Today, I will predict who will win the end of season individual awards, some will come as no surprise some might just stimulate heated debate.
Hart Trophy: Sidney Crosby. Could there be any other option? Not if he stays healthy, he truly is the next one. He may never break Wayne Gretzky's records, but he is the best player since Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky graced the ice for the first time.
Pearson Award: Sidney Crosby. He will be the first back to back winner since Dominik Hasek in 1998.
Conn Smythe Trophy: Sidney Crosby. The next one will lead his team all the way to the cup and will further his resume and his reputation as the "next one," which will be crucial in the Pens going all the way.
Art Ross: Sidney Crosby. Can anyone stop this kid? Only injury can stop him in his chase to eclipse past Penguins' winners Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.
Rocket Richard Trophy: Dany Heatley. A healthy Jason Spezza and a new contract will see Heatley produce another 50+ goal season, but this time the Rocket Richard will be his.
Norris Trophy: Niklas Lidstrom. Will this guy ever relinquish his hold on this award? The guy is simply the best defenseman in the modern era.
Calder Trophy: Brett Sterling. Many of you will be saying Brett who? Well, he lead the AHL last year with 55 goals in his rookie year. He will start the season in Atlanta playing on a line with Ilya Kovalchuk and if he remains there, he should have a very good chance of winning the Calder.
Veznia Trophy: Roberto Luongo. There will be no mistake this year, he is the best goalie in the league and will take over the crown this year from incumbent Martin Brodeur.
Selke Trophy: Rob Brind'Amore. He is undoubtedly the best defensive forward in the game and will be the first guy to win three Selkes in a row since Bob Gainey back in 1981.
Jack Adams: Michel Therrien. He was wrongly overlooked last year as the winner, but this year he will prove himself more than worthy of the award, but could his icy personality work against him?
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Season Predictions!
After a week hiatus, I'm back and here to give you all my predictions for the season. I will give you my predictions on who will make the playoffs, the conference finals and win the Stanley Cup.
Well lets start with the Western Conference:
1.Detroit Red Wings - If Dominic Hasek can stay healthy they will be a force, if not they will be out early. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsuyk proved last year that they can take this team deep into the playoffs if a little luck is on their side.
2. Anaheim Ducks - It's difficult for champions to repeat, but with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry a year older and J.S Giguere re-signing their hard hitting brand of hockey will be hard to beat.
3. Vancouver Canucks - Roberto Luongo will further his claim to being the best goalie today, by leading the Canucks to a division title. He of course will have a little help from the ever improving Sedin twins.
4. San Jose Sharks - Joe Thornton and his charges will be back and better than ever. However, they better hope that putting all their eggs in one basket doesn't backfire. Their Marleau Thornton Cheechoo line will have to perform every night if they are to be a Cup threat.
5. Colorado Avalanche - A lot will depend on Petr Budaj continuing to his stellar play. The Avs will be a safe bet to make the playoffs, with the likes of Joe Sakic and the impressive Paul Statsny and Wojtek Wolski to lead the charge.
6. Minnesota Wild - The Wild's chances will depend on Marian Gaborik staying healthy, but after a new off-season regime he is primmed to have a outrageous year. The Wild's defence first style will serve them well in the long haul of the season.
7. Calgary Flames - Mike Keenan's style may not be to everyone's liking, but he's the type of tough, disciplinarian coach that the Flames need. He will bring a system that will help Jerome Iginla's team reach the playoffs.
8. St Louis Blues - This pick may come as a shock to many, but I think they have built a core of young players like Lee Stempniak, Eric Johnson and the addition of Paul Kariya will vault them ahead of the Stars and Predators for the final playoff spot.
Now for the East Conference:
1. Ottawa Senators - There is no surprise here, a freshly signed Dan Heatley will lead last year's Stanley Cup finalists, back to the Promised land. This team is just plain sick, with Redden, Spezza, Alfredsson and of course Heatley leading the way.
2. New York Rangers - The addition of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury have propelled the Rangers into Cup contenders and although it will be a tough fight, the Atlantic should be theirs by season end.
3. Carolina Hurricanes - They had a rash of injuries and slumps, but this team is just too good not to win the Southeast division. A healthy Cory Stillman will go a long way to helping Eric Staal recapturing his 2005-2006 form.
4. Pittsburgh Penguins - Sidney Crosby the reigning NHL MVP has a strong supporting cast of Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Petr Sykora to name a few. However, much will depend on their defence which is still shockingly weak in it's own end. One area that shouldn't be a question mark anymore is their goaltending, Fleury won 40 games last year putting him behind only Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo.
5. New Jersey Devils - Despite the loss of Brian Rafalski and Scott Gomez the Devils have a long history of overcoming high profile loses and this year will be no exception. They still have Martin Brodeur and he can still carry a team on his back. They also have a proven winner in Brent Sutter as their new head coach.
