"As I gaze into my crystal ball..."

[turnbuckle*]

Rereading a thread from Oct. 16 entitled "let's be honest here, where are we. middle of the pack, maybe ?", and I came across these two posts I made:

"Another team I thought could surprise, and so far is doing just that, is Carolina. Cam Ward is the most underrated Calder candidate on the planet, and Eric Staal is the most underrated young star. Commodore, Hutchinson, Kaberle and Tverdovsky helped shore up the defence, while Zigomanis and Stillman add some offensive punch. Brind'amour is playing like he did during their Stanley Cup run, Vasicek is reaching his potential, and Vrbata and Williams are on the brink. I think the Canes will be challenging for a playoff berth a lot longer than anyone figured."

I...ahem...meant challenging for a Stanley Cup berth LOL.



Here's another post from that same thread:

"I don't think too much tinkering is needed to shore up the forward units.

Call up Murray, demote Dagenais.

Zed Koivu Kovy
Pleks Ribs Ryder
Bulis Bonk Perez/Sunny
Higgins Begin Murray/Sunny
Ivanans

Sit out Perez, Murray and Sunny a few games, depending on performance - even sit down Higgins for a game or two if he stagnates or shows signs of tiring.

Murray gives us a physical presence up front that can play a regular 4th- line shift without hurting the team. It is a component that has been missing from the Habs since Stevenson and Thornton."

Nostradamus has nothing on me - too bad it took Gainey a couple more months to figure it out, at least the call up Murray part anyway.

Next year, when I offer my opinions (prognostications), pay attention.

Anyone else have any "pat myself on the back" moments from the start of last season?

[Shabutie]

I said we shoulda gone for Selanne instead of Kovalev, that probably doesn't count for anything but gneh.

[Blind Gardien]

I think I predicted Chris Higgins would score at least 5 goals?

[Lestriker]

Believe me or not, when Huet didn't get presented to the crowd on game opener, I told my roomate that he would take Theo's spot before long... No kidding.

[Renholder]

I predicted that Kovy would be the leading scorer...to bad the bar wasn't very high this year ...

I want a few players in the high 70's or God Forbid...in the 80 or even the 90's next season...we're so middle of the pack it's not even funny.

[Teufelsdreck]

Originally Posted by Renholder

I predicted that Kovy would be the leading scorer...to bad the bar wasn't very high this year ...

I want a few players in the high 70's or God Forbid...in the 80 or even the 90's next season...we're so middle of the pack it's not even funny.

Too bad Kovy had knee surgery and missed 13 games. Might have gotten another 10-15 points, eh?

[Renholder]

That is absolutely true. That also says a lot about our supporting cast...nobody beside koivu was close to Kovy's output even after missing all that time in the clinic. Ribeiro , I'd asume, was expected to atleast match his stats of last season. It seems like he regressed. Ryder had a herniated disc on his spine so I'll cut him some slack. Zednik totally bombed, but he too missed quite a few with injuries.

Next season, I want the healthiest lineup we've had since a long time and for it to last all season long. It's wishful thinking, I know.

[RyanWhite53]

Anybody else find this self-righteous thread downright disgusting?


Giant who cares.

[Roy G Biv*]

Huet

[Kirk Muller*]

Originally Posted by Maniacal Visionary

Anybody else find this self-righteous thread downright disgusting?

Why?

He completely missed the mark on Mike Zigomanis. The guy scored one point this year. Just kidding, good job turnbuckle.

[turnbuckle*]

Originally Posted by Maniacal Visionary

Anybody else find this self-righteous thread downright disgusting?


Giant who cares.

Anybody else find this guy ignorant? You are easily defended aren't you? Jerk.

[turnbuckle*]

Originally Posted by Kirk Muller

Why?

He completely missed the mark on Mike Zigomanis. The guy scored one point this year. Just kidding, good job turnbuckle.

Hey - I also listed Hutchinson and Vrbata.. , and I merely stated that they were going to challenge for a playoff spot. I certainly didn't expect them to go to the confernce finals.

i find it neat to look back at our early season prognostications sometimes..I don't think there's a fan among us that thought the Canes could go all the way in October.

i also recall a pile of fans around here saying that Murray would never play a game in the NHL for the Habs (Maniacal Goofball was probably one of them), and at that time many were whining over the trade because Hossa got off to a fast start in New York. If anything this thread is a reminder not to count your chickens before they're hatched.

[Dan K]

Originally Posted by turnbuckle

Rereading a thread from Oct. 16 entitled "let's be honest here, where are we. middle of the pack, maybe ?", and I came across these two posts I made:

"Another team I thought could surprise, and so far is doing just that, is Carolina. Cam Ward is the most underrated Calder candidate on the planet, and Eric Staal is the most underrated young star. Commodore, Hutchinson, Kaberle and Tverdovsky helped shore up the defence, while Zigomanis and Stillman add some offensive punch. Brind'amour is playing like he did during their Stanley Cup run, Vasicek is reaching his potential, and Vrbata and Williams are on the brink. I think the Canes will be challenging for a playoff berth a lot longer than anyone figured."

I...ahem...meant challenging for a Stanley Cup berth LOL.



Here's another post from that same thread:

"I don't think too much tinkering is needed to shore up the forward units.

Call up Murray, demote Dagenais.

Zed Koivu Kovy
Pleks Ribs Ryder
Bulis Bonk Perez/Sunny
Higgins Begin Murray/Sunny
Ivanans

Sit out Perez, Murray and Sunny a few games, depending on performance - even sit down Higgins for a game or two if he stagnates or shows signs of tiring.

Murray gives us a physical presence up front that can play a regular 4th- line shift without hurting the team. It is a component that has been missing from the Habs since Stevenson and Thornton."

Nostradamus has nothing on me - too bad it took Gainey a couple more months to figure it out, at least the call up Murray part anyway.

Next year, when I offer my opinions (prognostications), pay attention.

Anyone else have any "pat myself on the back" moments from the start of last season?

No offense or anything buddy, but if you want to go find old predictions that you made that came true... shouldn't they be ones that actually came true?

Cam Ward is not a Calder candidate, and barely played at all during the latter half of the regular season. He could be a Conn Smyther candidate, but you had Carolina just fighting for a playoff spot, so...

Ok, yes, the call up Murray / demote Dagenais was right, and a number of us were hoping for something similar. But your line-up is not close to the one we found success with.

Higgins - Koivu - Ryder
Bulis/Zednik - Ribeiro - Kovalev
Bulis/Zednik - Plekanec - Perezhogin
Murray - Bonk - Begin

So I give this a resounding MEH.

[JV]

Originally Posted by Maniacal Visionary

Anybody else find this self-righteous thread downright disgusting?


Giant who cares.

Yup. Couldn't agree more.

[Fozz]

Originally Posted by Maniacal Visionary

Anybody else find this self-righteous thread downright disgusting?


Giant who cares.

Come on... Some people need that to get through the day.