10th???

They also have Tavares ahead of Filitov for top rookie

CCgotITcovered wrote:gtfo of here TSN.

10th???

good call, "experts".

CC, please provide a link or a hint, next time. I go to TSN.c/nhl, first thing I see is a list of the top-10 impact rookies. I was about to correct you saying that, no-no, they picked Karlsson 9th, and it was The Monster in 10th. Then I read some comments and realized you were talking about something else.

So here's *my* link:

CCgotITcovered wrote:They also have Tavares ahead of Filitov for top rookie

Tavares will probably have more ice time.

wprager wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:gtfo of here TSN.

10th???

good call, "experts".

CC, please provide a link or a hint, next time. I go to TSN.c/nhl, first thing I see is a list of the top-10 impact rookies. I was about to correct you saying that, no-no, they picked Karlsson 9th, and it was The Monster in 10th. Then I read some comments and realized you were talking about something else.

So here's *my* link:

It was on their season preview on TV. Kind of hard to link, at the time

Can anyone explain to me what the *&%& Pierre said in that video? I'll paraphrase:

What do they need?

Scoring from the wings. Because of the loss of Dany Heatley and moving Fisher to the wing ...

I just stopped listening there. Heatley (39 goals) is replaced in the lineup with 2 wingers who will flirt with 30 each, and at least one of them will likely surpass that total (Kovalev and Michalek). So the loss of Heatley is covered.

So does this mean that moving Fisher to wing *reduces* our scoring from the wings? Is he that certain that Fisher will score even less than, let's say, Vermette (who was one of our 2nd line wingers last season)?

marakh wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:They also have Tavares ahead of Filitov for top rookie

Tavares will probably have more ice time.

Possibly, but look at the steep learning curve Stamkos (way more talented than Tavares Imo) went through last year...

Also, Filatov might end up on a line with Nash by mid-season...Regardless, it'll be pretty hard to keep that kid from putting up 60.

wprager wrote:Can anyone explain to me what the *&%& Pierre said in that video? I'll paraphrase:

What do they need?

Scoring from the wings. Because of the loss of Dany Heatley and moving Fisher to the wing ...

I just stopped listening there. Heatley (39 goals) is replaced in the lineup with 2 wingers who will flirt with 30 each, and at least one of them will likely surpass that total (Kovalev and Michalek). So the loss of Heatley is covered.

So does this mean that moving Fisher to wing *reduces* our scoring from the wings? Is he that certain that Fisher will score even less than, let's say, Vermette (who was one of our 2nd line wingers last season)?

Ray Ferraro made even less sense saying we may have to put Fisher back at centre if we can't get enough scoring down the middle

what??

They were just manufacturing doubts to justify their ranking. Bottom line: Ottawa has too many question marks to accurately predict a ranking, but having them trailing TML and MTL is asinine.

I could see us behind MTL, but not TML.



I just realized TML and MTL use the same letters

Daniel Alfredsson's gotta keep moving his feet.

No experts have been kind to Ottawa this off-season, so we shouldn't be surprised. There are a lot of question marks:
-still an inexperienced coach
-downward trend in the standings
-goalie coming off a long injury
-rookies on the blue-line, and the blue-line coming off a bad year
-highest scoring forward in the franchise leaving
-rookie second line centreman
-Kovalev, Michalek, Cheechoo all have question marks around them
-37 year old captain

Experts seem to be assuming the worst out of each scenario, but let's not pretend Ottawa's success is a given.

I think it's good to fly under the radar a bit and hopefully they'll make all these experts eat crow. But this isn't like putting Detroit at 10th place.

CCgotITcovered wrote:

marakh wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:They also have Tavares ahead of Filitov for top rookie

Tavares will probably have more ice time.

Possibly, but look at the steep learning curve Stamkos (way more talented than Tavares Imo) went through last year...

Also, Filatov might end up on a line with Nash by mid-season...Regardless, it'll be pretty hard to keep that kid from putting up 60.

That division is the best in the league and I think Chicago, Nashville and Detroit's defense is gonna be hard for FIlatov to put up those points IMO.
I wouldn't also compare Tavares to Stamkos as for rookie seasons, I think Tavares can rack up more points because he doesn't need to keep the puck all the time. Just take open shots and score the goals.

But whatever, we all know Karlsson is gonna win the Calder

CCgotITcovered wrote:

marakh wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:They also have Tavares ahead of Filitov for top rookie

Tavares will probably have more ice time.

Possibly, but look at the steep learning curve Stamkos (way more talented than Tavares Imo) went through last year...

