The Canadian teams suck

[Vinny01]

This year has been very enjoyable as a Flames fan. Considering I feel most of our biggest rivals are the other Canadian teams this year has been a treat

Flames- actually they have been a feel good story. Having said that they appear to still be a bottom 5 team this year. I am happy with their direction but still have a long way to go

Oilers- this was supposed to be the year theyade the playoffs. With 6 top 10 picks in the last 7 years they had all the talent to make some noise. Well they are going to get another top pick this year because they suck. The culture is brutal, and the owner refuses to fire the incompetent management. This team needs an overhaul this summer

Canucks- 3 years removed from the cup finals and 2 years removed from their 2nd presidents trophy they fell hard this year. No prospects, an aging roster, and several poor trades caught up to them. They have been a train wreck all of 2014

Jets- a very vanilla team. Their GM sits on his hands every year. Sure he shuffles a chair or 2 every so often hit this core is not a cup contending group. They waited too long to fire their coach, and need to make a move or 2 if they are ever going to be better than 9th-12th in the conference

Sens- were thought by many to be the best of the Canadian teams. They lost their identity of being the pesky Sens. They will also miss the playoffs this year and they do not have a 1st round pick this year

Leafs- after being a solid playoff bound team all year this 18 wheeler decided to take the mountain road and fell off a cliff again this year. 8 losses in a row put them in extremely tough to make the playoffs. Nonis brought in Clarkson, Bolland, and Bernier losing MacArthur and Grabovski. Their goaltending has failed them and they have huge issues to address this summer

Habs- bright spot of the Canadian teams. They added a stud forward at the deadline and have the ability to win a round or 2.


6 of 7 Canadian teams posied to miss the playoffs. These are tough markets but this has been a surprising year to say the least.

[trackercowe]

The one thing I am going to disagree with is that it's all the surprising. We knew going in that it was going to be unlikely for the Flames, Oilers, and Jets to make the playoffs. Maybe some didn't expect the Oilers to be this bad, but the smart fan had to know they'd finish near the bottom of the league (again...).

The Canucks are on the downslope and are in a new division where three teams are far better than them going forward (Ducks, Kings, Sharks). They also dealt away their only strength (goaltending), and poor management and coaching to boot. Things will probably only get worse, unless Gillis tries to go for the quick fix and sign a big name free agent (or make a bold trade). Even then they need to rebuild if they want to contend with the three other elite teams in the division.

The Senators seemingly duped everyone last season (including me). I think loss of identity may be part of it, especially with Alfredsson being dealt, but unlike last year they had a healthy Karlsson and Spezza for most of the season (plus the addition of Bobby Ryan). They also seem to have issues with ownership all the way down to coaching. MacLean worked wonders last year, but it doesn't help matters if the rumors he's having with Brian Murray are true. Again moving into a new division probably didn't help, nor did having to play a full 82 game season. Results can completely change in a full campaign. I don't think anyone would be surprised if the Sens tank for McDavid next year. I think they are in a heap of trouble though with no first rounder this year, and Spezza and Ryan only having a year left on their contracts. They don't have a whole lot outside of Erik Karlsson, and a few prospects.

Then there are the Leafs, whose sudden downfall could sort of be considered a surprise I suppose. But it was to be expected at some point. They were barely a playoff team last year (once again in a shortened season), and very vastly outplayed on many nights this season. They won many games despite being outshot by significant margins. The coach and fans might blame goaltending, but the team has a very lackluster commitment to defense. Bernier has played great for much of the year, and even Reimer was decent enough until the last month. Another issue is they made some miscalculated free agency signings, and suffered significant injury woes down the middle for much of the season. A lot of credit should be given to Phil Kessel (and the rest of his line) for carrying the team for much of the season, but they can only be expected to do so much. They've made commitments to certain players, so the only real change they can make is letting Carlyle go in the off-season. It probably won't do a whole lot, but they can keep being a fringe playoff team for years if that's what ownership really wants. I don't think they are a whole lot worse than the Habs, and they could swap spots next season with a few small changes on either end.

