NJDevs4978 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 (edited) 1 Calgary 2 Flyers 3 Ottawa 4 Tampa Bay 5 Nashville 6 Vancouver 7 Detroit 8 San Jose 9 Edmonton 10 Florida 11 Devils 12 Boston 13 Pittsburgh 14 Columbus 15 Atlanta 16 Chicago 17 Montreal 18 Colorado 19 Islanders 20 Toronto 21 Dallas 22 Anaheim 23 St. Louis 24 Los Angeles 25 Buffalo 26 Minnesota 27 Phoenix 28 Carolina 29 Washington 30 Rangers My comments (without reading any of the previews or even doing some of my own first): First off, picking ANY team - even the Rangers - to finish below Washington is pure lunacy. The Caps are just dreadful, and the Rangers do have Jagr who can win a few games by himself even when not interested. He overrates the Penguins and Panthers dramatically, the Panthers either have old farts or good prospects who aren't all going to develop overnight, and he underrates the Isles. I don't think the Ducks will be as bad as #23 either. The magazine preview itself is nothing special, it's like 20 pages long with mostly predictions (though they do include the top three lines and two D-pairings at least with the predictions, they didn't do that in past years), and one or two little articles about how much the game has changed. You could probably read through all of it in about an hour or so at the bookstore. Edited September 30, 2005 by Hasan4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Sports Bureau Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Wow, I think I could have done better just throwing names in a bag and picking them out. Must we ALWAYS be underestimated. It's so boring. Why can't we be overestimated for a change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 mcguire is an idiot. The Rangers don't look good now, but they're not the worst team in hockey. The Isles should be ahead of Atlanta and Chicago at least. The Devs should be higher than Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanity_gallops Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 (edited) I haven't seen it, but my buddy sent me an email stating, and I quote: "Sports Illustrated's hockey preview is a disgrace. Very half-assed." To which I responded: "What'd you expect? They know less about hockey than ESPN." Edited September 29, 2005 by insanity_gallops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 But Has, you forget, the Caps have Friesen now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarDew Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devildude Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 But Has, you forget, the Caps have Friesen now. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 (edited) Pierre McGuire is now writing for SI? Didn't know that. For those that say that Pierre knows less than the people on ESPN are way off. And the proof is in that 7 thinks he is an idiot. I mean, that's instant credibility right there. Pierre used to be my favorite colour guy, but he's gotten on my nerves over the past year. He picks guys to be his favorites and he brown noses them till the cows come home. He picks guys to be his goats, and he kicks them around even when they don't deserve it. And he gets way to over-excited about little things. Like Dion Phaneuf is one of HIS GUYS. Dion hits someone, falls over and accidently stumbles into another player.... "THAT'S A DOUBLE DION - TWO HITS IN ONE - THIS GUY IS AMAZING". But on the other side, he knows his hockey. I'm always impressed by how much he knows about the other guys in international tournaments. He even knows the guys on the FRENCH team (sorry Moustic, Belizarius and the others from France). And he knows the ins and outs of most NHL teams. And he's one of the TSN guys that consistantly does better than Maggie the Monkey. Edited September 29, 2005 by Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 NASHVILLE #5?!? That pretty much invalidates anything else that guy has to say as far as I'm concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesterDevil Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Nashville's ahead of us!? Sorry but they are going to be worse after the addition of Kariya. He's going to be the center of attention now and it will take away from their team game they had last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 And he's one of the TSN guys that consistantly does better than Maggie the Monkey. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When does Maggie make her predictions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 And he's one of the TSN guys that consistantly does better than Maggie the Monkey. When does Maggie make her predictions? Maggie only does playoffs. She has to watch the full regular season to get a feel for the teams, which newcomers are pulling their weight, who has lingering injuries, who's PP is clicking, etc... only then can she make any real picks. Making predictions at this time of year would be no better than spinning a wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbdf Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 karya and sullivan can't magically transform nasheville into a top 10, atlanta has lost heatly and still has no kovulchuk, and tampa bay will not be nearly the team they used to be now that the boulin wall has crumbled, well, moved to chicago (may as well have crumbled, eh) and everyone and their mother is picking pitt to be unbeleivable all because of crosby (who has never played against anyone over 18 years old yet) - I just don't see it. Yeah, the kid's a phenom, but now he's gonna play against all stars every night, it's a different world now. on the other hand the cap's do have alexander ovechkin, who's been playing