EHM The Blue Line

The team is good Hensel, dont' get me wrong. But they are in a battle just to get into the top 5 or 6 of the conference. Calgary, St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, San Jose, Anaheim are all still EXTREMELY good clubs, with San Jose maybe a deadly one with the addition of the selfish Heatley. Also, the Dallas Stars are going to be much better wtih Crow behind the bench. Minnesota is a complete wild card as it depends how long it takes them to adapt to the new system. Edmonton can surely not be as bad as they were...but then again maybe they are. The Kings gave up the LEAST shots in the entire conference last year, and are a young team getting older...watch out they could surprise alot of people. Not to mention the Blue Jackets. This conference ins EXTREMELY EXTREMELY tight from #2 right through #12. I would not be shocked to see any of 9-12 beat out any of 2-8 for spots. ANaheim will eventually emerge in the final

Now for the Nucks


Shirokov...not playing with the Sedins, except will get chances on the PP. How is he gonna cope with the grind. Again...like I said...Steve Kariya was once a superstar in September. Agian, I like Shiro. But he is not gonna get 90 points. Nor win the Calder.

Kesler and Burrows...career years? or just a beginning. One does not know. God Warren Young had a big year in the NHL once. Ron Sedlbauer scored 40 goals once. Anyone can do it once in the right circumstances.

Bernier, Wellwood and Raymond MUST MUST improve tons in order for this team to succeed. So far I am not convinced of anything... I already mentioned the Defense. There is not a 50-60 point man among them. Nor is their a real PP QB. Schneider? yeah he is okay, if he ever plays. But at 500 years old, not exactly the best option is he.

And once again, this may be the best Nucklehead team ever. But I still don't think in all real hockey terms that this is a team that will win the cup this year. Two years from now..maybe if they find the right d-men and 2nd liners. Demitra is a no go for me. He must be shoved out the door hard.


Anyway official Western Conference Predictions:

1. San Jose
2. Detroit
3. Calgary
4. Anaheim
5. Vancouver
6, Chicago
7. St Louis
8. Dallas

9 Columbus
10 Los Angeles
11 Edmonton
12 Minnesota
13. Nashville
14. Phoenix
15 Colorado

For a 500 years old D-men, Schneider did good thing with the Habs, he wasn't playing like a top D-men but still a good 5-6. He still got a good slapshot and make some great pass.

Yep that was my point. He is an okay 5-6 dman with some pp time. Just as Bieksa. Mitchell, Salo, Edler are all 3-4 dmen, and OBrien and now Rome are 5-6-7 dmen. And erhoff is 3-5 dman. No real studs on the Nucks blue line, just some decent depth.

batdad wrote:The team is good Hensel, dont' get me wrong. But they are in a battle just to get into the top 5 or 6 of the conference. Calgary, St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, San Jose, Anaheim are all still EXTREMELY good clubs, with San Jose maybe a deadly one with the addition of the selfish Heatley. Also, the Dallas Stars are going to be much better wtih Crow behind the bench. Minnesota is a complete wild card as it depends how long it takes them to adapt to the new system. Edmonton can surely not be as bad as they were...but then again maybe they are. The Kings gave up the LEAST shots in the entire conference last year, and are a young team getting older...watch out they could surprise alot of people. Not to mention the Blue Jackets. This conference ins EXTREMELY EXTREMELY tight from #2 right through #12. I would not be shocked to see any of 9-12 beat out any of 2-8 for spots. ANaheim will eventually emerge in the final

Now for the Nucks


Shirokov...not playing with the Sedins, except will get chances on the PP. How is he gonna cope with the grind. Again...like I said...Steve Kariya was once a superstar in September. Agian, I like Shiro. But he is not gonna get 90 points. Nor win the Calder.

Kesler and Burrows...career years? or just a beginning. One does not know. God Warren Young had a big year in the NHL once. Ron Sedlbauer scored 40 goals once. Anyone can do it once in the right circumstances.

Bernier, Wellwood and Raymond MUST MUST improve tons in order for this team to succeed. So far I am not convinced of anything... I already mentioned the Defense. There is not a 50-60 point man among them. Nor is their a real PP QB. Schneider? yeah he is okay, if he ever plays. But at 500 years old, not exactly the best option is he.

