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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
 Posted - 01/08/2016 : 12:31:40
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Poll Question:
Who would you say is the biggest surprise of the season for the good bad or unusual
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Edited by - JOSHUACANADA on 01/08/2016 15:43:30
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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2016 : 12:35:16
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| For the record I went with Florida's run with Jagr and Loungo leading the charge for a young up and coming team. I didn't think Loungo was good enough and Jagr was enough to get this team to this level, but they really playing high level hockey right now. |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2016 : 15:22:56
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Was going to vote for Florida, but upon reflection, I have to go to this one:
Stamkos not re-signed yet, and TB not in the playoffs.
I put the two issues linked together, as I think they are intricately linked. The biggest goal-scoring star (alongside Ovie) of the past 5, 6 years is headed towards the break not signed and with impending free agency looming - a situation which just never happens to guys of this calibre. Talks have broken down to a point of apparent silence. Another supposedly mistaken tweet by Stamkos "likes" a Stamkos to Leafs rumour. And at the SAME TIME . . . the Stanley Cup finalists and supposed powerhouse of the East, the Lightning, are currently out of the playoffs.
I think this Stamkos thing is gonna blow-up soon, the way it's headed. And it's coming up real close to decision time . . . deal Stammer before the trade deadline so they at least get something back for him? Or, keep him for the rest of the season, to push into the playoffs, and hopefully sign him?
I think this is the issue of the mid-season.
Don't Leaf me hanging, Buds! |
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The Duke
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1239 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2016 : 14:58:15
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Joshua, other than Columbus, none of these other listings are really surprises to me. I agree with Slozo here, TB`s positioning is a real surprise and the NYR`s kinda downward swing is a bit surprising.
With regards to the Canadians, i always said they were a Cary Price away from the maple leafs.
I thought Calgary would be a bit higher in the standings. |
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Alex116
PickupHockey Legend
6113 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2016 : 08:08:19
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quote:
Originally posted by The Duke
Joshua, other than Columbus, none of these other listings are really surprises to me.
Patrick Kane, after SERIOUS offseason accusations and possible repercussions, leading the league in scoring would be a surprise in itself. The fact he's got a 10pt lead only half way through the season makes it even moreso. Throw in his point streak earlier this season and I don't know how Kane's performance can't be surprising. Heck, there was even talk of Chicago possibly looking to move him!
Florida's lead in their div is surprising too. Jagr playing as well as he is at his age is a surprise. They have a substantial lead in the south, which not many expected!
Washington leading the entire league is a mild surprise imo, but having a 16pt div lead and a 10pt conference lead and just 7 losses is pretty impressive.
With your theory on the Habs Duke, I'm not shocked you don't find their position surprising but when you consider their goaltending hasn't been horrible, it's more than just Price. He's a HUGE part of the team BUT, they've slumped terribly on offense. They were averaging twice as many goals per game (GF) in the first couple months than they have since.
Montreal GF by month:
Oct - 14GP, 51G = 3.64 GF
Nov - 13GP, 45G = 3.46 GF
Dec - 14GP, 21G = 1.50 GF
Jan - 4GP, 11G = 2.75 (one game with 5G skews this small sample size)
Last I checked, C. Price isn't a big offensive contributer. He likely would have stolen a few games for them in this offensive drought, I won't deny that, but my point is, the Habs are much more than Carey Price and a bunch of scrubs. Guess what I'm trying to say is, the Canadiens scoring problems are a surprise to me after they led the league in goals for the first month and a half.
In reality, I think Joshua's choices are all pretty good and he left us an "other" to name our own. Slozo's pick and explanation are excellent and you could argue the Johansen / Jones swap as the most surprising thing too. But to say most of those other ones he listed aren't that surprising, well, kinda surprises me? Hmmm, maybe i'll choose "other" and say Duke's opinion on the choices is the most surprising?  Lol.
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The Duke
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1239 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2016 : 15:10:12
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Alex, i guess we all look at things differently. Im not saying Joshua made terrible choices, dont take me wrong but im certainly not over surprised by these listings.
lets rebuttal some of your comments :
1 ) Isnt P. Kane one of the purest offensive talents in the world right now ? whats your opinion on Kane ? Should it be surprising then that one of the best players in the world is leading the NHL in scoring ?? im not surprised, why should i ?
