Toggle sidebar

Around the League--Dog Days of Summer

Status
Not open for further replies.
A few teams that had a better defense last season than the Stars - Maple Leafs (not really they were tied), Avalanche, Flyers, and Hurricanes. That should say it all. Stars are garbage and adding Sharp changes nothing. Oduya might move them up a spot or two. They aren't the tenth best team in the league and aren't even close to being a playoff team. I've always thought Niemi was overrated. They have over $10,000,000 in goaltending (14%). ****ing atrocious asset management. I wouldn't be shocked if both goalies are injured at one point. Anyone to think they are playoff team let alone the tenth best team in the league simply doesn't know hockey.

Just pulled up their roster. Damn is it ugly.
 
Last edited:
Dallas has some of the best center depth in the league, just about everything else looks like it'll be a mess.
 
Reclamation Project said:
A few teams that had a better defense last season than the Stars - Maple Leafs (not really they were tied), Avalanche, Flyers, and Hurricanes. That should say it all. Stars are garbage and adding Sharp changes nothing. Oduya might move them up a spot or two. They aren't the tenth best team in the league and aren't even close to being a playoff team. I've always thought Niemi was overrated. They have over $10,000,000 in goaltending (14%). ****ing atrocious asset management. I wouldn't be shocked if both goalies are injured at one point. Anyone to think they are playoff team let alone the tenth best team in the league simply doesn't know hockey.

Just pulled up their roster. Damn is it ugly.
Click to expand...

I remember so many main boarders (many Stars fans to be fair, but plenty of others) prior to last season darkhorsing the Stars and proclaiming their GM to be a genius. It was all predicated on their offense being unstoppable and their minor league defenders all panning out...yeah because that always happens. There were quite a few posters who pointed out that wasn't going to happen and I'm sure some from this board.
 
Reclamation Project said:
A few teams that had a better defense last season than the Stars - Maple Leafs (not really they were tied), Avalanche, Flyers, and Hurricanes. That should say it all. Stars are garbage and adding Sharp changes nothing. Oduya might move them up a spot or two. They aren't the tenth best team in the league and aren't even close to being a playoff team. I've always thought Niemi was overrated. They have over $10,000,000 in goaltending (14%). ****ing atrocious asset management. I wouldn't be shocked if both goalies are injured at one point. Anyone to think they are playoff team let alone the tenth best team in the league simply doesn't know hockey.

Just pulled up their roster. Damn is it ugly.
Click to expand...

Except Oduya is atrocious on D too. Looks like they're going to try to outscore any of their problems.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the Kings playing pond hockey vs. anyone and the Stars always give us fits doing so, but hard to win a 7 game series if your D can't perform and your goaltender isn't putting up a .950.
 
Nill is overrated. People forget he isn't with the Red Wings anymore. Hockey has multiple parts - offense, defense, goaltending, coaching. Stars offense is average at best outside of a few really great players, the defense is physically painful to watch, the goaltending is one peg above the defense, and the coaching is average. Take Benn and Seguin off that team and they are nothing. Meanwhile the Kings have Kopitar, Carter, Toffoli, Pearson, Gaborik, Lewis, and Lucic.

Oduya is overrated on this board too. Martinez is far superior. He'll help the Stars no doubt, but he won't tip the scale very far.

Stars vs. Kings games are basically unwatchable because the Kings usually play like *****es for 50+ minutes. No hitting, no offensive pressure, no net front presence, and Quick usually gives up a softie or two.
 
I know we like Lewis and all, but don't put him in that forward group like he's some kind of force on the ice.
 
If Dallas can cut down at all on the GA, they'll have a decent chance. They were 2nd in GF without Sharp and Nichushkin. The only team in the top 12 in GF that missed the playoffs.

What really hurt them was the 2-9 record they had without Lehtonen or Enroth in net. If they break even with 11 out of 22 points instead of 4 of 22, that probably gets them to the playoffs.

They're as big of a wild card and unknown as there is in the league.
 
KingsFan7824 said:
If Dallas can cut down at all on the GA, they'll have a decent chance. They were 2nd in GF without Sharp and Nichushkin. The only team in the top 12 in GF that missed the playoffs.

