Been saying it since January that this team is better. They have that extra little something special that the previous teams lacked. Maybe not as talented top to bottom, although with the deadline additions and Radulov they might be, but this team has more "want to" if you will. Other than last week (EDM/PIT) they've never been out of a game, and all those 3rd period comebacks prove that they will keep working and never give up on a game.
I think it's hard to tell exactly what we have here.
Since the trade deadline, we've added 4 pieces and have a couple of key injuries (Josi, Wilson). Suter has been playing pretty bad since the AS break. Rinne has had a really bad stretch.
So it's hard to judge exactly what we have over 2-6 games. Hopefully it all comes together once the playoffs start.
1st lines -- kariya legwand erat is better than sk fisher erat .. kariya was that good
2nd lines -- sullivan arnott dumont is definitely better than hornqvist legwand radulov. this was at a time when the SAD line was really good for us
3rd lines -- hartnell forsberg radulov is considerably better than ak spaling bourque (changes) .. not even close
4th lines -- halischuk gaustad tootoo/yip is way better all around than the SHT line of hordichuk smithson tootoo ..
defense of weber, suter, timonen, zidlicky, hamhuis, and zanon (?) is better from top to bottom and deeper although obviously weber and suter are lots of better in 2012 form..
and in goal rinne is considerably better than vokoun.
overall 2012 is noticeably better and I think they would win by talent alone. unless rinne stole the series. but who knows, I'm looking completely on paper
Kariya, Sullivan, Arnott and Forsberg(if all were healthy) were definitely better than any forward on this team right now(except maybe Radulov) but this years team plays much better top to bottom.
Leggy and Erat are a wash, SK is =or > Dumont, Hornqvist > 2007 Hartnell and 2012 Rads appears to be significantly more well rounded than 2007 Rads
Wilson/halischuk/Spaling/AK/borque and 2012 Tootoo are all substantially better than Fiddler/Smithson/Nichol/2007Tootoo(which is why I think 2012 would beat 2007...)
2012 Weber/Suter > Timonen/Zidlicky
Klein = 2007 Hamhuis
not sure how 2007 Weber/Suter match up with Josi and Ellis but its not a huge difference
and again, Rinne > Vokoun, who, in retrospect, was probably already past his prime by 2007
edit I see you broke it down by line above.. I think player by player it looks a little more balanced
1st lines -- kariya legwand erat is better than sk fisher erat .. kariya was that good
2nd lines -- sullivan arnott dumont is definitely better than hornqvist legwand radulov. this was at a time when the SAD line was really good for us
3rd lines -- hartnell forsberg radulov is considerably better than ak spaling bourque (changes) .. not even close
4th lines -- halischuk gaustad tootoo/yip is way better all around than the SHT line of hordichuk smithson tootoo ..
defense of weber, suter, timonen, zidlicky, hamhuis, and zanon (?) is better from top to bottom and deeper although obviously weber and suter are lots of better in 2012 form..
and in goal rinne is considerably better than vokoun.
overall 2012 is noticeably better and I think they would win by talent alone. unless rinne stole the series. but who knows, I'm looking completely on paper
looking back, it is just a damn shame that we had the injuries we had at playoff time in 2007
This year our talent depth is better with two way players than 2007 was. 06-07 were probably better offensively at least during the regular season. But both in 05-06 and 06-07 the offense didn't translate well to the playoffs.
This years Preds don't have a Kariya. Perhaps Radulov can be that guy we will see.
2012 forward depth and balance is much better than 2007. 2007 might have been more offensively productive but that team lacked guys like Spaling,Gaustad etc. to play the PK and shut teams down.
The defense this year is better playoff equipped as well. 2007 defense was sexy on paper but it really lacked a guy like Hal Gill. The 2007 team could have used a Gill badly. Weber and Suter were still green then and while Kimmo,Zids and Hammer were good it just wasn't a balanced Defense.
Rinne>Vokoun easily.
This team is much more balanced. Let's see what happens.
2007's "leaders" we're heartless scarecrows like Arnott and Kariya.
This is the best "team" from top to bottom tha we've ever had. People look at the point total and think one thing, but those that watched all of the games could tell you that more often than not, we'd use a timely goal to win a game we had no business winning.
I think its impossible to say this team has more of "blah, blah".. im looking at talent alone and its not close imo. I do agree pf24.. this team is more suited for a playoff run with our line up but I thought the same thing in 07.. so who knows
just wasn't a balanced Defense.
Rinne>Vokoun easily.
Goalie play is very unpredictable. See Rinne's recent stretch.
A guy like Thomas caught fire last year at the right time and propelled the Bruins to the cup. But just as easily, goalie can get cold. Rinne has been decent in the playoffs, but is still largely unproven.
Kariya was great during the regular season but didn't show up for the playoffs.
Sullivan was injured and did not dress at all for the playoffs.
Erat was hurt in the 3rd game and did not play the last 2 games.
Radulov got suspended for a game.
I think the top 6 that year of Arnott, Dumont, Kariya, Legwand, Erat, Hartnell, were probably better than our current top 6 offensively, but are not as good 2 way players as our current top 6.
However, our current bottom 6 if they get healthy, Wilson, AK, Gaustad, Smith, Bourque, Halishuk, Yip, Spaling is light years beyond that 07 team.
Defensively, I think our top pairing is better than the top pairing that year, after that though, it gets close.
Goaltending is a wash, both goalies were great when they were hot, bad when they weren't.
