love the puck

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

First off, I want to say thanks to you guys for reading and even more so, participating in this little endeavour. Today will be a response to many of Scotty's comments, as I feel a response to this forum of sorts is long over due.

Pittsburgh has made long strides since drafting Crosby, and it is amazing what a wonderkid will do for a franchise every 20 years or so, but trust me, this team is still a long way off. Make no mistake, the Pens are gearing up to score goals. They're counting on people taking penalties on Crosby and Mario, and then they're counting on Gonchar and the boys to put up powerplay points. They'll reek havoc on the Powerplay and then give the goals right back in even strength. Davy, you're right, in the sense that they can put two solid lines out that can score goals, but they don't have guys that fancy the dirty work required to keep goals off the board. Goaltending isn't even as huge of a concern, rather I'd be worried about how my third and fourth lines are comprised purely of AHL players. And don't try to tell me that they'll double shift Mario and Recchi, because those guys won't be able to keep up with that. If the Pens make the Playoffs, it'll be a backdoor squeaker.

A playoff prediction at this point is useless, as the full rosters haven't even been announced, and no one knows how teams are going to look with the new rules and new era.

Tampa Bay will be a more advanced Pittsburgh. Like the Pens they'll be scoring left, right and centre, and their power play will be more than potent. Though they don't have an 'A' list goaltender, Burke is solid and has only posted a higher than 3.00 GAA once in the past 11 years. T-Bay has a good defense core, and Boyle is mobile, and solid, which will bode well for the Lightning.

I don't think the Red Wings will be what people think they will this year. I love Stevie Y, and he'll be fine, but Shanny is over the hill, they lost their best skating defenseman in Dandenault and really only have Jiri Fischer, Lidstrom (who is amazing, I agree but is slowing, and won't be aloud to obstruct in front anymore) and Chelios, who is over the hill, but provides some grit. Manny Legace is a question mark, if only because he has never been a starter. He's proven he's talented enough, but can he maintain it for 55 games? We'll see.

I really think the key this year is going to be depth. What teams can roll four lines night in and night out and get something out of those lines. Philly has depth, and I think Richards and Carter are the real deal (Carter especially), but if they don't get Robert Esche back, and their Pilons get danced around, they could be in trouble.

If the L.A. Kings got their hands on a goalie, and a defenceman, they'd have something going. They're adding Mike Cammalerri from the AHL, and he was second in the league in scoring last season. Frolov will look nice with Demitra and Camma Jamma on their powerplay. But with no one other than Matthias Norstrom and Aaron Miller on defence, the Kings will lack the ever important depth. Roenick will be good for 20 goals and 82 soundbytes.

Reports are that Alyn McCauley wanted back into T.O. and was willing to take a three million dollar paycut to do so, to which John Ferguson said "no thanks". I fail to see how that was a good GM move. We need a third line centre, and McCauley is solid, not spectacular, but a character player, and would be nice instead of Nik Antropov in the middle.
Also, Lindros has asked for the same amount of incentives that Jason Allison is set to recieve, which is absolutely ridiculous. The longer the Big E waits, the more money he's screwing himself out of. I just hope Davy gets his wish.....

So Scottsdale, no predictions, just analysis today. Predictions at this point are for the un-educated, and also for the dreamers (which you fall under). I think though, that the Sens will be a force again this year. This is the year they finally usurp the Leafs. It's just a shame for the Sens that it took the Leafs depleting their whole team.

Posted by Jon at 7:13 AM | | e-mail me