What really hurt them was the 2-9 record they had without Lehtonen or Enroth in net. If they break even with 11 out of 22 points instead of 4 of 22, that probably gets them to the playoffs.

They're as big of a wild card and unknown as there is in the league.
Click to expand...

Can we really say their D got better though? I think our point is they added MORE offense--not really their problem--and you can argue their D is maaaaybe better as they aged a little and replacing Daley with Oduya is good only because Daley had become terrible and Oduya is servicable.

Agreed on their goaltending, but the health of Lehtonen is the problem, not his ability.
 
This site loves the Blues. But here in reality we all know they're the same team year in and year out - no heart, fake toughness, not enough talent, mid-range talent peddled as elite, and finally nonexistent on the big stage. The single most overrated team in the NHL. **** the Blues and their soft as Charmin roster.
 
Reclamation Project said:
This site loves the Blues. But here in reality we all know they're the same team year in and year out - no heart, fake toughness, not enough talent, mid-range talent peddled as elite, and finally nonexistent on the big stage. The single most overrated team in the NHL. **** the Blues and their soft as Charmin roster.
Click to expand...

Reaves is a tough MF.
 
I don't know. I think the Wild is giving the Blues a run for the money as most overrated team on HF. Blues fans have at least been trying to temper everyone's expectations the last couple of years. Wild fans still think their team is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
 
Choralone said:
I don't know. I think the Wild is giving the Blues a run for the money as most overrated team on HF. Blues fans have at least been trying to temper everyone's expectations the last couple of years. Wild fans still think their team is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Click to expand...

To be fair though

If it wasn't for Hawks the Wild would have been in WCF the last 2 years

The Wild aren't as good as fans think they are but they are still better club then St Louis
 
Brad Doty said:
Can we really say their D got better though? I think our point is they added MORE offense--not really their problem--and you can argue their D is maaaaybe better as they aged a little and replacing Daley with Oduya is good only because Daley had become terrible and Oduya is servicable.

Agreed on their goaltending, but the health of Lehtonen is the problem, not his ability.
Click to expand...

Not yet, no. That's why I would say they're probably the biggest wild card team in the league. There's too much talent on the team to just write them off, but you don't know if you can trust it.

If they could cut down the goals by even just 20, however they may be able to do it, which is 1 every 4 games, it would still leave them in the bottom 10 from last year, but that could be up to 10 extra points depending on how it went with the amount they can score. A few OT/SO losses become OT/SO wins. A couple OT losses become regulation wins. A regulation loss becomes a win. Then of course, if they score even more(which might be tougher to do), they can make up the difference that way too.

Either way, they can't give up a goal for every goal they score. They were a little better at that in 2014 than 2015, and managed to make the playoffs. Like Lombardi said, you'd rather tame the tiger than paint the strips on a sheep or whatever it was.
 
I think Minnesota has gotten as good as they're going to get, if the young guys aren't able to give a push from behind the vets they have. I can't imagine Dubnyk will be that good again. He may have turned a corner in his career, but, not that much. 1 combined goal from Vanek and Koivu in the playoffs last year, and they've both had less than great playoff performances in their careers. If those two are going to do that, they need that much more from the young guys behind them, and it's not like any of them are McDavid or anything.

If the Wild don't hit Chicago in the playoffs, they probably go further, but that's been the case with every team, other than the Kings. The Hawks and Kings haven't lost a playoff series to anyone but each other in the last 3/4 years. I know the Kings cheated last year with that, but, it still counts.

The Blues, man. 0-3 in Game 5's at home the last 3 years with the series tied 2-2, with 5 goals scored. 0-3 in Game 6's on the road with the series on the line, with 3 goals scored. That's rough. Now they bring in Brouwer, with 7 goals and 19 points in 78 career playoff games, which is fewer ppg than Oshie, who was obviously one of the leading playoff underperformers for the Blues. If I was the Blues GM, I would've given Williams all the money I could, for the perception if nothing else, even if he was slowing down a bit last year.
 
THN has the Wild missing the playoffs and I think in 6th place.

I should post all their predictions here. When I get some time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom