August Question #5: Highest scoring teams

Two highest scoring teams from the East and two highest scoring teams from the West.

Get it on!

I'll say:

East:
1.Washington
2.Philly (usurping Pittsburgh)

HM to Tampa Bay

West:
1.Chicago
2.San Jose

HM to about 8 other teams - which should make this interesting.

SpezDispenser wrote:Two highest scoring teams from the East and two highest scoring teams from the West.

Get it on!

I'll say:

East:
1.Washington
2.Philly (usurping Pittsburgh)

HM to Tampa Bay

West:
1.Chicago
2.San Jose

HM to about 8 other teams - which should make this interesting.

those are pretty safe picks.

i'd take the same but i think L.A. might squeeze in the west.

"Safe" picks yes, but hard to argue against.

With WAS you got Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Green alone easily getting 130 goals combined (50, 30, 25, 25). Seems fairly reasonable.

SJ - Marleau, Heatley, Thornton, Pavelski, Setoguchi (rebound season) could potentially get on the safe side: 35, 35, 30, 30, 30 = 160

PHI - Richards (35), Carter (35), Zherdev (30), Hartnell (30), Briere (25), Giroux (20), JVR (20) = 195

Those numbers, again, seem fair.

I'm throwing my name into the Edmonton hat - I think Hall, Eberle, MPS and Omark could each put up 20 goals if they all make the team and are given a lot of time. That'd be 80 goals, and Penner and Hemsky could contribute another 55-60. And if Gagner and Cogliano add another 40, that would give them... 180 as a high.

Dash wrote:"Safe" picks yes, but hard to argue against.

With WAS you got Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Green alone easily getting 130 goals combined (50, 30, 25, 25). Seems fairly reasonable.

SJ - Marleau, Heatley, Thornton, Pavelski, Setoguchi (rebound season) could potentially get on the safe side: 35, 35, 30, 30, 30 = 160

PHI - Richards (35), Carter (35), Zherdev (30), Hartnell (30), Briere (25), Giroux (20), JVR (20) = 195

Those numbers, again, seem fair.

I'm throwing my name into the Edmonton hat - I think Hall, Eberle, MPS and Omark could each put up 20 goals if they all make the team and are given a lot of time. That'd be 80 goals, and Penner and Hemsky could contribute another 55-60. And if Gagner and Cogliano add another 40, that would give them... 180 as a high.

wow, that's an unsafe pick if i ever seen one... but my hat tips to you sir.... bold move.

Flo The Action wrote:those are pretty safe picks.

i'd take the same but i think L.A. might squeeze in the west.

We can put a wildcard in there.

Who would the wildcard be...

I guess Tampa Bay from the East and LA from the West.

Dash wrote:"Safe" picks yes, but hard to argue against.

With WAS you got Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Green alone easily getting 130 goals combined (50, 30, 25, 25). Seems fairly reasonable.

Those numbers, again, seem fair.

I'm throwing my name into the Edmonton hat - I think Hall, Eberle, MPS and Omark could each put up 20 goals if they all make the team and are given a lot of time. That'd be 80 goals, and Penner and Hemsky could contribute another 55-60. And if Gagner and Cogliano add another 40, that would give them... 180 as a high.

Your Washington numbers seem almost too conservative, apart from Green. OV had 50 in 72 last season but had 56 and 65 prior to that. Semin had 40 in 73 and Backstrom had 33 last season.

As far as Edmonton....I dunno. Only Florida, Calgary and Boston had worse offences last season. I know they had injury issues last season and there will be a huge influx of talent, but I don't think it's going to vault them up that much. They'll have Ryan Whitney instead of Visnovksy, too. Last year only four rookies in total had 20 goals; I highly doubt four rookies on the same team could do that, especially if they're giving up the icetime necessary for a 25 goal-scorer, a 30 goal-scorer and two other 20-goal scorers. And 8 20+ goal-scorers on the same team? The Caps were the highest-scoring-team post-lock-out in a free-wheeling system in an easy division and conference and they only had 7.

Kudos on a gutsy guess, though.

Ya, I am really excited about the Oilers. I am not saying they are going to be a good team, I don't think they will make the post-season, but if they did, that would be more than anyone would have expected. They are definitely a rebuilding team, and should be a lot of fun to watch if you are a fan. Patience will be huge though, hopefully they are patient enough to support the team through the next 3 years or so. They could very well be the next Chicago-like team.

Look at this potential top 9 line-up:
Hall, Eberle, MPS, Omark, Penner, Hemsky, Gagner and Cogliano. That's a nice looking top 9. I don't know who else you throw in there, but that is a young, fast team.

I definitely was conservative on a lot of my guesses, especially Washington. 50 is a low-end for Ovechkin, he is "safe" to reach 50, but anything happens.

Philly and San Jose probably have the most guys capable of scoring ~30 each.

My other prediction would be that Chicago has a mighty fall from grace.

Agreed on the Oilers taking it slow and easy for the next 2-3 years, then becoming a powerful team (HATE Whitney though, hate).

Disagree on the Hawks. They still have Toews, Kane, Sharpie ( ), Hossa, Bolland, Keith, Seabrook, Campbell. That's still a fair amount of top end talent. Maybe a slight fall from grace to 4th or 5th in the Conference, but I still personally believe they'll score a truckload of goals.

i know you guys don't put much stock into what the hockey news says but they ranked oilers at in 15th place in the west for next season(and FLA in the east) i don't think they share the idea EDM might be one of the highest scoring teams...

Flo The Action wrote:i know you guys don't put much stock into what the hockey news says but they ranked oilers at in 15th place in the west for next season(and FLA in the east) i don't think they share the idea EDM might be one of the highest scoring teams...

They're predicting already? Why don't they wait until at least Sept. 1?

SpezDispenser wrote:Agreed on the Oilers taking it slow and easy for the next 2-3 years, then becoming a powerful team (HATE Whitney though, hate).

They're stacked on the wings for the future, and Gagner should become at least a good 2nd line centre. They've got good depth beyond the elite talents up front in guys like Pitlick, Lander, Marincin, Martindale, Hartikainen etc. Also decent depth on defence with Petry, Plante and Chorney coming up, and Smid and Whitney/Gilbert (both 27) on the roster.

IMO to become elite and a contender for the future they need a #1 C (unless Hall converts to C in the NHL, but I think he plays wing, or unless Gagner-Pitlick develops into a good enough 1-2), a #1 D, and a #1 G. 2011 does not look like a good draft so if the Oil want a strong chance of filling one of those holes, they'd better be pretty bad next year. I think they'll push for a playoff spot and finish around 11th, though.

I'm sure the Oiler's would love Couturier or Larsson should they be given the opportunity.

I think Anaheim could end up in the bottom 10, with Edmonton, Boston, Calgary joining them.

Very bold predictions, and I don't claim to be good at forecasting, but I might as well go big or keep quiet lol.

Dash wrote:I'm sure the Oiler's would love Couturier or Larsson should they be given the opportunity.

I think Anaheim could end up in the bottom 10, with Edmonton, Boston, Calgary joining them.

Very bold predictions, and I don't claim to be good at forecasting, but I might as well go big or keep quiet lol.

oh, i don't know about that.... the B's are probably making the playoffs.

As I said... BOLD!!!

I also want to say Chicago won't. I am taking gambles here... if they don't pan out, so be it, I have nothing to lose. No money or rep on the line.

So I will say... in my guesstimation, the following 10 teams will miss the 2010-2011 playoffs:

Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Carolina, Dallas, Edmonton, Florida, and New York Islanders

I'll say the Rangers in the East and the Coyotes in the West.