Official 2010-2011 NHL Thread

[BC in SK]

Vancouver vs. San Jose
I like this match up. Two great teams......the winner will probably go on and win the stanley cup. Should be more wide open and a lot more exciting then the Vancouver-Nashville series. I'm expecting the Sedin twins to play a lot better with out Shea Weber and Ryan Suter there to shut them down. Vancouver in 7.

Boston vs. Tampa Bay
Boston's really got to change something(?) to try and shore up their dismal power play. Tampa bay has the best penalty kill of any team left. And Tampa's power play is lethal. Specialty teams could very well be the downfall of Boston. Tampa Bay in 6.

 

[Mattyou]

Im hoping for the Lightning and San Jose with a Lightning Stanley Cup.

 

[BC in SK]

Vancouver vs. Boston
Should be a great series. Still think Boston's lagging powerplay is a weakness that will do them in. Vancouver's PP, if it continues at the same percentage, could end up being an NHL playoff record. Then again Tim Thomas is good enough to steal the series.... but so could Luongo. Vancouver is 6.

 

[Joe M]

Wow I never saw this thread before today. Probably a good thing due to the season the devils had this year. They gave me hope in the end and then crushed my dreams worse than when Kovy crushed Vanderbeek's (Dev's owner) bank account...

Anyway, Boston in 7.


And I'm happy about the trash (or thrash, same thing) moving to Winnipeg. They better be the jets, and they will give me a team in the west to root for if they re-align the divisions/conferences.

 

[BC in SK]

Kovy crushed Vanderbeek's (Dev's owner) bank account...

There is talk, I dunno if it's true or not, that the devils are not going to have enough money to re-sighn Zach Parise now
Kovalchuck can be a good player; can be very exciting to watch. But i think he's a bad fit for a team that stresses a defensive system.
There paying him too much. And if they end have having to give up Zach Parise......it will end up being an absolutely terrible move!

 

[Joe M]

There is talk, I dunno if it's true or not, that the devils are not going to have enough money to re-sighn Zach Parise now
Kovalchuck can be a good player; can be very exciting to watch. But i think he's a bad fit for a team that stresses a defensive system.
There paying him too much. And if they end have having to give up Zach Parise......it will end up being an absolutely terrible move!

Well they have about 8 mil open next season with 17 guys on the NHL roster, and LL was definitely thinking about Parise when he was negotiating with Kovy. Kovy's cap hit was only 6.66 million due to the frontloading of the money, and they could do something similar with Zach. Figure 6-7 million a year for him, and then fill the remaining 1-3 spaces with gut with league minimum salaries. It should work out ok, and going by the comments from Lammorillo and Parise himself, I expect them to get a deal done. With Langenbrunner gone, they don't have a captain. There is no doubt that Zach will be a great captain and leader for this team.

The sketchy part is that they pick #4 this year in the draft, and with such a deep class this year, whoever they get should be playing in the NHL full time next year. That salary could be pushing 3 mil, which could force them to move someone to make room (coughBrianRolstoncough). I'm just hoping they can pick up Adam Larrson in the draft. He is that strong defenseman and powerplay QB that the team desperately needs. They last time the team picked this high they got Scott Niedermayer, and you know how well that went.

I would be devastated if we lost Parise. Kovalchuk is an incredible talent, and he was really bad defensively before he came to NJ. Working with Lamaire the last 2 seasons seems to have worked wonders, and he seems to be a much more complete player now. I think he will be a good fit going forward, and the devils are starting to try to be a bit more offensively oriented than they ever have been. I went through the summer of hell last year with the team trying to get him. Everyday I was on the internet checking every 10 minutes. I hope this year isn't the same with Parise.

 

[BC in SK]

Working with Lamaire the last 2 seasons seems to have worked wonders, and he seems to be a much more complete player now.

