2007-2008 NHL Predictions

[EagerBeaver]

I picked up the Hockey News Magazine 2007-08 Yearbook. They are predicting that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks will repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, although they have Detroit as the top rated team in the Western Conference. Their reasoning is that Jiggy is the best money goalie in the NHL, meaning he performs best when the games mean something.

In the East, they pick Ottawa 1st and the NY Rangers 2nd. Toronto is picked 11th, Montreal an embarrassing 13th and the Boston Bruins a woeful 15th and last in the East. Pittsburgh is picked 4th. It would appear that there will be no playoffs for Toronto, Montreal or Boston in 2007-08. Montreal and Boston are both given team grades of D+ on talent; only the Phoenix Coyotes, picked last in the west, have worse rated talent with a grade of D-.

The Hockey News Magazine Yearbook rates Sidney Crosby as the best player in the NHL. They have a top 50 list of the best players in the NHL, with Crosby at #1.

Interestingly, the Sporting News NHL preview picks Pittsburgh to defeat Detroit for the Stanley Cup.

 

[obvio007]

i dont think montreal canadian will win the stanley cup but i thing they will make the playoff.this year they have speed and great defence...the offence this year is going to be the big question??????????

 

[eastender]

2007-08 NHL Predictions

Too many teams have major holes.

In the east only Ottawa,NYR,Buffalo,Pittsburgh and NJ can be considered as play-off quality teams. The remaining teams are iffy - question of avoiding injuries, young players stepping-up and veterans not losing it.Goaltending will also be the issue for the iffy teams.

In the west only Anaheim despite playing without Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne,SJ,Detroit,Minn,seem like play-off teams. The others can go either way mainly for the same reasons as listed above.Coaching will also be an issue - Calgary being an example where Keenan either brings a team together or as his recent history,shows loses the team.

 

[gohabsgo]

In the East, they pick Ottawa 1st and the NY Rangers 2nd. Toronto is picked 11th, Montreal an embarrassing 13th and the Boston Bruins a woeful 15th and last in the East. Pittsburgh is picked 4th. It would appear that there will be no playoffs for Toronto, Montreal or Boston in 2007-08. Montreal and Boston are both given team grades of D+ on talent; only the Phoenix Coyotes, picked last in the west, have worse rated talent with a grade of D-.

I agree with all those picks except I see the Habs making the playoffs – finishing in 7th or 8th in the east – and Toronto and Boston having another losing season. I also see Bob addressing the talent situation by swinging a deal or two.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I agree with all those picks except I see the Habs making the playoffs – finishing in 7th or 8th in the east – and Toronto and Boston having another losing season. I also see Bob addressing the talent situation by swinging a deal or two.

Dream on! You have it backwards: Toronto will squeeze into 7th or 8th spot & there's no chance in hell that the Habs make the playoffs. They are just terrible! As for Bobby, who the hell does he have that anyone else would want to take off his hands?

 

[joelcairo]

Agreed Doc. Even the Leafs have a chance to make the playoffs but the Habs are already dead in the water.

 

[EagerBeaver]

I agree with all those picks except I see the Habs making the playoffs – finishing in 7th or 8th in the east –

GHG,

I have read multiple OBJECTIVE, expert NHL forecasts by publications like the Hockey News, Sporting News, etc. whom I pay to read because of their said objective and expert commentary. Nobody has Montreal even sniffing the playoffs. The Hockey News rates Montreal's talent as D+ which ties for worst in the Eastern Conference with NYI and Boston. So maybe your pick is not really an objective pick but rather wishful thinking?

 

[jackd1959]

Most of the "experts" have Philadelphia as the most improved team in the NHL... I predict that they have knowhere to go but up!!!

On a serious note, I think the devils will drop from contention as Marty is getting too old to carry them.

Buffalo has a lot to make up for in loosing Briere and Drury.

Which leaves the Rangers, Penguins, and Senators at the top of the food chain. Pensonally I don't think the Penguins have the defense to win anything and the Rangers are getting old.

Which leaves the Senators as the team to beat.

With all that said... any team can advance in the playoffs so just get there!

 

[mr.magoo]

as long as the bruins beat the habs in all this seasons matchups between the two ..ill be very happy!!

 

[The Teacher]

I got a lock, a sure bet, a gaurantee...ready?
THE BOSTON BRUINS WILL SUCK!!!
I am a Boston guy, and I know it'll be an aweful season...grrrrrrr! The worst job in the world is...A Bruins ticket scalper...lol
The Teacher

 

[EagerBeaver]

I got a lock, a sure bet, a gaurantee...ready?
THE BOSTON BRUINS WILL SUCK!!!

Both the Hockey News and the Sporting News agree with you. If it is any consolation, the Sporting News predicts that Montreal will suck even worse. Later on I will post some specific comments on these teams from these publications, which provide objective analysis for the casual hockey fan like me.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Most of the "experts" have Philadelphia as the most improved team in the NHL... I predict that they have knowhere to go but up!!!

On a serious note, I think the devils will drop from contention as Marty is getting too old to carry them.

Buffalo has a lot to make up for in loosing Briere and Drury.

