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Name your 8 Eastern Conference playoff teams? |
They don't have to be in any particular order, but state your reasoning. No order: Pens...Just look at the offence. Rangers...Some good additions. Devils...Its the Devils, enough said. Sabres...Presidents trophy, no, contender, yes. Flyers...One year at the bottom was enough. Lightning...Best in their division Sens...Will be hungry for what they faught so hard for last season. Thrashers...Just because i like their jerseys. How about west too in no order: Anaheim...No explanation needed. Detroit...Same as above. San Jose...strong team needing badly to get out of the second round. Vancouver...One word, Luongo. Calgary...Between them and Dallas 8th seed. Minnesota...not great, but not horrible. St. Louis...Time for the blues to come back. Colorado...Stong at the end of last season, some decent additions. Lose the first round. Ask this question in March. It's too early, not all the transactions are finished yet, and we haven't even dealt with injuries. Asking these premature questions at this point in the "season" is a waste of everyone's time. 1. Pens 2. Sens 3. Thrashers 4. NYR 5. Sabres 6. Leafs 7. Flyers 8. Panthers/Bruins/Habs/Canes/ Bolts All of those teams either got someone to make them much better or were great teams that got a little worse. All those teams are very capable of making it. Devils won't make the playoffs, they suck now. 1. Pens (They played the best 2nd half of the season last year and can only get better) 2. Sens (They did not lose any of there key players to a great run last year) 3. Rangers (The talent they had last year was great then they go and add Drury and Gomez....nuff said 4. Sabres (they made there run last 2 years as a team and they still have some great talent Miller, Max, Vanek who im sure they'll sign, Connolly 5. Flyers (good young team that now has the playoff experience of Briere and Marty Biron 6. Atlanta (another young team that is sticking together for another year 7. Isles (had to pick somebody) 8. Canadiens (just cant see them missing 2 years in a row) 1. Rangers - They were good last year. They're better now. Lundqvist was one of the best goalies in the league last year with a bad half a season. This year, he'll be better and lead the Rangers to the President's Trophy. 2. Sabres - They may have lost Drury and Briere, but they were good because of their play as a team. They won't be as good as last year, but they'll still be a force to contend with. 3. Thrashers - They had a good season last year, probably one of the sleeper hits. They'll be about the same as last year. 4. Penguins - They'll be better than the Thrashers and maybe the Sabres, but because of the structure of the standings, they'll be 4th. Look for Crosby to get similar treatment to Jagr, getting double-teamed constantly. 5. Senators - They'll swap places from last year with the Penguins, but will still be good enough to get up to 5th. 6. Lightning - Still a contender in the East, Holmqvist should be a little better, but not good enough to get past the Sens. 7. Devils - They still have Brodeur, and have always played well as a team, long before people heard of Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski. The Devs will drop from last year, but will still make the playoffs. 8. Maple Leafs - They missed the playoffs by one point last season, and will make sure they're at least a little better so it doesn't slip away this time. Barely missing: Flyers - Briere and the trade acquisitions will help get them out of the basement, but they need more than that to get into the playoffs. They'll finish 4th in the Atlantic, though. Panthers - The Southeast will be a weak, but closely-packed division and the Panthers will realize the same fate as last season. They'll be in a position to make a push for the postseason, but won't have what it takes to get there. They'll finish 3rd in the Southeast. Capitals - Quietly getting better, but their offseason moves are comparable to my arguments for the Flyers. They'll be better, but not good enough to make the playoffs. They'll finish 4th in the Southeast, ahead of the 2006 Champion Hurricanes. 1 Sens - if they play like they did at the end of last year and throughout the playoffs, then they are the best in the league. 2 Pens - a good young core but the defense is to questionable to be first here. 3 Thrashers - In the worst division in the league to start with...they will be the only team from that division to make it 4 Rangers - have to resign Lunqvist first but they should be very solid next year 5 Flyers - Should return to contenders next year with their acquisitions and will give the Rangers and Penguins a good fight in the division 6 Buffalo - despite losing Briere and Drury they still have a great depth and enough to make it into the playoffs 7 Canadiens - They have enough talent to get themselves into the playoffs but not much further 8 Devils - Losing Rafalski and Gomez was a big hit and being in arguably the toughest division in the league is hard to take too, but Brodeur is still in net and still very good. They would probably be #6 if it wasn't for being in the Atlantic Division Capitals barely miss because they still need a better coach and they need better chemistry. New York- Lundqvist will continue to play well and they'll add a little offense with their offseason pick-ups. Toronto- Really close last year, now with a good winger for Sundin and a better goalie in Toskala, they should be able to squeak in Philadelphia- They got Biron who will improve their goaltending greatly and with their fantastic offseason (Briere, Timmonen, Hartnell, Lupul and Smith), they'll have the offense and defense to get it done. Pittsburgh- They'll only get better as their young guys get older. Buffalo- Even with the loss of Drury and Bri猫re, they still have plenty of skill in guys like Vanek, Pominville and Afinangenov and will still be an elite team in the east. Atlanta- Someone has to win that division and this is who it'll be. New Jersey- They'll just squeak in and it all be because of Brodeur. He's great, sadly, the rest of the team isn't. Ottawa- They won't be as good as last year but they'll still make the playoffs. Last year was all a fluke. First round exit this year. |
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