the best defence in the NHL and Vezina winning Miikka Kiprusoff. Kiprusoff and most of the defence returns and Alex Tanguay has been acquired to try to increase scoring and likely jumpstart Iginla.
2. Vancouver Canucks Last year this was a good team hit by injuries tgo all their key players at the wrong times. Markus Naslund played hurt much of the year. He should be healthier. The defence lost Mattias Ohlund, Ed Jovanovski and Sami Salo at the same time. Though Jovanovski is gone, its unlikely they will lose the top three guys simultaneously. Their top goaltender Dan Clotuier got hurt for a large portion of the season, though Alex Auld was an acceptable fill-in, things should be much better with Roberto Luongo manning the nets. This team would likely have improved by doing nothing, and they went out and got the best goalie in hockey.
3. Minnesota Wild The best coach in hockey Jacques Lemaire, has his team playing a precise system. The addition of Pavol Demitra and Kim Johnsson to Marian Gaborik and Manny Fernandez should make this team a tough one to play against. It could also be one that scores more goals than the Minnesota teams of the past.
4. Colorado Avalanche In two years they have lost Peter Forsberg, Alex Tanguay, Rob Blake and Adam Foote. They still have Joe Sakic, who is an outstanding (although aging) forward and the talented Milan Hejduk. Jose Theodore is too talented to not bounce back from last season, which was a huge dissapointment. This team has some frontline talent, but lacks the depth of the past.
5. Edmonton Oilers This team went to the Stanley Cup finals last year - despite barely making the playoffs (they were 10th in wins in the west conference). In the off season, they lost Mike Peca, Sergei Samsonov, Jaroslav Spacek and Dick Tarnstrom to free agency. They were forced to trade Chris Pronger to Anaheim. The key pieces they held onto when free agency hit are the most questionable ones. Dwayne Roloson is a 37 year old goalie coming off of injuries. Fernando Pisani turns 30 this year and has only 80 career NHL regular season points. Their defence is significantly depleted. I think it could be a long year in Edmonton.
1. Calgary Flames They won this division last year despite Jarome Iginla havonmg a subpar year. They did it with the best defence in the NHL and Vezina winning Miikka Kiprusoff. Kiprusoff and most of the defence returns and Alex Tanguay has been acquired to try to increase scoring and likely jumpstart Iginla.
2. Vancouver Canucks Last year this was a good team hit by injuries tgo all their key players at the wrong times. Markus Naslund played hurt much of the year. He should be healthier. The defence lost Mattias Ohlund, Ed Jovanovski and Sami Salo at the same time. Though Jovanovski is gone, its unlikely they will lose the top three guys simultaneously. Their top goaltender Dan Clotuier got hurt for a large portion of the season, though Alex Auld was an acceptable fill-in, things should be much better with Roberto Luongo manning the nets. This team would likely have improved by doing nothing, and they went out and got the best goalie in hockey.
3. Minnesota Wild The best coach in hockey Jacques Lemaire, has his team playing a precise system. The addition of Pavol Demitra and Kim Johnsson to Marian Gaborik and Manny Fernandez should make this team a tough one to play against. It could also be one that scores more goals than the Minnesota teams of the past.
4. Colorado Avalanche In two years they have lost Peter Forsberg, Alex Tanguay, Rob Blake and Adam Foote. They still have Joe Sakic, who is an outstanding (although aging) forward and the talented Milan Hejduk. Jose Theodore is too talented to not bounce back from last season, which was a huge dissapointment. This team has some frontline talent, but lacks the depth of the past.
5. Edmonton Oilers This team went to the Stanley Cup finals last year - despite barely making the playoffs (they were 10th in wins in the west conference). In the off season, they lost Mike Peca, Sergei Samsonov, Jaroslav Spacek and Dick Tarnstrom to free agency. They were forced to trade Chris Pronger to Anaheim. The key pieces they held onto when free agency hit are the most questionable ones. Dwayne Roloson is a 37 year old goalie coming off of injuries. Fernando Pisani turns 30 this year and has only 80 career NHL regular season points. Their defence is significantly depleted. I think it could be a long year in Edmonton.
Comments:
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Edmonton as the worst team in the division? Have you taken a look at Colorado's roster recently? Joe Sackic is on his last legs, they lost Tanguay, and Blake. While Theodore is a huge question mark. Their offense and goaltending is a huge question mark.
While you also seem to have far too much confidence is the Canucks. I tend to agree with Tom Benjamin's assessment that "The goaltending will be good, but all other areas of the team will be okay at best. Teams like that usually suck." Seriously, the bottom two lines of the Canucks might as well be wearing Manitoba Moose jerseys.
While the Wild lost more than half of their starting defense from last year. Pavol Demetra has proven to be injury prone. While its also uncertain whether the addition of Demetra and Parrish can provide enough offensive punch to overcome that major shortcoming or whether Demairs can adept to a more wide open NHL game.
As for Edmonton, they're a much better team then you think they are. Rolonson's injury wasn't serious, he's looked fine in the preseason and he's proved in the past that he's a quality goaltender. The only player leaving the Oilers that was critical is Pronger. On the other hand, a season long increase in save percentage and an augmentation of the offense will make up for his absense. The Oilers have the deepest forward corpse in their division and they're top five in the league now for goalscoring punch with the lineup they have.
While you also seem to have far too much confidence is the Canucks. I tend to agree with Tom Benjamin's assessment that "The goaltending will be good, but all other areas of the team will be okay at best. Teams like that usually suck." Seriously, the bottom two lines of the Canucks might as well be wearing Manitoba Moose jerseys.
While the Wild lost more than half of their starting defense from last year. Pavol Demetra has proven to be injury prone. While its also uncertain whether the addition of Demetra and Parrish can provide enough offensive punch to overcome that major shortcoming or whether Demairs can adept to a more wide open NHL game.
As for Edmonton, they're a much better team then you think they are. Rolonson's injury wasn't serious, he's looked fine in the preseason and he's proved in the past that he's a quality goaltender. The only player leaving the Oilers that was critical is Pronger. On the other hand, a season long increase in save percentage and an augmentation of the offense will make up for his absense. The Oilers have the deepest forward corpse in their division and they're top five in the league now for goalscoring punch with the lineup they have.
Jesus, who are Demairs, Demetra, and Rolonson? Everyone knows what you're saying, but we're less likely to assume that you're a white-knuckled, red-eyed, crazed Oilfan if you checked your spelling in the slightest. And this is coming from another Oiler fan.
Anyway, I have a really hard time believing that Vancouver and Colorado will do better than the Oilers this year. Neither team has the depth to compete with teams who have far better depth or systems (Calgary, Minnie, Edmonton).
Anyway, I have a really hard time believing that Vancouver and Colorado will do better than the Oilers this year. Neither team has the depth to compete with teams who have far better depth or systems (Calgary, Minnie, Edmonton).
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