Official NHL Season 14-15 Thread

[batdad]

Skewed or not. 4 super pants teams in East are still part of the East. You attacked based on me saying Western Conference is better than Eastern Conference...it is clear that it is from the numbers. You cannot just remove the bottom feeders to make it sound better. West is dominant over the East and that is the fact I was pointing out. The fact that you have to manipulate the true numbers to try and make your point shows that my point is correct. West DOMINATED the Eastern teams. Who cares who plays how many games against who? Fact is the numbers show it.

[Peter_Doherty]

East has 2 more teams then West, of course West teams will have more wins then, thats basic math... East is MUCH close to West then it has been last few years, and top-12 vs top-12 its EVEN... i give u that 16 teams vs 14 West is slightly better just because those 4 teams as sooooooooooooooo bad.... And if we go just towards playoffs its 50/50 for the first time in ages it seems... Also the numbers you say prove that West DOMINATES East show that West win 53% of the games, how is that DOMINATING?

It's clear from your skewed numbers because of the imbalance in number of teams in the conferences...

One last thing, stop using "Rags", condescending horrible abbreviation...

[CJ]

Edmonton has a small chance of getting both McDavid & Eichel. EDM has PIT's first draft. This chance might happen if PIT doesn't make the playoffs.

[batdad]

Not saying it is not better than it was in past Peter. Saying it is still not as good, and not close to parity. The Rags are the best team in the East followed closely by Tampa and then one other team...the Carey Prices. after that it is hard to say who has any kind of a team. In the west...Chicago, Anaheim, Nashville, St Louis, and even LA if they make the playoffs could make the final. Not to mention the monster sized Jets. It is a war out in the west, in the east it is not even close to a war. More like a high school teenage girl slap fight.


Yes it is as is the nicknames for every other team in the NHL.

Red Wings-Dead THings
Capitals-Crapitals
Canadians-well several french slams available
FLames-PHlegms
CAnucks-how many different things?
Oilers-yeah same
Islanders-I am sure as a Rags fan you have a billion.
Penguins--Foul water birds
Bruins--yeah easy
Flyers-even easier
Kings-Queens
Ducks-Yeah cannot even say it.
Panthers-Cougars
Predators-nothing, cause noone cares
Lightning-nothing cause noone cares
Blackhawks all on its own
Leafs-yeah just a few.
Blue Jackets---lol
Coyotes--just a couple. but noone really cares about them, so yeah.
Sabres--again noone cares.


Get over it, and your defense of the Rangers..they are the biggest market, most money team in the league except for the Laffs....and well....they get slammed by others...especially for the fact that during the non cap era they could not get anything done despite all the hype for so darn long, and then one cup and think they are the kings of the world. Typical New York attitude

Life is like that. Deal with it.

Poor east having 2 more teams than the west. Who cares? Why does that matter at all in terms of our conversation here? Fact remains the numbers show the East (although better than there pathetic performances in the past) is not as good as the West.

I mean lets take out the top 2 teams in the East, instead of the bottom 2 if you want to manipulate numbers and see how things are?

You are debating this from a point of pure weakness. There is no defense of the fact that the West is still dominant over the east. Not as much as in the past, but still it is present. It is not anywhere near parity.

Things go in cycles and I am sure someday the east will be on par with the west, and then again some day better than the west Right now....no way anyone can defend either of those things rationally without showing heavy bias.

53 is not the actual number .... regulation vs overtime.shootout stuff is an issue in there. Not going to go through the numbers for that. .... but yeah west is still better than the east by a considerable margin.

[Peter_Doherty]

53 is the actual number, a win is a win, a loss is a loss... On the rest of it there is no use for me to keep beating the drum, you know my stance in it, i just don't agree with you

[philou21]

Bull... East is on par with West this season... If we go by the same logic for the west philou, only Anaheim, STL and Chicago are strong and Chicago wont do anything without Kane and Boudreau and STL are chokers, who is left then? Nashville is even worse without Rinne then Habs is without Price, Wild is relying on a goalie which until Januari was seen as one of the worst goalies in the league, Vancouver are weak and known for choking, Flames and Jets have nice projects but have a few years to go before real contention i think and Kings might not even get into playoffs...