And once again, this may be the best Nucklehead team ever. But I still don't think in all real hockey terms that this is a team that will win the cup this year. Two years from now..maybe if they find the right d-men and 2nd liners. Demitra is a no go for me. He must be shoved out the door hard.

I think the Canucks are better then St. Louis, Flames and the Ducks. No where near Chicago, Detroit or San Jose on paper. I think the Shirokov will get a few games with the Sedins at the beginning of the year, if all works well then hes gonna stick there for a while. Anyone can look great with the Sedins, just look at Anson Carter!! Bernier, Wellwood and Raymond have worked harder than ever this offseason to get in better shape, mainly Wellwood and Bernier. Bernier lost a ton of weight and has reportedly built up amazing stamina and speed. That is what held him back last year. So, if Bernier is as fast/durable as hes made out, him with Raymond on the wings, and a potenitally great play making center in Wellwood, they will make up a great 3rd line if they all play to their full potential. Ehrhoff had 42 points last year and most of them were on the PP, I would consider him and Schenider PP QB's. At the other side of things on the PK, Bieksa and Mitchell are two solid defensive defenders that can kill penalties with the best of them. I hope im not sounds like a homer, because im really not. I'm more of a hockey fan then a Canuck fan but I do believe that if the team gest thier S word togethor, they can pull off a run.

WEST STANDINGS:

1. San Jose
2. Detroit
3. Vancouver
4. Chicago
5. Anaheim
6, Calgary
7. Los Angeles
8. Dallas

9 St. Louis
10 Columbus
11 Edmonton
12 Minnesota
13. Nashville
14. Phoenix
15 Colorado

I'm sorry but i can't agree with the fact that Vancouver is better than Calgary! With Luongo VCR got the best goalie of both team, but at the defence Calgary powned Vancouver completely. For the attack, i don't know....they both have great player but Calgary got a little advantage with Iggy, but i really like the Sedin's, it's always 160 pts per season guaranteed.

philou21 wrote:I'm sorry but i can't agree with the fact that Vancouver is better than Calgary! With Luongo VCR got the best goalie of both team, but at the defence Calgary powned Vancouver completely. For the attack, i don't know....they both have great player but Calgary got a little advantage with Iggy, but i really like the Sedin's, it's always 160 pts per season guaranteed.

I think that the Flames lack of offenseive talent and depth will be their downfall, I think their defense is par with Vancouvers but if the Flames get into injury trouble on defense they dont have a lot of NHL caliber d-men to fill those spots. But Calgary has one dominat line:

Bourque?-Jokinen-Iginla

Phaneuf-Boumeester

Kipper


Thats very imrpessive, but that line cant play 60 minutes every game of an 82 game season. They need depth.

think the Shirokov will get a few games with the Sedins at the beginning of the year, if all works well then hes gonna stick there for a while.

Only on pp. And only stays if produces immediately. Burrows will play with them at even. Already noted that Shiro is practicing with Kes and Samuelsson. So no what you say is not right.

And no not anyone looks great with the twins. Bernier did not, Wellwood has not, Carter had a good lucky season and was not that good or the Nucks would have resigned him.

The third line is an enigma...we are asking three guys to do better than they have ever done to make them a good line. Do you really think they ALL will? No chance. At best two take a leap and more likely one. THat one will be Raymond.

Erhoff--Is prone to turnover after turnover...rewatch that Oiler preseason game where he was absolutely horrid.

And if you are more of a hockey fan...start giving Ducks some credit.

Ryan-Getzlaff-Perry
Selanne-Koivu-Lupul
Christensen-Ebbett-Artyukin
Parros-Carter-Nokelainnen
Mike Brown

Niedermeyer-Whitney
Wisniewski-Boynton
Eminger-Sbisa
Mikkelson-Brookbank

Hiller
Gigure

That lineup is at least as good as Vancouver. calgary has 3 possible Olympians on defense and that is just for Canada. The Ducks have 2. The Canucks? Edler and Erhoff for a German team that any NHL dman could make. The Blues are a yong raucous up and coming team. If you have any hockey knowledge outside of your own team, you cannot say the Canucks are better than those teams with absolute certainty. You can't. They may be, but you cannot say they are for sure.

