Chipchura might end up being a decent player.. Sadly he's the kind of guy you don't necessarily want to acquire with the draft (esp with a first rounder).
He can still reach his potential as a good 3rd line C. He's already a NHLer.
Another couple former Habs prospects that I'm surprised are even in the NHL are JT Wyman (10 points in 31 games) and Ben Maxwell (4pts in 12 games).
It seems as if A. Kostitsyn has done it again. By "it", I mean get many multi-point games in a short period of time...and then disappear suddenly. Par the course of his entire career. He fits in perfectly in Nashville...since guys like Erat and Hornqvist are just like A. Kostitsyn. Career 50-point players who might go over that value once or twice.
It seems as if A. Kostitsyn has done it again. By "it", I mean get many multi-point games in a short period of time...and then disappear suddenly. Par the course of his entire career. He fits in perfectly in Nashville...since guys like Erat and Hornqvist are just like A. Kostitsyn. Career 50-point players who might go over that value once or twice.
and yet Nashville contends for the Stanley cup and the Habs are dead last.
and yet Nashville contends for the Stanley cup and the Habs are dead last.
When have they ever contended for the Stanley Cup? When they made the Seminfinals for the first time last season? Or are you talking about this year when half their team is made up of rental players?
When you enter the playoffs, you are by default a cup contender.
I get that... and anything can happen once the playoffs start, but even if the Preds can understandably be considered favorites by some, they've yet to prove if the changes they've made will take them to the next level in their quest for the Holy Grail. And while I don't wish for AKost to fail, I doubt he'll make a difference in the end result.
I get that... and anything can happen once the playoffs start, but even if the Preds can understandably be considered favorites by some, they've yet to prove if the changes they've made will take them to the next level in their quest for the Holy Grail. And while I don't wish for AKost to fail, I doubt he'll make a difference in the end result.
Yeah I know. I was just stating the obvious
I think the Preds only won 1 playoffs round in their history so they still have a lot to prove.
I think the Preds only won 1 playoffs round in their history so they still have a lot to prove.
I wanted to be cutesy by paraphrasing "vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué"... but to me, being a contender means more than just being in contention for the Cup (heck, more than half the teams make it to the dance - and not all on merit): it actually means that you've got the tools to go all the way (if that even makes sense ), and as you've also pointed out, the Preds have yet to prove their REAL worth. You can't help but respect and admire what players like Weber, Suter and Rinne bring to the game, but does any team in the league really think the Preds are a threat - a major stumbling block on their way to the Cup?
and yet Nashville contends for the Stanley cup and the Habs are dead last.
Having a good defense corps and good goaltending can do "that" for you. However, "that" is not contending for the Cup, but rather just making the playoffs and maybe with a little luck, go on a deep run. Nashville obviously did not get any "luck"...or perhaps bubble teams really can't generate much luck in the first place...
In their prior years, except for last year, they were booted out of the 1st round. Last year, they were soundly hammered by a Vancouver team that outmatched them. Vancouver had an equally good D if not better corps, a slightly worse goalie, and much better threats on offense.
Anyway, I believe the hypothesis that Andrei Kostitsyn is mediocre on the statsheet has yet to be disproven. Neither bad nor good, but something inbetween. It is observed that while he has usually produce points at a pace higher than half of the games in his career, the amount of games he actually scored in is less than half of the games played. He has not experienced a renaissance in his brief time in Nashville, but rather another "explode-and-then-dissipate" period in his career.
I wanted to be cutesy by paraphrasing "vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué"... but to me, being a contender means more than just being in contention for the Cup (heck, more than half the teams make it to the dance - and not all on merit): it actually means that you've got the tools to go all the way (if that even makes sense ), and as you've also pointed out, the Preds have yet to prove their REAL worth. You can't help but respect and admire what players like Weber, Suter and Rinne bring to the game, but does any team in the league really think the Preds are a threat - a major stumbling block on their way to the Cup?
Why not? I simply don't see a dominate team in the west - not even St. Louis - so in essence all western teams are stumbling blocks on the road to the Cup. There's a lot of parity there, so I think the west is pretty wide open. The Preds have the best goalkeeper in the west in Rinne. I think that gives the Preds a huge advantage because none of the other team's goalies impress me all that much.
Meanwhile in the east, Ottawa, Washington & Florida are clearly inferior to NYR, Pens & Flyers. New Jersey & Boston are complete wild cards. I'd be absolutely shocked if Pens (who will finish first in the NHL) are upset in the 1st round. St. Louis might be favored in the 1st rd, but I wouldn't be shocked if they lost. I mean Dallas who is in 8th in the west is only 2 pts back of Boston. The Pacific division leader seems to change nightly. Anyone who makes the playoffs in the west can win whereas the same cannot be said about the east which has clear favorites.
