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Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 18:47:10 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/11/2022 22:47

Yes, the right kind of insane for a draft like this. The habs had a strong draft both in picks and trades, Chef-Klosky was a definite favorite who I actually was hoping would slip to the Kraken, but I love the drafting equivilant of a neutral-zone slap shot here, the idea of him, Suzuki and Caufield as a front line is an amazing thought to behold. I and other kraken fans were indeed shocked and overjoyed to see Wright fall to 4, probs fell because teams didn't see him as a future superstar but I really like the idea of him and Beniers as their future first line. The sabres got a steal in Savoie, looks like third time might be the charm for a rebuild. No Idea what the Islanders are doing, though.

yeah free agency is going to be interesting, especially seeing what the likes of Oilers, Maple Leafs, Rangers, Devils, Stars are going to do, and if the Golden Knights are going to blow it up before the cap cripples them. Looks like the Canadiens are avoiding a rebuild with the Dach trade (among other moves) and hope the Kraken can get some defense, and the Islanders do... something. The Oilers will make a stupid trade, that's for certain, but hopefully make a host of other good moves behind the blue line to make up for it.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

craola — Fri, 8 Jul 2022 04:27:24 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 07/08/2022 08:27

i asked for chaos. i got chaos. first overall, juraj slafkovský. nemec second. go slovakia. wright staring down the canadiens for not drafting him. chicago tearing everything down and getting a solid kickstart on their rebuild with korchinski, nazar, and rinzel. lambert didn’t quite fall out of the first, but it came close. et cetera et cetera. this may be the craziest draft I’ve ever followed. i liked what anaheim did with their multiple picks as well. that’s going to be a fun team to watch in three years with mctavish, zegras, drysdale, mintyukov, gaucher, et cetera et cetera.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

craola — Mon, 4 Jul 2022 16:10:48 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 07/04/2022 20:10

i'm excited for the draft. i can't think of a year in recent memory with less "consensus" between public rankings, bob mckenzie's poll, and the general public. i hope there's at least some degree of chaos in montreal on draft day, whether that's montreal drafting juraj slafkovský or logan cooley, new jersey trading their second, pavel mintyukov going before david jiříček, lian bichsel cracking the top ten, or brad lambert falling out of the first round... there could be some exciting narratives thursday night.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Mon, 4 Jul 2022 14:40:50 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/04/2022 18:40

yeah it's going to be interesting, if the Oilers can finally add strong defenseman now that expectations are a lot higher, if the Habs (or the Golden Knights) decide to blow it up, if the Islanders make any moves at all, if the Devils trade their #2 pick, and how the Lightning can address the cap situation. the Kraken probably aren't going to make a whole lot of moves but have like 12-13 picks this draft so they've got a great chance to add a lot of young talent. Should be a fun offseason overall.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

junodog4 — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 19:11:24 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 06/28/2022 23:11

junodog4 wrote:

I'm really looking forward to this year. Loads of potential storylines, and tonnes of parity.

My misguided predictions:

EAST

1. TB - ...but not by a huge margin. They'll get off to a slow start. You can't argue with Point, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilievskiy, Stamkos, etc...
2. Tor - Great regular season team. Let's see if they can do anything in the playoffs. 60 goals for Matthews?
3. Phi - As long as Hart gets his head back. Too much depth to count out. Everything went wrong last year.
4. Fla - Will put it all together this year.
5. NYR - I think they'll have a solid year, but flame out in the playoffs. Tonnes of young legs.
6. Bos - Can never count out the team with the 'perfection line'.
7. NYI - Ugh. So boring. I guess it works?
8. Car - If they get the goaltending, watch out.

9. Was - Age is finally catching up to them. Chemistry will become an issue with Kuznetsov, Wilson, etc...
10. Ott - Will take a big step forward this year, but fall short.

11. CLB - Not as bad as people might think, but not a contender either.
12. NJ - Blackwood's vaccine issues will hold them back. A shame.
13. Pit - As a Flyers fan, it delights me to say that the door has closed on this team.
14. Mtl - It's midnight for Cinderella.
15. Det - Still not there yet.
16. Buf - Will having Eichel return help or hurt this team?

