New England Hockey Talk

[MGB Boy]

Uh, yeah......... Now that the hallucinogenics have worn off, got any revised predictions?



-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

According to THN the Wings will repeat. Seems like an O.K. choice but if the goaltenders get tested they'll fold like a cheap suit. Osgood is passable and Conks seemed to have an O.K. season last year but all you have to do is score more than they do. They're a bit aged but there is the wild card of Marian Hossa. Seems that a lot of pundits think that he signed the one year deal because that's the best place for him to win a cup.

The Pens won't be as competitive as last year most of the squad is gone. They'll be hunting but it'll be an early season for them.

The B's, well, you can never count them out now can you? The critics had them last in the league (or at least close to the bottom) last year and they shocked everyone by making it to the playoffs. Goaltending wins games for them, because I think they had one of the lowest for goals in the league. The return of Patrice Bergeron might just make the difference but I still don't think they have what it takes to go the distance.

The New York region. No, No and No. They're not going to be able to string enough together to make it work. The Islanders are still riding the hips of Rick DiPietro and they're due to give out sometime in the middle of the year. With all the hype he receives I still have yet to see anything spectacular from King Henry and we all know what the Devils do Martin Broduer. It'll be nice to see what the Rangers will do without Jagr. Wait, did I just say that?

The Flyers...I wonder what will happen without Umberger. He was the heart and soul of that team in the post season. They have talent but they're all a bit streaky. Umberger was the most consistent but with the salary cap someone had to go.

The Caps. It was a wonder last year, what would have happened to the Caps if they had Bruce Boudreau as the coach the whole year and dumped Hanlon? Coaches don't win games but a good one sure does help. Time will only tell how they do. Hopefully they'll get deep into the playoffs. We've brought up a lot of talent too. Karl Alzner is one of them. I definitely think he has the potential to be a top 4 defenseman.

The Bolts. They made the biggest changes. No more Torts and they picked up that Steven Stamkos kid. They'll make a dent but they're still in the middle of rebuilding.

The Hawks. This is a team to watch. They're my dark horse pick. It'll take a couple of months to get all the gears working but they have the best chance (I think) to go all the way.

So if it's not the Caps my pick is the Hawks.

[MGB Boy]

I found many things in the THN yearbook a bit suspect. I'll go into more detail when I've got the thing in front of me, but off the top of my head...

Last year the Bruins finished 8th in the East. Subtractions: Metropolit, Murray. Additions: Bergeron, Ryder. Biggest problem was lack of scoring. This year they'll have Patrice back, picked up Ryder, and Kessel finally showed what he's capable of in the playoffs. To the folks at THN, this adds up to them sliding backwards a couple spots to 10th, out of the playoffs. Does not compute!

The "player rankings" had Pronger listed as the 11th best player in the league and 2nd best defenseman. I disagree.

The column toward the back said that the Flames may miss the playoffs despite the fact that you could argue that they have the best goalie (Kipper), best forward (Iginla), and best defenseman (Mr Heat-miser) in the league. I suppose one could indeed argue that, but then one would be wrong on all three counts. They have strong players in each of those positions, but the best? Nope. Not as long as Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Lidstrom, Chara, Nabokov, Brodeur, Giggy, and a bunch of other guys are still out there. But then again, you could argue anything, couldn't you? You could argue that the moon is made of cheese, too, but that doesn't make it more likely.

-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

That certainly didn't answer the question at hand.

[MGB Boy]

Random pre-season thoughts and observations...

The Blues' uber-prospect Erik Johnson, #1 pick in 2006, apparently tore two ligaments in his knee at a team golf outing. I have no idea how a 20 year old guy tears knee ligaments golfing. The explanation was something to do with getting his foot caught between the gas pedal and the brake pedal in the golf cart. Oooookay. Anyhow, he could be out for the season. Blues just took a hit.

UVM alum Torrey Mitchell is going to miss two months due to a "tib-fib" break suffered in training camp. Clean break of both bones in the lower leg. Bummer.

