 | Next Years Northwest Division... |
 CaptainLyfe_92 writes "Before you start reading this I must point out to everyone that I am a Canucks fan... (Not one of the stupid ones)
I don't know if there are other people out there that feel the same way as I do, but i truly believe this is something that will happen next season...
The Colorado Avalanche will win the Northwest Division next year. (2009-2010) You might be asking why... Well, I'm gonna tell you right now, for free. Reasons: Colorado's team will be great in every aspect next year except one, goal tending. But that wont matter, because they will outscore teams instead of shutting them out defensively... Colorado's forwards consist of.... Ryan Smyth Joe Sakic - Get serious, he's gonna resign in Colorado. Milan Hejduk Wojtek Wolski Darcy Tucker Marek Svatos Paul Stastny Plus a high draft pick (3) this year in the entry draft, I truly think they will pick Matt Duchene (Brampton OHL) They also have good defensive core with rape prospects coming... Adam Foote Brett Clark John-Michael Liles Scott Hannan Kevin Shattenkirk (prospect) Nigel Williams (prospect) Kyle *****iskey (prospect) Goaltending isn't great for Colorado, but luckily for them their two contracts end this July 1st... Peter Budaj is an RFA Andrew Raycroft is a UFA on the market the Avs could possibly get.... Nikolai Khabibulin Martin Biron Manny Fernandez Brian Boucher (Meh) Kevin Weekes (Meh) Dwayne Roloson (His time might be up) Martin Gerber (Meh) The Avs will have more then enough cap space to sign good player or two (10 Million) __________________________ _________________________________
Looking at the other teams in the Northwest the pieces begin to fall into place when you think about Colorado winning the Division...
Calgary - Sweet Cap Problems, gonna be nice trying to resign players like Cammalleri and Bertuzzi. Have fun finding a new coach...
Edmonton - A team that is still too young... A few more years and a real goalie might get Edmonton out of Jokeville (Population EDM, TOR, NYI and FLA)
Minnesota - Something smells in St. Paul, and its not the Twins... It's the Wild, without a coach and a real scorer this team is about to fall HARD to the basement of the Northwest Division...Don't worry though, if there's anything good to take out of this, at least they don't live in Edmonton.
Vancouver - Could possibly be the only team that MIGHT challenge Colorado for the Division... It all depends on the Sedins being resigned and more offense being brought in... It will most likely be a contract year for Luongo, so you can expect him to actually show up for an entire season... He'll also be looking to make team Canada for the Olympics in February...
___________________________________________________________
I will now show you my
Final Division Standings for the Northwest
by the end of next season...
1st - Colorado - 104 PTS
2nd - Vancouver - 100 PTS
3rd - Calgary - 97 PTS
4th- Edmonton - 93 PTS
5th - Minnesota - 81 PTS
"
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| "Next Years Northwest Division..." | Login/Create an Account | 22 comments |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by pezzz123 on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Can you explain me how a team who finished last in the West could finish with 104 points the year after with the exact same players?? |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by JustYouW8 on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | Interesting article.. and some good points, but I think Vancouver will take the Division again, IF they can keep the twins.. and I'm not a Canucks fan..
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by reinjosh on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | im sorry but a team that ended the season 3rd last in the league is in no way going to get 100 plus points the next season without massive changes and even then it almost impossible
yes philly did it but they got really lucky
tampa couldnt do it
and neither will colorado
and calgary can still kick their ass even with missing 2 players
Edmonton has a great young team and is ready to make the jump soon (unlike Colorado) and really isnt part of Jokeville (as neither are the Leafs or the Panthers)
Minnesota is going to have problems but not as much as Colorado
and Vancouver will challenge Calgary for the title and likely win
Colorado is the worst team in that division and they have a terrible roster.
Smyth, Sakic, Tucker and Hejduk are all old and overrated.
Svatos hasnt shown he is capable of scoring 32 goals like he did his first season and he cant play more than 70 games anyways.
Wolski has scored consistenly less goals since he made the jump to the NHL.
Statsy is the only hope that the forwards have.
Foote is old and past his prime. Clark is overrated. Hannan an overpaid shutdown d who can score 20 points. Liles is your best bet and Shattenkirk is the best prospect.
