My favorites to win the East

[yave1964]

Not kidding. Keep in mind boys I picked the Hawks last year in the West and the year before the Kings in the West as well.

The Ottawa Senators are my pick to represent the Eastern conference for the Stanley Cup.

The team just lost its all time greatest player Daniel Alfredsson, a solid d-man in Sergei Gonchar, these two were the third and fourth leading scorers for a team that barely made the playoffs. Of course once in they destroyed the Canadiens before the Pens put the cheeky upstarts in their place and knocked them out in five easy games.

Here is why I believe the club will be going somewhere. Somewhere big.

Jason Spezza played five games last year this year he should be healthy.

Bobby Ryan came on board a couple of hours after Alfie left for Detroit. Huge trade off for the Sens.

Clarke Macarthur came over to add veteran skill to the top three lines.

Cory Conacher will be here the whole season.

Craig Anderson should be healthy. When healthy he is a top five goalie in the game.

Erik Karlsson will be healthy and reclaim his place as the best offensive d-man in the game.

Young defensemen Wiercioch, Eric Gryba and Cody Ceci are all talented both ends of the ice and play a nasty physical game as well.

Milan Michalek went from 35 goals to 4 and his knee is being rehabbed in Europe and he has hopes of being in game shape by the beginning of the season.

Young Forwards Kyle Turris, Mika Zibanajed, Colin Greening and Eric Condra have very nice upside as top nine forwards. Young studly Jean-Gabriel Pageau might not even be able to crack the roster.

This team is loaded, veterans like nasty Chris Neil and Zack Smith on the forward lines, big and bulky and smart d-men vets Chris Phillips and Marc Methot allow the kids to roam, this club is set for the next three or four seasons to roll over the competition. And Paul 'I am the Walrus' Maclean has established himself as a mover and shaker as a coach.

Lets take a team, my Red Wings as an example and use them as an example of what the Senators faced last year. If it had been the Wings, it would look line:

Kronwall missing most of the year. (Karlsson)

Franzen missing most of the season, scoring five goals. (Michalek)

Zetterberg missing all but five games. (Spezza)

Howard in and out with injuries. (Anderson)

The Wings would have been a lottery team. Most teams would. Instead they still made the playoffs and didn't embarrass themselves and are BETTER this year. Better by a lot.

This is the team to beat in the East. Bank it. Count on it.

[fishbulb]

Ah... you're talking playoffs. I thought you meant regular season. And if that was the case, I don't see any reason why Pitts won't be there on top.

[yave1964]

Ah... you're talking playoffs. I thought you meant regular season. And if that was the case, I don't see any reason why Pitts won't be there on top.

Nope I am talking regular season and post season. This is THE team for 2013-14.

[fishbulb]

You really think that Ottawa can outduel Pitts for the regular season trophy?... As a Canadian, I wouldn't mind seeing it, I just can't. They picked up an over-rated Bobby Ryan and lost their Rudder/Guide of the past 20 yrs.

I can see them kinda stumbling out of the gate as they acquire new leadership.

[yave1964]

@fishbulb@fishbulb

Yup. I truly with all my heart and banking every bit of knowledge of the game will post my reputation (For whatever it is worth lol) on putting all my chips on the Senators this year. Alfie is not done but he is deep in the back nine and yes I agree Ryan is overrated but he is an improvement at this point in their career. And the players coming back from injury, young players ready to step up, make this my odds on favorite. I watched 20 plus Senators games last year and saw a lot of growing pains but really believe they will take a huge step up this year.

[goalnut3133]

@yave1964 Just to put my 2-bits in, as I don't consider myself anywhere near your knowledge of the game, but I'm not so sure I can see this happening either with the Sens. I know in the past, the team relied heavily (overly so) on Alfie, which is no way to be a contender in this game, putting most of the load mainly on 1 person. It sounds like they've beefed up a lot now, but I think there will stil be growing pains, so to speak. Having star players or power players on a team may not necessarily result in a contender for the Cup, or even as a leader in their Division. There also needs to be chemistry & a "gelling" of sorts, everyone working 'together' as a well-oiled machine...not just 'individuals' that may put up good stats (I know it's a rough comparison, but see 'Blue Jays'...loads of quality,star players with great stats...no chemistry to produce a winning team). This all takes time, & Ottawa may or may not be able to work all the bugs out by the end of the season. May take 1-2 yrs more? Not sure.