WEST

1. Col - Class of the league. Depth and gamebreakers throughout. Cup favourite.
2. LV - This is their best chance, and they won't get ahead of Colorado.
3. Wpg - Darkhorse. Best goalie in NHL.
4. Edm - Ugh. Hate these guys, but they have superlative talent, and are fixing their depth. Goal is a potential issue with old man Smith. Still have shit management.
5. Cgy - Battle of Alberta is back. Edm should have the edge, but Flames are more balanced.
6. Van - Could be very dangerous.
7. Min - Heading in the right direction, finally.
8. - STL - Still have enough to compete.

9. LA - The Ottawa of the West. Loads of young talent.
10. - Chi - Retooling well.

11. Ana - Will be much better, but still at least 1 year away.
12. Dal - Will struggle to score.
13. Nsh - Will really struggle to score.
14. Sea - LOVE this team brand. I hope Liam Neeson is at the home opener. "RELEASE THE KRAKEN"
15. SJ - Hot mess. Kane is such a tool.
16. Ari - How does this team not move? Must be so hard to be a fan of such unwillingness to compete.

So I was off on a few (Flyers, NYI, Vegas, Wpg), but I'd say this was OK prognosticating. Hope the Avalanche can keep the core together for awhile. Makar is the best D man I've seen in a generation (not to mention how ridiculous McDavid was in the first 2 rounds).

Any big wishes for the offseason? I'm hoping for loads of moves, but no stupid contracts (even Edmonton)

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

Hayden — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 22:46:14 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 06/13/2022 02:46

cestuneblague wrote:

Well that was... anti-climactic. Don't really have a horse in this race, I guess I'll go Avalanche to shake things up a bit. Shocking there hasn't been a three-peat since the early 80s.

I'm not sure how this'll play out.

Legit 50/50.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 19:00:51 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 06/12/2022 23:00

Well that was... anti-climactic. Don't really have a horse in this race, I guess I'll go Avalanche to shake things up a bit. Shocking there hasn't been a three-peat since the early 80s.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Fri, 27 May 2022 17:34:13 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 05/27/2022 21:34

Well, McVPavid definetly came out during the series, Oilers were a lot more dominating than I expected after giving up like 50 goals the first game. Gonna be interesting to see how the Avalanche game-plan against him, but no offense Junodog their probably going to be a tougher matchup. The Lightning seem to have the East sown up unless they have a string of really stupid mistake-filled games, if there's one franchise that's seemed to solve the magic equation for winning it's them, and it doesn't really matter who their opponett is next round (although ew Rangers).

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Mon, 16 May 2022 09:12:11 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 05/16/2022 13:12

Now THAT was a wild first round. I know a lot of people in Pittsburgh are not happy about the Penguins dropping the puck, donno how much you can blame that on Crosby not being 100%. But yes, we get to see the Battle of Alberta after all, interesting to see who pulls it out- either Flames depth or Oilers being able to ride McDavid-Draistl just a little bit more. The battle of Florida def will be interesting too, that seems like that's the true Eastern Conference finals this year, Lightning's more varied approach (esp on offense) might give them the slight edge, but heart over head I'm going for the Panthers. The other series aren't as interesting, unless Colorado beats themselves in the next round, and Hurricanes-Rangers just doesn't sound that appealing. I'm still holding firm on the Panthers-Avalanche stanley cup prediction, but who knows maybe Canada does make it to the stanley cup again this year.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Sun, 15 May 2022 10:45:01 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 05/15/2022 14:45

Oof duh, and I thought being a Mariners and Knicks fan was torture, how can the Maple Leafs fandom keep putting up with this? Anyways (still) a pretty wild first round, interesting to see if the Flames can pull it out tonight and if the heralded battle of alberta will actually take place

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Fri, 13 May 2022 17:44:25 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 05/13/2022 21:44

Interesting to see if the Flames close it out tonight, and if the Oilers can play McDavid and Draisatl for 60 minutes to finally overtake the Kings. I mean c'mon what's there to market with a Kings-Stars semi-finals? Been a really up and down first round, the only constant is Maple Leafs just can't close the deal

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Wed, 11 May 2022 20:49:43 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 05/12/2022 00:49