As a Flames fan it's sort of good to see our organization to be placed in such a rarefied air. At least for this season I'd rank us second to the Habs in terms of positivism. There are very few negatives I would take away from our year. Obviously it's too soon to say we're definitely on the right track, but for the first year of our rebuild I am very happy where we are at.

[saXon]

Go Canada, eh.

[N-E-B]

The Canucks and Leafs somewhat surprised me this year. At the start of the season I predicted the Canucks to finish in the top wildcard spot. I knew they wouldn't be great but I didn't think they'd be this bad. The Leafs I thought would make it again as a low seed. Sort of the same story here. 2 weeks ago I would have said you're nuts if you think the Leafs would miss but they seem to have gone full Oiler over there.

The Oilers I knew would suck, and I was surprised at how many people thought they would make it, although I thought they'd at least be better than the Flames.

The Flames have been a nice surprise this year. I thought they'd be bottom 3 but for playing meaningless games I'm surprisingly into the games and on the edge of my seat hoping they win every game. But they still need a few pieces to contend.

The Jets are no surprise at all. Mediocre team stuck in that 9th-11th place finish range. Not good enough to make it but not bad enough to draft high.

The Canadiens again don't surprise me. Thy surprised me last year and this year all they've done is prove that last year was no fluke.

The Sens have been a disaster. Personally I picked them to win the Atlantic and represent the east in the Stanley Cup Finals. Anderson has been nowhere near as good, and Paul MacLean will not and should not be in the Jack Adams conversation this year. He has made some questionable choices multiple times this year. They seem to have lost their work ethic. I think they miss Alfredsson more than they thought.

[Enoch Root]

Records since Jan 1st: (Games / W / L / O / Pts / Goal Differential)

Mtl 35 / 20 / 12 / 3 / 43 / -5
Cal 34 / 17 / 16 / 1 / 35 / -3
Tor 35 / 16 / 16 / 3 / 35 / -23
Ott 31 / 13 / 11 / 7 / 33 / -27
Wpg 33 / 14 / 15 / 4 / 32 / -10
Edm 32 / 13 / 15 / 4 / 30 / -29
Van 35 / 11 / 20 / 4 / 26 / -44

The Flames have the 2nd most points, 2nd most wins, fewest goals against, and best goal differential.

They are the 2nd youngest currently (Wpg), with the youngest forwards, and their oldest player is the backup goalie. The Heat have the 3rd best record among the farm teams right now (Tor, Ott). And they have the best draft position this year (behind Edm but with 5 picks in the first 3 rounds)

[moon]

The Sens shouldn't be surprising at all. They had a ton of breaks last year and may have benefitted from the short season more than anyone.
Anderson wasn't close to as good as he was during his hot streak last year, they got a very weak Habs team in the 1st round that pretty much any team could have beat, they have a very weak forward group after Ryan and Spezza and while Karlsson scores a ton he gives up as much as he creates.

Throw in a moron owner and GM and it shouldn't be surprising the Sens are musing the play-offs this year.

[Vinny01]

I think the most surprising thing with the Canadian teams and more specifically the Oilers, Canucks, and Leafs is the meltdowns they have had. Edmonton started right away and have not crawled back. Vancouver and Toronto both have lost at least 7 games in a row in regulation to go from playoff positions to being on the outside looking in.

The Sens surprise me mostly due to how well the played under Maclean since he took over. The identity he was able to establish is gone. Winnipeg continues to spin their wheels and I am not surprised Setoguchi and Frolik did not put them over the top.

[Bingo]

Good discussion ...

I give the Forecaster a lot of credit they predicted Edmonton and Vancouver to miss in their preview magazine, Vancouver being the eye brow raiser.

Who'd a thought that the Flames would be a team that everyone feels good about while still picking in the top five? That's a pretty tough combination to pull off. I liked the Iginla comment yesterday by someone that said the culture improvement isn't because he left but because others emerged because he left. I think there's something to that. Will be so interesting to see what they do with ...

a) a new GM - his footprint on the team, moves at the draft, and ...
b) Hartley - he's on his last year of a contract and Burke has to know he has things on the right page. Will the new GM want a new guy? They have to extend him this summer and not lameduck him all year.
c) Free Agent time - the Flames have only 15 players signed on their current roster ... will probably bring back 6 of their own leaving room for 2 bodies. I don't see Cammalleri coming back with his hot streak. I have them 1 players and 4 or 5 million short of the floor so call ups won't get it done. Have to be careful on chemistry.