Which leaves the Rangers, Penguins, and Senators at the top of the food chain. Pensonally I don't think the Penguins have the defense to win anything and the Rangers are getting old.

Which leaves the Senators as the team to beat.

With all that said... any team can advance in the playoffs so just get there!

The Hockey News rates Philadelphia 9th in the East, just missing the playoffs. Considering they were 15th last year, that is certainly great improvement.

Regarding the Penguins, the Hockey News ("HN") notes that they lack a "shutdown" defenseman. However, they picked up Darryl Sydor, former Stanley Cup champion, and both HN and the Sporting News ("SN") are very high on their young offensive minded defenseman, Kris Letang, who is a Montreal native by the ways.

HN picks the Senators as the team to beat in the East, whereas SN picks the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup.

Regarding Daniel Briere, Montreal is harshly criticized for failing to sign him in the SN. The SN points out, how do you let a team that finished 34 points behind you sign the player you absolutely had to have? The suggestion made by SN is that Montreal is simply not an attractive city to play in for the money hungry NHL free agent, even if they sell out all their home games and lead the league in attendance. According to SN, Montreal has had to settle for "serviceable" players such as Smolinski and Hamrlik, and it just isn't enough to get them over the hump.

The Hockey News hammers the Bruins, picking them 15th and last in the East. HN notes that Chara and Bergeron had horrible seasons last year and there is hope that they can rebound. HN also questions the acquisition of goalie Manny Fernandez due to his recurring knee issues. The biggest problems for the Bruins is that their revolving door approach on defense did not work last year, and the lack of discipline (7th in NHL in penalties) was atrocious. Also noted is the lack of a puck moving defenseman who can quarterback the power play. The bright spot is that they have a talented young group of centers and forwards.

The Maple Leafs are picked just ahead of the Canadiens and Bruins. HN notes they were one of the slowest teams in the NHL last year and "often appeared as if they were standing in quicksand" when playing against the likes of speedy forwards like Briere. However, HN really likes the move to land Toskala in goal.

 

[gohabsgo]

GHG,

I have read multiple OBJECTIVE, expert NHL forecasts by publications like the Hockey News, Sporting News, etc. whom I pay to read because of their said objective and expert commentary. Nobody has Montreal even sniffing the playoffs. The Hockey News rates Montreal's talent as D+ which ties for worst in the Eastern Conference with NYI and Boston. So maybe your pick is not really an objective pick but rather wishful thinking?

I doubt that these so called “experts’ are objective – isn’t the Hockey News a publication out of Toronto?

I looked it up - here is their mailing address:

The Hockey News
25 Sheppard Ave.
Suite 100
Toronto, ON
M2N 6S7

So there is already a pro-Leafs and anti-Habs bias built in to their so called analysis.

How did the so called experts at the Hockey News and the Sporting News do last year with their predictions? … yeah, that’s what I thought – they predicted Edmonton and Carolina would repeat in the Stanley cup Finals – except they both missed the playoffs … i.e. they got it all wrong! Well, they’ve got it all wrong this year. Carbo will have Nos Glorieux back in the post season, followed by a long Cup run.

GO HABS GO !!!
TRICOLORE JUSQU'AU BOUT !!!

 

[EagerBeaver]

I doubt that these so called “experts’ are objective – isn’t the Hockey News a publication out of Toronto?

I looked it up - here is their mailing address:

The Hockey News
25 Sheppard Ave.
Suite 100
Toronto, ON
M2N 6S7

So there is already a pro-Leafs and anti-Habs bias built in to their so called analysis.

How did the so called experts at the Hockey News and the Sporting News do last year with their predictions? … yeah, that’s what I thought – they predicted Edmonton and Carolina would repeat in the Stanley cup Finals – except they both missed the playoffs … i.e. they got it all wrong! Well, they’ve got it all wrong this year. Carbo will have Nos Glorieux back in the post season, followed by a long Cup run.

GO HABS GO !!!
TRICOLORE JUSQU'AU BOUT !!!

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The Hockey News analysis on the Canadiens is written by Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette. Furthermore, The Sporting News, which is not even a Canadian based publication and is based in Charlotte, NC, has the Canadians sucking far worse than the Hockey News does. As between the two, which both have the Canadiens sucking big time, you have a consensus analysis which does not come from Toronto.

You can also add ESPN to the list of experts who say the Canadiens will suck. ESPN, which is based in Bristol, CT, provides an online analysis which says the Canadiens are "stuck in neutral" while other Eastern Conference teams have improved themselves:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview2007/team?page=nhlpre07/mon

Bottom line, all 3 of the above publications says the Canadiens offense is pathetically weak and they are going to struggle to score. The only question that exists is who will suck worse, the Habs or the Bruins. Let the race for the Eastern Conference cellar and the #1 overall draft pick begin!!!!!!!!!

 

[knockermocker]

I vote for the African huggies, there set to win the cup and maybe a saucer too.

 

[eastender]

A Few Points......

