The 2007 2008 NHL Team Rankings prior to start of season IMO....

[theasterisk]

being in mass. its tough to get excited when the bruins could be the worst run franchise in sports...so i just latch on to the exciting teams, i'm from the more scoring school of thought

[Chado1]

RESPONSE TO jimshags:

I agree with you about Senators. The line of Heatley, Alfredsson, and Spezza have a combined 225 goals between the three of them over the last 2 seasons. The pretty have the same team as the won that went to the Cup last season and Ray Emery now has some valuable playoff experience under his belt.

And with the Sharks I dont know that I would have them rated as high as second as the are a very young team with only 4 players over the age of 30. I do however like Matthew Carle, aswell as , Milan Michalek, Steve Bernier, and Joe Pavelski who were all selected in the 2003 draft and are all key players on this team now. Joe Thornton will rack up the points as usual and Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo will also do their part. A playoff birth for sure but contenders and 2nd ranking not sure about that.

Pittsburgh yes they do have Sydney Crosby and that is always a good thing and I agree that additions of Darryl Sydor and Petr Sykora will add veteran leadership along with Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts. Also I do agree about Marc Andre Fleury as he has reduced his goals against average by half a goal over the last three seasons he had been playing and the Penguins did have the best power play in the league last year and I would expect that to remain around the same.

Detroit is Detroit and it is as simple as that. They are definately consistent year in and year out. I know that the Wings have the longest streak in all of major north american sports as they have made the playoffs in 14 straight seasons. Additions of Brian Rafalski on the blue line will just add to strong defense of this team with Niklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios. Also Hasek just makes things even better for them defensively he had a GAA of only 2.05 last season.

If the Devils can score some more goals this season with Brodeur between the pipes they will have much success. With new coach Brent Sutter he should be able to provide this team with some more discipline and structure. I would expect Zach Parise, Brian Gianta, and Travis Zajac to provide majoirty of the offense for them. The loss of Scott Gomez may deter them a bit offensively but not signicantly IMO.

I like two of the 4 surprise teams you have there specifically. I think Philadelphia will have a much better season that the one from last year which seen them have the worst record in the entire league. The aquisitions of Daniel Briere, Kimmo Timonen and Jason Smith will help them offensively. Also getting Martin Biron from Buffalo late last season will be a big boost between the pipes. I think Colorado will be very good this season as last year they were the first team in NHL history to have as many as 95 points and not make the post season. The run they made late last season should carry over to their success of this year. The huge aquisition of Ryan Smyth from the Islanders will help this team out a ton and the two rookies from last season in Paul Stasny and Wojtek Wolsky had great years offensively which should help in their development into this year. And hey Sakic is Sakic and he will always be a force. Also the addition of Scott Hannan as well as the return of Jordon Leopold from injury will make their defense even better.

The Oilers did get Dustin Penner and Sheldon Sourray and yes I would expect them to be much better than last seasons terrible output but I doubt they will make the playoffs IMO...

The Predators had six players score 20 or more goals last season. They finished the season tied for the most goals with Colorado in that department. Defensilvely they have a solid young core in Dan Hamuis, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber. Also the addition of Greg De Vries should help with his experience. Also Chris mason had a quality GAA of only 2.38 last season. They will make the playoffs but Detroit should take the division IMO....

WHEW...ok im done now...

[wayne1218]

WHEW...ok im done now...

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!

[Chado1]

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!

LMAO...

Im such a fuckin hockey nut huh....

[wayne1218]

LMAO...

Im such a fuckin hockey nut huh....

I think you are at the wrong forum for that though! lol

[Chado1]

I think you are at the wrong forum for that though! lol

There are a bunch of people on this site that follow NHL...they are just mainly lurkers and the ones that hide in the shadows ...."come out, come out, wherever you are!"

I am sure tash will come in here soon..he is like the only one that I can think of....

[wayne1218]

There are a bunch of people on this site that follow NHL...they are just mainly lurkers and the ones that hide in the shadows ...."come out, come out, wherever you are!"

I am sure tash will come in here soon..

This statement would be true if you were at nhl.com/forums ... not here!

[Chado1]

What ever happened to worm...he used to only post NHL too.....he was a good guy...wonder what happened to him...

[jimshags]

The Sharks may be a stretch, But I think the loss of Niedermayer, Penner and Selanne might be too much to over come for the Ducks.

The Rangers will be entertaining. A lot of talent on that team. Avery a good addition last year and fan favorite, Drury will be a solid presence in the locker room. Lundquist is for real.

Cant wait for Friday and Center Ice Package!

WAR more NHL on Bettors Chat

[Chado1]

WAR more NHL on Bettors Chat

[kbsooner21]

Better start a Bettorschat Canada edition

[Chado1]

You should post plays this season jim....

need more NHL cappers on here other than just Wayne, tash, and myself....would be interested to see your picks on a daily basis....I posted all of last season and had a great profitable year...hoping for continued success.....

PS - yea Lundquist is DEFINATELY for real....great goaltender for the Rangers.....

[jimshags]

I may start posting some plays this year. We will see how it goes.

Dont forget about jc's stolen nhl plays as well. If I remember correctly, the stolen plays did rather well.

[Chado1]

I may start posting some plays this year. We will see how it goes.

Dont forget about jc's stolen nhl plays as well. If I remember correctly, the stolen plays did rather well.

LOL....you remember them huh...NICE....

Yea I am gonna bug him to post them aswell....

[Chado1]

1.) Anaheim Mighty Ducks
2.) New York Rangers
3.) Ottawa Senators
4.) San Jose Sharks
5.) Detroit Red Wings
6.) Pittsburgh Penguins
7.) Buffalo Sabres
8.) New Jersey Devils
9.) Vancouver Canucks
10.) Colorado Avalanche
11.) Calgary Flames
12.) Dallas Stars
13.) Minnesota Wild
14.) Carolina Hurricanes
15.) Tampa Bay Lightning
16.) Atlanta Thrashers
17.) Montreal Canadiens
18.) Philadelphia Phlyers
19.) Nashville Predators
20.) Edmonton Oilers
21.) Columbus Blue Jackets
22.) Los Angeles Kings
23.) St. Louis Blues
24.) Washington Capitals
25.) Florida Panthers
26.) Boston Bruins
27.) Chicago Blackhawks
28.) Phoenix Coyotes
29.) New York Islanders
30.) Toronto Maple Leafs

PS - The Leafs arent actually THE WORST team in the league I just hate them with a passion and all their fans that are so damn biased and think everything Leaf is great. They are realistically about 20-24th...