The Oilers must be thinking summer splash at this point, they have to change the culture. They dodged a bullet not signing Clarkson, but they do need some size, and they certainly need change. How many teams have to trade for culture and leadership? That's a tall order.

Canucks are fortunate in having Horvat and Shinkaruk added the summer before they collapsed, that's not a bad jump start. They are really harnessed by having two untradable aging Swedish twins in on their roster taking up cap space.

Crazy year. Sure makes the rebuild less painful!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by moon

The Sens shouldn't be surprising at all. They had a ton of breaks last year and may have benefitted from the short season more than anyone.
Anderson wasn't close to as good as he was during his hot streak last year, they got a very weak Habs team in the 1st round that pretty much any team could have beat, they have a very weak forward group after Ryan and Spezza and while Karlsson scores a ton he gives up as much as he creates.

Throw in a moron owner and GM and it shouldn't be surprising the Sens are musing the play-offs this year.

This is your opinion, but I think you're kinda off on this one. I know they just added Hemsky to fill out the top 2 lines, but Michalek-Spezza-Ryan and MacArthur-Turris-Zibanejad score plenty of goals normally, but Michalek has had a bad year and the secondary guys like Greening and Smith have had a bit of a down year as well (or it's possible they weren't very good in the first place).

The problem is goals against, whether it's Anderson letting in a lot more than he did last year (and Lehner isn't doing a whole lot better, so it's probably not just goaltending), or the team defense commitment has fallen off, it's clear that you're not going to make the playoffs when you average over 3 goals against per game. That hasn't changed over the years. I will watch them again today, but it might just be the coach's methods have worn off and they aren't playing a disciplined team game the way they were the last couple of years. That's an easy fix but they still might have to make some moves in the off-season to get back to the playoffs.

To me the Senators are still a playoff team in a weak East, just having a bad year.

[moon]

I forgot about Turris he is a good secondary guy.

MacArthur seems way too streaky for me and it seems when he is scoring he isn't playing physical/defensive when he is playing defensive he isn't scoring. He isn't awful but just a kind of average streaky secondary guy.

Michalek seems to still be living off of his Thornton days reputation. 35 points in 73 games this year, 33 in 66 two years ago, 34 in 66 4 years ago. The guy has had 1 good year away from Jumbo Joe and 3 pretty mediocre years.

Zibinejad is all about supposed potential at this point as well.

Macarthur-Turris-Zibinejad is a very meh second line especially with Michalek as a top line guy.

[Street Pharmacist]

Senators got very lucky overcoming injuries. With amazing goaltending and his like PA Pageau playing above reality I had no illusions they'd be anything but mediocre.

Only because I'm pessimistic when it comes to sports, I had Edmonton and Vancouver in the playoffs. I should have known better with Edmonton, but I really felt like they had to improve at some point.

As for Calgary, I did not expect to enjoy the season. I was even quite vocal about it. This one again proves that I know nothing about hockey

[Cali Panthers Fan]

On the Canucks, their decline has been a little surprising when you consider how few goals Burrows has scored and just how poorly the Sedin's have played despite years past when they were dominant offensively. I mean Brad Richardson and Mike Santorelli have as many goals as Henrik Sedin putting them tied for 6th on the team. In fact, if you look at the forward group and realistic expectations for them at the beginning of the year, only Kesler, Higgins, and maybe Kassian of all people have hit their expectations. Everyone else has been woefully terrible on offense and I think it has a lot to do with Tortorella's system than anything else. This is purely speculation on my part, but I think a LOT of players don't enjoy playing for Tortorella. Also, you have to consider the camaraderie and dressing room mood must have been destroyed with the whole Luongo fiasco and the infamous line brawl incident earlier this year. Oh, and Edler has been downright awful this year.