Also, Filatov might end up on a line with Nash by mid-season...Regardless, it'll be pretty hard to keep that kid from putting up 60.

I wouldn't say Stamkos is more talented than Tavares. He's much faster, and he's better defensively and intangibles-wise, but Tavares is a step ahead offensively IMO.

Tavares also is physically much stronger than Stamkos was coming into the league, which is where Steve ran into some problems. JT's done some pretty rigourous off-season training which has really put him in NHL shape.

Tavares will be their go-to guy in all offensive situations. Stamkos had more talent around him, but he wasn't the #1 guy for them. Filatov won't be either, and I'll be surprised to see him on a line with Nash. Also, the Jackets play a pretty tight defensive system.

Anyway, I think they were right to put Hedman #1. Hopefully Karlsson impresses enough to make the all-rookie team, though.

asq2 wrote:Daniel Alfredsson's gotta keep moving his feet.

No experts have been kind to Ottawa this off-season, so we shouldn't be surprised. There are a lot of question marks:
-still an inexperienced coach
-downward trend in the standings
-goalie coming off a long injury
-rookies on the blue-line, and the blue-line coming off a bad year
-highest scoring forward in the franchise leaving
-rookie second line centreman
-Kovalev, Michalek, Cheechoo all have question marks around them
-37 year old captain

Experts seem to be assuming the worst out of each scenario, but let's not pretend Ottawa's success is a given.

I think it's good to fly under the radar a bit and hopefully they'll make all these experts eat crow. But this isn't like putting Detroit at 10th place.

Thats all true. I'm sure there's a middle ground between their expectations and the expectations of the season ticket holders in Ottawa thinking we'll win the Cup. That middle ground seems to be about 5-6, right where pretty much everyone on this site has them ranked (I've got them 5th in points in the East, but 3rd in standings).

Regardless, I took more exception to the fact that they had us behind two teams like MTL and TML---both with as many question marks as us and weaker on-paper teams. In the cap world, its possible for any team to surprise (for better or worse) but the lack of creativity in their rankings is a little embarassing. Pretty much every team in the East was right where they were last year. No new teams made the playoffs. Tampa was still at the bottom of the league, but Toronto miraculously jumped 3 spots ...the Diddle?

I absolutely love the fact that the LEafs are projected to be better than us. Keep the expectations low.

marakh wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:

marakh wrote:

CCgotITcovered wrote:They also have Tavares ahead of Filitov for top rookie

Tavares will probably have more ice time.

Possibly, but look at the steep learning curve Stamkos (way more talented than Tavares Imo) went through last year...

Also, Filatov might end up on a line with Nash by mid-season...Regardless, it'll be pretty hard to keep that kid from putting up 60.

That division is the best in the league and I think Chicago, Nashville and Detroit's defense is gonna be hard for FIlatov to put up those points IMO.
I wouldn't also compare Tavares to Stamkos as for rookie seasons, I think Tavares can rack up more points because he doesn't need to keep the puck all the time. Just take open shots and score the goals.

But whatever, we all know Karlsson is gonna win the Calder

Fair enough. asq's point about size upon entering the league is something I have considered, but possibly not given enough credence to. Either way, I guess having Tavares at 2 and Filatov at 3 isn't much of a difference at all. Big deal, right? I was just still pissed abotu the 10th thing

marakh wrote:I absolutely love the fact that the LEafs are projected to be better than us. Keep the expectations low.

I guess so...

...still asinine.

I just hope they play In your face hockey all the way. I hate the fact that Winchester is out at the opening night. We need to show from the opening face off that we won't be pushed around. Foligno, FIsher, NEil, Cheechoo, Ruutu... Check, check and re-check. No reason at all not to kill all those Rangers PMD's like there's no tomorrow. We can't let those 2 Rookie defensemen (Gilroy and DEl Zotto) walk around.

marakh wrote:I just hope they play In your face hockey all the way. I hate the fact that Winchester is out at the opening night. We need to show from the opening face off that we won't be pushed around. Foligno, FIsher, NEil, Cheechoo, Ruutu... Check, check and re-check. No reason at all not to kill all those Rangers PMD's like there's no tomorrow. We can't let those 2 Rookie defensemen (Gilroy and DEl Zotto) walk around.

True but Kelly is no slouch either. Neither is Alfredsson. And Spezza has played a little more hard-nosed in the pre-season. Michalek is a big body...does he hit? barely seen anything from him.

Carkner, Karlsson, Phillips, and Volchenkov like to play a physical game too.

coupled with CC's system, I'm sure we'll be fine in the toughness department.