6.Buffalo Sabres - The Sabres will drop off a lot this year, as a result of losing Daniel Briere and Chris Drury to free agency. Their season will rest on the performance of Ryan Miller, Derek Roy and the heavily overpaid Tomas Vanek. There is enough talent left for this team to make the playoffs.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning - Goaltending is still a big question mark for this team, but as last year showed, Martin St-Louis and Vincent Lecavalier can carry this team to the playoffs. They will hope that Brad Richards can rebound from an off year and take off some of the load.
8. Philadelphia Flyers - This was a tough choice and could have gone either way, but with the lack of top line centers on Atlanta I had to give it to the Flyers. They Flyers are completely revamped with the additions of Daniel Briere, Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell to name a few. The Flyers will take time to gel as a team, but there will be no repeat of last year and with Simon Gagne and a possible return of Peter Forsberg, this will be a playoff team again.
Western Conference Finals:
Detroit RedWings vs Anahiem Ducks
Winner = Detroit RedWings
Eastern Conference Finals:
Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers
Winner = Pittsburgh Penguins
Stanley Cup final:
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit RedWings
Stanley Cup Winner = Pittsburgh Penguins finally reaching their potential possible dynasty starting.
Well lets start with the Western Conference:
1.Detroit Red Wings - If Dominic Hasek can stay healthy they will be a force, if not they will be out early. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsuyk proved last year that they can take this team deep into the playoffs if a little luck is on their side.
2. Anaheim Ducks - It's difficult for champions to repeat, but with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry a year older and J.S Giguere re-signing their hard hitting brand of hockey will be hard to beat.
3. Vancouver Canucks - Roberto Luongo will further his claim to being the best goalie today, by leading the Canucks to a division title. He of course will have a little help from the ever improving Sedin twins.
4. San Jose Sharks - Joe Thornton and his charges will be back and better than ever. However, they better hope that putting all their eggs in one basket doesn't backfire. Their Marleau Thornton Cheechoo line will have to perform every night if they are to be a Cup threat.
5. Colorado Avalanche - A lot will depend on Petr Budaj continuing to his stellar play. The Avs will be a safe bet to make the playoffs, with the likes of Joe Sakic and the impressive Paul Statsny and Wojtek Wolski to lead the charge.
6. Minnesota Wild - The Wild's chances will depend on Marian Gaborik staying healthy, but after a new off-season regime he is primmed to have a outrageous year. The Wild's defence first style will serve them well in the long haul of the season.
7. Calgary Flames - Mike Keenan's style may not be to everyone's liking, but he's the type of tough, disciplinarian coach that the Flames need. He will bring a system that will help Jerome Iginla's team reach the playoffs.
8. St Louis Blues - This pick may come as a shock to many, but I think they have built a core of young players like Lee Stempniak, Eric Johnson and the addition of Paul Kariya will vault them ahead of the Stars and Predators for the final playoff spot.
Now for the East Conference:
1. Ottawa Senators - There is no surprise here, a freshly signed Dan Heatley will lead last year's Stanley Cup finalists, back to the Promised land. This team is just plain sick, with Redden, Spezza, Alfredsson and of course Heatley leading the way.
2. New York Rangers - The addition of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury have propelled the Rangers into Cup contenders and although it will be a tough fight, the Atlantic should be theirs by season end.
3. Carolina Hurricanes - They had a rash of injuries and slumps, but this team is just too good not to win the Southeast division. A healthy Cory Stillman will go a long way to helping Eric Staal recapturing his 2005-2006 form.
4. Pittsburgh Penguins - Sidney Crosby the reigning NHL MVP has a strong supporting cast of Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Petr Sykora to name a few. However, much will depend on their defence which is still shockingly weak in it's own end. One area that shouldn't be a question mark anymore is their goaltending, Fleury won 40 games last year putting him behind only Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo.
5. New Jersey Devils - Despite the loss of Brian Rafalski and Scott Gomez the Devils have a long history of overcoming high profile loses and this year will be no exception. They still have Martin Brodeur and he can still carry a team on his back. They also have a proven winner in Brent Sutter as their new head coach.
6.Buffalo Sabres - The Sabres will drop off a lot this year, as a result of losing Daniel Briere and Chris Drury to free agency. Their season will rest on the performance of Ryan Miller, Derek Roy and the heavily overpaid Tomas Vanek. There is enough talent left for this team to make the playoffs.
7. Tampa Bay Lightning - Goaltending is still a big question mark for this team, but as last year showed, Martin St-Louis and Vincent Lecavalier can carry this team to the playoffs. They will hope that Brad Richards can rebound from an off year and take off some of the load.
8. Philadelphia Flyers - This was a tough choice and could have gone either way, but with the lack of top line centers on Atlanta I had to give it to the Flyers. They Flyers are completely revamped with the additions of Daniel Briere, Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell to name a few. The Flyers will take time to gel as a team, but there will be no repeat of last year and with Simon Gagne and a possible return of Peter Forsberg, this will be a playoff team again.
Western Conference Finals:
Detroit RedWings vs Anahiem Ducks
Winner = Detroit RedWings
Eastern Conference Finals:
Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers
Winner = Pittsburgh Penguins
Stanley Cup final:
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit RedWings
Stanley Cup Winner = Pittsburgh Penguins finally reaching their potential possible dynasty starting.
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