Not so sure about that. Has the worst +/- of any NJ devil and the 6th worst of any player in the league! Watched a few NJ games on T.V. late in the season and Kovalchuck seems just as useless with out the puck has he has ever been. On top of that, playing on a very defensive minded team can really take away from the play of some very skilled offensive players. He's only a 60 point man this year......not sure if he'll ever be much better then that on NJ (?). To earn his big 100 million dollar contract he should be 90 points or better.

Anyways, if NJ can resighn Parise and he's back next year healthy, that would definately help this team in a big way next year. NJ is not the only team with salray cap problems....but like you say when Roloston's contract is up next year, they can re-sighn him for a lot less then 5 million or let him go some where else.

 

[Joe M]

Not so sure about that. Has the worst +/- of any NJ devil and the 6th worst of any player in the league! Watched a few NJ games on T.V. late in the season and Kovalchuck seems just as useless with out the puck has he has ever been. On top of that, playing on a very defensive minded team can really take away from the play of some very skilled offensive players. He's only a 60 point man this year......not sure if he'll ever be much better then that on NJ (?). To earn his big 100 million dollar contract he should be 90 points or better.

Anyways, if NJ can resighn Parise and he's back next year healthy, that would definately help this team in a big way next year. NJ is not the only team with salray cap problems....but like you say when Roloston's contract is up next year, they can re-sighn him for a lot less then 5 million or let him go some where else.

The whole team had a pathetic +/- because of the terrible 1st half. I watched every game and it seems like something clicked with him around new years/when Lamaire came back. He started back-checking and making good plays in his end. It was really a night and day difference. He relapsed late when they got eliminated, but there is definitely hope. He still does look a little lost when he doesn't have the puck, but he'll get used to it. I think he will put up solid 90+ numbers in NJ going forward. Its hard to go by the stats of the team and individuals this season because of how bad they were in the beginning, and how good they were at the end. If you take his second half and extrapolate that over a full season, his totals would be his normal pace, if not better, which will hopefully be the case. John McLean just completely screwed the whole team early. He was horrible.

I guess we'll see next year, but I think they will be ok as long as they can get a decent coach, maybe Hitchcock. It's hard to comprehend a team with Kovalchuk, Parise, Elias, Zajac, Brodeur, Volchenkov, Greene, and whoever they draft at #4, being bad. Plus, for the first time in recent memory, they have a decent collection of prospects and young players in the organization right now. They had to have a bad season eventually.

On a different note, did you see Alex Burrows bite Patrice Bergeron in game 1? How does that not warrant a fine/suspension? He BIT him!

 

[BC in SK]

Its hard to go by the stats of the team and individuals this season because of how bad they were in the beginning, and how good they were at the end.

That's very true. Absolutely terrible team before the new year and then they were the 'hottest' team going 9-1 in a few 10 game stretches in the second half.

The Burrows bite on Bergeron? You can't really make it out well because Burrows has his glove in front. He says he didn't, Bergeron says he did. The other question is what's Bergeron's hand doing in Burrrow's mouth and it's a bite through a hockey glove----not real serious but VERY unsportsmanlike if Burrows actually did it.

 

[Joe M]

That's very true. Absolutely terrible team before the new year and then they were the 'hottest' team going 9-1 in a few 10 game stretches in the second half.

The Burrows bite on Bergeron? You can't really make it out well because Burrows has his glove in front. He says he didn't, Bergeron says he did. The other question is what's Bergeron's hand doing in Burrrow's mouth and it's a bite through a hockey glove----not real serious but VERY unsportsmanlike if Burrows actually did it.

From Burgeron's perspective it can be easily defended. It was a post-wistle scrum, and it was your standard "face-washing" type thing. It looked like Burrows bit the finger, then used his arm to hold his hand to bite it again. It is nothing through a glove, but where do you draw the line? If he did it, it's a pro athlete acting like a toddler. It shouldn't be tolerated. I know the NHL doesn't want to suspend players in the cup final, but that crap can't fly anytime, finals or preseason. I mean there is no way Burrows cares now, especially after scoring that OT winner in game 2, but there should have at least been a fine for unsportsmanlike in that situation.

I somehow think my Boston in 6 prediction is garbage unless they really turn things around now.