Stanley Cup Frontrunners
Posted by jtbourne on November 9, 2009 · 15 Comments
Contributing to the Power Rankings for USA Today each couple weeks really makes me think about where teams in the NHL are at. These are the left-over thought nuggets from this weeks edition.
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Carolina - In last years playoffs, Bourne’s Blog became a forum for a quality back and forth with some of the Carolina faithful about their team (mostly because I was treating the ‘Canes like I’ve been treating Phoenix this year), and somewhere along the way I got convinced that they weren’t all that bad. It made sense that they wouldn’t be – Eric Staal is worthy of having a team built around him, Cam Ward is one of the best goalies in the NHL, and I thought Paul Maurice was a pretty good coach.
When we did our pre-season predictions, we got some static about the lack of Carolina love. I had debated whether or not to include them, but we were only asked to pick division and conference winners, not playoff teams, so it made no sense to mention them. Playoffs, yes, top team, no.
So what the f**k is going on down there?
And now the two players I mentioned before are hurt? They’re worse than my Isles? The Leafs? Hit that “comment” button ‘Canes fans. Explain yourselves.
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I can’t help but think that there’s about a 20% chance the Cup winner comes out of the Western Conference this year.
Who looks like a Cup threat right now? I mean, you can say the Colorado Avalanche, but you don’t mean that. You’re aware they’re still a “good young team”, right? It’s okay to say that they’re legit. Tons of up-and-coming talent. But I don’t see a whole lot of “crap, I don’t want to play that team in playoffs” on their roster. I do see a whole lot of “crap, I really don’t feel like playing this mid-season game, can someone get a leash on Wolski? Stastny? O’Reilly? Duchene? CAN SOMEONE GET A BELL ON DUCHENE!??”
Name another threat with a straight face right now.
The Sharks?
I’d agree, if they didn’t play in the the Pacific Division, or as it’s better known, the ”try-to-gage-a-team-in-a-division-with-LA-Phoenix-and-Dallas” group. Heatley was a massive pick-up. Fine. He makes them the West’s best hope until Chicago inevitably wakes from it’s slumber. But there’s still something that doesn’t feel right about calling the Sharks a Cup contender. What does it mean that when I picture the Pacific Division, I picture a train going over some old wooden tressel bridge, only nobody knows the wood is rotten beneath? I feel like every passing train (game?) is one closer to the utter collapse of the whole thing. Combine that with a history of playoff failure, and it’s hard to be too sold on the Teal Trainwrecks Titans.
I know you can only beat the teams you play (the Boise State football problem), it’s just tough to tell if they’re actually good, or playing bad opponents. But, they will be a top three seed again, so here’s to hoping that they can break the same mold they built.
How about this: If I were to say “for a thousand dollars, will the Stanley Cup come out of the Western Conference, or the Atlantic Division?” - which one are you picking?
Atlantic Division
| GP | W | L | OT | Pts | GF | GA | Home | Away | L10 | Streak | |
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17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 54 | 44 | 5-3-0 | 7-2-0 | 6-4-0 | Lost 2 |
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15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 39 | 33 | 3-4-0 | 8-0-0 | 8-2-0 | Won 5 |
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18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 21 | 56 | 48 | 6-2-0 | 4-5-1 | 3-6-1 | Lost 1 |
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14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 52 | 37 | 6-2-1 | 3-2-0 | 6-3-1 | Won 4 |
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17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 44 | 50 | 5-2-2 | 1-4-3 | 5-3-2 | Won 1 |
You know what I’d pick? I’d pick to complain that it’s NO WONDER THE ISLES STRUGGLE SO BAD.
This is what makes the NHL playoffs so great. It’s not accurate to gage a team based strictly on their record, since head-to-head is the only undeniable measuring stick for “who’s-better-than-who”. In the ever-popular BCS, strength of schedule is a heavy factory in determining the best teams. Fortunately for us, the NHL has a playoff format, so we actually get to watch the “I wonder who’s actually better” questions play out.
And who’s actually better?
The Stanley Cup Champion Penguins, my friend. That’s not just picking the obvious – at this point in the season, it’s picking correctly.
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And last, I wanted to give a shout-out to the reader who read my USA Today article, found my blog, tracked down my email, then wrote me the following email, which is printed below, unedited:
“you smoke pickle”
And so, I laughed.
I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with a NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL. My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now a columnist for USA Today, The Hockey News and Hockey Primetime.com.
The who’s better than who measuring stick practically needs to be updated/re-evaluated each game. Injuries, confidence and energy can seriously impact how the whole team plays. It’s a question of who’s better than who right this minute. Sometimes a team gets a fire lit underneath them and they play much better than expected. (IE – Wild’s Halloween win over the Penguins.) As a fan of the very bi-polar Minnesota Wild, I just wait for the first puck drop to see which team shows up. Will they make the playoffs – probably not…but I still love to watch them play!
I don’t know what to say about Carolina as a fan. I always thought they had some fringe players that could go either way. For example Chad Larose. Last season he played great, but can he continue it? Looks like no. Cam Ward was playing incredible. You watch the games and they don’t look bad. Yeah a few turnovers but they just can’t score! Looks like they have no confidence. Maybe Justin can speak of a team’s mentality during a losing stretch. Not saying anything against you Justin, or your teams. Just figure your pro experience is a little different than my beer league losing team.