Do I thikn they are? Yes. But it is gonna be one hell of a battle with at the most 4 or 5 points separating them if all stay healthy. Which they won't. Noone will.

Robyn Regehr, Cory Sarich, Mark Giordano......i think if Phaneuf or Bouwmeester gets hurt, they got the depth to fill the hole for 2-3 weeks easily. Sarich begin to be old but he can still make a good job as a 3-4-5 D-man.

batdad wrote:

think the Shirokov will get a few games with the Sedins at the beginning of the year, if all works well then hes gonna stick there for a while.

Only on pp. And only stays if produces immediately. Burrows will play with them at even. Already noted that Shiro is practicing with Kes and Samuelsson. So no what you say is not right.

And no not anyone looks great with the twins. Bernier did not, Wellwood has not, Carter had a good lucky season and was not that good or the Nucks would have resigned him.

The third line is an enigma...we are asking three guys to do better than they have ever done to make them a good line. Do you really think they ALL will? No chance. At best two take a leap and more likely one. THat one will be Raymond.

Erhoff--Is prone to turnover after turnover...rewatch that Oiler preseason game where he was absolutely horrid.

And if you are more of a hockey fan...start giving Ducks some credit.

Ryan-Getzlaff-Perry
Selanne-Koivu-Lupul
Christensen-Ebbett-Artyukin
Parros-Carter-Nokelainnen
Mike Brown

Niedermeyer-Whitney
Wisniewski-Boynton
Eminger-Sbisa
Mikkelson-Brookbank

Hiller
Gigure

That lineup is at least as good as Vancouver. calgary has 3 possible Olympians on defense and that is just for Canada. The Ducks have 2. The Canucks? Edler and Erhoff for a German team that any NHL dman could make. The Blues are a yong raucous up and coming team. If you have any hockey knowledge outside of your own team, you cannot say the Canucks are better than those teams with absolute certainty. You can't. They may be, but you cannot say they are for sure.

Do I thikn they are? Yes. But it is gonna be one hell of a battle with at the most 4 or 5 points separating them if all stay healthy. Which they won't. Noone will.

Easy buddy I didnt say with absolute certainty so I dont know where you got that. Am I not allowed to think the Canucks will be better, I stated my opinion on why, you didnt realyl argue it you just stated your opinion back. Your olympian argument

Ducks: 7
Canucks: 8

I give the Ducks credit, they are a great team, but not as good as Chicago. You seem to know so much about the Canucks...aside from the fact that Alian Vigneault juggles his lines more than any other coach in the league. Shiro will play with the twins for an extended period of time, guaranteed...so will Burrows and maybe Bernier. I think in the end, Burrows will end up playing with the twins again since he did so well last year but Shiro will see some even stength time as well. Pyatt did well with Daniel and Henrik, Bernier's point totals went up while playing with the twins just not as much as Burrows, thats the only reason he went down a line. The "majority" of players play a lot better with the twins due to their vison and hockey sense.

philou21 wrote:Robyn Regehr, Cory Sarich, Mark Giordano......i think if Phaneuf or Bouwmeester gets hurt, they got the depth to fill the hole for 2-3 weeks easily. Sarich begin to be old but he can still make a good job as a 3-4-5 D-man.

Who from the minors do they have to call up to replace those guys covering for Dion or Jay?

A guy that take the 6 spot D-men for replacement didn't have to be a god, he just need to play on the 6 spot with no PK or PP, that's could make the job. I really don't know what the Flames got in the minors because i follow more the east than the west, but maybe you can name someone?

Flames have John Negrin, Matt Pelech (who almost made the team). Plus they also have Kronwall to fill holes if one of top 3 hurt. They still have 7 on their roster

Phaneuf-Bouwmeester
Regehr-Sarich
Pardy-Giordanno
Kronwall

With the quality number of minutes of the top 3...you will never see a pair without one of them on it on the ice. At least one.

Oh...and how can someone say the Canucks are better in terms of depth than someone else when they do not even know who is on the team they are comparing them to? Or who their depth players even are. Jeez.

