The Hockey News: Sens to miss playoffs

I think A-train would have taken a 4 X 6, so it would have been a negligible difference. Interesting point on Phillips though, he's way more important - not that I'm putting down A-Train, he's awesome and everyone knows it - but Phillips is 'the guy' on our backend and I'd like to re-sign him for less than he's making now.

Big Ev wrote:LMAO Clouston will go down as the greatest coach in history? Where did that come from!?!?!

I don't feel like quoting but I'll address some of Kovalfie and a few other people's points:

-Pittsburgh has found their prime winger and it's Malkin who will play wing on a line with Staal.

-Buffalo is not amazing but in no way are they going to be a bottom-feeder. There team is still ok, even with the losses on defence. Especially with Tyler Ennis coming in, a player who can seriously challenge for the Calder.

-A healthy Michalek would NOT have shut down Crosby. That's nothing against Michalek, it's just that Crosby's offence would have been too much for him to handle.

-Atlanta won't make the playoffs. They shouldn't even be trying.

-Right now, on paper, there is no way you can say the Sens are a better team than the Bruins. All we have to look at are the teams on paper, and yes we could be better than them once the season gets going, but IMO on paper we are second in the division.

- If that's the case with Pitts 2nd line tandem, they're not as strong a 'team'. Playing 2nd line minutes, powerplay, and penalty kill won't be easy for Staal who will now be expected to put up serious points. Pitts should have went after Kariya and Selanne IMO.
- Buffalo definitely won't be a bottom feeder but they play Ottawa, Boston, and Toronto 8 times a year each, and all three teams' offensive outputs should increase significantly this year. The Northeast should be a lot more competitive now, and they're going to have to rely on Miller that much more. He's a great goalie but he can't be expected to win games by himself every single night.
- Atlanta made a really strong push near the end of the year and that was without Kovalchuk. Add a full season of Bergfors who is a very underrated talent, Byfuglien who will be a huge body in front of opposing nets (see Washington, Tampa, and Carolina's weak defences), Ladd who could have been a 2nd line player on most teams in the NHL last year, and another year's experience for Kane, Peverley, and Little and Atlanta has a very young, underrated team. That's not including Esposito, Cormier and Aliu who could push for spots (I think Aliu can anyway), and a motivated Mason. I think Atlanta will be a surprise team
- You might be right about Boston being the better team. My opinion is obviously swayed by being a Sens fan, but we finished ahead of them last year having a sub-par powerplay, and a weaker backend presence. I know Gonchar is old but he and Karlsson are going to make our powerplay so much better. Spezza and Kovalev all struggled last year and both will come out flying this year. Regin has showed he can be a top-six guy, and if our role players put up decent numbers like they did last season I think the Sens will be the better team. It really hinges on Leclaire having a bounce back year and our defence adjusting to a new style. We will be an attacking team next year and hopefully our goals for makes up for our transitioning defence. Wick/Butler could also be wildcards in defining the success of this team.

Great points Kovalfie. I think the Northeast is really up in the air. Even a team like Montreal who looks decent on paper could surprise and be more than decent (I think Price will do well without the stiff competition that hef aced with Halak last year). It's tough to predict this division.

Staal is more than a third line player so I think he can handle the minutes. He played more than 20 on most nights anyway so I don't think it will affect him too much. Also don't think he gets a ton of PP time since he will be on the second unit. Pittsburgh also has some wild cards in rookie wingers Dustin Jeffrey and Eric Tangradi who can really surprise if they get put in the right situation.

Can tomorrow be October? I wan't the season to start!

Speaking of Boston, SensChirp posted a rumor he'd heard that a deal had been in place to bring Savard here, but he failed the physical. The shine has worn off Lucic -- he may be big and tough, but his skating is hardly up to NHL calibre for a top-six forward. Is Rask up to the task and, if not, can Thomas regain his previous level?

Every team has question marks.

wprager wrote:Speaking of Boston, SensChirp posted a rumor he'd heard that a deal had been in place to bring Savard here, but he failed the physical. The shine has worn off Lucic -- he may be big and tough, but his skating is hardly up to NHL calibre for a top-six forward. Is Rask up to the task and, if not, can Thomas regain his previous level?

Every team has question marks.

i guess that's why it's so hard to make accurate predictions.

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Speaking of Boston, SensChirp posted a rumor he'd heard that a deal had been in place to bring Savard here, but he failed the physical. The shine has worn off Lucic -- he may be big and tough, but his skating is hardly up to NHL calibre for a top-six forward. Is Rask up to the task and, if not, can Thomas regain his previous level?

Every team has question marks.

i guess that's why it's so hard to make accurate predictions.

I can't think of a single team without questions marks. Maybe Vancouver?

Kovalfie wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Speaking of Boston, SensChirp posted a rumor he'd heard that a deal had been in place to bring Savard here, but he failed the physical. The shine has worn off Lucic -- he may be big and tough, but his skating is hardly up to NHL calibre for a top-six forward. Is Rask up to the task and, if not, can Thomas regain his previous level?

Every team has question marks.

i guess that's why it's so hard to make accurate predictions.

I can't think of a single team without questions marks. Maybe Vancouver?

their biggest question mark is for the 2nd round of the playoffs....if Luongo can finally get past it or if they can finally beat the hawks...

matter of fact, I can think we can chalk goaltending up as a question mark for, I don't know, all teams??? I mean which team can really not worry about goaltending?

