This is great news that the Flames are being written off as they never seemed comfortable when anointed as a contender.
Also great news is all the expectations being placed on the Oilers. Doesn't matter the sport but one things that remains is teams out of the playoff picture that have some success with no pressure and make some eye catching offseason moves always become offseason darlings. Yeah sure the Oilers are going to win the NW Division and the Arizona Cardinals are going to win the NFC West as well.
I guess alot of people are just banking on the fact that Gagner, Cogliano and Nilsson are just going to keep on getting better, and Garon is a No 1 goalie. In a way, this reminds me of the "300 goal" Oilers season projection.
Forwards - alot of young talent and potential, but not alot of experience in the top 6.
Defense - alot of puck moving, not alot of defense.
Goal - a No 1 goalie who's never been a No 1 goalie
Too many holes and question marks to be a top team. I think they will challenge for a playoff spot though.
__________________ "I would not trade Grebeshkov for Phaneuf straightup."
- Oilers fan Alex87, HFBoards
...Also great news is all the expectations being placed on the Oilers. Doesn't matter the sport but one things that remains is teams out of the playoff picture that have some success with no pressure and make some eye catching offseason moves always become offseason darlings. Yeah sure the Oilers are going to win the NW Division and the Arizona Cardinals are going to win the NFC West as well.
The Oilers are a lock for their division...I love this team!"
~ Kelly Hrudey, 5 October, 2006, Hockey Night in Canada
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אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא היו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת שלא לקבל פרס ויהא מורא שמים עליכם
רב שמעון הצדיק
Who the hell is Sam Gagne? Is that Simon's younger brother?? It is hard to respect a site that cannot spell players names right, especially a guy whose dad played in the league for 14 years.
Personally I don't think we should be assuming all of the projects we have this year are going to get better this season. Between Bert, Camo, Lombardi, Boyd, Glencross, Bourque, etc. we have a lot to prove. We just have to hope all of the new faces will work out. Writers are having a hard time looking past the loss of Tanguay/Huselius numbers, but they are not taking into account what they did to our chemistry and desire to win. I think it's impossible to predict how well the new group is going to do so until we see them play a bunch of games. I'm reserving prediction until then. On paper I love our team and am hoping the added speed, youth, and willingness to play will shine through and prove to people (similar to our cup run) that we have all of the horses.
In terms of Edmonton, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt in goal. I think Garon should be just fine as a starter. And I think they have a good group of forwards, but it depends heavily on Cole’s ability to stay healthy and Horcoff’s ability to get back to game shape. I don't think you'll see slumps out of Gagne or Cogs. Where we lack on sure bets, they lack on D however… you can’t rely on Souray to play even half a season.
The amount of credit the Oilers are getting for the simple additions of Vishnovsky and Cole is nothing short of stunning.
To be fair, those are a couple of good additions. I think the Oilers will be a much better team this season. Division winners? I wouldn't bet on it, but the division will be tight all season again, I don't really think there's a clear heirarchy.
^^^I agree with Doom, we have some pretty big question marks of our own.
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A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
"I was like Christ, lying on my back, with my arms outstretched, crucified"
-- Frank Musil - Early January 1994
To be fair, those are a couple of good additions. I think the Oilers will be a much better team this season. Division winners? I wouldn't bet on it, but the division will be tight all season again, I don't really think there's a clear heirarchy.
Exactly... people are hating on the Oilers and these forecasts way too much. It's all opinion, no need to get the panties all up in a bunch.
Credit where credit is due. Criticism where criticism is due, but it's like someone was shot some times...
The Oilers have a decent team with holes/question marks on the blue line and perhaps some up front. The Flames are a decent team with holes/question marks up front and perhaps some added fat on the blueline too. It will be an interesting season...
The amount of credit the Oilers are getting for the simple additions of Vishnovsky and Cole is nothing short of stunning.
No doubt, still remember going into the season after their fluke to the final run how reporters were wondering if they could hit 400 goals in the season.
To be fair, those are a couple of good additions. I think the Oilers will be a much better team this season. Division winners? I wouldn't bet on it, but the division will be tight all season again, I don't really think there's a clear heirarchy.
See, I also agree that the Oilers will be better this season, but how much will that mean in the standings for a team that finished in a dead heat with three teams for #9–11 in the Conference, and that had the second fewset number of regulation wins in the entire League? In my opinion, the Oilers could improve quite a bit, and yet still find themselves in 9th or 10th in the West, especially relative to how other teams have improved over the summer.
I am also willing to give Garon the benefit of the doubt, and will suggest that he will be a decent starter this season. But again, what exactly does this mean to the Oilers overall success?He won 26 games last season, 10 of which were in the shootout. It is reasonable also to expect that he could improve overall, but will still not record many more than 30 wins.
The Oilers biggest problem last season was keeping pucks out of their own goal. I don't doubt that they will be a decent team offensively, but in my estimation, they look to be possibly even worse on the other side of the puck this season. Visnovsky and a healthy Sheldon Souray are not going to do the Oilers any favours in their own and, and for a team that already struggled mightily in this part of the game, it must be considered a very real concern.
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אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא היו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת שלא לקבל פרס ויהא מורא שמים עליכם
רב שמעון הצדיק
The comment about the Flames having so much money tied up by so few players bugs me a bit. Does anyone have a spreadsheet of all the salaries for the upcoming season for each team's roster players? Some statistical analysis is in order...
Edit: Most reporters/analysists think the rest of the division took a step back. So while the additions of Cole and Lubo dont seem like a whole lot, in most peoples eyes the Oilers took a step forward while everyone else in the league took a step back, or sideways.
I think the Oilers definately took a huge step forward, but thats a huge step forward from IMO a bottom 5 NHL team. To me, they are in the in the middle of the pack, a about 14-18 in the league.
__________________ "I would not trade Grebeshkov for Phaneuf straightup."
- Oilers fan Alex87, HFBoards
Location: Behind the Panthers' bench eyeing Clemmer or Vokoun
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddyBeers
Who the hell is Sam Gagne? Is that Simon's younger brother?? It is hard to respect a site that cannot spell players names right, especially a guy whose dad played in the league for 14 years.
One of many who is too boring; thinks that there should be rules regarding grammar in custom user titles, and also makes moderators wonder if there is a charachter limit here. I mean come on- you would think that would be a limitation in the software
Join Date: Jan 2003
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The Oilers shootout success last year is really deceiving a lot of people.
Simple fact is, Edmonton was the 2nd worst team in the West defensively last year, and they won only 26 hockey games.
Does Vishnovsky over Pitkanen improve that defensive mess much? Not really, no. Edmonton is still going to be a bad team at keeping the puck out of their net.
Shootout success simply hasn't followed from year to year thus far. Anyone who expects the Oilers will maintain a similar success rate in the shootout this year is a fool.
If the kids maintain their play of last year, the addition of Cole and Vishnovsky should equal enough goals to turn some of those shootout wins into real wins. But in truth, I don't see them adding to their total. A sophomore slump or two, and the Oilers turn some of those shootout wins into losses. Frankly, I don't expect Edmonton to top 90 points, and that will mean no playoffs.
2009-10, however, I can see Edmonton moving forward into a playoff spot.
Another Site Rates Northwest Divsion
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