GDT: PRESEASON: Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Carolina Hurricane Joaquin Phoenixes

[Navin R Slavin]

Hearing PA guy for the first time


oh god no

So much better than Wednesday. You have no clue what true horror is.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Anyway, they looked pretty good. This strikes me as a decent team that can stay somewhere near the playoff line. That's all they need to be this year, I think.

 

[carolinacanuck]

The highlights: Wooo lets do a line of coke and string some clips together and scream random things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol seriously.

it's like they weren't sure whether to .gif them or stream them. how bout both at the same time!?!

 

[nobuddy]

i hope you all enjoyed our longest winning streak of the year.

 

[Novacane]

Your diagnosis isn't the end

 

[What the Faulk]

While you're right, I do agree with SG. The roster just isn't that impressive, and I'm just not seeing a lineup that's significantly better than last year. When I said I was optimistic, it was under the condition that they added more free agents, there weren't debilitating injuries, and people rebounded (as I still expect some to). The pieces are falling into place, but I'm not sure they're there yet. If Peters can bring them into contention, then I'll take back my reservations on him because that would be a heck of a job.

But the last few years, I have gone into the season thinking that "this'll be the year that they really improve" and I've been wrong, so maybe a bit of pessimism is the way to go (wait did I just contradict myself)

 

[nobuddy]

i was mostly joking, i'm probably more optimistic about this team than pretty much anybody on this board.


we still won't be very good, but I've got us 5th in the division.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

I don't even think 5th is optimistic. They have a better roster than New Jersey and are arguably the same as Philadelphia. They could easily finish 5th, ~23rd overall in the League.

One of Islanders/Columbus falling, falling down and the 'Canes stealing the 4th spot is optimistic. That would leave them at higher than 18th overall imo.

 

[nobuddy]

I don't even think 5th is optimistic. They have a better roster than New Jersey and are arguably the same as Philadelphia. They could easily finish 5th, ~23rd overall in the League.

One of Islanders/Columbus falling, falling down and the 'Canes stealing the 4th spot is optimistic. That would leave them at higher than 18th overall imo.

we're better than columbus. book it.

washington
pittsburgh
nyr
nyi
carolina
philadelphia
columbus
new jersey

 

[Novacane]

I want whatever you all are smoking. The only team we might be better than is NJ and they finished 7 points ahead of us

 

[nobuddy]

I want whatever you all are smoking. The only team we might be better than is NJ and they finished 7 points ahead of us

we were the unluckiest team in the league last year and that's not even taking the injuries into account.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

The goaltending and offense were unsustainably bad. Former was far below League average, as well as Ward's average (which isn't good anyway) and they added Lack. Latter, their offensive numbers were not in line with their possession numbers.

Odds are- as in, the thing with the largest chance to happen, which doesn't preclude other scenarios- that those improve. Simply because it's very unlikely they get worse.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I want whatever you all are smoking. The only team we might be better than is NJ and they finished 7 points ahead of us

smoking is bad for you tbh

 

[Novacane]

The offense is a mess. The defense is a mess. We know what Ward is. There's no chance we're better than Columbus.

 

[DaveG]

I want whatever you all are smoking. The only team we might be better than is NJ and they finished 7 points ahead of us

I honestly think we'll be not just slightly but EASILY better then Jersey... In fact I don't think there's a might about this one. I think we're probably better then the Flyers too (they have better O, we have better D and I'm still not sold on Mason).


I don't think we're better the CBus though, they were absolutely decimated by injuries last year. I think they have a bounce back year that puts them in the Wild Card mix.

I think we're also EASILY better then the Leafs and Sabres, and probably better then the Bruins.

So basically I have us in the Wild Card conversation, but just a bit outside.

 

[Novacane]

I honestly think we'll be not just slightly but EASILY better then Jersey... In fact I don't think there's a might about this one. I think we're probably better then the Flyers too (they have better O, we have better D and I'm still not sold on Mason).


I don't think we're better the CBus though, they were absolutely decimated by injuries last year. I think they have a bounce back year that puts them in the Wild Card mix.

I think we're also EASILY better then the Leafs and Sabres, and probably better then the Bruins.

So basically I have us in the Wild Card conversation, but just a bit outside.

I just don't see how anyone can look at the offense and think "that's a team that can make the playoffs". Not even close. 6th in the division is the high water mark for this team.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Bubble team out imo

As others have pointed out, the offense was unsustainably bad last season when looking at our possession numbers. And of course, there was the Jordan Staal injury that imploded our season right from the get go. I don't think we're a playoff team, but we're certainly more competitive on a game by game basis than a lot of outsiders are giving us credit for.

 

[DaveG]

I think we're still a year or two away from really being a true contender for the playoffs. We'll be in the WC mix this year by simple virtue of our luck-based stats improving and upgrading from Khudobin (who was awful last year) to Lack (who's been consistently good behind a meh D in Vancouver).

Plus I'm expecting breakout years from Lindholm and Rask, and a bounceback year from both Skinner and Eric.


We're still in "if everything goes right" mode for even squeaking in to a Wild Card slot. Last year just happened to be a view of what "if everything goes wrong" mode looks like for this team.

 

[Ole Gil]

I just don't see how anyone can look at the offense and think "that's a team that can make the playoffs". Not even close. 6th in the division is the high water mark for this team.

Two things on the offense:

1) They're healthy. This team hasn't been healthy since 12-13.

2) Nobody knows what they are going to do offensively. It's better to expect good numbers, but if you can't, not knowing what to expect is better than expecting mediocre numbers.

 

[Cane mutiny]

I think there's a good possibility we could be a bubble team with out major injuries, and with a little bit of luck coming our way. Otherwise, I see us picking 7/8-ish.

 

[DaveG]

I think there's a good possibility we could be a bubble team with out major injuries, and with a little bit of luck coming our way. Otherwise, I see us picking 7/8-ish.

Doesn't sound too far off.

IMHO we're clearly better then Buffalo, Toronto, New Jersey, and Arizona. On par at worst with Edmonton, Vancouver, and Boston. And probably on par with Philly (depends on Mason). A pick around 7 or 8 sounds completely reasonable this year with the chance to finish higher if we have the inverse luck to what we had last year, or if another borderline team (Columbus, Isles, etc.) run in to significant injury problems while we stay mostly healthy.

Our problem is in the depth department, that's where we're lacking up front. If we run in to an injury from any of our first tier talent (Eric, Skinner, Lindholm) the B tier talent we have in place isn't good enough to step in to their roles, aside from MAYBE Jordan. A more proven top 4 dman option then Hanifin would be nice too, but if the kid's the real deal he's the real deal.

 

[Novacane]

Went to the Columbus preseason game today. They look really good. Like REALLY GOOD.

Also that cannon is ****ing LOUD

 

[the halleJOKEL]

the blue jackets are going to be really good this year

they would have been really good last year if they didn't lose their entire roster to various sorts of death

 

[nobuddy]

the blue jackets are going to be really good this year

they would have been really good last year if they didn't lose their entire roster to various sorts of death

hmmmmmm


nope

 

[the halleJOKEL]

i will fight u at a bojangles irl over this