Basically career worst seasons for the majority of their roster coupled with some poor goaltending and awful dressing room makes for a bad season. They have the talent to be a playoff team but not with their current situation. I'm not sure Torts survives this year and it's probably a good thing for that team.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Toronto's situation has been discussed several times. With poor possession stats and being horribly outshot regularly, not to mention giving up high quality chances and not just shots from the outside, it was only a matter of time before they imploded. The offense has dried up somewhat (as happens at times in the year to all good players) and when that happens the team's defense and systems play makes up for it. Well it's obvious they don't have much in the way of defensive systems or commitment and hence the free fall. Same thing as Ottawa, you can't expect to be a playoff team when you average over 3 goals against per game.

[moon]

I figured the Canucks would be a wild card team fairly easily and out in 5 games in the first round. Their decline isn't surprising but how fast and hard that decline has come is very surprising.

There seems to be very little to indicate that they can bounce back without anything other than a full rebuild. But they still do have some pieces that they could move to help this along.

It will be an interesting off-season for them as they should do everything they can to move Kesler, Burrows, the Sisters, Bieksa, Edler, Hamhuis and try to get ahead of this before they lose those guys for 10 cents on the dollar.

I have a hard time believing they can move the Sisters and not sure they get enough back for Hamhuis. If I am them I leave the Sisters with Burrows to be the top line and play the difficult situations to shelter young guys coming up, keep Hamhuis as a backbone guy on defense to help carry young guys and move out Kesler, Bieksa, Edler, Booth, Garrisson etc.

Lack/Markstrom is a good pairing of young-ish, poor goalies for a rebuild that may turn into something while not winning you a ton of games.

I think Gillis is too stubborn and losing with the Sisters too hard a pill for that organization for them to swallow for the team to do what is needed.

[Brannigans Law]

Things aren't looking too hot either for a lot of Canadas teams. From west to east, Vancouver looks like it's about to start a total slide into the basement. That feels good. We're 2nd the youngest team in the league with a good work ethic, but, let's be honest, we aren't making the playoffs for another couple years at the soonest. Edmonton... I don't think I even need to comment on that dumpster fire. Winnipeg had another luke warm year, but at least they can claim to be the youngest team in the league. But that GM sucks. Toronto, the leagues biggest statistical bubble in decades is a truly terrible roster with great goaltending and some horrible contracts. Ottawa took a huge step back but I'm going to give them another chance next year to see how they can rebound. Montreal is the only Canadian team that's good now and I expect to be good next year.

In short, nothing should really change next year. MTL likely be the only team to make the dance. Sad really for our nation.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I give the Forecaster a lot of credit they predicted Edmonton and Vancouver to miss in their preview magazine, Vancouver being the eye brow raiser.

On the flip side, The Hockey News went "safe" with their picks. They had Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto third, fourth and fifth in the Atlantic, and all in the playoffs. Vancouver third, Edmonton fifth in the Pacific and in the playoffs. Calgary and Winnipeg seventh in their divisions and out.

The Oilers must be thinking summer splash at this point, they have to change the culture. They dodged a bullet not signing Clarkson, but they do need some size, and they certainly need change. How many teams have to trade for culture and leadership? That's a tall order.

They can only change the culture by dealing Hall, Eberle and/or RNH, and I don't think Lowe and MacTavish are smart enough to do that. They probably need to dump Yakupov at this point, but he's bleeding value and one wonders if Katz will even let them move him. That leaves trading the first round pick. That would get them a good asset - knowing Edmonton, another small winger - but won't improve the core of that team.

And I agree entirely with Cali Flames Fan on the Canucks. This season has been a complete mirror image of 2010-11 for Vancouver. That season saw most of the team have unsustainable career seasons, and this one has been a series of career worsts and utter disasters. Problem for them is that while things should improve next year, they probably won't improve by much. This might be a team that *would* trade rosters with Edmonton. If only because Edmonton's bad contracts are spent on young players rather than a couple Swedes past their expiry date.