Well I have to admit that season wasn't too fun as a fan- the Canadians being the premier 32nd place team, the Kraken having rough growing pains and whatever the fook happened with the Islanders (but hey at least they didn't screw over Montreal in the lottery or reward Arizona with the first pick). Looking at the playoffs, I'm still holding firm on my Panthers-Avalanche stanley cup finals prediction with the edge to Colorado, but Im not as sure after the way the the first round has played out so far- Florida is really struggling to score. And I know Juno and Necharsian are looking forward to a possible battle of Alberta in the second round, but the Oilers have had some really rotten luck against the Kings (aren't they outscoring them by an average a goal a game?). I make fun of the Maple Leafs, but if they get past the Lighting they have a decent shot at the cup despite shaky goaltending- and I will jump in the lake if that happens (or the Alleghney river).

And looking back at the predictions, I think Juno and I were pretty right on the east (with the exception of the Islanders underachieving), but I don't think any media outlet was predicting Vegas and Winnipeg just falling through the ice like that. Back to Winnipeg!

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

junodog4 — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 23:42:36 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 10/19/2021 03:42

I'm really looking forward to this year. Loads of potential storylines, and tonnes of parity.

My misguided predictions:

EAST

1. TB - ...but not by a huge margin. They'll get off to a slow start. You can't argue with Point, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilievskiy, Stamkos, etc...
2. Tor - Great regular season team. Let's see if they can do anything in the playoffs. 60 goals for Matthews?
3. Phi - As long as Hart gets his head back. Too much depth to count out. Everything went wrong last year.
4. Fla - Will put it all together this year.
5. NYR - I think they'll have a solid year, but flame out in the playoffs. Tonnes of young legs.
6. Bos - Can never count out the team with the 'perfection line'.
7. NYI - Ugh. So boring. I guess it works?
8. Car - If they get the goaltending, watch out.

9. Was - Age is finally catching up to them. Chemistry will become an issue with Kuznetsov, Wilson, etc...
10. Ott - Will take a big step forward this year, but fall short.

11. CLB - Not as bad as people might think, but not a contender either.
12. NJ - Blackwood's vaccine issues will hold them back. A shame.
13. Pit - As a Flyers fan, it delights me to say that the door has closed on this team.
14. Mtl - It's midnight for Cinderella.
15. Det - Still not there yet.
16. Buf - Will having Eichel return help or hurt this team?

WEST

1. Col - Class of the league. Depth and gamebreakers throughout. Cup favourite.
2. LV - This is their best chance, and they won't get ahead of Colorado.
3. Wpg - Darkhorse. Best goalie in NHL.
4. Edm - Ugh. Hate these guys, but they have superlative talent, and are fixing their depth. Goal is a potential issue with old man Smith. Still have shit management.
5. Cgy - Battle of Alberta is back. Edm should have the edge, but Flames are more balanced.
6. Van - Could be very dangerous.
7. Min - Heading in the right direction, finally.
8. - STL - Still have enough to compete.

9. LA - The Ottawa of the West. Loads of young talent.
10. - Chi - Retooling well.

11. Ana - Will be much better, but still at least 1 year away.
12. Dal - Will struggle to score.
13. Nsh - Will really struggle to score.
14. Sea - LOVE this team brand. I hope Liam Neeson is at the home opener. "RELEASE THE KRAKEN"
15. SJ - Hot mess. Kane is such a tool.
16. Ari - How does this team not move? Must be so hard to be a fan of such unwillingness to compete.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 22:38:04 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 10/13/2021 02:38

Barely four minutes in and the Kraken already give up a goal, not a good omen when goal prevention was supposed to be their strength.

Ah well, guess we still got the Islanders and damn Habs, and the Predators when I'm feeling frisky (or visiting back home).

Edit: oy vey four minutes later there's another. Luckily I got some of my Tennessee moonshine left as this is gonna be a long night.

Re: 2021-2022 NHL Season

EyeKanFly — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 21:12:25 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 10/13/2021 01:12

I'm not convinced on the Leafs, but I do think that on paper they have a better arsenal than my Caps for this season.

I'm somewhat glad that the Kraken don't look like a powerhouse, I wasn't a fan of how the NHL handled the Knights' entry into the league.

And if we're going with way-too-early predictions, I'll guess Lightning over Blues.

