I noticed that there was a Baseball General Discussion thread, so why not make a hockey one (and whoever wants to make the other sports)?
This thread should discuss the upcoming and most recent season (and playoffs) of the NHL.
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For the 1st topic:
Which team do you believe will have the most potential to win the Stanley Cup this year (please don't just choose your favorite team unless you really believe they have a shot)?
I think Florida has a slight chance as well. Not as great as the Canucks but still...
On paper, Florida has a better team than the Canucks, but the Canucks are one of those teams that are always in the run for a playoff berth/division title. The only reason why I would give the Canucks the edge over Florida right now is due to their past success, and the group of players that have constantly stepped up for the team in a time of need. They are a veteran group that has played with each other a long time, know what it takes to win, and how to handle the pressure.
Florida has a solid team this year, but for some reason I don't see them as Stanley Cup Champions. They have a lot of new players, young and old, and unless they learn the ways each other, they probably will get off to a slow start. (Although they should be able to work those little kinks out in training camp and preseason). I think they have an excellent chance of gaining a playoff berth though. Belfour is a nice replacement to Luongo, but he is 41, and might be running out of gas. Regardless, when they have players such as Stumpel, Horton, Jokinen, Roberts, and Bertuzzi, a productive offense is almost certain. The major concern I see with Florida is their defense. They really don't have any defensemen that have proven themselves in the NHL. Besides the probable number one pairing of Jackman and Bouwmeester, the defense corp is rather slim from there. They may have a great offense, but without a great defense, they will not get very far even if they make the playoffs.
As for my picks for the Stanley Cup Chapion, I'm really not too sure at this point. Dallas has a pretty good team, and it will be interesting to see how well Lindros does. I really don't think he will go over 70 pts, but maybe a different environment (again), and a different group of players will help him. Dallas has an above average defense in my opinion, and with Turco manning the net, they should be in good shape in the GAA department.
I hate to say this, but Philadelphia is also another top pick to make a run for the Stanley Cup. If injuries do not ruin them like last season, they should easily be able to grab the number one seed in the Eastern conferenece. The Flyers have basically the same team as last year, and really didn't loose too many impact players. Of course when Petr Forsberg is penciled into your lineup, it will make any team look good.
In a poll of over 700 NHL players Peter Forsberg was named as the best player in the league believe it or not. So you're right about his ability to dominate simply by existing.
I don't know what happened to the Rangers in the last weeks of the season and in the first round of the playoffs. All I can say is that as an Islander fan I would like to welcome the Rangers into the club of "One and Done." (Sorry, I couldn't resist taking a shot at Cylon ) I have no idea who my pick will be. Kind of hard to judge something simply by looking at a stat sheet and some other scouting notes if you ask me.
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5' 10" 191lbs
Bench Press: 325lb MAX (02/01/10) No chest bounce. Competition rules.
I don't know what happened to the Rangers in the last weeks of the season and in the first round of the playoffs. All I can say is that as an Islander fan I would like to welcome the Rangers into the club of "One and Done." (Sorry, I couldn't resist taking a shot at Cylon ) I have no idea who my pick will be. Kind of hard to judge something simply by looking at a stat sheet and some other scouting notes if you ask me.
I'm not doubting that the Rangers return to their old ways for this upcoming season. The break down started last year, and probably will carry over, unless they realize that Jagr is not a god. He probably won't carry the team again. I would be surprised if Jagr even breaks 90 points this season, since he probably already got his bonus from last year and really has nothing to play for (In case you have not figured it out yet, I think Jagr is an overpaid, greedy, lazy.....let me stop there). My solution: Dump the conceited player named Jagr, and bring in some more youth.
I have confidence that Lundquist will continue his success this year though. Hopefully Prucha stays healthy for the entire season, and returns to his goal scoring ways.
It will be interesting to see how well Brendon Shannahan does. He brings experience, and leadership skills to a fairly young team, which will hopefully have a positive impact. But like last season, any acheivement or improvement within the team will probably be given to the cover boy,"The Hero named Jagr."
I hope Garth Snow works out as your General Manger, Go Pre. Curious to know what management was thinking on that one.
