Official NHL 09-10 Season

It's as if the Hawks sold their soul to win the Cup last season. When will the bloodletting stop?

Originally posted by FredFlintstone:
niemi was 1 huge reason we got swept by chicago and now hes gone and no byfuglien

Yeah, no Niemi and the series probably would've been 2-2 or even 3-1 Sharks after four games.

Modano signs with Detroit. I think the clincher was Detroit said they will give him 3rd line and some PP. My guess is 40 pts for him, maybe under.

It will be an interesting year out West, way more unpredictable then usual. Huge question marks in goaltending for the top two teams (SJ and CHI). Detroit will probably have a great team again, assuming Lidstrom keeps using the fountain of youth.

But keep an eye out for Vancover and LA. I think they became bigger contenders by subtraction of the teams ahead of them.

[ Edited by SunDevilNiner79 on Aug 3, 2010 at 20:59:33 ]

LA hasn't improved this off-season. I'd be more worried about Vancouver than LA at the moment.

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
LA hasn't improved this off-season. I'd be more worried about Vancouver than LA at the moment.

LA is a young team and with that little playoff experience they can still improve. i expect them to make the playoffs again and put up a better fight. they will be a pain in the ass for the sharks but they should still take the division. the nucks defensively are as deep as they come though but can you trust luongo in a play off series against legit fire power????

Early playoff outlook? Not putting any order on the teams, but expectations are that the following should make it:

Sharks
Red Wings
Canucks
Kings
Coyotes


The hopefuls that still have a chance at the last three spots:

Blackhawks - lost a lot, but still a good team. If Hossa goes down for long, they may be doomed
Avalanche - Very young team that found themselves a fine goaltender. Can he repeat that success?
Flames - Got Jokinen and Tanguay back, and are bringing most of their other talent back from last year.
Blues - Did they improve enough offensively? Goaltending is legitimate with Halak.
Ducks - They made a few additions (D-men Sutton, Lydman) and added what they hope will be a star with D-man Cam Fowler. Losing Selanne could keep them out.
Predators - Didn't really improve or get worse, so this year health is probably the biggest factor.

That's not to say Edmonton, Columbus, Minnesota, Dallas can't make it either, but these four still have glaring weaknesses somewhere, or in multiple areas. Anything can happen though, but that's what I think we're looking at, right now at least.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Early playoff outlook? Not putting any order on the teams, but expectations are that the following should make it:

Sharks
Red Wings
Canucks
Kings
Coyotes


The hopefuls that still have a chance at the last three spots:

Blackhawks - lost a lot, but still a good team. If Hossa goes down for long, they may be doomed
Avalanche - Very young team that found themselves a fine goaltender. Can he repeat that success?
Flames - Got Jokinen and Tanguay back, and are bringing most of their other talent back from last year.
Blues - Did they improve enough offensively? Goaltending is legitimate with Halak.
Ducks - They made a few additions (D-men Sutton, Lydman) and added what they hope will be a star with D-man Cam Fowler. Losing Selanne could keep them out.
Predators - Didn't really improve or get worse, so this year health is probably the biggest factor.

That's not to say Edmonton, Columbus, Minnesota, Dallas can't make it either, but these four still have glaring weaknesses somewhere, or in multiple areas. Anything can happen though, but that's what I think we're looking at, right now at least.

Locks
SJ
Van
Det
Chi - Despite losing key players, they still have the skill and depth to easily make playoffs
LA

Toss up
Nashville - Trotz is one of the best coaches in the NHL, year in year out he gets his team in playoffs
Colorado - Despite tailing off in the end, I think they are the 2nd best team in their division and that earns them a spot by default pretty much
St. Louis - Is Halak the real deal? If he is, they make playoffs


PHX IMO is a one-year wonder and they only have ONE 20-goal scorer. Anahiem lost too much defensive depth that can't be replaced. Dallas I actually think is a darkhorse to make playoffs. They had a stretch where they went 1-10-3 on the road with the only win by a shoot out....Of course, it depends on a lot of big question marks being answered which isn't likely so I didn't include them.

And as far as Calgary, I don't really count Jokinen or Tanguay as changing anything. I think their biggest problem is counting on a 34-year old goalie playing 70+ games...

[ Edited by SunDevilNiner79 on Aug 4, 2010 at 13:17:37 ]

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Early playoff outlook? Not putting any order on the teams, but expectations are that the following should make it:

Sharks
Red Wings
Canucks
Kings
Coyotes


The hopefuls that still have a chance at the last three spots:

Blackhawks - lost a lot, but still a good team. If Hossa goes down for long, they may be doomed
Avalanche - Very young team that found themselves a fine goaltender. Can he repeat that success?
Flames - Got Jokinen and Tanguay back, and are bringing most of their other talent back from last year.
Blues - Did they improve enough offensively? Goaltending is legitimate with Halak.
Ducks - They made a few additions (D-men Sutton, Lydman) and added what they hope will be a star with D-man Cam Fowler. Losing Selanne could keep them out.
Predators - Didn't really improve or get worse, so this year health is probably the biggest factor.