Oh, and who do the Canucks have to cover for their best players when they go down? Schneider? Yeah he's done well. Grabner? Bolduc? Baumgartner?

Thanks for the answer Batdad. Never knew those guys before, i will check this....

batdad wrote:Flames have John Negrin, Matt Pelech (who almost made the team). Plus they also have Kronwall to fill holes if one of top 3 hurt. They still have 7 on their roster

Phaneuf-Bouwmeester
Regehr-Sarich
Pardy-Giordanno
Kronwall

With the quality number of minutes of the top 3...you will never see a pair without one of them on it on the ice. At least one.

Oh...and how can someone say the Canucks are better in terms of depth than someone else when they do not even know who is on the team they are comparing them to? Or who their depth players even are. Jeez.

Oh, and who do the Canucks have to cover for their best players when they go down? Schneider? Yeah he's done well. Grabner? Bolduc? Baumgartner?

Schenider was AHL goalie of the year, Grabner is hella fast only reason he didnt make the team is beacause they want him to have ice time in Manitoba as opposed to 4th line on nucks, Bolduc is garabage, Baumgartner is an NHL level d-man.

He was talking about Schneider the D-men.

philou21 wrote:He was talking about Schneider the D-men.

Thats even dumber Schneider is 2nd line defenseman, so hes old...thats not an argument.

I think Batdad was thinking about what you said for Calgary.....If a guys get injured who would be enough great to replace the star injured player.....he and i name good player for the Flames, but for the Canucks, who they have to back-up when a star player is injured.....Schneider?......this is an argument, Calgary got more depth in D than Vancouver.

NO I was talking in the last sentence about guys sent down to the farm as depth.

Cory Schneider has not by any means proven he can play in the NHL at an acceptable level. Matthieu Schneider of course has. But he is at best a 5-6 dman, who is capable of running a PP on occasion only. Health is going to be a major issue with him at his age.

Grabner got sent down not because the team wants him to play a ton, but because to put it plain and simple...he was HORRIBLE in camp and exhibition. Horrible. He may never wear a Canuck jersey in a regular season game.

And Philou--you are right....I was talking about who is gonna replace the team's top players as that is the definition of depth strength:

Luongo if he gets hurt--who plays instead of him.
Sedins if they get hurt-who plays instead?

FLames--

If Phaneuf gets hurt Bouwmeester and Regehr play 10 minutes more per game each. And the call up d man plays 10 minutes.

God, do you not get it Hensel? Vancouver relies TOTALLY on Luongo and Daniel/Henrik. Without any of those 3 they are done for. calgary does not have to rely on their best players as much as Vancouver.

Now...again not to say Calgary is better than Vancouver...if each stays healthy it is one hell of a battle.

My problem Hensel...is you say Vancouver has more depth than Calgary up above...yet you had absolutely no freaking idea who the Flames have on their farm team as dmen. I am guessing that means you have no idea who they have anywhere else either. If you do not know the rosters of Calgary and Abbotsford....how can you say the Canucks have better depth than the Flames at anything. You don't even know who is there....Sheesh.

You say you are a hockey fan...but all you know are the Canucks and Moose. You don't know the biggest rival of the Canucks even...so you are just a Canucks fan. End of story.

Michael Grabner is fast--yes. Take up speed skating cause you can't make the NHL..he is chicken and scared
Baumgartner? NHL Dman? HAHAHAHAHA. Then why in 10 years has he never secured a consistent NHL job? Come on give me a break. And just more proof you have no clue what you are talking about.

batdad wrote:NO I was talking in the last sentence about guys sent down to the farm as depth.

Cory Schneider has not by any means proven he can play in the NHL at an acceptable level. Matthieu Schneider of course has. But he is at best a 5-6 dman, who is capable of running a PP on occasion only. Health is going to be a major issue with him at his age.

Grabner got sent down not because the team wants him to play a ton, but because to put it plain and simple...he was HORRIBLE in camp and exhibition. Horrible. He may never wear a Canuck jersey in a regular season game.

And Philou--you are right....I was talking about who is gonna replace the team's top players as that is the definition of depth strength:

Luongo if he gets hurt--who plays instead of him.
Sedins if they get hurt-who plays instead?