Oh come on Cy, Jagr carried your team on his back for God knows how long (not to take away from Lundquist's accomplishments in the least). Is he overpaid? Forgetting his first season as a Ranger in which he was injured with....*help me out here I forget*...he still has at least 30 goals scored in every season as a professional. He definitely is worth the money as far as prodcution is concerned, but as far as being a team player is concerned I am not so sure. He would not accept the role as captain which as far as I am concerned is obsurd. Someone in his position (one who leads the team in all offensive categories) should step up and make it his perogative to lead the team in another way, in this instance, being the captain.
As for my Islanders, I look forward to the season in which I wake up and find that the Isles are NOT the laughing stock of the league. In theory...IN THEORY!!!! Garth is perfect for the position. Who would know what the Isles need better than someone who was in the locker room all the time and on the ice for a good portion of the season? He is a veteran goaltender who has seen his fair share of successes during his career so maybe, just maybe the Isles will address the things that are the most concerning.
Who else finds it funny that we got rid of Miceal Peca because he was incapable of leading a team? Wasn't he the Captain of the Oilers? Who else finds it funny that we fired Peter Laviolette because he couldn't lead a team to victory? Wasn't he the coach of the Stanley Cup Champions?
...oh how I love being an Isles fan...
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5' 10" 191lbs
Bench Press: 325lb MAX (02/01/10) No chest bounce. Competition rules.
Oh come on Cy, Jagr carried your team on his back for God knows how long (not to take away from Lundquist's accomplishments in the least). Is he overpaid? Forgetting his first season as a Ranger in which he was injured with....*help me out here I forget*...he still has at least 30 goals scored in every season as a professional. He definitely is worth the money as far as prodcution is concerned, but as far as being a team player is concerned I am not so sure. He would not accept the role as captain which as far as I am concerned is obsurd. Someone in his position (one who leads the team in all offensive categories) should step up and make it his perogative to lead the team in another way, in this instance, being the captain.
I guess with the overpaid portion, that's just my hate of athlete's salaries getting out of hand. I don't think anyone is worth 11 million dollars a year, no matter how great their stats are (Hockey is getting just as bad as baseball, Football, and Basketball in terms of salaries).
I realize that he carried the Rangers last year, and I'm not taking anything away from him. The thing is, if the Rangers want to win the Stanley Cup, it will have to be without him, or with a change in his playing style, which I do not forsee happening. He is by no means a team player in my opinion. One person will not defeat a team that has a well rounded rostor with productivity from everyone. I think this upcoming season there will be some big changes in terms of defending Jagr. Teams will find new ways to shut him down after his big season last year, which will cause him to get upset, and prompt him complain to the media in hope for sympathy.
I also noticed a dramatic difference in the Rangers gameplay style with Jagr this past season after watching all 86 of their games. On the power play and in other situations, the puck would be fed to Jagr, even if the other player had an open net. I felt like the entire game plan for the Offense was to feed the puck to Jagr. I remeber several times when the game was on the line, and someone had an a perfect oppertunity to tie/win the game, only to give the puck to Jagr who had a defender covering him. I realize he has a lot skill, but if you have the oppertunity, take it, don't give it away.
Another beef I have with him is his back checking abilities. Wait....what back checking abilities? The other team would have an odd man rush, with Jagr being the closest foward to them, and what would he do? He would go for a change! Not to mention he would constantly hang outside the zone for several seconds hoping for a break away pass. Some news for you Jagr...that doesn't work when the other team has control of the puck. He basically gave the other team a power play since he felt like staying outside the zone. I guess he is too offensive minded, or chooses not to play defense. That's what makes Forsberg so great. His offensive abilities are out of this world, but he is also an excellent defensive player. In my opinion, offensive players that play both ends of the rink benefit the team more.
I'm just not happy about the direction the Rangers are choosing to go with Jagr. They are making him their poster boy, and glorifying him every chance they get. I mean what about the other players on the team? How about Martin Straka? Any mention of how well of a season he had? Or about all the key goals he came up with, not to mention his defensive abilities? None. If he scored a big goal, what came out of the announcers mouth? "What a great play by Jagr, he knew he was there since the second he stepped off the bech!" When in fact it was a beautiful shot by Straka himself.
I just simply do not like having him on the team. I'm pretty confident that if he were to leave, there would be several players on the team that would fill the void left. Prucha would most certainly step up and pile in the goals as he did last season. I just feel like the Rangers would be more of a team, since everything I hear about has to do with Jagr in some way. I mean having all the praise towards one player has to have some effect on the other players rght? After watching several Rangers Classics, I really do miss that 1994 Stanley Cup team. Now that was a true team......
