Predict the Atlantic Standings

[bert]

1. Florida - 110 pts playoffs
2. Tampa - 107 pts playoffs
3. Toronto - 102 pts playoffs
4. Boston - 100 pts playoffs (WC 2)
5. Ottawa - 87 pts miss playoffs
6. Detroit - 81 pts miss playoffs
7. Montreal - 74 pts miss playoffs
8. Buffalo - 65 pts miss playoffs

Would have could have should have.

Habs went to the finals last year and as such were the 2nd best team in the league.

Habs will win a playoff divisional spot this season. And Detroit isnt going to pass them - they might pass Florida though

Hahahaha. Ok so let's say they were a good team even though they only made the playoffs because of the division they were in. They finished 9th in the East last year. The reason they had success was because it was a complete buy in defensively due to strong leadership and a great defensive system.

Since then they've lost their best d man and team captain Shea Weber. They lost their best defensive forward and shut down center Phil Danault. They lost Corey Perry veteran leader and warrior. Kotkaniemi might be on the way out with no replacement either. So 2 of their top 3 centers. They replaced them with David Savard who fits the mantra of the previous team but couldn't carry Webers jock around. Mike Hoffman one dimensional winger with a very poor history of character. Chris Wideman poor character history.... Mathieu Perreault and Cedric Paquette who can barely keep up... And what else? The teams entire mantra and reason they were competitive is gone.

Then let's take into account they had the shortest off season... They are going to stink.

 

[PanthersHockey1]

Detroit got a lot tougher to play against last year. They’re still rebuilding but they bring the work ethic. They’ll still finish 2nd last but the gap between them and the teams above them will shrink considerably. For that reason I don’t see crazy point totals in the division this year. I think the division winner could finish with less than 105 points.

I think it could be a toss up for 4th place between Boston, Montreal and Ottawa with the surprise dark horse being Ottawa to make the playoffs.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

That doesn’t make any sense, the Leafs were in a playoff spot, and lost it because of the COVID play in rounds.

COVID sure as hell didn’t help them then.

The Leafs were on pace for 95 points, slowly falling out if a playoff spot...and, had they held on to a playoff berth...they almost assuredly would have played either Boston or Tampa in the first round.

The COVID Grandmother assured them pist-season play, gave them a much easier opponents in Columbus...and set them up with all of the first two rounds of the pist-season played in Toronto.

The fact that they failed yet again to take advantage of the gifts handed to them is irrelevant. The COVID Godmother left the Leafs in a far better place in 2020 than if the season had progressed normally without the COVID fix.

 

[The90]

The Leafs were on pace for 95 points, slowly falling out if a playoff spot...and, had they held on to a playoff berth...they almost assuredly would have played either Boston or Tampa in the first round.

The COVID Grandmother assured them pist-season play, gave them a much easier opponents in Columbus...and set them up with all of the first two rounds of the pist-season played in Toronto.

The fact that they failed yet again to take advantage of the gifts handed to them is irrelevant. The COVID Godmother left the Leafs in a far better place in 2020 than if the season had progressed normally without the COVID fix.

3 paragraphs and not once do you mention the original point: Montreal was 18th and 24th and wouldn’t have made the playoffs in either season of not for covid. But assuredly the leafs would have missed that 1 year lol.

The leafs for sure choked x2. But The mental gymnastics here are gold medal worthy. Well done.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

The Leafs were on pace for 95 points, slowly falling out if a playoff spot...and, had they held on to a playoff berth...they almost assuredly would have played either Boston or Tampa in the first round.

The COVID Grandmother assured them pist-season play, gave them a much easier opponents in Columbus...and set them up with all of the first two rounds of the pist-season played in Toronto.

The fact that they failed yet again to take advantage of the gifts handed to them is irrelevant. The COVID Godmother left the Leafs in a far better place in 2020 than if the season had progressed normally without the COVID fix.