[Sylvanfan]

The Canadian teams are icing the worst on ice teams ever. If these teams were in American markets they would be dead at the gate. I think that 25-27 year old unrestricted free agency and the salary cap has resulted in the Canadian teams being run terribly. It's going to be a lousy year for the CBC unless the Canadiens can go on a run. Will be as bad or worse next year too. The Canucks decline just started, Toronto looks to be going that way too, Winnipeg has committed to eternal mediocrity. The Flames and Oilers are both bad teams, one lacks talent, one lacks common sense. Ottawa is hot and cold, but ultimately I think their upside is a wild card playoff team. Montreal is okay, but still a second tier contender.

Personally I see the Western Canadian teams sucking hind teet for a long time. Colorado, Chicago, and the California teams are going to dominate for a long time, and young free agency benefits them to keep themselves at the top.

[c.t.ner]

The Canucks downfall has to be the most entertaining from a Flames standpoint, with the Oilers as a very, very close second.

The biggest albatross for the Canucks moving forward will be the Sedin Sisters. The Canucks are stuck with them until they decide to hang up their skates and head home to Sweden and because of which they'll never be able to embrace a full rebuild.

[Vinny01]

What I think each team needs to do this summer.

Flames- keep on doing what they are doing, use their cap space as an asset, draft the BPA with their first, perhaps take a look at adding more star power without sacrificing too much futures.

Oilers- need to make an actual bold move. I don't think they will do it but moving Hall is what they should do. He doesn't seem like a team player and this team is going nowhere without a shakeup. They need to clean house upstairs and behind the bench

Canucks- trade Kesler, Edler and give it a go with their retool. They should also get rid of their front office and coach

Leafs- they need to make some changes and I see them shopping Kadri, Gardiner, Reimer to try and add players that fit Carlyle's system.

Jets- quit sitting on their hands and make a big trade. Kane or Buff seem to be the likely assets they move. I would be extremely frustrated as a fan of this team with a GM that never makes substantial moves

Sens- rumours they might shop Spezza. They could address their goaltending but this team went from a promising rebuild that looked successful to ending up on the treadmill of mediocrity

Habs- try and keep Vanek, ensure they Keep Subban, and try to get a little bigger

With the right moves I think so e of these teams can bounce back next year but it looks a little bleak for the teams in this country

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

This year has been very enjoyable as a Flames fan. Considering I feel most of our biggest rivals are the other Canadian teams this year has been a treat

Flames- actually they have been a feel good story. Having said that they appear to still be a bottom 5 team this year. I am happy with their direction but still have a long way to go

Oilers- this was supposed to be the year theyade the playoffs. With 6 top 10 picks in the last 7 years they had all the talent to make some noise. Well they are going to get another top pick this year because they suck. The culture is brutal, and the owner refuses to fire the incompetent management. This team needs an overhaul this summer

Canucks- 3 years removed from the cup finals and 2 years removed from their 2nd presidents trophy they fell hard this year. No prospects, an aging roster, and several poor trades caught up to them. They have been a train wreck all of 2014

Jets- a very vanilla team. Their GM sits on his hands every year. Sure he shuffles a chair or 2 every so often hit this core is not a cup contending group. They waited too long to fire their coach, and need to make a move or 2 if they are ever going to be better than 9th-12th in the conference

Sens- were thought by many to be the best of the Canadian teams. They lost their identity of being the pesky Sens. They will also miss the playoffs this year and they do not have a 1st round pick this year

Leafs- after being a solid playoff bound team all year this 18 wheeler decided to take the mountain road and fell off a cliff again this year. 8 losses in a row put them in extremely tough to make the playoffs. Nonis brought in Clarkson, Bolland, and Bernier losing MacArthur and Grabovski. Their goaltending has failed them and they have huge issues to address this summer

Habs- bright spot of the Canadian teams. They added a stud forward at the deadline and have the ability to win a round or 2.


6 of 7 Canadian teams posied to miss the playoffs. These are tough markets but this has been a surprising year to say the least.

Oh come on. Bernier has been one of the NHL's best goalies this season. They should have never been in a playoff spot with these shots against. Their goaltending is setup nicely going forward.

Losing Grabovski+Macarthur are non-issues.