I wanted to be cutesy by paraphrasing "vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué"... but to me, being a contender means more than just being in contention for the Cup (heck, more than half the teams make it to the dance - and not all on merit): it actually means that you've got the tools to go all the way (if that even makes sense ), and as you've also pointed out, the Preds have yet to prove their REAL worth. You can't help but respect and admire what players like Weber, Suter and Rinne bring to the game, but does any team in the league really think the Preds are a threat - a major stumbling block on their way to the Cup?
I did not, since Vancouver could perform a repeat of last year even with the addition of a faceoff master and yet another 50-point forward. Detroit need not much explanation, and Chicago, with their firepower, even with bouts of inconsistency, could tear them in quite well.
But now I think, perhaps with Radulov...they might finally be the next upset wonder...but they still won't win the Cup...especially if Pittsburgh, Boston, or the Rags makes it to the Finals.
On another note, If the Sens keep falling in the standing, only ONE Canadian based team will make the playoffs.... The Canucks....(Mayor and policemen are bracing for that one)
The last time I thought Pittsburgh would be unstoppable in the playoffs was 1992-93. There was however one team that could stop them: The New York Islanders.
I see Pittsburgh coming out of the Eastern Conference this time. Other than them the East is weak.
I see Nashville coming out of the western conference. They were the 5th place team and then they picked up Hal Gill, Andrei Kostitsyn, Paul Gaustad, and Alexander Radulov.
Having a good defense corps and good goaltending can do "that" for you. However, "that" is not contending for the Cup, but rather just making the playoffs and maybe with a little luck, go on a deep run. Nashville obviously did not get any "luck"...or perhaps bubble teams really can't generate much luck in the first place...
In their prior years, except for last year, they were booted out of the 1st round. Last year, they were soundly hammered by a Vancouver team that outmatched them. Vancouver had an equally good D if not better corps, a slightly worse goalie, and much better threats on offense.
Anyway, I believe the hypothesis that Andrei Kostitsyn is mediocre on the statsheet has yet to be disproven. Neither bad nor good, but something inbetween. It is observed that while he has usually produce points at a pace higher than half of the games in his career, the amount of games he actually scored in is less than half of the games played. He has not experienced a renaissance in his brief time in Nashville, but rather another "explode-and-then-dissipate" period in his career.
That is so wrong, Nashville has 4 balanced lines that can all score, best duo in defense, best goalie in the West, and best coach in the NHL.
Watching only the Habs does that to you dude. I am pretty sure that aside from a couple of playoffs games and some highlights on sport 30 you never watched any nashville games.
As for being hammered by Vancouver last playoff that is just...
That is so wrong, Nashville has 4 balanced lines that can all score, best duo in defense, best goalie in the West, and best coach in the NHL.
Watching only the Habs does that to you dude. I am pretty sure that aside from a couple of playoffs games and some highlights on sport 30 you never watched any nashville games.
As for being hammered by Vancouver last playoff that is just...
Don't falsely accuse me when I know sat on my ass for three hours late into the night for those games and even commented on them then right on hfboards.
Watched a full game against LA...in which they won, mind you...they struggled to clear the puck out of their zone and had rode Rinne. Same thing happened in the next game against the Canes, but with an OT loss.
A top duo is nice, but the other remaining two pairs are critical, and those pairs "goodness" are debateable.
Don't falsely accuse me when I know sat on my ass for three hours late into the night for those games and even commented on them then right on hfboards.
Watched a full game against LA...in which they won, mind you...they struggled to clear the puck out of their zone and had rode Rinne. Same thing happened in the next game against the Canes, but with an OT loss.
A top duo is nice, but the other remaining two pairs are critical, and those pairs "goodness" are debateable.
I hope by pairs you mean Gill the pylon. But even old Gill could become useful in the playoffs.
Good job on sitting on your ass for 3 hours and posting your thoughts on hf boards, I commend you for that.
I hope by pairs you mean Gill the pylon. But even old Gill could become useful in the playoffs. Good job on sitting on your ass for 3 hours and posting your thoughts on hf boards, I commend you for that.
Is that supposed to be sarcasm? You accused me of not even watching the games. It seems that since I strongly countered that accusation, you now seem to be attacking me for actually watching some games. How contradictory.
Klein, Blum, Boullion, Gill, Josi. These Dmen do not provide much supplemental scoring for Nashville. Hence, they must be defensive stalwarts or else Nashville has areas open for exploitation.
Consider the following as food for thought:
Despite having an elite goalie that is superior to ours, Nashville's goals against per game(GA/G) this season is actually worse than our GA/G last season and only slightly better than our GA/G this season.
Nashville's GA/G: 2.57
Our's this year: 2.67
Our's last year: 2.51
), and as you've also pointed out, the Preds have yet to prove their REAL worth. You can't help but respect and admire what players like Weber, Suter and Rinne bring to the game, but does any team in the league really think the Preds are a threat - a major stumbling block on their way to the Cup?