So next season Liles, Statsny, Duchenne (likely) and Shattenkirk are going to lead the avs to a divison title. Not frigging likely. A weak team with bad management that has a couple dark years ahead of them unless drastic and great changes are made
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by lafleur10 on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | the flames will win that division next year,they have the most talent and best team in that division! the avalanche will be lucky if they finish ahead of the oilers.......and they won't they'll be in last place again and for awhile yet until they rebuild and restock a depleted farm system ! the cupboards are pretty bare right now don't be surprised if sakic retires or signs somewhere else.........and if sakic does play again next season he'll want to go out on top or near the top !
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by mojo19 on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | Are these guys as good as you think they are?
I have to admit I like their defense. And you forgot about Ruslan Salei.
I like their top 5 of
Liles - Hannan
Salei - Foote
Clark
That's pretty solid. But its pretty much the only thing I really like about the team. Ya they'll probably get Duchene at 3 and he'll make an impact next year. Stastny will bounce back.
But Ryan Smyth is not a great scorer, he's a support winger.
Darcy Tucker is a 4th liner.
Joe Sakic will retire, hasn't been healthy in a couple years. If he does come back, expect more of the same.
Wolski and Svatos are pretty good players, and if they bring back Laperriere and Arnason, they are solid too.
But really oustide of Stastsny its a pretty average group. |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by cam7777 on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | Okay, I don't really like the Oilers myself, but get serious here. Like them or hate them, they have all the assets to make a huge play this summer. Everyone mentions teams like LA and Montreal in the Lecavalier sweepstakes, but the Oilers could offer similar or better packages for big name players of the sort. There's also rumors swirling about the Oilers possibly landing Marian Hossa via free agency. They aren't going to be push overs.
The Wild are screwed, you have a good point. That said, Fletcher will push hard to sign a number of less pricey free agents and revamp the forward crew. They are a team that's okay on the back-end and set in the pipes, so you never know what they could do with a couple good UFA's and a breakout year or two from within.
The Canucks will in all likelihood resign the Sedin twins, and possibly add the Niedermayer brothers. Plus, they have Hodgson coming up the ranks, who will probably be a rookie of the year candidate. Don't forget Luongo spent half of last season injured. If he's healthy all last year, winning that division is a breeze.
I don't know if you've heard about the Flames, but the rumor is that Darryl Sutter will coach them himself (pretty solid bench boss). If not, than his brother might come back from New Jersey and do the job for him (even better). It's true the Flames might lose a couple free agents, but they also have Backlund champing at the bit, and Boyd ready for more responsibility.
You can't just write these teams off.
Tucker is crap.
Smyth is over-rated, and injury prone.
If Sakic returns, he will play a limited role at age 40.
Hejduk is another year older, and Svatos has been on the block since he signed his extension.
You will have Duchene in there, but you're still going to have to hope for a major trade, a major signing, and some bounce back performances to win that division.
It's a long shot at best. And I'm actually an Av's fan. If you look back, I predicted they would be much better than everyone expected this past season. Not making that mistake again.... |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by leafy on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) |
Depends on what they do with the goaltending situation. By far the worst goaltending in the NHL last year, with Budaj and Raycroft.
It's almost impossible to evaluate a team properly when the goalie cannot stop the puck.
A healthy Paul Stastny would help. They also need consistency out of Svatos, he's always up and down. Smyth and Hejduk weren't bad last year. Sakic is getting older, but he's still Sakic. The defence is not terrible by any means.
Fix the goaltending and then we'll see.
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by mon167 on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | If your a canucks fan you'll be happy to hear that i guarantee you that the nucks will finish before the avalanche...and i believe others in the division will as well like calg and edm
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by bbruins37 (qwerty@hotmail.com) on Monday, June 08
(User Info | Send a Message) | anyone else think the Northwest will be by far the worst division in hockey next year?
- you've got the avalanche who flat out suck (true they'd be better if their only great player stastny wasnt injured so often...but he always is)
- youve got the wild who are pretty much screwed and are going to be going through the biggest turnover in the league.