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The Hockey News analysis on the Canadiens is written by Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette. Furthermore, The Sporting News, which is not even a Canadian based publication and is based in Charlotte, NC, has the Canadians sucking far worse than the Hockey News does. As between the two, which both have the Canadiens sucking big time, you have a consensus analysis which does not come from Toronto.

You can also add ESPN to the list of experts who say the Canadiens will suck. ESPN, which is based in Bristol, CT, provides an online analysis which says the Canadiens are "stuck in neutral" while other Eastern Conference teams have improved themselves:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview2007/team?page=nhlpre07/mon

Bottom line, all 3 of the above publications says the Canadiens offense is pathetically weak and they are going to struggle to score. The only question that exists is who will suck worse, the Habs or the Bruins. Let the race for the Eastern Conference cellar and the #1 overall draft pick begin!!!!!!!!!

Herb Zurkowsky is The Gazette CFL writer so I would doubt the depth of his NHL knowledge. Certain that he has not seen any or many of the teams in training camp.

Any NHL team that finished over .500 last year, more wins than loses and did not lose key players has a chance at making the play-offs.

In the EAST it comes down to staying healthy. If Sundin stays healthy the Leafs have a chance if his hip acts up and he misses alot of games or plays injured no chance. Tampa Bay has lost Boyle for about a month, if longer this could hurt them big time. Go down the list of teams and see how fragile each is if a key player gets hurt for a month or more.

The better Western teams have more depth - Anaheim could lose Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne but will contend for #1 overall. Detroit is solid unless Hasek gets hurt.Minnesota has balance and managed to survive injuries to Gaborik in the past. The remaining teams have to stay healthy to have a chance.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Carbo will have Nos Glorieux back in the post season, followed by a long Cup run.

GO HABS GO !!!
TRICOLORE JUSQU'AU BOUT !!!

Are you related to Joe T. or something?

Why would the Canadiens stand a chance of making the playoffs when they couldn't even get past the Leafs last year with a better team than they have this year? All teams other than the Habs have improved themselves & its very unlikely that they Habs will finish any better than 9th or 10th. This is a team very poor in talent & there's already a controversy in the nets. The coach & his GM can't even get on the same page with which players they intend to keep on their roster. One guy wants Price as his back-up, the other wants him sent to Hamilton. Even Maxime Lapierre is on the bubble & might not start the season with the Canadiens after a very poor training camp. People are also finally starting to realize that Roman Hamrlik is no Sheldon Souray on the point. By the way, Hamrlik was drafted 15 years ago!! He's an old man!! As for Souray, when someone pointed to him last night that Souray wasn't as good defensively as Hamrlik, Michel Bergeron pointed out that Souray never was asked to concentrate on his defense & he'd be the same if not 'as good' as Hamrlik if told to. He went on to say that getting a player to play better defense & improve on his defensive skills is the easiest thing for a coach to do in the NHL.

I predict that whether or not Carey Price starts the season in Mtl, he'll be their #1 goalie by December since the team will start the season on a losing skid & the fans will chant for his name every time Huet lets a goal in. And why not? I can't see Mtl winning even half their games & management will want to try anything to turn the tide & get the fan base back on their side. Of course, also to salvage their faint playoff hopes. They're simply a very soft team consisting of no toughness, not much offense, average defensively, very good goaltending & with a lineup consisting of quite a large number of europeans & the usual floaters. Folks, i say it once again: It will be a very long year for your Habs!

By the way, Mathieu Dandenault is getting paid nearly $2 million? Go figure!

 

[chloe]

with the way things are looking hopefully the habs will takeus to the end!!!!

Boston is here tomorrow, im super hype about going!!!!

GO HABS GO

 

[Doc Holliday]

with the way things are looking hopefully the habs will takeus to the end!!!!

Boston is here tomorrow, im super hype about going!!!!

GO HABS GO

You're making a joke, right?

p.s. I hope you realize the difference between pre-season vs. regular season hockey.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The better Western teams have more depth - Anaheim could lose Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne but will contend for #1 overall. Detroit is solid unless Hasek gets hurt.Minnesota has balance and managed to survive injuries to Gaborik in the past. The remaining teams have to stay healthy to have a chance.

Eastender,

The objective experts at the Hockey News (HN) analyze the top 5 in the west as follows (talent grade in parentheses):

1. Detroit (A)
2. Anaheim (A-)
3. Calgary (A-)
4. San Jose (B)
5. Minnesota (B)

With regard to Calgary, HN notes that they were the only team in the NHL to have 4 forwards eclipse the 70 point mark: Iginla, Langkow, Huselius and Tanguay - with the expectation that all 4 will repeat or better these performances. HN notes that Kiprusoff had an off year, yet was a Vezina Trophy finalist. A weakness is depth at goalie behind Kiprusoff. It should be noted that HN only rates Luongo and Brodeur as better NHL goalies than Kiprusoff.

HN analyzes the Sharks as a big, fast, and young team, which has the best 1-2 punch at center in the NHL in Thornton and Marleau. A weakness is overreliance on power play scoring and not enough in the 5 on 5, which tapered badly second half of the season.

The worst team in the west is picked to be Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes, which, along with Montreal and Boston, is expected to vie for the #1 overall draft pick in 2008.