2021-2022 NHL Season

cestuneblague — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 18:41:47 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 10/12/2021 22:41

Alright, the new NHL season is upon us (doesn't it seem like the last one just ended? oh well?) Anyways it's been fun to get back into hockey, watching a lot of old games and getting used to the old/new rules, and really should be an exciting season not only with the Kraken but with fans coming back.. well, maybe. Again hope to be able to get some games, trying to see the Kraken in Colombus this year and the Islanders & Canadians down in Nashville, but it should be a fun year especially as there was a lot of turnover. Anyways here's a very newb predictions for the teams this year, hope Juno and HockeyBoi come in with more veteran insights. Will be watching the Kraken-Vegas game though to kick off the season and y'all should too.

West

1. Colorado
Pretty much kept the status quo and are still the team to beat in the league. A savvy, opportunistic scoring team but who really will beat teams behind the blue line. Just need that extra edge in the playoffs and they’re the clear favorites.
2 Las Vegas
Gravity’s probably coming for them soon, but they were successful in finding the right pieces to fix their FA-exit holes and should still be contenders, though seem vulnerable at times on defense
3 Winnipeg
Are the jets the team to break the canadian Stanley Cup drought? Maybe not this year, but this group is one of the most well-rounded in the league who are now solid enough on their forward lines to take the pressure off their stellar defense. Could be a dark horse especially as it gets murkier after this spot.
4 Edmonton
Can the GM position be voted in/out? Probably would be welcomed in North Alberta, as despite having two generational forwards that seemingly all you need is a couple of tough blue-line enforcers and half-way competent role players on the second and third lines, management seems to find new and creative ways to thin out their ranks. Will still score enough goals to beat up a weak pacific division, but a long stanley cup run doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.
5 Minnesota
Re-signing Kaprizov was huge and should look formidable for the first time since, well, the North Stars days with a potent power-play game and tougher-than-most defense. Will there be regressions in last year’s spikes, or become vulnerable when their top six as depth this year could be a bit of an issue.
6 St. Louis
Sun seems to be setting on their championship core, but still have enough drive left for at least one more playoff run.
7 Calgary
Just enough talent that you don’t really blow up the team and rebuild, but don’t see a contender now or anytime soon. Gonna have to make that decision soon, but a solid bet to win enough games to make the playoffs- though won’t make much noise when they do either.
8 Nashville
My sleeper pick, maybe a little bit biased, but there’s so much young talent that have a chance to be effective in a lot of different ways… but could also be dwelling in the cellar by groundhog day.
9 Chicago
Could scold them as a franchise that everybody now has a good reason to root against, but I’ll stumble off that high horse after the shit Montreal pulled. For the team anyways it’s kind of disjointed, they improved their leaky and ineffective defense and Fleury, although having so much mileage on him at 36, will be a big upgrade at the goal simply by default. Their forward situation though is still kind of a mess (even with the Seth Jones addition) and I see a really streaky team that will probably lose a lot of games they shouldn’t, but just because there’s a big dropoff after the top 7 teams they still have a good shot at sneaking the playoffs.
10 San Jose
If they stay healthy, they could get in, but they never seem to have a coherent plan. The evander kane situation is a Pete Rose-esque dumpster fire that will be an unwanted distraction as they really have no margin of error to be relevant this year.
11 Dallas
The ‘20 stanley cup run already seems like a distant memory, as they have a lot of holes especially on defense that perhaps explains all the cheap, oft power-play goals they give up. There is talent, and maybe they can prove last year was a bad fluke, but the rebuilding train is probably leaving early
12 LA Kings
A poor man’s Nashville, as a lot of intriguing ready-to-bloom guys and sharp goaltending (if weaker blue-line defense) signifies that they could win enough games in that lowly pacific division to sneak into the playoffs, but that’s still a big if as scoring could still be a big issue.
13 Seattle
I definitely see a much slower, steadier path to relevance than the Golden Knights, and perhaps have their eye on accruing more young forward talent at next year’s draft. I think they’ll definitely prevent enough goals this year to at least keep them in most games, though, and should avoid a terrible inaugural season, at the very least.
14 Vancouver
Made some win-now trades that sacrificed a lot of young depth, and yet they don’t seem anywhere remotely near a contention point. Playoffs also seem a real long shot. Probably need some management reshuffling soon, but they’re not terrible so this year that might help them stumble into the 8th seed
15 Arizona
A team that mgmt has seemingly just left on the train tracks, hoping to run away with the insurance check when their booted out of their current home. They managed to get a solid slew of young prospects by auctioning off overrated veterans, but the roster that stands is a pulled-goalie. For the love of god don't relocate to Houston.
16 Anaheim
Have a lot of unknowns, enough young talent that they will have a lot of fun experimenting with different lineups, wins seem like a distant concern for the future.

