He should be successful anywhere, but I hope it's not Columbus or Calgary. Columbus, other than their track record- would be boring to see Yakupov there. He is not going to make them a SC contender. Calgary doesn't seem to like Russian prospects much. Yakupov is slightly different, but still.
You seem to be hard-set on this. Who finishes below Ottawa? And why don't you think they'll finish last?
Why?!?!?!?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kershaw
They have a chance with two horrible goalies, a young defense with 2 over the hill veterans. The Ottawa Senators are a good bet to allow the most goals this year.
Horrible? We dunno about that....for the most part Anderson's been very good coming to Ottawa, we'd need a 12 million dollar goalie to make up for the defensive breakdowns in the first several games.
With 2 blue chip rookies the chance they develop considerably through their first season is decent. Cowen and Rundblad already are starting to find their feet it seems.
Keep in mind the first 5 losses the Sens had were against 5 teams that had lost 1 game between them. I think we're a lottery team...last place is possible, but I'd wait to see who can get their feet under them before proclaiming the undisputed last place favourite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The OttoMan
Dont start him.
Yeah, please. What he said. There is no sense arguing with him no matter how ridiculous he is being....even if there's that slight off chance he's right.
Have a feeling its a western team.
I think Calgary. Not that they have a Bad team right now, but i think they stay middle of the pack and Sutter decides to blow it up a bit.
I know you Ontarioans think you're the Center of the Universe but do try and keep up. Sutters not the Flame's GM anymore.
Thats said, Preseason I was sure of Ottawa, now I think it'll be Winnipeg, just hope for not Columbus
I'm with this guy. I thought Ottawa had the edge going in, but honestly, Winnipeg is just a miserable hockey team. Columbus is still a question mark, but I didn't have them bottom 3 at the start of the year so I'm willing to bet they shape up.
Columbus at this point has to be in the mix. I realize its early, but in 2009-2010 the Leafs started 0-7-1 and after that went 30-31-13. They ended up 2nd last overall. Had they had that 30-31-13 pace in the first 8 games, they would have finished with 81 points, giving the Bruins 8th overall that year.
So 7 or 8 games may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but it does make a difference. The Leafs played close to 500 hockey after those 8 games and still wound up 2nd last. Columbus needs to play around 500 the rest of the year to avoid 1st overall. I think they are capable, but it has to start soon.
Nail Yakupov will be drafted by the Ottawa Senators. Senators fans may not think so, but their forward roster looks to be the weakest in the NHL and their defense, although quite skilled, is young and a bit of a mess in their own end. Anderson is certainly capable of stepping up in net and stealing games, but Sens fans shouldn't count on that happening on too many occasions.
Keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I'm in no way trolling the Senators. They're actually my 2nd favourite Canadian team and I love the direction they're going on. Objectively, I just don't see a worse roster in the NHL than that of the Senators.
Nail Yakupov will be drafted by the Ottawa Senators. Senators fans may not think so, but their forward roster looks to be the weakest in the NHL and their defense, although quite skilled, is young and a bit of a mess in their own end. Anderson is certainly capable of stepping up in net and stealing games, but Sens fans shouldn't count on that happening on too many occasions.
Keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I'm in no way trolling the Senators. They're actually my 2nd favourite Canadian team and I love the direction they're going on. Objectively, I just don't see a worse roster in the NHL than that of the Senators.
Hopefully Winnipeg, he'd be huge for their franchise, and they'll be out of the east soon enough so he won't be beating up on my Leafs I don't really think Columbus will finish close enough to last to snag him, but he'd be huge for the Jackets too, could be a franchise saver like Crosby in Pittsburgh or Ovechkin in Washington. Don't wanna see him rotting in Phoenix, and don't wanna see him in Ottawa because they're Leafs rivals.
I really don't want to have to dig up the stats again, but Anderson has better stats than both Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak over the last 4 years. Dunno where this misconception has come from that he's a horrible goalie.
Just watch Ottawa play. They've had some early season struggles because they've played some of the hotter teams in the NHL right now and they're a team full of rookies, new players, players returning from injury, a new coach and a brand new system. Even with that they've managed to dominate Minnesota and Winnipeg, and make games against Detroit, Toronto and Washington (they should have won this one) competitive. They've really only played two bad games this year.
Ottawa is a far cry from being as horrible as teams like Edmonton, Winnipeg and Phoenix. Columbus and Calgary have also looked really bad. Really don't know where this sudden confidence has come from in Edmonton considering they haven't changed their roster pretty much at all.
I really don't want to have to dig up the stats again, but Anderson has better stats than both Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak over the last 4 years. Dunno where this misconception has come from that he's a horrible goalie.
Just watch Ottawa play. They've had some early season struggles because they've played some of the hotter teams in the NHL right now and they're a team full of rookies, new players, players returning from injury, a new coach and a brand new system. Even with that they've managed to dominate Minnesota and Winnipeg, and make games against Detroit, Toronto and Washington (they should have won this one) competitive. They've really only played two bad games this year.
Ottawa is a far cry from being as horrible as teams like Edmonton, Winnipeg and Phoenix. Columbus and Calgary have also looked really bad. Really don't know where this sudden confidence has come from in Edmonton considering they haven't changed their roster pretty much at all.
Ottawa won't be a bottom 5 team this year.
They may have been the two worst games played by any team this year, at home to boot.
You haven't watched any of those teams play every night, you may have caught them at their worst. What if someone caught us against Colorado and only then...
After their 5th loss of the year the teams they had lost to had combined for 1 loss. They could move to 3-0 against non-playoff teams tonight and they don't exactly have a tough sched in the coming week. If they get through to next saturday with 2-3 wins it may be a little clearer they aren't the last place team everyone expects they are.
I'd say lottery is very realistic. How good the Sens are will depend largely on the development of Cowen, Rundblad, Zibanejad (assuming he sticks) and then the goaltending of Anderson. Rundblad and Cowen are taking steps already it will be interesting to see how many minutes they are getting by Christmas. They've shown nice flashes...I do believe by the end of the year Rundblad and Zibanejad will make very big improvements. Zibanejad in particular is already a strong NHL skater that gets around the rink very easily and has flashed a ton of high end raw ability. I think he's a top 10 prospect in the game and surer bet then Rundblad.
Last edited by Minister of Offence: 10-22-2011 at 02:45 PM.
Winnipeg seem like frontrunners and I'd love that because they would be off to the West after this season.
Other teams that could be in it: Coyotes (I can't imagine how that will go), Sens, Edmonton, Columbus...and there are always those teams that start off great and then collapse like the Avs did last season.. so yeah it's not as clear cut as the last two years where everyone knew it was the Oilers..the only question was who.
This year it's 100% Yakupov, we just don't know who it'll be that gets him.
I don't really think Columbus will finish close enough to last to snag him, but he'd be huge for the Jackets too, could be a franchise saver like Crosby in Pittsburgh or Ovechkin in Washington. Don't wanna see him rotting in Phoenix, and don't wanna see him in Ottawa because they're Leafs rivals.