The Rangers disgrace against the Devils, IMO, had NOTHING to do with the insane momentum that NJ had at the time. It had EVERYTHING to do with the fact that for reasons unknown to me, they played the series like a european fashion show. How the **** do you expect to beat them without crashing the net continuosly and playing rough. They played like a bunch of picture perfect passing pansies and deserved to get humiliated. I still don't forgive the coaching staff for letting it happen. Thank god Sykora is gone. One less hair-froster means a spot for someone who isn't freshly manicured.
Jagr will be fine. He wants to win and will do anything at this stage to do so. If he were to go, I don't see how Prucha would take his place. Don't get me wrong...I am crazy for the Pruchmeister (bought his jersey when he had just 7 goals) but he would get POUNDED if he were the go-to-guy. He's awesome but just way to small now to be the main target.
The Rangers will have a very good year once again. They ****ing better because this fat man has season tickets for the first time.
As for the Fishstick Factory, good luck there Pre. Your owner is currently training sumo wrestlers to become goalies. The upper management is a panel of hockey retards who make decisions as a group and poor Garth Snow is a perfect patsy who will be sure to agree with all that the retards tell him. Oh yeah and best of luck with Tom Poti. HAHAHAHAHA
When healthy, Peter Forsberg IS the best player in the game.
The end (for now)
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Boba_Fatt - Retired lvl 60 S.V.E.R. Commando Medic/Nihilist and now a lvl 32 SVER Veteran/Moron who decided to start over with nothing
"This aggression will not stand man!"
*sigh*...You know what's funny? When the season is over I will have gone to more Ranger games than Islander games.
As much as I freakin DESPISE all things Islanders, I almost feel the ever so slightest bit bad for the fans.
Actually......
Screw that
They are all morons.
Eff them, their ever so crappy amateur shitbox slush puppie arena, the Nassau PD, all the Jabba looking island slob whores and their butt pirate male companions, and most of all, the two stereotypical Islander fans who sat behind me at a Garden game last year and didn't have the common courtesy to wait the slaughter out so I could beat the every lasting piss out of their robo-mouths.
But good luck with the season Pre!
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Boba_Fatt - Retired lvl 60 S.V.E.R. Commando Medic/Nihilist and now a lvl 32 SVER Veteran/Moron who decided to start over with nothing
"This aggression will not stand man!"
Well, the Islanders just locked up DiPietro for 15 years. Yes, 15 years, worth 67.5 million dollars. The ESPN article said the contract is the second longest in the history of sports, second only to Magic Johnson's 25 year deal with the Lakers.
What's everyone's take on this? It's really not a bad deal for either the Islanders or DiPietro in my opinion. If DiPietro decides to retire (The contract will take him up until he is 40), then the Islanders, or whatever team he is on, will not be responsible for his remaining salary, and it will not count towards the salary cap.
He also is still eliable to be traded, so it's not like he is stuck with the lowly Islanders for the rest of his career [/taking a shot at Go Pre] :-P
I just realized that DiPietro will be in net long enough for my kids to watch him...that or long enough for them to become ranger fans .
I have no feelings on it. He has a losing record for his career but did respectable last season (30-24-x I believe). He's still young and has alot to prove. The only thing that was proven was the real reason Neil Smith was fired.
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5' 10" 191lbs
Bench Press: 325lb MAX (02/01/10) No chest bounce. Competition rules.
Well, the Islanders just locked up DiPietro for 15 years. Yes, 15 years, worth 67.5 million dollars. The ESPN article said the contract is the second longest in the history of sports, second only to Magic Johnson's 25 year deal with the Lakers.
What's everyone's take on this? It's really not a bad deal for either the Islanders or DiPietro in my opinion. If DiPietro decides to retire (The contract will take him up until he is 40), then the Islanders, or whatever team he is on, will not be responsible for his remaining salary, and it will not count towards the salary cap.
He also is still eliable to be traded, so it's not like he is stuck with the lowly Islanders for the rest of his career [/taking a shot at Go Pre] :-P
I think that's retarded IMO.
He has to play for the same team until he's fourty.
) I have no idea who my pick will be. Kind of hard to judge something simply by looking at a stat sheet and some other scouting notes if you ask me. 
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