The parity gets better in the NHL indeed but the west still got an advantage. Chicago even if they don't have Kane, they are one of the most complete team in the entire NHL. (Won 2 Cups recently) Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Crawford, Saad even Bickell! etc....They are far from been a one man team like you suggest compared to the Habs that I gave as an example.

Habs without Price are nothing. The team played well, defensively. Without Price to stop .930% of the shots, MTL would've lost because they can't score.

STL is getting better but I doubt they will make it far.

Nashville IMO is superior vs the Habs even without Rinne because they have a little bit more offense and their defensive is more complete compared to MTL.

Wild indeed would not have made the playoffs if it wasn't from Dubnyk.

Vancouver are surprising but don't have what it takes to make it far IMO.

Flames could still cause a surprise I think but their lack of experience, just like the Jets, is probably what's going to make them have a short running in the playoffs but I'm glad that those two could make it. That's a nice change of scenery.

Kings don't really have nothing to prove with 2 Cups in the last 3 years. Even if they make the playoffs at spot #8, they have alot of chances. They were #8 IIRC when they won their first? Most team in the east that got to the finale were never #8, always in the top 3 or 4.

Batdad may like to kid with you but mostly he's right, even if you don't like it.

[Peter_Doherty]

batdad - Did you just get Jim Benning drunk or what? Derek Dorsett just got a 4 year deal with a $2.65m cap hit, thats MADNESS... That contract might actually be the worst contract in the league now I haven't seen him play much this year but i did watch every game he played for Rangers. I like him as a player but that contract is pure madness, what the hell did Benning think? Dorsett is at most a $2m (and that's stretching it) player, and AT MOST 2 years...

Has Sbisa developed well in Nucks? He seemed a bit pylon-ish to me earlier so im questioning his deal aswell but i might very well be wrong there...

[Peter_Doherty]

philou - I was just writing that to you to show you that you can bend it how you want to basically I still believe East is on par with West but we won't get anywhere with that discussion, i think this you think that blabla batdad knows his hockey but the way he makes his points bugs the hell out of me, can't stand it... everything is black or white and west is god and east is SUPERBAD and west is DOMINATING etc... such hyperbole

What's more interesting though is that batdads home town (or pretty close to it atleast, right?) team just signed one of the worst contracts in the league

[CeeBee]

Might be a bit much for Dorsett but not much. He's been a good 4th/borderline 3rd line players who keeps the more skilled guys from getting knocked around. He's a good pk guy, high energy and never takes a night off. He's not even close to the worst contract on the team let alone the NHL.
edit: BTW I've seen pretty much every Canuck game this year.

[Satyr]

Dammit, I have to support for the Wan... Rangers tonight. They play Ottawa and Rangers have to beat them in regular time.

[Peter_Doherty]

Might be a bit much for Dorsett but not much. He's been a good 4th/borderline 3rd line players who keeps the more skilled guys from getting knocked around. He's a good pk guy, high energy and never takes a night off. He's not even close to the worst contract on the team let alone the NHL.
edit: BTW I've seen pretty much every Canuck game this year.

Even so, that contract is terrible... 4 years for a 4th liner is just wrong... and at that cap hit aswell, terrible contract...

[Peter_Doherty]

Dammit, I have to support for the Wan... Rangers tonight. They play Ottawa and Rangers have to beat them in regular time.

Hehe, atleast you know there is one player on the team that wants to win, Hank sits on 29 wins, needs to keep his 30 wins streak alive

[CeeBee]

Sbisa has improved a lot since the start of the season. Still a bit prone to bad giveaways but he's young for a dman and getting better. Good skater, big hitter, smooth passer, just not always passing to his teammates

[CeeBee]

Might be a bit much for Dorsett but not much. He's been a good 4th/borderline 3rd line players who keeps the more skilled guys from getting knocked around. He's a good pk guy, high energy and never takes a night off. He's not even close to the worst contract on the team let alone the NHL.
edit: BTW I've seen pretty much every Canuck game this year.

Even so, that contract is terrible... 4 years for a 4th liner is just wrong... and at that cap hit aswell, terrible contract...

I would have liked 3 years max at 2.0 myself.

[Peter_Doherty]

Sbisa has improved a lot since the start of the season. Still a bit prone to bad giveaways but he's young for a dman and getting better. Good skater, big hitter, smooth passer, just not always passing to his teammates

Aight, as i said, haven't seen much of him at all... Price looks a bit steep for him but if he's progressing then it's fine i guess, he's still young so can't be too bad...