Your use of the term COVID Godmother is borderline offensive. COVID has impacted a lot of people, it's not a joke to run down a team you don't like.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

3 paragraphs and not once do you mention the original point: Montreal was 18th and 24th and wouldn’t have made the playoffs in either season of not for covid. But assuredly the leafs would have missed that 1 year lol.

The leafs for sure choked x2. But The mental gymnastics here are gold medal worthy. Well done.

Huh?

I called Montreal a Cinderella team as well. The difference being the Hubs made the best of their invitation.

 

[The90]

Huh?

I called Montreal a Cinderella team as well. The difference being the Hubs made the best of their invitation.

That’s my point Who was the other Cinderella team? One of these things is not like the other.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

That’s my point Who was the other Cinderella team? One of these things is not like the other.

You're right.

The Habs Cinderella"ness" is based on their ability to have playoff success without regards to their regular season success. The fact that the Habs were able to establish themselves as contenders despite finishing 18th and 24th probably says more about how playoff bracketing should be changed to allow for more teams to compete for the SC...than it does anything else.

Regardless, this is a thread about the regular season. The fact that the Habs were a playoff Cinderella isn't relevant to the regular season.

For the Leafs...it is a whole other story. The Leafs Cinderella success story starts and ends in the regular season...with a one-off Canadian Division, no inter-divisional play, mashed up scheduling and a shortened season. Good luck in seeing that repeating itself again.

 

[The90]

You're right.

The Habs Cinderella"ness" is based on their ability to have playoff success without regards to their regular season success. The fact that the Habs were able to establish themselves as contenders despite finishing 18th and 24th probably says more about how playoff bracketing should be changed to allow for more teams to compete for the SC...than it does anything else.

Regardless, this is a thread about the regular season. The fact that the Habs were a playoff Cinderella isn't relevant to the regular season.

For the Leafs...it is a whole other story. The Leafs Cinderella success story starts and ends in the regular season...with a one-off Canadian Division, no inter-divisional play, mashed up scheduling and a shortened season. Good luck in seeing that repeating itself again.

So essentially the leafs who have made the playoffs on their own merit every year since matthews and Marner have been involved, aren’t likely to make it this year. But montreal, who if not for covid, would have missed 4/5 years during that time frame, including the last 3 years straight, are somehow going to make it, because, reasons. Seems legit.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Detroit got a lot tougher to play against last year. They’re still rebuilding but they bring the work ethic. They’ll still finish 2nd last but the gap between them and the teams above them will shrink considerably. For that reason I don’t see crazy point totals in the division this year. I think the division winner could finish with less than 105 points.

I think it could be a toss up for 4th place between Boston, Montreal and Ottawa with the surprise dark horse being Ottawa to make the playoffs.

I tend to bump my point total predictions up a bit due to the loser point. Even if a team is realistically only a "95 point quality team", with the loser point system in place that probably adds an extra 7-10 points to their totals from OT/SO losses.

So even in tight divisions where there are no easy points, you'll get a lot of 3-point games that will bump teams' point totals higher.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

They won a crap load of games and playoff games without goodrow and Coleman. However they now know how they want that line to play. With everything else in tact it will still be a challenge to replicate that but they don't necessarily need to be as good as those guys were just need to be effective at their jobs. The top 6, top 4 d and vasi are still near best in league.

True but Coleman-Goodrow-Gourde line is realistically a second line on most NHL teams, just Tampas third line.

 

[CupsOverCash]

True but Coleman-Goodrow-Gourde line is realistically a second line on most NHL teams, just Tampas third line.

Not taking anything away from them. They were awesome but just saying we don't need them to be that good.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Not taking anything away from them. They were awesome but just saying we don't need them to be that good.

Who is your third line slated to be this season?

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

So essentially the leafs who have made the playoffs on their own merit every year since matthews and Marner have been involved, aren’t likely to make it this year. But montreal, who if not for covid, would have missed 4/5 years during that time frame, including the last 3 years straight, are somehow going to make it, because, reasons. Seems legit.

What?

