| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sensfan101 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 13:10:38
I know a lot can still happen before the season starts but what do you think the standings will be for the 2010 2011 season? |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 08/18/2010 : 12:06:26
Gents, I was not implying anything against anyone specifically. In another thread of the best young teams, STL was mentioned more than once as well.
And "At Best" means just that. At the absolute best they are a team that will push for a playoff spot. They will not hands down be there. If all the star align, they MIGHT be an 8th place team.
I would say they are a lot closer to a 12th place team as they were a 8th-9th place team in the past 2 seasons and have not gotten better. I don't believe that Halak is a big step up(or a step up at all) compared to Mason and they have not done anything to replace the 70+ points that Kariya and Tkachuk leave. Simply expecting the other players already there to pick that up is not going to happen. Their depth at defense is weak and outside of their top 4-5 forwards they are weak up front as well. Most importantly, they are team without veteran leadership. Brewer is the closest thing they have to leadership and he's carrying that weight alone this year.
With teams like Anaheim, Calgary, and even Minnesota (at least on paper) doing things to try to improve their respective squads, I don't see STL keeping pace.
Perhaps the man love comment could have been misconstrued as a negative which it was not intended. I am just not in love with this team as a group that can make any noise at all.
I see them closer to a lottery pick than a playoff spot personally, but I have been wrong a few times in my life. Not often, but sometimes.
I would say that few things from last years playoffs will change. Maybe Phoenix and Colorado depending on how their sophmore's perform. I see Anaheim returning to the playoffs leaving Calgary, Minnesota, Dallas, and ST Louis fighting over 1 playoff spot. I put St. Louis at eithr 3rd or 4th in that group.
Edmonton and CBJ will be the bottom two in the West, with Edmonton losing most games but being entertaining and tough and CBJ simply losing most games. |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 08/18/2010 : 09:19:24
yeah, Beans, I'm not sure what you're getting at either - in my rankings I have them sliding into 8th place in the conference, not winning the cup.
They have a good young forward core that is making strides, a decent young defense, and a promising-if-yet-unproven-over-a-full-year goalie. I do think last year was an off year for them - they did not strive to duplicate the previous year's performance last year - and they'll get better as the years go on.
But for next year - 8th place at best. |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 08/18/2010 : 08:42:28
Beans, now i'm the one who's confused? You say you had to check their roster to see where "all the man love" for the Blues was coming from? Well, first off, i wouldn't call it a ton of love predicting them to challenge for 8th and second, it really was only 2 guys, both Canuck fans to boot and one (me) was saying they'd "push for a playoff spot" meaning they'd be in the mix for the 7th or 8th spot but could still be 9th or worse. nuxfan said he thinks they will make the playoffs but certainly didn't imply that they were gonna be a force come that time! He even went as far as listing them as 8th, 9th or 10th.
You actually seem to agree with our opinions as you stated "They are a borderline playoff team ast best.....".
Anyway, you said you were confused about all the love they were recieving so i thought i'd just point out that there really wasn't a ton of it out there. |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 08/18/2010 : 07:32:16
Was it an off year??
I think not seeing how the year before when they finished in 6th place, they had just 1 more win and 2 more points.
That is what that team has. They are a borderline playoff team at best and they have not done near enough to improve on that.
I agree that many of those players had 'off years' but how often do all the players on the team have career years??? Rarely. St. Louis needs all of their players to have career years. I just don't see it happening.
Realistically, St. Louis, at best, is a border line, 1st round exiting team. Them and Nashville are very similar teams. Good all around, but not great at anything and simply not skilled enough to win in the playoffs. |
| nuxfan |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 22:42:53
Last year, STL finished 5 points out of a playoff spot in the west, 9th in the conference. That was despite a generally "off year" by the entire team:
- Boyes had his worst year as a professional, by far. He's usually good for 30g/70pt seasons, and is a solid scoring winger.
- Backes took a step backwards after his breakout year in 08/09
- Berglund also took a step backwards after a breakout 08/09
- McDonald played the entire season, but only managed as many points as he had the year previous, in half the games.
Perron had basically the same year as before. The only player that took a step forward was TJ Oshie IMO.
This is essentially the same team that lost to VAN in 09 playoffs - minus Kariya/Tkachuk, but plus a now-very-good TJ Oshie, Erik Johnson, and likely Pietrangelo making his pro debut this year. IMO they got an upgrade in goal with Halak (yes yes to be proven later this year), have a decent defense, and have a bunch of forwards that are one year removed from having pretty good years.
If you believe that last year was just an off year for a bunch of key players - which I do - then there is no reason to think that they could not be back in the playoffs next year in the west. I certainly don't think they'll be challenging for the cup, but they have a realistic chance at an 8th place finish in 2011
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| Guest4271 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 21:11:43
How can anyone put Montreal in the playoffs, they have NO goalie, Price wants too much money, and they traded their best goalie in the minors for a has been.............don't understand what is going on here, haven't even started on giving Lapierre $900,000, what are they doing???? |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 21:05:16
I haven't really followed St. Louis during the offseason so I was a little confused about all man love for the Blues. So I took a look at their roster and I figure,
Why all the man love for St. Louis??
Let's take a quick run down of that squad.
Any 30 goal scorers?? Nope
Any incredibly talented set up forwards?? Nope
Any depth at defense?? Nope
Proven Goalie??? Nope
Honestly speaking, as much as I like guys like MacDonald, Oshie, Backes, and Boyes, they are borderline 1st line players and ultimately 2nd line players.
Seriously, St. Louis losing Kariya and Tkachuk leaves this team without and identity and leadership. They still have some signings to make as they list only 5 defensemen on their roster so things can change, but when I look at this line compared to others in the West, they are on the lower end of the spectrum.
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| nuxfan |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 18:13:20
its pretty early days yet, but I have some deviations from Sensfan:
West:
-I don't think CHI will finish first in their division, it will be DET. CHI is absolutely gutted from last year - sure they kept their core, but they lost nearly their entire forward supporting cast, and thats gonna cost them. DET has lost nobody of significance, and will do much better than they did last year.
- Like Beans, I think EDM will finish higher than last place. They may even squeak into 8th, but I'm stretching.
- I don't think CGY will make it to the playoffs, and I think STL will. STL is going to benefit from goaltending and a very good young core that has one more year experience under their belts.
The west is just so tight, its too hard to call exact placements after division winners...
East:
- PHI will beat NJ for top in their division. Could this be the year that Brodeur begins to show his age?
- TB will make the playoffs, I just don't know where. By the time the season ends, neither Ellis nor Smith will be their starting goalie. They will make the playoffs at the expense of NYR.
- Sorry Sensfan, but I don't see OTT making the playoffs this year.
My list:
East:
*Washington
*Philadelphia
*Boston
Pittsburgh
NJ
Montreal/Buffalo/Tampa Bay (can't decide on placements)
New York Rangers
Ottawa
Carolina
Toronto
Florida
New York Islanders
Atlanta
West
*Vancouver/Detroit
*San Jose
Los Angeles/Chicago/Anaheim/Colorado
1 of St Louis/Edmonton/Nashville
the other 2 of St Louis/Edmonton/Nashville
Pheonix
Dallas
Minnesota
Columbus
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| Sensfan101 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 17:45:27
I put them first for a few reasons first they manged to keep the core of their team toghether (Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, Hossa, and Sharp). I also don't think San jose has the goaltending to come in first. It will probabley be a close race between Vancouver and Chicago but I think Chicago will pull it out in the end.
You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take Wayne Gretzky |
| Alex116 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 14:56:54
Agreed, pretty early to start guessing but i was a little surprised you (Sensfan) had Chicago atop the west. Not that it can't happen and of course they still have a ton of weapons but with the changes they made, most talk is of them not being as good as last year? Be interesting to see.
At this point, i like St Louis to push for a playoff spot as well.
Otherwise, far too early. I'm busy focussing on my NFL picks right now..... |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 13:59:07
Still to early for this in my opinion. However, I wouldn't disagree too much with this list. Although, I think Edmonton is a better team today than St. Louis, Minnesota, CBJ, and Dallas. Consider that last season they had more man games missed due to injury than any other team in the NHL including their starting goaliem best offensive player, and best offensive defensemen for more than 40 games each!! I also think Carolina is a better team than TB. Rutherford has built some key pieces into that line up and they will push for a playoff spot. TB is offensively awesome and defensively disgusting. They will be a bottom 5 team.
As always, I got my fingers crossed for Vancouver's fall from grace.
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| Sensfan101 |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 13:18:00
East
*Washington
*New Jersey
*Boston
Philedalphia
Pittsburgh
Ottawa
Buffalo
New York Rangers
Montreal
Tampa Bay
Carolina
Toronto
Florida
New York Islanders
Atlanta
West
*Chicago
*Vancouver
*San Jose
Detroit
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Calgary
Colorado
Pheonix
St. Louis
Nashville
Columbus
Dallas
Minnesota
Edmonton
You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take Wayne Gretzky |
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