the hockey news

[vadvlfan]

Listening to nhl show this afternoon with Adam Proteau, Jamie Shalley, and Terry Mercury and they discussed how the Hockey News picks the final standings.

We we're picked to come in at #11

Why: Which Devils team will start the 2011-12 season? Will it be the one that broke out of the gate at a snail's pace last season and ultimately forced the team short of a playoff spot for the first time since 1996? Or will it be the one that caught fire down the stretch and played as the NHL's best second-half team? The Devils defense isn't what it was in their championship days and Martin Brodeur is only a year older. The offense has to find a way to click and new coach Peter DeBoer, who didn't win anything in Florida, has a difficult task ahead. In the end, the Devils are somewhere in between a basement-dweller and a playoff team.

Obviously hope they're wrong.

[Mayday]

The offense has to find a way to click

last year we were without parise and kovalchuk was coming off from signing the huge contract so we were never fully 'settled'. i agree with them on defense but i don't think offense will be a problem.

were in the new NHL, you don't need a true elite #1 to win the cup, so i have faith in marty. on defense...eh...hopefully we pull through and pickup a top 4 at the deadline assuming were in playoff position.

i think this team has the potential to surprise most by rocketing up the standings but they could also be a team that sinks to the bubble or below

[titans04]

Having the leagues best goalie seemed to be pretty helpful to the Bruins.

Edited August 20, 2011 by titans04

[Unknown Soul]

I think most predictions like these mean nothing. Predictions are prediction. When the games start and when finally everything is out on the ice, then people can say what they want to say. Paper championships never win the real thing.

[Devilsfan118]

were in the new NHL, you don't need a true elite #1 to win the cup, so i have faith in marty. on defense...eh...hopefully we pull through and pickup a top 4 at the deadline assuming were in playoff position.

Having the leagues best goalie seemed to be pretty helpful to the Bruins.

This argument changes every, single, year, depending on whether the SC winning team had an elite #1.

Last year? Psh you don't need a #1 to win anything, look at the Hawks! And the Flyers, for that matter!

This year? Thomas carried that team to victory, without a #1 a team could never get to the finals

Devils will be just fine with the 1a and 1b combo of Marty/Moose, assuming the defense actually, you know, plays competent defense

Edited August 20, 2011 by Devilsfan118

[Mayday]

This argument changes every, single, year, depending on whether the SC winning team had an elite #1.

Last year? Psh you don't need a #1 to win anything, look at the Hawks! And the Flyers, for that matter!

This year? Thomas carried that team to victory, without a #1 a team could never get to the finals

Devils will be just fine with the 1a and 1b combo of Marty/Moose, assuming the defense actually, you know, plays competent defense

Yeah kinda my point, Marty isnt a elite #1 anymore but he and Moose are defiantly good enough to carry us deep

[devlman]

There's no way we should miss the playoffs, let alone come 11th

[Triumph]

Having the leagues best goalie seemed to be pretty helpful to the Bruins.

the problem is that he wasn't even starting on his own team at the beginning of the year. so how do you know who's going to have the best season before the season?

Edited August 20, 2011 by Triumph

[mouse]

No matter what happens with the d, the Devils top 9 forwards are as good as any, even if they're a little shallow at RW (not an issue if NaPalm's good). With 2 competent goalies, that should be enough. I see the d getting better, and we could make a deadline pickup to fix that anyway, but this team as constituted is top 8 material.

[vadvlfan]

My concern is for the D as well. It is time for Matt Corrente/Mark Fraser to either fish or cut bait. Fraser is very physical in his own end, buit like Corrente, "deer i nthe hearlights regrouping and 1st pass skills.

Hopefully Faner will prove last year wasn't a fluke, he is a decent 5-6 d-man. He'll only get better with more experience.

not rocket science to say we need ot get off to a good start

[mouse]

My concern is for the D as well. It is time for Matt Corrente/Mark Fraser to either fish or cut bait. Fraser is very physical in his own end, buit like Corrente, "deer i nthe hearlights regrouping and 1st pass skills.