East

1 Tampa Bay
Lost little and should still pulverize most teams even in the Atlantic Division. Cap’s gonna come for them hard sooner rather than later, but as their team currently stands are in that rarefied air that they can legitimately compete for a three-peat this year.
2 Toronto
Yeah assimilating back into being an Islanders fan, ofc by booing John Tavares for petty reasons. Anyhoo, Brought in all the right pieces and have many scoring weapons up and down the roster, looks great on paper and should dominate most teams during the regular season we all know what happens during the playoffs
3 Florida
Are the Panthers true contenders? Their goaltending is so strong that a player like Dreidger can be expendable, and they’ll beat up enough teams on the blue-line night in, night out. Can they score enough goals to make a long run, though? They’re dark horse favorites if their forward lines fill out.
4 Carolina
I’m not buying them as contenders, great on paper but they already seem like easy pushovers when faced against better teams. That said, they’re the best of the much weaker metropolitan division.
5 Boston
Bloated roster, but still pretty damn effective. Not as good as a few years ago, but still should be a tough team to beat that needs to get over that recent semi-finals aenima.
6 NY Islanders
Can’t say I’ma little disappointed they didn’t do more this offseason, as they only seemed to just barely regain the point production that was lost to FA/Expansion draft. They’re such a savvy, well-coached team that just seem tailor-made for a long stanley cup run, but probably missing that one extra force up the middle to really get over that Stanley Cup hurdle.
7 NY Rangers
A sleeper team in the more competitive east, they looked really good last year that underachieved a bit in the win column, a Kakko definitely looks like a young star and potential franchise guy. Still a tough team to read, though, as they made a lot of changes and their defense could suffer a bit in comparison to the last year.
8 Washington
Twilihght setting in for the longtime group that’s now four years apart from a stanley cup, but should have one more playoff run for Ovechkin and everybody who have stuck around for so long.
9 Montreal
They sure don’t make it easy to be a fan, do they? Based solely on the potential of the team, Price being injured will hurt and Weber likely gone for good will hurt more, but they made some solid moves to fill their defensive holes. Playoffs are 50-50 in the very competitive east, but either way it will be fun to watch a Cole Caufield breakout season.
10 Pittsburgh
Will Sidney Crosby finish his career in Pittsburgh? Does he want to have another long playoff run to cap off his career.. Because that doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon, as their roster has degraded mightily since their last stanley cup run and they seem overdue for a true rebuild.
11 NJ Devils
Does Jack Hughes finally break out? Do they stop giving up cheap goals during the power play and make better decisions whey they do actually possess the puck? If they can fix the big problems with their gameplay, they have a talented enough team to sneak into the playoffs, but it still seems they need a lot more refining.
12 Philadelphia
It seems weird to call the Flyers the perpetual underachievers, but I also don’t see that changing this year.
13 Detroit
Their rare bout of losing have suddenly seen them accrue a windfall of mega-talented young prospects. They’re going to be a beast very soon, but that very soon isn’t going to be this year.
14 Colombus
The Charlotte Hornets of the NHL, as they were always either scraping the bottom of the average barrel or clawing their way to the top of the mediocre pile. Now they finally decided to blow it up (that Seth Jones trade was a hidden fleece) and might finally have a chance to get the talent necessary to finally compete (and… save hockey in Colombus) and are plausible frontrunners in the Shane Wright sweepstakes.
15 Ottawa
I hear Ottawa has a lot of really nice museums
16 Buffalo
What is this, like, their Third rebuild? Is Jack Eichel gonna pull a Ben Simmons and not even bother showing up, and will anybody care? The Hasek days are lonnnnnnnggggg gone.

And for a no-guts-no-glory, way-too-soon Stanely Cup prediction? Avalanche over Panthers