elite level hockey in russia for about 4 years now, buffalo has that vrana or vanek or whatever his name is - he's gonna be a star in this league, maybe only spurts of it this season, but watch out - buffalo may need some defensive help, but up front, I think they'll pile on the goals this season Realistically, with rules changes and the cap and the roster movement and retirments, you really could just put all the names in a hat and pick em out 1-30 that way and not be too far off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Pierre McGuire is now writing for SI? Didn't know that.For those that say that Pierre knows less than the people on ESPN are way off. And the proof is in that 7 thinks he is an idiot. I mean, that's instant credibility right there. Pierre used to be my favorite colour guy, but he's gotten on my nerves over the past year. He picks guys to be his favorites and he brown noses them till the cows come home. He picks guys to be his goats, and he kicks them around even when they don't deserve it. And he gets way to over-excited about little things. Like Dion Phaneuf is one of HIS GUYS. Dion hits someone, falls over and accidently stumbles into another player.... "THAT'S A DOUBLE DION - TWO HITS IN ONE - THIS GUY IS AMAZING". But on the other side, he knows his hockey. I'm always impressed by how much he knows about the other guys in international tournaments. He even knows the guys on the FRENCH team (sorry Moustic, Belizarius and the others from France). And he knows the ins and outs of most NHL teams. And he's one of the TSN guys that consistantly does better than Maggie the Monkey. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It is true he does play favorites. Luckily for us the Devils and Zach Parise can do no wrong in his view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 11th overall is not underrating us by any means. That said, if Florida finishes ahead of NJ I'll hang myself. Edmonton, Nashville, Columbus, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Florida are all too high in my opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if only Nashville from that group made the playoffs. Giguere has been terrible in the preseason so far, and unless he goes back to 03 form I don't see them making the playoffs. Montreal, Colorado and the Isles should all make the playoffs, and Toronto if they stay healthy (big if). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Sorry, Don - McGuire's an idiot. Granted, this NHL season is tough to predict, but - Edmonton at 9? Who's their first line center, exactly? Mike Peca? They have no depth down the center and some unreliable guys at wing. Plus their goaltending stinks. Detroit at 7? You lose Whitney, Hatcher, McCarty, Joseph, Hasek, and Hull - and the team stays about the same? This is a pick on reputation only. Florida at 10? The names look good, the team will not. Pittsburgh at 13? They have *no* defense. None. This team will have to build up three goal leads. And Lemieux cannot stay healthy. Anaheim at 22? Anaheim has Fedorov, Niedermayer, and Gigeure - that alone should get them into the playoffs. And last, the Rangers at 30. Who is he kidding? The Rangers don't have a great team but they have Jaromir Jagr and some decent defenders, as well as some good depth guys. This isn't the worst team in the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 mcguire is an idiot. The Rangers don't look good now, but they're not the worst team in hockey. The Isles should be ahead of Atlanta and Chicago at least. The Devs should be higher than Florida. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Would that be Pierre? He's so biaSED. He hates the Rangers. But I'm glad they were picked dead last. The lower the expectations, the better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas0nMacIsaac Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Sorry, Don - McGuire's an idiot. Granted, this NHL season is tough to predict, but -Edmonton at 9? Who's their first line center, exactly? Mike Peca? They have no depth down the center and some unreliable guys at wing. Plus their goaltending stinks. Detroit at 7? You lose Whitney, Hatcher, McCarty, Joseph, Hasek, and Hull - and the team stays about the same? This is a pick on reputation only. Florida at 10? The names look good, the team will not. Pittsburgh at 13? They have *no* defense. None. This team will have to build up three goal leads. And Lemieux cannot stay healthy. Anaheim at 22? Anaheim has Fedorov, Niedermayer, and Gigeure - that alone should get them into the playoffs. And last, the Rangers at 30. Who is he kidding? The Rangers don't have a great team but they have Jaromir Jagr and some decent defenders, as well as some good depth guys. This isn't the worst team in the league. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> An NHL coach/assistant coach, been around hockey for years in other jobs yet he is an idiot. I'm sorry but I think McGuire a little more about the game then you or I. He goes off the chart on a few.....WHO CARES. It makes you look like an idiot when you insult someone with that much hockey pedigree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Fine - I will amend my statement. Based on his ravings at previous drafts and now these predictions, McGuire writes and says idiotic things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 (edited) Pierre McGuire is now writing for SI? Didn't know that. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> He doesn't actually write as much as he contributes the occasional 'pearl of wisdom' in Inside the NHL or in this case, the little red Scouting Insider section (of course his comment on the Devils had to do with Parise emerging into a force). Michael Farber's actually their lead writer. Edited September 30, 2005 by Hasan4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylbert Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 (edited) 11. New Jersey Devils NEW PLAYERS: 7 | NEW RULES: HURT | BETTER THAN '03-'04? NO Team Page The Devils never beat themselves.... Watch for center Zach Parise, 21, to break through as an offensive force. Although he has been reined in by new rules, goalie Martin Brodeur remains without peer Had the NFL's lockout dragged into a second season, Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur had a backup plan. Last year he invested in La Pizzeria etc., a casual Italian restaurant in Montreal's north end, and as he told Montreal's Gazette while at the eatery in August, "On Oct. 1, I would have been making deliveries." Brodeur still makes his dough -- a team-high $5.2 million -- as an upper-crust netminder, but his work environment has nevertheless been transformed. The NHL's new rule restricting goaltender movement behind the net was implemented precisely to limit corner-to-corner roamers such as Brodeur, and he'll see changes when he looks up the ice as well. Brodeur will have neither crease-clearing force Scott Stevens (retired) nor Norris Trophy winner Scott Niedermayer (signed with Anaheim) to defuse oncoming offenses. Fear not. Brodeur's stickhandling ability is so superb that he is the rare goalie who will benefit from the new allowance of two-line passes; he'll be able to fling the puck up-ice to get breakout plays rolling. And Devils G.M. Lou Lamoriello hasn't left Brodeur unsupported. He brought in snarling 6'2", 230-pound Dan McGillis to a defense still rich in skill and know-how. "You don't expect Brodeur's game to fall off," says Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock. "For all the great talent he has, he's a really tough guy to outwork. He never gives up on a puck or shot. That can be tough to deal with over the course of a game." With Patrick Roy retired and the Senators' Dominik Hasek seemingly in his dotage at age 40, Brodeur, 33, is in a class of one among the goaltending elite. Winner of back-to-back Vezina trophies, Brodeur is even more daunting in the postseason, during which he has led New Jersey to three Stanley Cups and in 2003 set a record with seven shutouts. That's why when the Devils look at their roster, they derive such optimism from a single source. In the words of forward Sergei Brylin, "We still have Marty." -- Kostya Kennedy Issue date: October 3, 2005 Edited September 30, 2005 by aylbert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylbert Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 30. New York Rangers NEW PLAYERS: 11 | NEW RULES: HURT | BETTER THAN '03-'04? NO The fortunes of the Broadway Blueshirts will revolve around the team's mercurial star There are two extremes to right wing Jaromir Jagr: the wildly productive offensive dervish who brightens the NHL with his incandescent grin, and the magnificent moper who drags down the mood of a franchise with his needlessly submissive play. If there is any reason to watch the Rangers this season, it's to see Jagr flash his $8.4 million smile. The league's highest-paid player had perhaps the most successful lockout of any NHL star. He led his team in Omsk to the European Champions Cup title, scoring the game-winner in the final, and then courageously lifted the Czech Republic to the world championship in Vienna while playing with a broken left pinkie. But it wasn't long before the other Jagr showed signs of surfacing. He lashed out at the players' association for its negotiating blunders and threatened to stay in Russia. ("My heart is pulling me to Omsk," he said.) After deciding to return to New York, he took the occasion of Mark Messier's retirement press conference to make clear that for all his abilities -- Jagr has 1,309 points in 1,027 career games -- he has no intention, at 33, of filling Messier's void and becoming the team's leader. The Rangers have already taken steps to keep Jagr smiling, signing Czech forwards Martin Straka -- who played with Jagr for nine seasons in Pittsburgh -- and Martin Rucinsky, as well as Czech defenseman Marek Malik. Coach Tom Renney says the team acquired them in part because they play "instinctively off one another." Those combinations, along with Jagr's ability to take over games, may give solace to a team rife with journeymen and middling prospects, but don't expect New York to fulfill Jagr's forecast. "There's no doubt in my mind we're going to the playoffs," he says. Winter will come early to the Garden. Just as Jagr can take a team to unforeseen heights, no star is better at making a bad situation worse. -- Kostya Kennedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylbert Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Let me know if you want any others posted... its look like they are by Kostya Kennedy, so it isnt Pierre? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted September 30, 2005 Author Share Posted September 30, 2005 They have a few different people that do the write-ups. Maybe I was wrong about them being his picks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJD Jester Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Keep this in mind about the Caps -- Imagine if the Devils' situation on right wing was so bad, they had to shift Madden there. On the top scoring line. Because that's what the Caps have done with Halpern this season, out of necessity. <JESTER> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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