NHL: Training camps, preseason, and predictions.

[mnemosyne]

@Ike_Witt

Speaking of idiots…I really hope the fucking moron in London ONT is outed and given the public ridicule they so richly deserve.

Agreed. What a stupid thing to do.

@Harborwolf

I love that he’s doing it by video and explaining his rationale clearly and thoroughly. If that’s the way supsensions are handled through the season, I’m impressed.

That’s his intent - transparency with videos for every suspension and non-suspension/controversial play that gets reviewed. I like it!
Habs finally win a meaningless game, no thanks to Carey Price who is still doing his own thing not overextending himself (I believe he’s breaking in new pads as well, if I’m not mistaken). Carbon-copy of last season, so I’m not actually worried, but it looks bad, you know? Lawson bailed him out nicely without allowing a goal in his half of the game, and then Max-Pac scored two in a row and Gomez…yes…Gomez! scored the tie in the dying seconds. Erik Cole with the shootout win.

It was against the Sens though, so take that for what it’s worth

Since this was the one game of the year RDS didn’t have, I managed to find the Sens house feed online. How pathetic is it when the play-by-play/colour guy say “Oh, I think that’s [SensnameIforget] going to the penalty box… [camera shows guy in box]…oh no, it’s Jason Spezza!” DUDES…he’s had the same number for YEARS and what the hell kind of Senators employee doesn’t know who the hell Jason Spezza is on sight? It was bad announcing. Really, really bad. Thank gods this wasn’t a national feed, I’d be embarrassed.

[Guinastasia]

Sounds like Shanahan is going to be a welcome change from Campbell.

[Rysto]

@mnemosyne

It was against the Sens though, so take that for what it’s worth

Oh yeah, well … but …

I’ve got nothing. They are horrid this year, aren’t they?

[wolfman]

@Guinastasia

Sounds like Shanahan is going to be a welcome change from Campbell.

Not a high bar really, but still looks good so far.

[dalej42]

Here is Adam Proteau’s Eastern Conference predictions. I couldn’t disagree more.

1. I don’t think the Leafs are close to a playoff team. I want to see how Reimer stands up after a full season, especially if the Leafs get off to a good start.

2. I think the Flyers are going to struggle early with all their changes and will have to fight to get into the playoffs. How are they going to score goals and can Pronger stay healthy?

3. The Rangers are too low and the Penguins are too high. I’m not sure when Pittsburgh will get Crosby back and how he’ll play coming back. An injury to Malkin or Staal and the Pens will struggle.

Here’s my Eastern Conference predictions:

1. Washington
2. Boston
3. Tampa Bay
4. New York Rangers
5. Buffalo
6. Pittsburgh
7. Montreal
8. Carolina
9. Philadelphia
10. New York Islanders
11. Toronto
12. Winnipeg
13. Florida
14. New Jersey
15. Ottawa

[soulmurk]

@dalej42

14. New Jersey

Not sure why everyone is writing off the Devils so easily. One bad half of a season and suddenly they’re cellar dwellers. They’re not Cup contenders, but they’re way better than 14th in the East.

[dalej42]

They’ve got yet another new coach. Plus, Brodeur is another year older. Zajac is injured and who knows when he’ll be back. Hopefully Parise is at 100 percent. Perhaps they’ll surprise as there is talent on the team. But I’m thinking the Devils are going to struggle the first couple months of the season as they work through a new coach’s system as well as try to get everyone healthy.

[soulmurk]

@dalej42

They’ve got yet another new coach.

They’ve had lots of new coaches over recent years and only once has it really mattered. It’s still the same guy building the team that’s had them perennially over-performing expectations.

Besides, DeBoer’s system is pretty similar to ex-Devils coach (and good friend of his) Brent Sutter’s, under which the team did pretty well and the players were happy.

Plus, Brodeur is another year older.

So is everyone else in the NHL. Brodeur isn’t and hasn’t been an elite goaltender in years, so it’s not like now that he’s turning 40 he’s suddenly dropping out of his peak and the team will suffer because of it. He’s a perfectly serviceable, average goaltender.

As any critic of his will tell you, it’s never been about him anyway–it’s the team’s commitment to defensive responsibility.

Zajac is injured and who knows when he’ll be back.

And he’ll be sorely missed, but he is by no means paramount to the success of the team. Elias is still fine and he is, with the exception of taking face offs, a better Center than Zajac in every respect.

Zajac’s injury hurts the depth chart, but no more than any team suffering an injury to a top 6 forward. It isn’t a season-breaking injury.

Hopefully Parise is at 100 percent.

By all accounts, medical and otherwise, and what I’ve seen in preseason, he is.

Perhaps they’ll surprise as there is talent on the team. But I’m thinking the Devils are going to struggle the first couple months of the season as they work through a new coach’s system as well as try to get everyone healthy.

Apparently they’re only going to surprise people outside of NJ and those that don’t follow advanced statistics.

Last year their team wide shooting percentages were woefully, unsustainably low despite being among the league’s best at CORSI. Simple regression to the mean, a slightly improved power play to around league average and a healthy Parise will go a long way toward erasing everyone’s concerns.

They’re easily better than Florida, Winnipeg, Toronto, NYI and Ottawa. They’re more than likely better than Carolina and Buffalo. They’re probably not going to be vying for the division title, but just by virtue of being better than those teams they’re looking at finishing in the 8th seed. With a few good stretches they could easily jump up a spot or three because seeds 5-8 are probably going to be pretty tight.

No offense, but these reasons you list are ultimately the same reasons lazy journalists cite every year. There’s too much talent and the organization is run too well for them, barring catastrophic injuries, to finish so low.

[mnemosyne]

Ok, so the past couple of games have been kind of brutal. Suiting up only 8 NHL players (and that includes Alex Henry and Jeff Woywitka!!) is an interesting way to see the talent on the team, but it would be nice to start to see more than one forward line and one defensive pair of actual Canadiens in the lineup soon…to paraphrase Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette; we’ve seen enough of Danny Massé!

Then again 6 games in 7 nights - 4 in 4 this weekend - isn’t the best time to be playing all your veterans. Hopefully this ends after tonight’s game against Boston and the two Tampa games can have a semblance of a real NHL team.

[tim-n-va]

Finally!!! Caps first home pre-season game (I don’t count the fiasco in Baltimore) is tonight. Will I be the only one in the DC area that would rather watch pre-season hockey than watch the Cowboys-Redskins on Monday Night Football?

I moved my season tickets to a different section, I hope I didn’t make a mistake. I’m upper level in the corner where the Caps attack twice. Last weson I was on the side but closer to the end where they attack once.

[mnemosyne]

Chris Campoli? Really? Damn, just how bad off is Markov?

[Guinastasia]

My sympathy for Wayne Simmonds has dropped quite a bit.
(Note: I’m no fan of Avery, who has a history of using racial slurs himself. But c’mon – that’s no excuse.)

[mnemosyne]

Ken Dryden writes again; so eloquent.

Time for the NHL to get head smart.

I love Dryden.

[Rysto]

A hit to the shoulder, torso, or hip — depending — is understood as good positioning and good defense; not so a hit to the head.

He speaks as though the shoulder isn’t literally an inch away from the head. This is the crux of the problem for the NHL. To pretend that “good positioning” is the difference between a hit to the head and a hit to the shoulder is just ludicrous. Players hit each other in the heads with their stick all the time, and they’re trying to hit the other player’s stick, which is against the ice. As long as a legal body check in the NHL involves trying to hit the other player in the shoulder or upper chest, players are going to be struck in the head. People who think that it’s as simple as banning any and all checks to the head are living in a fantasy world where hockey players have Bene Gesserit-like control over their own bodies.

[Rysto]

I can’t get over how out of touch Dryden is. I can’t even finish this article. This is where I gave up in disgust:

In years past, the best way to move the puck forward was believed to be for a player to do it himself, stickhandling up the ice. Having his head down with his eyes focused on the puck was considered an advantage to him. It was only fair, then, that a defender have his own advantage and, unseen by the puck-carrier, be able to blast him. Now the best way to advance the puck is seen to be by passing, so a player with his head down is at a disadvantage already and doesn’t require further punishment. He can be easily stopped with no more than incidental contact.

This is so wrong I don’t even know where to start. Carrying the puck up the ice stopped being the best way to advance the puck where defence in hockey advanced to the point where this no longer works. But even in today’s game, when a player carrying the puck does manage to elude his defender he all of a sudden becomes the most dangerous player on the ice. That hasn’t changed. That won’t ever change.

To take the bodycheck as a defensive weapon away from the defense changes this immensely. “Take the man, not the puck” has always been the number one precept of defence. The puck moves much more quickly than the body and can be made to change direction at any time. Defenders who try to chase the puck usually end up looking silly.

The pass is not inherently the best option to advance the puck. All awful lot can go wrong with a pass: it can be off-target, it can be intercepted, the recipient can flat-out miss it, etc, etc. The neutral zone trap, that reviled but highly effective defensive system, is designed to force the offense to pass. They want you to do it! How often do you see a pass fail to work out? Now how often do you see an unmolested offensive player fumble the puck? The pass is currently the best option to advance the puck by virtue of being the least worst option. If you take checking away from the defence you change that calculus vastly.

[Guinastasia]

“It’s a great day for hockey!” - Badger Bob Johnson

The season has officially arrived!

Interesting news: Sean Avery has been put on waivers

(Do you think he has a chance of ever playing in the NHL again? How many people has he managed to alienate in his career?)

Oh, and a belated happy birthday to the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of skates, Mario Lemieux!

[dalej42]

I started a new thread to discuss the regular season