FLames--

If Phaneuf gets hurt Bouwmeester and Regehr play 10 minutes more per game each. And the call up d man plays 10 minutes.

God, do you not get it Hensel? Vancouver relies TOTALLY on Luongo and Daniel/Henrik. Without any of those 3 they are done for. calgary does not have to rely on their best players as much as Vancouver.

Now...again not to say Calgary is better than Vancouver...if each stays healthy it is one hell of a battle.

My problem Hensel...is you say Vancouver has more depth than Calgary up above...yet you had absolutely no freaking idea who the Flames have on their farm team as dmen. I am guessing that means you have no idea who they have anywhere else either. If you do not know the rosters of Calgary and Abbotsford....how can you say the Canucks have better depth than the Flames at anything. You don't even know who is there....Sheesh.

You say you are a hockey fan...but all you know are the Canucks and Moose. You don't know the biggest rival of the Canucks even...so you are just a Canucks fan. End of story.

Michael Grabner is fast--yes. Take up speed skating cause you can't make the NHL..he is chicken and scared
Baumgartner? NHL Dman? HAHAHAHAHA. Then why in 10 years has he never secured a consistent NHL job? Come on give me a break. And just more proof you have no clue what you are talking about.

The majority of your arguments have been pure speculation,opinion and putting words in my mouth. I do know the Abbotsford Flames roster, I dont know where you got that from. Grabner was not horrbile in camp, did you see him play? Or are you again shocking the world by "assuming" he was terrible. I saw him play at UBC. I agree, he was sub par during exhibtion, its the kids 2nd time around, cut him some slack. He didnt make the team beacause the canucsk didnt want him to rot on the fourth line and thats a fact, read through the Canucks updates. Calgary relies on Iginla for goals, Kipper to stop pucks and Dion to be solid. When Kipper was inconsistant, Iggy wasnt putting up the goals they wanted and Dion was downright disapointing, the flames went down hill and ended up blowing a huge point lead over the Canucks and finishing 5th. The Canucks, when Luongo went down sufferd as well, but when Luongo was out there win to loss ratio was over .500 and they finished 3rd in the west. Pure stats to back up your fictional argument. And dont even try to tell me that Pelech, Kronwall and the other no name Abbotsford D-man you named are as good as Baumgartner. Oh, and to prove you wrong again, Baumgartner played the majority of the year in the NHL when he was with Philidalpheia and wasnt a liability on defense. Grabner...chicken and scared? No, he knows his role. Hes not a 6'4 200 pound power forward, hes a speedy sniper. I admit he does not grind in the corners, thats not his job though. His job is to get open and put the puck in the net which he did not do as well as many hoped but like I said hes a young guy playing at an extremely high level. At 21 he dominated the AHL in scoring, I know its not the NHL but at that young of an age its impressive none the less. And your argument about me not being a hockey fan...get that right on out of here. We are arguing about the Canucks...do you want me to toss out knowledge about the Oilers or the Coyotes?? I'll take that as a compliment saying I only know about the Canucks given the fact that all we have discussed are the Canucks. If you want to start a debate about another team, be my guest. I look forward to making you look like a fool there as well

I'm surprised about many guys here predicting a good season for Calgary. They definitely got the toughness that the Ducks had winning the Cup a few years ago, but they simply lack the skill up in front.

I don't see the teams with key signings (Philly, Calgary, San Jose) making it to the finals either. Those teams act a bit too analytical with their free agent signings to me. Filling a key hole and then it's done.. but Hockey is not that easy.

I hope for some great final matchups, no matter which teams will make it. Detroit got the best team, but they will have to compete with the Ducks in the West . Sadly, the canadian teams look very weak (again). Wings-Pens in the finals again.

If its wings pens again that means that the NHL 11 demo will be the same for the 3rd year in a row...shoot me now

Hensel wrote:If its wings pens again that means that the NHL 11 demo will be the same for the 3rd year in a row...shoot me now

No problem!

I understand that Canadians love their teams and they always talk passionatly about their players and i would also like to see a canadian team somewhen in the finals. But when lack of skill meets high expectations.. that's going nowhere.