2 ) Florida has been drafting at the top of the draft for several years now picking up some of the best available young talents in the world. They probably have the best young D-man in the world right now in Arron Eckblad, he will be team Canadas main D-man for years to come. They have Roberto Loungo, in my opinion, still one of the leagues best. Floridas fortunes were just a matter of time in the making. Am i surprised ? again why should i be ?
3 ) Washington played extremely well in the playoffs last season and should have advanced. They have a very, very good hockey team and an EXcellent coach. They have the most productive goal scorer in the NHL and right now arguably the leagues best goalie, aside from price. Am i surprised of what theyre doing ? why should i be ?
4 ) Ive always said Montreal is a .500 hockey team without Price. the canadians are exactly a .500 hockey team in the previous 70 games ( going back a couple of seasons here ) without Price in the net. Check out the numbers if you wish, they are right. So am i surprised of Montreals downward spiral without Price ? Why should i be ?
As you pointed out , Price cant score , but when he only allows 1 goal in a game Alex.....the rest of the team only has to score 2. that helps |
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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2016 : 08:53:59
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quote:
Originally posted by The Duke
Alex, i guess we all look at things differently. Im not saying Joshua made terrible choices, dont take me wrong but im certainly not over surprised by these listings.
lets rebuttal some of your comments :
1 ) Isnt P. Kane one of the purest offensive talents in the world right now ? whats your opinion on Kane ? Should it be surprising then that one of the best players in the world is leading the NHL in scoring ?? im not surprised, why should i ?
2 ) Florida has been drafting at the top of the draft for several years now picking up some of the best available young talents in the world. They probably have the best young D-man in the world right now in Arron Eckblad, he will be team Canadas main D-man for years to come. They have Roberto Loungo, in my opinion, still one of the leagues best. Floridas fortunes were just a matter of time in the making. Am i surprised ? again why should i be ?
3 ) Washington played extremely well in the playoffs last season and should have advanced. They have a very, very good hockey team and an EXcellent coach. They have the most productive goal scorer in the NHL and right now arguably the leagues best goalie, aside from price. Am i surprised of what theyre doing ? why should i be ?
4 ) Ive always said Montreal is a .500 hockey team without Price. the canadians are exactly a .500 hockey team in the previous 70 games ( going back a couple of seasons here ) without Price in the net. Check out the numbers if you wish, they are right. So am i surprised of Montreals downward spiral without Price ? Why should i be ?
As you pointed out , Price cant score , but when he only allows 1 goal in a game Alex.....the rest of the team only has to score 2. that helps
First things first Duke, you need a snickers. Second thing here is 49% of the respondent's to this point think Florida leading there division is a huge surprise. As much as you felt they were eventually going to be good, with all there draft picks and how well you thought Loungo was, most felt this was a playoff bubble team and are genuinely surprise they are succeeding against some of the best teams in the league now.
As good as Kane is, I don't believe he has ever lead the league in scoring, either in goals or points, with all the other offensive stars being on there game To me he is a good 150% above his usual offensive stats, than what I would have expected from him this season, especially if you consider the controversy going into this season.
Washington yes has been good the last few seasons, but Holtby is having an epic season and the defense is leaps above where I would have expected this team to be. That's the difference in a 4-6th place team in the east, to a 1st place in the league finish. Again that's way above where I expected them to be.
I think Alex summed it up best for how I feel Montreal's situation is related to my mid season surprise. |
Edited by - JOSHUACANADA on 01/17/2016 20:28:14 |
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The Duke
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1239 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2016 : 12:41:38
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| I'd rather a Mars bar. lol. I hate snickers |
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Alex116
PickupHockey Legend
6113 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2016 : 10:02:14
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Duke....fair enough. I still think some/most of those things are a surprise myself.
1.) I don't think you'd see many people prior to Oct 1 picking Kane to win the scoring race? In fact, I'd be the Vegas odds didn't even have him top 5 after his off ice problems in the summer.
2.) Florida finished 10th in the east last year and out of the playoffs. Currently they're 1st in their div and 2nd in the conference? This isn't surprising to you? Not many teams make that kind of jump in one year. This makes it surprising to me.
3.) Washington leading isn't the surprise so much here as how big the lead is! That's the surprising part to me.