Hopefully Faner will prove last year wasn't a fluke, he is a decent 5-6 d-man. He'll only get better with more experience.

not rocket science to say we need ot get off to a good start

Eh. Fraser's a 7th dman. No need to ever have him in the lineup, but he doesn't kill you when he's there. Certain guys, Corrente included, need to step up. I'm fine with Fraser on the roster, and I like the kid, but if he's in the lineup often, we're in deep sh!t.

[NJDevs4978]

Having the leagues best goalie seemed to be pretty helpful to the Bruins.

And the year before the Cup finals was between two guys that got thrown on the street shortly thereafter.

It also helped the Bruins having one of the top three d-men in the league, I'd say having a top d-man is bigger than a top goalie these days.

[NewarkDevil5]

Perhaps it is the limited sample-size, but I am just not convinced that Matt Corrente has any of the necessary tools to be an NHL-caliber defenseman.

[maxpower]

They're not a "little shallow" at RW, they're borderline devoid. I would guess their top 3 LW have 800+ goals, while their top 3 RW have about 80.

Kovalchuk 369

Elias 335

Parise 163

= 867

Palmieri 9

Tedenby 8

Clarkson 52

= 79

Eh, pretty close. lol.

And I'm guessing this is written pre-Zajac, so they would have been even more pessimistic. There's just so many question marks. Obviously the RW situation, now the C situation, possibly breaking in 2 young defensemen at the same time, the goalies are about 100 put together and Moose may have played over his head while Marty is getting brittle, yet another coach, etc.

Pretty easy to see why someone would feel that way. I'm not overly optimistic but I have no idea until I see them play. They feel like a playoff miss on paper, but it's the East.

[ThreeCups]

This team WILL make the playoffs.

[Triumph]

They're not a "little shallow" at RW, they're borderline devoid. I would guess their top 3 LW have 800+ goals, while their top 3 RW have about 80.

Kovalchuk 369

Elias 335

Parise 163

= 867

Palmieri 9

Tedenby 8

Clarkson 52

= 79

Eh, pretty close. lol.

you've listed a center among the left wings.

And I'm guessing this is written pre-Zajac, so they would have been even more pessimistic. There's just so many question marks. Obviously the RW situation, now the C situation, possibly breaking in 2 young defensemen at the same time, the goalies are about 100 put together and Moose may have played over his head while Marty is getting brittle, yet another coach, etc.

the problem with this sort of analysis is that there are a lot of non question marks. like, say, kovalchuk and parise. some of the younger players will struggle and some of them will excel.

Pretty easy to see why someone would feel that way. I'm not overly optimistic but I have no idea until I see them play. They feel like a playoff miss on paper, but it's the East.

east will be stronger than the west this year, and they are definitely not a playoff miss on paper.

Edited August 22, 2011 by Triumph

[MadDog2020]

you've listed a center among the left wings.

the problem with this sort of analysis is that there are a lot of non question marks. like, say, kovalchuk and parise. some of the younger players will struggle and some of them will excel.

east will be stronger than the west this year, and they are definitely not a playoff miss on paper.

Seriously. Anyone who looks at the Devils roster as it is and doesn't think that's a playoff team on paper is delusional. There's more than enough talent to make the playoffs (how far they get is another issue entirely).

[justdo3043]

what can be expected as a goal output for this team...

what i am hoping optimistically

Parise and Kovi - 80 between them

Elias and Tedenby - 50 between them

Our Defence - 25 goals hopefully....considering we had 18 i think last season this number is probably to high

everyone else - 55

plenty of teams have made the playoffs with 210 goals but it doesn't screem playoff team on paper either

[Triumph]

what can be expected as a goal output for this team...

Parise and Kovi - 80 between them

too high imo

Elias and Tedenby - 50 between them

way too high imo

Our Defence - 25 goals hopefully....considering we had 18 i think last season this number is probably to high

too low. NJ got rid of white and salmela and should add back taormina - taormina's going to score 5-10 goals over a full season, he shoots too much not to. if fayne's on the power play next year i'd expect him to score 5 goals as well. the goals are going to go up simply because the 5 forward power play is hopefully dead.

everyone else - 55

way, way too low. you think clarkson, zubrus, palmieri, josefson, zharkov, boulton, henrique, steckel, janssen, pelley, a half-season of zajac, and whoever comes up from the minors at forward will only score 55 goals? i wouldn't be shocked if the first 4 guys i listed scored 55 goals between them - it's not likely to happen, but it wouldn't be shocking to me if it did.

plenty of teams have made the playoffs with 210 goals but it doesn't screem playoff team on paper either

goal scoring is going down in the league - 210 goals + 6 shootout goals? that could easily make the playoffs with an excellent defense.

