The Official 2008-2009 NHL Thread

Heh, alrighty. I'd much rather Shanny went elsewhere (like Montreal!), but even if the Devils get him it won't make a difference. I'm hoping this is the year hockey's most boring team finally misses the playoffs.

hahahah, well devils have rolston feeding elias now, we're gonna have some beastly scoring. they were clicking against the rangers very well so i like what i see. don't forget that the scoring leader of nhl in 2000 was the devils with the similar line up.

shanahan has kids in new york so he said rangers and devils are the only option he can see.

The Islanders would probably sign him to a ten year deal at 7.5 per year, haha.

brodeur is going to break every goalie record there is this season, i think probably around christmas mark he should own wins, and by the end of the season he'll have most minutes, most shots against, and most shutouts.

i would laugh my ass off if shanny went to the islanders, what a joke that team is.

The Devils could miss the playoffs and he would still hit those milestones (save for shutouts, as I think 8 is pretty optimistic). There's no doubt Brodeur will go down as the greatest regular season goaltender ever by any statistical measure, but the team in front of him is pretty suspect this season.

devils will go far into the playoffs this year.

Heh, I doubt it. Rolston was a solid acquisition, but he's damned old (as is Bobby Holik). Your D is still incredibly mediocre, and Brodeur has yet to get your team anywhere without superstars on the blueline. Your offence has improved slightly, but this is still a team who's top scorer had 65 points last season. There are three teams in your division alone who I think can stomp the Devils flat. As usual, you have no back-up for Brodeur, so even if you do make the playoffs he'll have played 70+ games and will be dead tired by the time the playoffs start.

weekes is a great backup, and lundqvist is def injured this season. we have alot of high scorers that slumped last year without a good center, this year rolston will make everyone look much better. i see no problems with the defense, they are doing very well so far in the preseason, no mistakes. i think we will be first or second in the division, flyers sharing the standings.

You seriously think you guys will finish higher than the Penguins? And that Weekes is a 'great' back-up? Would that be why he played nine whole games last season, and has a sub 30% career winning average? I wish I had some of whatever you're snorting.

he didn't play last year because devils started like shit and needed to catch up and no one is going to sit brodeur to put any backup in. i don't expect penguins to finish first or second, but they'll make the playoffs, so will the rangers. bottom line, we'll wait and see. no need to argue until december.

I'm sorry, you lost me at 2000. It's actually 2008 right now, almost a decade later.

You mean Minnesota, right? Or Vancouver?


FWIW, Rolston would be a 2nd or third line center on most teams and I really doubt his presence, along with an average defense, will be enough to top Pittsburgh. Especially given that, at this stage in their careers, Fleury and Brodeur are probably on the same level.

Pittsburgh has better forwards (by a huge margin), better D, equal goaltending, more depth.

Marian Gaborik alone is more entertaining than the Devils (save maybe Parise), great physical presence (the Boogaards!) and crazy fans. Vancouver might give the Devils a run, but I live with a Canucks nut, so I allow myself to care ever so slightly more.

I just got back from seeing the Leafs beat the Blues in a shootout. Good game, though it took a while to pick up the pace.

I'm jealous. Go Blues

Oh, and Luke Schenn is fucking awesome. The future of the Leafs organization, no doubt.

lol I was there too. It was a lot of fun.

No shit? Where were you sitting?

Section 319 (nosebleeds ftw). Where were you?

Man I was so fucking happy when Schenn scored. I thought the game was lost when it went to the shootout.

We weren't too far apart. I was up in 324, row 14.

I didn't think the shootout was going to work for us at all, especially when they put Luke out there, but wow he surprised me.

Hopefully this doesn't prompt you boys to rush him. You don't want him as a free agent at age 25 if he turns out the way he might.

Also, I'll be seeing the Leafs get mauled by my Habs in November. Mwahaha.

LET'S GO LIGHTNING AND SENATORS!!!!!!!

damn tampa defense sucked ass, they need a defensive leader for sure, well i hope they win tomorrow.

Go Sens Go!

yes yes, go sens go!

go montreal go

Can't afford to fuck up against Heatley, Alfie and Spezza. Love those guys.

Matt Carle logged 29 minutes of ice time for Tampa tonight. Wow.

I just realized that this thread does not have this:

The Philadelphia Flyers will win the 2009 Stanley Cup.

oh god lol

Only 7 wins away last year

The Philadelphia Flyers won't even make the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs.

nah, all of atlantic minus islanders will make the playoffs.

LOL what? What makes you so sure that a team who can bounce from 30th to 4th in one year will suddenly be in the bottom 14 teams?

lol

and what makes you so sure they will win the Stanley Cup? I'm pretty sure I have a higher chance percentage of being right than you

it's sarcasm, he knows they won't make it.

hopefully

Also, his math is fuzzy. The Flyers went from being 30th in the league to sixth in their conference. They'll probably make the playoffs, but they aren't exactly a lock for it.

I think the blackhawks, blues, and lightning are all gonna have much improved seasons and make the playoffs.

The Blues will make the playoffs? Yeah right. They're going to be one of the worst teams in the league, again.

I seriously doubt it, they have a lot of young players and it will be another rebuilding year but I think they will still be good enough to sneak in there.

Last year we were really solid until the second half of the season where it just fell apart for some reason and we couldn't get any scoring from our veterans. If paul kariya and andy mcdonald can play up to their potential as well as some of the growing young stars like david perron, lee stepniak, david backes, patrick berglund, and t.j. oshie, our season could go pretty well. I know its just preseason and it doesn't matter at all, but the blues were the top scoring team in the NHL after their most recent game (not sure if it has changed since then). And one of the biggest problems we had was a total lack of a backup goalie and Chris Mason will be a huge improvement over what we had last year.

Blues will not make the playoffs without EJ. Their division is too competitive now and Johnson's injury came too late in the offseason for the Blues to acquire a suitable replacement.

Oshie and Berglund are unproven, Kariya and MacDonald are aging, Perron, Stepniak and Backes are good young players, but still not enough to compete with guys like Datsyuk, Toews and Nash.

Out of curiosity, have the Blues finalized their roster yet? I'm anxious to see if Pietrangelo made the cut.

Of course, if it's any consolation St Louis right now looks a lot like Chicago did last year.

True EJ's injury really hurts us, but it gives our new draft pick Alex Pietrangelo a big chance to step up and fill those shoes, and if he can play like he has so far in pre-season he may be able to have a big impact.

The Western Conference is far too strong for St. Louis to have a prayer. Besides the fact that the Blues have to play the Wings eight times per year, Detroit, San Jose, Anaheim, Dallas and at least one Northwestern team are locks for the playoffs. That leaves the Blues competing with Calgary, Edmonton, Chicago, Nashville, Phoenix, Colorado, Minnesota and Vancouver for the remaining three spots, all of whom have very legitimate chances of making it to the dance. The Blues have good goaltending and decent D (or did before Johnson went down), but their offence is just about the biggest joke in the NHL.

bring back Pierre Turgeon!

Actually we just play detroit 6 times this year with the new schedule, and last year we actually did well against them, I think we basically split the series.

I know our offense was pathetic last year but I think it will be significantly improved this year. It will still probably be our weak point, but last year definitely was worse that it should have been.

By 4th I meant getting to the Eastern Conference Finals.