Totally forgot that Kolzig went to Tampa until I saw him in a preseason game this week. My brain clearly isn't fully in gear with hockey season yet.

Speaking of goalie relocations, I can't wait to see if Raycroft implodes in Colorado.

Chicago isn't gonna be half bad this season. I can see them making the playoffs. Solidifying the goalie position and adding Brian Campbell to the blueline are strong moves.

No idea what to expect out of Tampa this season. They signed a bazillion mid-grade free agents (rough count) but no top-grade ones, and they're still going into the season with Mike Smith tabbed as their #1 goalie. He's not awful but he's never really been much to write home about either. I dunno. At least they got rid of blowhard Torts (who of course, had several parting shots for the new owners). Conventional wisdom used to be that he used a fiery "tough love" approach to motivate his players. Seems more likely that he's just an ass all-around, he treats owners, management, journalists, and players with equal disdain.

Like many teams, the Bruins have a new third jersey this season. I've seen it, but not with numbering and lettering. Looks a bit plain, but I'm reserving judgment since the lettering and numbering will spice it up. Fashion parade of other new jerseys;

Hurricanes. Meh, it's okay. Black jersey (Bruins wannabes), but at least they replaced the swirling toilet logo with the hockey stick/flag logo.

Sabres. A near-miss. Good that they went old school, bad that they stuck with the dopey Rbk piping and the extra-dopey little numbers on the front shoulder.

Blues. I like it. Old school. Classic. Looks like a hockey jersey should.

No pics yet, but it appears the Leafs, Canucks, Islanders, Flyers, Oilers, and Penguins are all going retro with vintage styles from the past. No complaints here, especially those keen powder blue Pens unis.

Bolts and Sens are going with angled text across the chest for their third jerseys. Meh, I'll have to wait and see. And I'm moderately certain the Kings will have some kind of abomination. Maybe they'll bring back that old Burger King jersey from back in the day.

icethetics is a good spot for all things NHL uni-related.

Also, judging from what I've seen this pre-season, our friends at Reebok are dropping the "Rbk" badging on goalie gear and switching back to either "Reebok" or just their logo. In the past, they used the badging to distinguish between "pro-grade" gear ("Rbk") and "lower-grade" gear ("Reebok"). Probably blew up in their faces because all the little spoiled brats who get killer goalie gear from their parents every year (not that I'm bitter that I didn't) quickly realized the Rbk/Reebok difference, and of course "Reebok" branded gear suddenly became as uncool and unfashionable as a pair of Sears "Toughskins" in a "Polo by Ralph Lauren" world.

In other goalie gear news, Nike has spun off Bauer (yay, Nike's out of hockey). The gear will still have a "Nike Bauer" dual branding for a couple of seasons, I hear. Meanwhile, Bauer has celebrated by buying Itech. Woot.

Caps are going DOWN on Saturday!

-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

I was with you until the last line. There is no way the Caps can lose, we have the hottest goalie.

[MGB Boy]

Is this another one of your "Dreamy Eyes" things?

-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

No. This is apparently wha the puckbunnies are saying. I say that we would crush the Bruins just based on a talent scale.

[MGB Boy]

Sorry, I'm confused. We're talking about the Capitals here, right? Washington? The Foggy Bottom Pucksters? Bah!

-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

You should forget about all those years that we were awful. We've turned over a new leaf and we've actually got some talent whereas the Bruins, well I guess some of them can play O.K.

[bethandlouis]

It is almost upon us and I still don't think you've announced your cup winner.

[MGB Boy]

Well it's certainly not these goofballs...



-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

Look at all that hockey prowess being infused from the planet Krypton.

[MGB Boy]

I dunno, that player in brown with the long hair looks kinda girlie! And next to her is Jose Theodore, who has taken an early lead in the race to win the 2008-2009 edition of the "Pascal LeClaire Goalie With The Worst Hair" award...

-Ricardo

[bethandlouis]

That is a girl, silly!