4.) I can handle the fact that the Montreal slide is due to Price's injury and thus isn't as surprising as most of the others. If they had 5-6 more wins in the past month or so, I prob wouldn't be surprised at all, but to see their record turn as bad as it is today, is mildly surprising still.
Again, to each their own, but I do find the list Joshua made to be pretty adequate for what's gone on this season. It's easy to add "others" and we can all do that as some have already.
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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
Posted - 01/19/2016 : 17:46:24
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11 days later and Florida is back down to earth with losses in there last 4.
NYR are still treading a win one lose one record, but has stopped the slide.
Kane has 9 points in his last 5 games, still 1st in Goals/Assists and Points obviously. Here is another stat I wouldn't have predicted from Kane, he is 3rd place in the entire league in +/-, not at all a stat I would assume from Kane.
Washington has increased there lead on the rest of the league (except for Chicago which is behind but keeping pace). |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2016 : 08:02:21
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quote:
Originally posted by JOSHUACANADA
11 days later and Florida is back down to earth with losses in there last 4.
NYR are still treading a win one lose one record, but has stopped the slide.
Kane has 9 points in his last 5 games, still 1st in Goals/Assists and Points obviously. Here is another stat I wouldn't have predicted from Kane, he is 3rd place in the entire league in +/-, not at all a stat I would assume from Kane.
Washington has increased there lead on the rest of the league (except for Chicago which is behind but keeping pace).
And Stamkos is still without a contract, and it's past the trade deadline and we are officially into TRADE TALK SEASON.
boo-yah.
Don't Leaf me hanging, Buds! |
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ryan93
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
996 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2016 : 08:21:57
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quote:
Originally posted by The Duke
As good as Kane is, I don't believe he has ever lead the league in scoring, either in goals or points, with all the other offensive stars being on there game To me he is a good 150% above his usual offensive stats, than what I would have expected from him this season, especially if you consider the controversy going into this season.
Kane was leading the league in scoring in mid-February last year when he was injured. And then he came back after a 2 month layoff to league the playoffs in scoring. I'm not surprised at all he's leading the league again this season, he was one of my favorites to win the Art Ross, but the fact he is running away with it is definitely a surprise. Then again, I think it would of been surprising for ANY player to have that big of a lead!
The biggest surprise for me has been the Montreal Canadiens collapse. At the all-star break, they had lost 19 of their last 24 games. Since December 1st, they've picked up just 13 points (every other team has at least 20). Factor in their 9-0 start, that they were sitting at 19-4-3 on December 1st, the preseason expectations, and that they were coming off a 110 point season (2nd best in entire NHL), and it makes the past 2 months even more surprising. It'll be interesting to see if they get turned around.
Florida is a surprise for me as well. I knew they were stockpiling a lot of good young players, but didn't envision them being this good this quick. I certainly wouldn't of had them sitting atop the Atlantic at this point of the season. |
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ryan93
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
996 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2016 : 08:33:38
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| While talking about Florida, I also want to add that nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to Jaromir Jagr. It's hard to believe that 8 years ago when he left for Russia, all the Rangers were willing to give him was a 1 year contract, not the 2 years he was looking for. Especially when he was lights out down the stretch, and in 10 playoff games had 5 goals and 15 points. |
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JOSHUACANADA
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2308 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2016 : 11:26:28
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quote:
Originally posted by ryan93
While talking about Florida, I also want to add that nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to Jaromir Jagr. It's hard to believe that 8 years ago when he left for Russia, all the Rangers were willing to give him was a 1 year contract, not the 2 years he was looking for. Especially when he was lights out down the stretch, and in 10 playoff games had 5 goals and 15 points.
Yah I have to agree. I don't remember a time when Jagr wasn't the man on his team and to only get a 1 year contract offer and nothing better from the rest of the league, for him to take off to Russia is just baffling. I look at all of the untouchable records, wherein he had a shot at touching some of them had he stayed for those years. |
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The Duke
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1239 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2016 : 09:25:22
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Jagr was and is one hell of a player .
Speaking of records, as of right now Jagr has MORE career NHL games played than did Wayne Gretzky.... Yet Gretzky has a 1000 more points than Jagr.... HOW GOOD was Gretzky ??? Imagine 4 seasons with over 200 points |
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MIdway point of the season surprises 