- and then you have the three underacheiving canadian teams. calgary is always consistent but not amazing, vancouvercould be in big trouble if they dont sign the sedins and edmonton has to start turning potential into results |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by _McLeafy_ on Tuesday, June 09
(User Info | Send a Message) | lmfao@104 points
that team needs some major overhaul. outside of stastny they dont have much. smyth and hejduk are alright but getting on in years and on the decline.
svatos/tucker/wloski
vastly overrrated by you. just look at their performance each of the last 2 years.
defence is overratedand lost and underperforming.
sakic is done.
so these guys are all gonna turn into 65+ point players who net 25+ goals? lol not likely
aside from every1 becoming |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by avsjoendryan on Tuesday, June 09
(User Info | Send a Message) | Just to start with, I am a die - hard Avs fan and always will be.
I was getting pretty excited reading your article, but we all know that the Avs getting to the post season is a long - shot, let alone winning the division and once again let - alone getting 104 points.
I agree with alot of your points, but the extent in which your taking the team is highly unlikely.
First things first, I am a huge fan of Sacco, the Avs are a young team and alot of them have played for Sacco in Lake Erie, I'm excited to see what he's got in mind.
Granato was a terrible coach and I dont see what the Avs did in him, we already tried that once, remember? No you dont, because he failed that season too, although cant blame him 100 %, i mean Raycroft - Budaj? Really? Might aswell have been a chair and a pylon, neither of which can stop the puck.
Second, Tucker, Svatos, Arny, Raycrap and Clark all on the way out.
Svatos and Clark traded:Big fan of this trade with potential to happen.
To Avs:Horton
To Fla:Svatos and Clark
Arny and Raycrap sign elsewhere (hopefully on another continent).
Tucker bought out (hopefully to the Atlanta Thrashers, no one cares about hockey there anyways).
I would love to sign a # 1 D-man, Jay-bo would be awsome, but lets face reality its not going to happen!
Sign Tanguay, He was an Av and still is an Av, he played like garbage everywhere, except Denver.
Sign Martin Biron, He has got some serious skill and is a major upgrade from Bu-die and Ray-crap.
Draft Matt Duchenne, its going to happen and he's going to be good. Best skater in the group and is the best 2 way player in the draft! (I'm gonna get ripped for this but I like him more the Tavares). I think Tavares is going to have difficulty with NHL speed and will not put up numbers like he did in Junior ( just my opinion).
A lot of the young Avs are gonna get some real action next year and I'll tell you what - THERE GOOD!
2009-2010 Roster
1.Smyth (A) - Stastny (A) - Hejduk (Our first line and best line, no doubt!)
2.Wolski - Duchenne - Horton (Kid line? Will be carried by Duchenne)
3.Tanguay - Sakic (C) - Stewart (Thats right Sakic on the third line)
4.Mcleod - Hensick - Laperierre (A) (Grit, with a little bit of offence)
Extras:Jones, McCormick and Stoa
1. Liles - Foote (A) (Wish we had more, Liles is gonna have to step up)
2. *****iskey - Salei (Brings an offensive punch)
3. Hannan - Williams (Williams is a big puck moving d-man, SKILL!)
Extras: MacKenzie
1.Biron ( Anyone we get, im hoping for Biron)
2.Budaj ( Ok... Maybe he'll get us 5 games)
I hope we go with four (A's) because gurantee we are going to have injuries and i want to get leadership out of the way, rarther then let someone different wear it each game like we did last year.
Colorado also has a bunch of younger prospects, but will not be playing with the team next year that's for SURE!
Face it guys our division is going to go from one of the best to one of the worst.
Vancouver - Best team in the division because of lou alone.
Edmonton - Youth with potential to go far, but they need a goalie.
Minn - Honestly I don't know, there team this year was bad on paper.
Flames - Kipper is good, strong D, couple of suprisers.
But I believe that the Avs will ice a much better team then we did last year.
BELIEVE!
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by KingCanada on Tuesday, June 09
(User Info | Send a Message) | Jokeville, population YOU.
That was a HORRIBLE prediction omg. Even for a teenager common..
104 points?? The Blackhawks scored that many points...but there a GOOD TEAM. How could you compare next year's Avs to the BHawks or better???
The only teams latly to have INSANE turnarounds like that were the Penguins and Flyers...but BOTH those teams have something the Avs dont.... Superstar players in Pittsburg and overall team toughness and a deep roster for Phily....... Guess what, the Avs have neigther! |
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Re: Next Years Northwest Division... (Score: 1)
by FlamingHomer on Tuesday, June 09
(User Info | Send a Message) | If Colorado even makes the playoffs, remind me to apologize to you about what my thoughts are about your logic.
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