And this is not even putting into the equation yet that teams as seasoned as Pittsburgh & your Wings will not let them get to the top so easily. However, I could be totally wrong....

[yave1964]

@goalnut3133

Hey quit with that whole 'not as smart' comment, lol. Seriously, smarter minds than mind post in here and even have taught me a thing or two.

As a Wing fan I always picked an Eastern conference team to follow as well, last year I more or less flipped a coin between the Leafs and the Sens as my 'to watch' team when the Wings weren't on and the Sens won. As it turns out I would have been fine either way.

The Senators were not a fluky New York Islanders or Toronto Maple leaf making the playoffs because of the fact that it was a strike shortened season club, the Sens grew as a club overcoming adversity at every turn, losing their leading blueliner, their goalie for half the season, their top center for all but five games and Michalek who had scored 35 goals the season before. The young players are tested by fire, the older players are retured and Bobby Ryan has been brought in (along with Clarke Macarthur) to add punch. This club is oung and cocky and confident and really, really good and will be there when the dust settles IMHO. I said the same thing last year about the Hawks when everyone was falling in love with the Blues and caught a bit of static over it, sure I see the case for the Bruins or Wings or Penguins but barring debilitating injury to Karlsson or Anderson this club is loaded and gelled and will roll over a lot of clubs before anyone even knows they are for real.

[goalnut3133]

@yave1964 Yah, you certainly do make some good points & to be honest, I didn't have a whole lot of interest watching the Sens last season (or much in general) for obvious reasons...not a top team, they're Eastern, & headaches with 1 flippy/floppy Canadian team is more than enough (grrr...haha!). But just to add another point for fun, I don't know the details of all the injuries for the Sens, but just to give an example, based on my (grr) Canucks: Kesler seemed to be at the top of his game with sky's the limit just before he had his 1 or 2 injuries that knocked him out flat for a considerable amount of time. Granted, he tried to return too early imo, & re-injured himself again. Last season when he came back, he just never seemed to be even half of the star he was, which was 1 of my biggest disappointments with the team. Imo, I believe that set the 'Nucks back big time, the triple threat of Kes & the Sedin twins was gone, & trying to plug in Burrows, Booth, etc. to fill in the gap just never worked as well or as consistently enough to make enough of a difference.

On the flip side, Lu had issues with a groin injury, which I honestly didn't think he could bounce back from, as effectively, not to mention is a devastating injury for a G...but to my surprise, he came back in full force & hasn't had much or any problems with that since.

So anyway, just some thoughts on the injury side of things....I do hope the Sens come back strong this season, we desperately need more representation for Canada by end of regular & most definitely in the playoff rounds....AT LEAST PAST THE 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS, (before we get el booto by the American East) !!! :blink: LOL

[jammer2]

@yave1964 I'm a big believer in the Sens also. The real key to last year was the supurb tending they got from Lehner and Bishop in the absence of Anderson, who IMHO is a top five goalie in this league presently. I love thier depth, the way they can roll 4 lines and not get hurt by any of them. The grinders on the Sens like Zack Smith, Colin Greening, Matt Kassian, Eric Condra, these guys don't get talked about enough. They are relentless, and very hard to outwork.

Another key for the Sens, is the ongoing development of Jared Cowan. This kid is gonna be a monster when he fills out and truly grasps the league. I love the addition of McCarther, think he's gonna bust some ass the 6 times a year they play Toronto? Worst case senario, cut a player who should have never been cut then see him sign with a direct divison rival....not good. Mika Zibanjblad will grow into a star, not next year, but we will get a peak why he was a top 10 draft choice. This Wiercioch kid has some offensive potential. Loved the way Pageau stepped in to the pressure paced playoffs and seemed like he belonged. The puck seems to follow this kid around, he's a projected grinder but I see loads of scoring power in him.

A full year of Cory Conacher will also help, he should fit into their top six fine. The other thing is Mark Stone, legit NHL shot, it will be hard to keep him off the opening day roster...

In short, a Real, Real dangerous team, with a world class goalie who play well when it matters most. They can only go up...

I thought Kyle Turris showed a lot of maturity being thrust into the #1 center positon. Having Spezza back will take a lot of heat off Kyle and he can get a bit of protection from the elite d-men and defensive forwards. He could have a significant break out year.