I would be very hesitant to give a player like Dorsett more then 2 years myself, and he should never get more then 2m...

[Satyr]

Lundqvist is a hero, he's the only Ranger I would grant a Stanley Cup.

[batdad]

Sbisa deal scares me far more than Dorsett. Not that I really care, because ultimately I am a fan of the game, not of the Canucks...but I do like what I have seen from them this season as compared to the last couple.

Dorsett kills penalties, Dorsett plays hard and makes naff players like Linden Vey and Shawn Matthias play hard around him. Canucks management credit him almost completely with the way Bo Horvat has already grown into a good young man. He brings the HONEST grit that the Canucks have lacked for years. He bangs and crashes and stands up for teammates without being a dick like some of those types of players can be. He has a great attitude, never misses a practice..first one on first one off. His attitude...translates to the rest of the team. Teammates love him. Granted 2.6 is alot....but darn if anyone of the grinders on this team other than Jannick Hansen deserve it...Derek Dorsett is the one. I am extremely surprised at what he has brought to the table. Much more than chicanery. In fact little to no chicanery. He is smart when he fights and goes only against other fighters and makes them stand up. Even huge slobs like John Scott.

Sbisa--Slow, plodding...hits like a mack truck. Plays well against big strong teams nad players and like rubbish against fast smaller players. He is in and out and totally inconsistent but seems to be getting it more as the year goes on (Do not forget he is saddled with an injured river boat gambler named BIeksa as a partner and that can make him look even more out to lunch than he has at times). That being said...this is a risky risky deal. Sbisa is so inconsistent and his upside as a player....is limited because of his limited mobility and puck skills.

AGain with that being said.....it is not that far off the current rate for guys his age who are 4-5 dmen in the future. If he gets to that slot in the end he will be fine.

Dorsett to you guys who go to bed before half the Canuck games and do not know and see what he does with his teammates---you know how Boston talked about Shawn Thornton all the time? OThers about Travis Moen (Anaheim) back in the day....this is what Dorsett is bringing. It is worth a good chunk of coin. Linden like with leadership for the younger guys. I would have given him 1.5-2...not 2.6 but....price you pay when you need to show everyone else in the league that you are building the right way. I guarantee you Derek Dorsett is respected alot by players around the NHL....unlike some of the jacakasses that get paid 5.5 mill.

[Peter_Doherty]

I know very well what Dorsett does and doesn't do, he did play for Rangers and i do like him I did not however know that he has grown into a leader in nucks, but even with that said 2.65 is WAY to much for 4 years... A player like Dorsett should have to decide between money and term, he can't have both IMO... The picture you paint of Sbisa is much closer to what i thought, problem here though isn't Benning, it's every other team in the league that has set the bar this high for young mediocre D-men...

[batdad]

D men are a very rare commodity. There are very very few Nicklas Lidstrom's and a whole lot of Kevin Bieksa Andrew Ference types. Sbisa probably fits in the latter (Well obviously) but you have to have a few to make up a team, and he can handle some things. He actually played quite well when he was getting 20 plus minutes because of injury.

Dorsett is the type of player Vancouver desperately needs. A little overpayment for him is not a big deal really. Make sure he sticks around and for a couple years. no problem with that. Thornton got a similar type deal in Boston at one point, and noone criticized that ($ were lower but it wsas because contracts were lower when he got it) Moen did to. This guy has it. That extra something you need to win. He holds EVERYONE acccountable. I really cannot praise a guy for intangibles as much as I can a guy like Derek right now. HOpefully this deal does not get into his head. BUt he is a great dude and a darn good third line grinding tough PK guy.

All the darn money is given to flashy scoring jerks with egos coming out their ears...then when a good guy gets a deal everyone goes off. Now...the only thing about this is.....it makes Jannik Hansen worth 3 mill per year. LOL

[Prowl]

Looking forward to tonight although anxious because LA seems to play well with their backs against the wall.

[sluice]

Looking forward to tonight although anxious because LA seems to play well with their backs against the wall.

I'll will definitely cheer for the Flames on that one. It could be the most exciting game of the year!

[djskek]

Hammond with a great performance!

[Prowl]

Playoffs here we come!!!

[Schneides]

Yeah Baby!

[Satyr]

<-- this should be re-named to :rangers: