yave1964 Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Day before the opener, here are some predictions for this season. Feel free to jump in with your own PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE WEST Blues, Blackhawks, Avalanche, Knights, Sharks, Flames. Two wild cards will be the Stars and Oilers. I have the Jets and Predators slipping out of the playoffs this year. Jets lost too much talent, Rinne gets old for the Preds. PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE EAST Capitals, Flyers, Penguins, Lightning, Leafs and Panthers. Bruins and Hurricanes as the wildcards. I have the Jackets and Islanders falling out this year. Canadiens miss playoffs by a point on last day of the season. STANLEY CUP FINALS Lightning over the Avalanche in six tough fought games. Last year I took the Leafs over the Blues, way off the mark on Toronto and to be fair, I jumped off the Blues bandwagon early. HART TROPHY AS LEAGUE MVP Nathan MacKinnon the least recognized superstar in the game today gets his due. VEZINA TROPHY Andrei Vasilevskiy seems to always be in the conversation, he wins in a landslide this year. CALDER TROPHY Top rookie honors go to Cale Makar edges out Hughes. Makar forced long time 'Lanche stalwart Barrie out of town. ADAMS TROPHY Jeremy Colliton did a great job with the Hawks filling Quenneville's huge shoes. This year he gets them back in the playoffs. FIRST COACH FIRED Bruce Boudreau. It wont help. TIMES THE LEAFS ARE LINKED TO ALEX PIETRANGELO ON THN: at least 100. Per week. BIGGEST NAME TRADED AT THE DEADLINE: If he isn't resigned by then it will be Taylor Hall. If he is, it will be Ristolainen. BIGGEST BUST OF THE YEAR Full Kessel will find getting dished by Stepan and company not the same as playing on a line with Malkin. That is mine, feel free to jump in with yours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 @yave1964 "2019-20 predictions almost certain to be wrong" and " PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE WEST Blues, Blackhawks, Avalanche, Knights, Sharks, Flames. Two wild cards will be the Stars and Oilers " Yup. Topic title checks out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 1 minute ago, JR Ewing said: @yave1964 "2019-20 predictions almost certain to be wrong" and " PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE WEST Blues, Blackhawks, Avalanche, Knights, Sharks, Flames. Two wild cards will be the Stars and Oilers " Yup. Topic title checks out. lol. No, seriously, I like the Oilers for this year, Tippett gets the most out of his players, sets roles for them and demands they play his style. Really, last year, they were bad then good then bad again, I think they will be more consistent, Nurse is turning into a legit top pairing guy, Bear looks fantastic and they plan on running three lines. I truly like Koskinen and think the division is down a bit this year and they surprise some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 35 minutes ago, yave1964 said: lol. No, seriously, I like the Oilers for this year, Tippett gets the most out of his players, sets roles for them and demands they play his style. Really, last year, they were bad then good then bad again, I think they will be more consistent, Nurse is turning into a legit top pairing guy, Bear looks fantastic and they plan on running three lines. I truly like Koskinen and think the division is down a bit this year and they surprise some people. We agree on some things and disagree on some others. I was happy with the Tippett hire, because he has a solid history of making chicken salad out of chicken sh|t. Nurse has developed nicely, and Bear has been good so far. I'm not very confident in Mikko Koskinen, but would love to be wrong, and their depth on the wings is so bad that after 97, 29 and 93 have put up their points, the offense will be colder than a banker's heart. NOW... Now what might be helpful... Despite my lack of confidence in Koskinen, there were literally 12 games lost when Cam Talbot allowed a goal on the first shot. A dozen games. One shot, and bam, you're already losing. The Oilers finished 5 wins and OT loss out of the playoffs. Maybe the deletion of those sorts of losses helps them out. Maybe. I'm just scared by the complete lack of scoring outside of their three centres, and I don't feel good about the ability to get around that. Perhaps being an Oilers fan has conditioned me to look at the negatives too harshly, but I would love to be wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 1 hour ago, yave1964 said: No, seriously, I like the Oilers REPORTED? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 2 hours ago, JR Ewing said: their depth on the wings is so bad that after 97, 29 and 93 have put up their points, the offense will be colder than a banker's heart. If only the Oilers had like a recent Hart Trophy winner to play the wing. I mean, I know that sounds crazy, but I feel like maybe it could have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyer4ever Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Predictions certainly to be wrong: the officiating will be better and Bettman will retire, enabling the game to move forward on the ice. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 48 minutes ago, ruxpin said: If only the Oilers had like a recent Hart Trophy winner to play the wing. I mean, I know that sounds crazy, but I feel like maybe it could have happened. If you ever want to know how I feel about all of this, just refer to your own signature quote. Literally every trade that Chia Pete made hollowed out the team. Every time, he was taken to the wood shed by the GM on the other end of the phone. I don't know how that's possible. That guy couldn't sell hookers to a train full of troops. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Hmm....predictions that can go wrong, eh? Ok...I'll take a stab.... I'll just pick a few choice crystal ball visions by divisions (visions by divisions....see what I did there? Nevermind….) Atlantic ---Tampa Bay Lightning will NOT have a historic season, having learned their lesson that regular season record setting means squat in the post season. They will focus more on getting their all around games right and may lose more games in the process...but should pay off better in the playoffs. ---The Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres are going to be sniffing around the playoff picture....one will squeeze in...the other will barely miss...which is which? Ahhhhh…..we will just wait n see! ---The Detroit Red Wings may not be as terrible as some people think. They may even have a hot streak or two. Still will miss the playoffs, but won't finish anywhere near last...much to the chagrin of the tank mongers...... Metro ---This just in: The Caps and Pens are NOT washed up yet....repeat...are NOT washed up! They should battle for the top spot in a division where many teams are still either rebuilding or trying to find their contender footing. --The Carolina Hurricanes will regress. Yes, they have some nice players up front and their defense ain't too shabby, but their depth will be severely tested as will their goaltending (Mrazek and Reimer? Seriously??). Beyond their top line, the team looks kinda average (though by no means horrible)….but several players (including the netminders) played over their heads last season, and that will be hard to replicate...(Reimer? THAT Reimer????) Central Division ---The Wild will NOT be as terrible as many pundits believe. Sure, they aren't going to win the division, but I think if they stay healthy, they have a legit shot at making the post season once more after missing last year. Scoring will be a problem if their top players don't perform however, and Dubnyk CANNOT let in one softie a game.... But a full season of Matt Dumba, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin together says they should be solid at the back end, and some of their forwards had down years last time out.....looking for a rebound. ---The Winnipeg Jets may suffer...a lot. Depleted defense, LOTS of pressure on Hellebuyck to show he really wasn't that guy that looked below average on many occasions last year, a possible malcontent in the ranks (Laine), a mystery man on the blue line....errrr, or NOT on the blue line (Byfuglien), no Trouba, no Myers.... Bryan Little may have recurring concussion syndrome issues testing their depth down the middle.....but never fear...Neal Pionk is here! Yea...exactly. As long as the Jets are near the cellar, maybe they should just have some wine..... Pacific Division ---The return of the Vegas Golden Knights! The NY Yankees of hockey! The Jordan Chicago Bulls of the NHL! The New England Patriots of the ice!! Ok, ok...over the top? Blame that one poster who was on here going on and on about the Knights winning it all in their first season....stuck in my head...damn him! Anyways, Knights should be good. May even win the division. MAF feels he has one more Cup left in him (hopefully he WEARS a cup...) ---The Vancouver Canucks...…………..will not be terrible. A fun, up n coming team lead by Petterson, Boeser, Horvat, Gaudette and a pissed off JT Miller up front..... Edler, Myers, Tanev, and Quinn anchoring the blue line.... And Jacob Markstrom, in a contract year, may play out of his mind so he can parlay that into a big, big contract....before he turns into regular, below average Markstrom after being paid.... These guys may sniff a bottom playoff spot....book it.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 (edited) I like Tampa Bay and Colorado to make it to the SCF, then Tampa Bay over Colorado in 7 for the Cup. That should be one hell of a highly skilled, up and down series. One of these years, I'll pick Tampa, and be right. Tampa has a team that sputtered at the wrong time, and seeks to prove they aren't too soft for the style of play that changes a bit when the playoffs arrive. Patrick Maroon was a nice pickup for them, adding grit and toughness to an already loaded team in terms of skill, and of course, Vasilevskiy. In the case of Colorado, good young team with a great first line and solid additions with Kadri and Donskoi. Makar really proved how skilled and good he is capable of being in the playoffs last season. PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE EAST Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh, NY Islanders, WC New Jersey and Philly PLAYOFF TEAMS IN THE WEST Colorado, Calgary, St. Louis, San Jose, Vegas, Dallas, WC Chicago and Nashville Edited October 3, 2019 by FD19372 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 @FD19372 Hell, I can get on board with your TB over Col in the Finals!! Only 82 games and possibly another 28 in the post season stand in the way is all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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