What I said was that picturing either the Leafs or the Habs to win the Atlantic requires roughly an equal amount of lunacy...as in , get real, neither team is realistically going to finish as division champions.

The diversions of making the playoffs, 18th and 24th place and the rest for the rabbit holes created on here...are not of my making.

 

[T REX]

Who is your third line slated to be this season?

Love Ross Colton on this line with maybe Perrry and Joseph or ABB

Cooper will figure but this Colton kid is a great replacement for Yanni

 

[Kublakhan]

I am horrified that none of you Have faith in my Sabres !!!

Just kidding we suck..

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Love Ross Colton on this line with maybe Perrry and Joseph or ABB

Cooper will figure but this Colton kid is a great replacement for Yanni

Is Colton a natural center?

 

[LucaBrasil]

Detroit will surprise many of you. I expect them at least at 5 if not 4.

 

[Beezeral]

Detroit will surprise many of you. I expect them at least at 5 if not 4.

Care to back up that prediction?

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

So essentially the leafs who have made the playoffs on their own merit every year since matthews and Marner have been involved, aren’t likely to make it this year. But montreal, who if not for covid, would have missed 4/5 years during that time frame, including the last 3 years straight, are somehow going to make it, because, reasons. Seems legit.

You're wasting your time, he doesn't even understand your point.

 

[Baksfamous112]

1. Florida - 110 pts playoffs
2. Tampa - 107 pts playoffs
3. Toronto - 102 pts playoffs
4. Boston - 100 pts playoffs (WC 2)
5. Ottawa - 87 pts miss playoffs
6. Detroit - 81 pts miss playoffs
7. Montreal - 74 pts miss playoffs
8. Buffalo - 65 pts miss playoffs


Hahahaha. Ok so let's say they were a good team even though they only made the playoffs because of the division they were in. They finished 9th in the East last year. The reason they had success was because it was a complete buy in defensively due to strong leadership and a great defensive system.

Since then they've lost their best d man and team captain Shea Weber. They lost their best defensive forward and shut down center Phil Danault. They lost Corey Perry veteran leader and warrior. Kotkaniemi might be on the way out with no replacement either. So 2 of their top 3 centers. They replaced them with David Savard who fits the mantra of the previous team but couldn't carry Webers jock around. Mike Hoffman one dimensional winger with a very poor history of character. Chris Wideman poor character history.... Mathieu Perreault and Cedric Paquette who can barely keep up... And what else? The teams entire mantra and reason they were competitive is gone.

Then let's take into account they had the shortest off season... They are going to stink.

Bold of you to put Detroit ahead of Montreal. In all honesty, I don’t think Kotkaniemi is a big factor to consider when you try to predict the standings. He had low end 3rd line production last year. It’s already been widely reported that if Bergevin let KK walk, another center is coming back in a trade. In the short term, Montreal might be much, much better with a Suzuki-Dvorak combo at C rather than a Suzuki-Kotkaniemi but we’ll see Saturday.

The loss of Danault on the ice and Weber in the room hurts a lot, so we’ll see how that work out next year. It’s really anyone’s guess at this point.

Who doesn’t get talked a lot but should is Boston. I think itms finally the year that they end up in the cave (or at least miss the playoff). They lost too many key pieces and if think Montreal has it bad at C, just take a look at their Center depth.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

You're wasting your time, he doesn't even understand your point.

Yeah, understanding strawman arguments and inane drivel are not one of my strengths.

 

[The90]

Yeah, understanding strawman arguments and inane drivel are not one of my strengths.

You’re honest at least. Would be nice if you tried to contribute something worthy of discussion to a thread instead of beating a dead horse repeatedly.

 

[Prominence Problem]

After their win, during the on-ice celebration, Ryan McDonough was interviewed and said this was a weird playoffs. The further Tampa Bay got, the easier their opponents became. He mentioned that by far the best team they played in the playoffs was the Florida Panthers.

I put $100 on them to win the Stanley Cup at +2400.

 

[Blowfish]

Shouldn't there be an Eastern and Western conference poll?