That's not to say Edmonton, Columbus, Minnesota, Dallas can't make it either, but these four still have glaring weaknesses somewhere, or in multiple areas. Anything can happen though, but that's what I think we're looking at, right now at least.

Locks
SJ
Van
Det
Chi - Despite losing key players, they still have the skill and depth to easily make playoffs
LA

Toss up
Nashville - Trotz is one of the best coaches in the NHL, year in year out he gets his team in playoffs
Colorado - Despite tailing off in the end, I think they are the 2nd best team in their division and that earns them a spot by default pretty much
St. Louis - Is Halak the real deal? If he is, they make playoffs


PHX IMO is a one-year wonder and they only have ONE 20-goal scorer. Anahiem lost too much defensive depth that can't be replaced. Dallas I actually think is a darkhorse to make playoffs. They had a stretch where they went 1-10-3 on the road with the only win by a shoot out....Of course, it depends on a lot of big question marks being answered which isn't likely so I didn't include them.

And as far as Calgary, I don't really count Jokinen or Tanguay as changing anything. I think their biggest problem is counting on a 34-year old goalie playing 70+ games...

I think PHX is better than people give them credit for. Doan is a very good player, and Bryz was great last year. Now that they have a very good coach, I can't see them falling too far off after a 50-win season.

Bad news for the Sharks: Selanne returning to Anaheim, http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=535672

Also, Wild sign Madden: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=535665

Kovalchuk a free agent after arbitrator ruling

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
Kovalchuk a free agent after arbitrator ruling

Go to the KHL already, or accept the fact that a 10-12 year deal is the best you're going to get, and if that's not good enough for you, you're clearly not in it for the love of the game. Get out of the NHL, and don't come back.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
Kovalchuk a free agent after arbitrator ruling

Go to the KHL already, or accept the fact that a 10-12 year deal is the best you're going to get, and if that's not good enough for you, you're clearly not in it for the love of the game. Get out of the NHL, and don't come back.

Agreed The guy wants top dollar but he's not even in the top 5 players in the league for my money. I think because he lost his temper and got into a couple slap fights in the last 2 years, he thinks he's bad sh*t and a force to be reckon with now

I wonder if it's open season on everyone else that's circumvented the cap in recent years though. The league's been complaining about deals like this since the Islanders signed DiPietro to that ridonkulous contract after the lockout. This sets precedent and should give Betteman the ammo to go after whoever he see's fit. The Islanders, Chicago and Boston all have some very suspect contracts on their books and those are just the teams that I can think of.

Originally posted by NatralBrnThrila:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
Kovalchuk a free agent after arbitrator ruling

Go to the KHL already, or accept the fact that a 10-12 year deal is the best you're going to get, and if that's not good enough for you, you're clearly not in it for the love of the game. Get out of the NHL, and don't come back.

Agreed The guy wants top dollar but he's not even in the top 5 players in the league for my money. I think because he lost his temper and got into a couple slap fights in the last 2 years, he thinks he's bad sh*t and a force to be reckon with now

I wonder if it's open season on everyone else that's circumvented the cap in recent years though. The league's been complaining about deals like this since the Islanders signed DiPietro to that ridonkulous contract after the lockout. This sets precedent and should give Betteman the ammo to go after whoever he see's fit. The Islanders, Chicago and Boston all have some very suspect contracts on their books and those are just the teams that I can think of.

Hossa signed that 12-year deal last year with the Hawks.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by NatralBrnThrila:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
Kovalchuk a free agent after arbitrator ruling

Go to the KHL already, or accept the fact that a 10-12 year deal is the best you're going to get, and if that's not good enough for you, you're clearly not in it for the love of the game. Get out of the NHL, and don't come back.

Agreed The guy wants top dollar but he's not even in the top 5 players in the league for my money. I think because he lost his temper and got into a couple slap fights in the last 2 years, he thinks he's bad sh*t and a force to be reckon with now

I wonder if it's open season on everyone else that's circumvented the cap in recent years though. The league's been complaining about deals like this since the Islanders signed DiPietro to that ridonkulous contract after the lockout. This sets precedent and should give Betteman the ammo to go after whoever he see's fit. The Islanders, Chicago and Boston all have some very suspect contracts on their books and those are just the teams that I can think of.

Hossa signed that 12-year deal last year with the Hawks.

Looks like this thing might be playing out. The names I heard so far are: Chris Pronger, Marc Savard and Marion Hossa as possible targets for review. Just rumor mongering right now but I enjoy a good monger

This sucks cuz I'm a Bruin fan and I can tell you for sure that Savard's isn't the only contract on our books that will be reviewed. Tim Thomas comes to mind. Probably more...I better have a look see.

Could be a blessing in disguise though. We're over the "summer cap" already.

NHL considering an off-ice referee looking from above the glass: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=536166