[justdo3043]

goal scoring is going down in the league - 210 goals + 6 shootout goals? that could easily make the playoffs with an excellent defense.

[bodnar41]

Perhaps it is the limited sample-size, but I am just not convinced that Matt Corrente has any of the necessary tools to be an NHL-caliber defenseman.

This.

[mouse]

goal scoring is going down in the league - 210 goals + 6 shootout goals? that could easily make the playoffs with an excellent defense.

I see us scoring more than 210 -- when Zajac gets back, our top 3 lines will be as good as any in hockey -- but we don't have an excellent defense. Tallinder is a great leader/mentor, but I wouldn't call him an elite defender -- 3rd or 4th on a good team, you can live with him on your top pairing. Volchenkov has moments of brilliance, but makes too many mistakes. He's a legit top pairing guy, but not a superstar. Fayne's a 2nd pairing guy at best, and he might have a sophomore slump. Greene's fvcking unpredictable. Salvador might not play. That leaves rookies. I see Larsson becoming a big time player, but he won't start there. I like Urbom, but he's gonna have growing pains. Tao looks like a great PMD, but we'll see how good he is at defending. Corrente's looking more or more like a bust. The d is a work in progress. Throw in old goalies, and the pressure rests squarely on the offense.

[jkrdevil]

too low. NJ got rid of white and salmela and should add back taormina - taormina's going to score 5-10 goals over a full season, he shoots too much not to. if fayne's on the power play next year i'd expect him to score 5 goals as well. the goals are going to go up simply because the 5 forward power play is hopefully dead.

Assuming Kovalchuk pays the point and the full two minutes like he did under Lemaire I don't see either of those guys playing PP time. Greene is probably going to be the defensemen on the top PP unit, and I'm going to guess that Larsson will get the second unit nod if he makes the team.

I can't be optimistic about a defense that may have 3 players on it that combine for less than a full season of games under their belt. That is too green of a defense. I wasn't a big fan of Taormina defensively the few games he played last year (he struck me as a PP specialist). Fayne played solid, but I wonder if he can hold up over a full season. Larsson is 18.

Given that and Zajac getting injured and thus leaving us with little at the center position to begin the year I just don't like the look of this team. If the East is better as you say then this team certainly a miss team on paper.

[Triumph]

Assuming Kovalchuk pays the point and the full two minutes like he did under Lemaire I don't see either of those guys playing PP time. Greene is probably going to be the defensemen on the top PP unit, and I'm going to guess that Larsson will get the second unit nod if he makes the team.

if you look at 18 year old defensemen, they're typically not very good on the power play. greene is a known commodity on the power play - put him on the PP and he's getting 25 minutes a game. he's average at best on the PP. taormina is definitely going to be a better option than both guys.

I can't be optimistic about a defense that may have 3 players on it that combine for less than a full season of games under their belt. That is too green of a defense. I wasn't a big fan of Taormina defensively the few games he played last year (he struck me as a PP specialist). Fayne played solid, but I wonder if he can hold up over a full season. Larsson is 18.

larsson doesn't have to play in the NHL. why is there the expectation that he must play? the devils could put literally 11 guys ahead of him on the depth chart if they wanted (volchenkov, tallinder, fayne, greene, taormina, fraser, salvador, urbom, corrente, harrold, leach). plus i think NJ is going to give some veteran D a tryout contract.

'fayne played solid but i wonder if he can hold up over a whole season' - he played 75 pro games last year. what kind of a concern is this, exactly? did he get lucky last year? he's a solid skater and plays D well - at worst he's going to be brent sopel.

Given that and Zajac getting injured and thus leaving us with little at the center position to begin the year I just don't like the look of this team. If the East is better as you say then this team certainly a miss team on paper.

name 8 better teams.

Edited August 28, 2011 by Triumph

[adam85491]

we're winning the cup this year.

/thread