As a San Jose fan who has moved to NC I think I’m legally obligated to respond!
Teal: You’re not wrong. They are the team that when everyone thinks they’re just fine, or even bad, play like the wind. As soon as folks start saying they can’t lose they’ll figure out a way. We’ll see if there were enough changes in the locker room to change that…but I’m gonna stay negative figuring that’s the only way they’ll *ever* make it into the finals
Red: Poor Cam! That boy just can’t get a break. Personally I think Eric Staal isn’t as good as marketing makes him out to be. He’s lazy whenever he doesn’t have the puck. Prior to now they had an equally good player heading up their defense – Cam (as well as quite a few other guys). I think they’re whole issue now is attitude and luck. If you watch the games they’re not playing badly – they’re just losing badly. The San Jose 5-1 blowout was a fairly balanced game except for the scoreboard. I think they need to seriously start considering sacrificing a chicken or two.
Eric “Stall”?
Is that a Freudian slip?
Ha, crap, fixed it.
Carolina wasn’t that good last year either, they sneaked in on goals Marty is probably still trying to forget and over-achieved due to outstanding play by Cam Ward, who not surprisingly cannot continue to pull an entire team on his own. Although, so far they are worse than I expected them to be this year (now that the SE division isn’t such a cake-walk?).
NHL.com’s “vs. East” and “vs. West” stats will once again demonstrate (like they already have after just 15 games) that the West is more competitive and consistent than the East, but I gotta go with you on this one Bourne and say that Sid, Fleury, Gino, Staal, Goligoski, Letang and the gang all get one year older and do it again.
Where did the Devils come from this year? 39 Goals for and they’re 11-4? So good, so boring, and fans that wait until the playoffs to start watching. It must be nice living in a city where you can walk into a home game and buy seats at the door at center ice (in Vancouver it’s more like “check craigslist for $80 nose-bleeds and hope ticket is real”).
Hey, I’m in Phoenix. I left a bar a month ago with Diamondbacks tickets in my pocket, completely oblivious to where they came from. So I think I’m in a city closer to NJ, sport-wise.
If I could go back and re-write the pre-season Coyotes article, I’d change one thing – the attendance has a ton to do with the location in Glendale, instead of Scottsdale or Tempe. I live 15 mins in every direction from everywhere that matters in this city. Yet somehow it’s a 40 minute drive to Glendale. I’d stop in to games all the time if it didn’t involve a ten o’clock drive home of said 40 minutes. A football game, fine, they play 8 times a year. But with the same amount of home games as minutes away, a game rarely registers as worth it for me.
I don’t think the Sharks even deserve to be spoken aloud. Their failures have been so epic they have lost the right to be regarded as a good team. Hell they could have a perfect season and I still would put money on them shitting the bed. They have and had literally zero excuses and I think even acquiring Heatley wasn’t enough. They should have moved Marleau in addition to the Heatley trade, really shaken up the whole core of the team.
And regarding Carolina, I really can’t understand what is going on. For every time you complain about your fantasy team and being cursed, realized I picked Ward, Gagne, the injured Sedin, and Gonchar. I’m also the reason Rick DiPietro is a cyborg.
The problem in san jose come playoff time is that they have a core group of players that doesnt seem to want to make the sacrafices that you have to in order to win cups. The one veteran guy in there room is to old to lead on his own and Thornton, and Marleau are both soft when the games really matter. If you want to be succesful everyone in the room especially the elite players have to make sacrifices in the playoffs. If the stars in san jose do this they could be a scary team in the play offs but lets not count on it.
Forty minutes? Geez, if I lived that close, I’d get season tickets! I’m lucky if I get home from the average Bruins game at midnight.
San Jose is without a doubt a cup contender, no matter what their past is they are dangerous. You mention colorado not being a team that you say, “ooo, I dont wanna see them in the playoffs.”…well San Jose is that team. Every team goes into playoffs vs San Jose and says, “shit these guys are good, hopefully they are still napping before the games outside by the pool.” If I was presented with the option of taking any teams top four players, no other team has a better 1-4 combo than San Jose’s Marleau, Thornton, Heatley, and Boyle. If you put the sharks roster in a city like Calgary they would be a dynasty by now. (Sorry San Jose, but playing hockey in Cali gives you a max intensity level of a 7) The sharks play in a loud rink, but as soon as they leave that rink, NOBODY cares!
And being from South Jersey, I rep Philly- so I gotta say I like their team this year. I know their the best team to consistantly not get it done (I played four yrs at UNH, so I know all about that) but they have a great mix of vets and young talent. Richards, Carter, Pronger, Carle, JVR, Brierre, Giroux, etc… They are def. a team I would not want to see in the playoffs, and Id like nothing more than to see Sid upended in Philly.
Yup, Philly is really good. Every year.
Good thing they fixed that goalie problem with Ray Emery, right? What’re the Vegas odds of him winning the Conn Smythe? Higher or lower than mine?
I want Ray Emery to win the Cup just to see the picture hit the internet of him and Snoop Dogg using the top part of the Cup as a gravity bong…
The Canucks will win the cup. Just ilke I predict every year
In all seriousness, I don’t think it’s going to far to say that they’ll win TWO cups this year. Just play so well that the league forgeits the 2010-2011 Cup to them. And Naslund will win the Conn Smythe for the second one. Just wait til you see how great this unfolds for the Canuckleheads.