Michallica wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Speaking of Boston, SensChirp posted a rumor he'd heard that a deal had been in place to bring Savard here, but he failed the physical. The shine has worn off Lucic -- he may be big and tough, but his skating is hardly up to NHL calibre for a top-six forward. Is Rask up to the task and, if not, can Thomas regain his previous level?

Every team has question marks.

i guess that's why it's so hard to make accurate predictions.

I can't think of a single team without questions marks. Maybe Vancouver?

their biggest question mark is for the 2nd round of the playoffs....if Luongo can finally get past it or if they can finally beat the hawks...

matter of fact, I can think we can chalk goaltending up as a question mark for, I don't know, all teams??? I mean which team can really not worry about goaltending?

Buffalo

Kovalfie wrote:

Michallica wrote:

Kovalfie wrote:

Flo The Action wrote:

wprager wrote:Speaking of Boston, SensChirp posted a rumor he'd heard that a deal had been in place to bring Savard here, but he failed the physical. The shine has worn off Lucic -- he may be big and tough, but his skating is hardly up to NHL calibre for a top-six forward. Is Rask up to the task and, if not, can Thomas regain his previous level?

Every team has question marks.

i guess that's why it's so hard to make accurate predictions.

I can't think of a single team without questions marks. Maybe Vancouver?

their biggest question mark is for the 2nd round of the playoffs....if Luongo can finally get past it or if they can finally beat the hawks...

matter of fact, I can think we can chalk goaltending up as a question mark for, I don't know, all teams??? I mean which team can really not worry about goaltending?

Buffalo

and SKA St. Petersburg

Jersey? Bingo?

I'd add Calgary and the Rangers to that list as well.

Personally I'm not too worried about the Sens, odds are one of Leclaire/Elliott will bring it this year (and we have a real goalie coach now to boot).

wprager wrote:Jersey? Bingo?

Jersey I'd worry. But the rest I'd agree....I guess Buffalo and NYR don't really have goaltending issues. Key is that they shouldn't be issues in the playoffs either. Neither of those two have ever been.....I'd agree with Kipper too. Luongo and Brodeur though have had their share of forgettable performances

EDIT: I also wholeheartedly agree about Bingo

What about Hiller in Anaheim and Ward in Carolina? I'd even maybe argue Bryzgalov in Phoenix and Rinne in Nashville.

Big Ev wrote:Great points Kovalfie. I think the Northeast is really up in the air. Even a team like Montreal who looks decent on paper could surprise and be more than decent (I think Price will do well without the stiff competition that hef aced with Halak last year). It's tough to predict this division.

Staal is more than a third line player so I think he can handle the minutes. He played more than 20 on most nights anyway so I don't think it will affect him too much. Also don't think he gets a ton of PP time since he will be on the second unit. Pittsburgh also has some wild cards in rookie wingers Dustin Jeffrey and Eric Tangradi who can really surprise if they get put in the right situation.

Can tomorrow be October? I wan't the season to start!

Price isn't going to do well in Montreal. It's evident he doesn't want to be there, and the team is trying to sign him at a term and price he doesn't want. Halak was Montreal's saving grace last year. I still can't believe they chose Price over Halak. I realize you trade an RFA goalie while he's on a high but I think they should have traded Price for while his stock was still high. Halak wanted to be in Montreal and proved he can play in the playoffs and handle the pressure.

Kovalfie wrote:What about Hiller in Anaheim and Ward in Carolina? I'd even maybe argue Bryzgalov in Phoenix and Rinne in Nashville.

I meant more playoff goalies, but Rinne and Bryz are good examples too. Seems like the main teams mentioned with goaltending don't have a whole lot of other intangibles going for them. Carolina, Anaheim, and NYR are all bubble teams, and Nashville never advances past first round...

looking specifically at playoff teams from last year...

Boston, Buffalo, Nashville, Detroit, and Phoenix don't have '??' for goaltending. A case can be made for Pitts and MAF, but he imploded badly in game 7 against the habs, and was decent against the sens. Washington, Ottawa, Chicago, San Jose, and Philadelphia are all big '?' for who the number one goaltender is, and if they're good enough...Vancouver and New Jersey have clear cut number ones that just can't cut it for some reason in the playoffs

i think the duo of rask/thomas is a pretty strong one. one of them can stand-up if the other falls.

One of the Hockey News reasons for us missing the playoffs was our goaltending - which is fair, but I HIGHLY doubt Leclaire has a worse season than last year, I think it's uphill, certainly not downhill on a sub .900 season.

Then they wonder who in the top six is going to score goals - can Butler or Wick do it?

What? 1.Alfie 2.Spezza 3.Kovalev 4.Fisher 5.Michalek 6.Regin 7.Foligo

I count 7 before we even get to Butler or Wick. 5 of the 7 are 20+ goal guys, Regin and Foligno (18) are higher on the depth charts than Butler and Wick - which THN should probably know.

So I'm reading the new Hockey News and I get to the page where they list the teams depth and players. I look over Ottawa's and I see the defence like this:

1.Chris Phillips 2.Chris Campoli
3.Sergei Gonchar 4.Matt Carkner
5.Erik Karlsson 6.Brian Lee

Now, besides the way the D is set up there, does anyone else see the somewhat glaring issue there?