2014-2015 How will the Flames, Oilers, Canucks do?

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by chubeyr1

I predict the Flames make the playoffs this year.

Ha ha ha...Um, No. Well, if everybody has a career year and Johnny Hockey breaks Selanne's record for goals then... maybe. Last season Hartley got every last ounce of potential out of them and they ended up with a respectable (given their talent) 77 points and were involved in how many one goal games? They are worse this year, at least on paper. I think 75 points is almost a stretch. The only thing that might give them a bit of boost is the fact that Red Light Reto is gone. What a terrible, terrible goalie he was... wow. Sort of surprised Bettman didn't confiscate our 1st for intentionally losing games after starting that turd so much (just kidding... sort of).

As for predictions:

1) Oilers 85 points, 5th in pacific. They start out hot and give the fan base hope over the fist half, securely in a playoff spot in January. Then, reality hits and they lose 15 games in a row only to end the year on a mini hot streak and miss the playoffs by 8 points. They media proclaims they have arrived and will make the playoffs for sure next year citing massive increase in points year over year. This will be nauseating for all flames fans.

2) Canucks 73 points, 6th in pacific. Miller is terrible. Sedins are terrible. Burrows kicks someone in the nuts.

3) Flames 72 points, 7th in pacific 28th in NHL only Buffalo and Carolina are worse. Only Raymond and Gaudreau score 20+. Glencross misses 30 games and Giordano isn't quite the same force but still very good. Brodie takes a huge step forward and gets 45 points. Injuries and lack of depth on the backend ultimately take the team out. Enthusiasm remains high with the fan base after Treliving brings in two more 2nds and a 3rd for the 2015 draft at the deadline.

[BigBrodieFan]

nm

[BruceCody]

Flames, Oilers, Canucks, Coyotes and Predators run for top pick. Flames beat them all

[getbak]

Once again, the four Canadian teams will fall to the bottom four spots in the West, and the two teams that Jim Balsillie tried to move to Canada will also miss the playoffs.

I see the Canucks getting similar points to last year, it will just be a more balanced mediocrity rather than the decent start and horrible finish they had last season.

The Oilers will have a decent start to the year with a bunch of home games in October, then they'll start to fall apart with a lot of road games in November. By Christmas, Hall will give MacTavish the "fire him or trade me" ultimatum with regards to Eakins. After getting humiliated twice in less than a week at the Saddledome between Christmas and New Year's, Eakins will find himself unemployed shortly after the start of the New Year. MacTavish will take over behind the bench. They'll have some initial success, but it will be short-lived.

The Flames will be similar to last season. Hiller's play will determine if they do slightly better or slightly worse than last year.

The Jets will be the best of the Western Canadian teams, and that will be the only silver lining to their season.

[heep223]

It's kind of shocking how bad W. Canadian teams are right now.

I think the Canucks sink to the bottom of the West and really struggle with their identity. Miller is not a good fit and they continue to have problems in the dressing room.

Oilers actually have a decent year but fall short at 9th.

Flames work their guts out and finish 10th, much to the chagrin of CP. Gaudreau wins Calder with 25g 35a, Monahan is ok but has a bit of a sophomore slump.

[stemit14]

I'm kind of shocked that so many people think the oilers are going to do so much better than the flames. Despite year after year after year after year of them being sooo bad... People still seem to think they'll just suddenly improve by a wide margin? In the western conference no less? The oilers have proven to be so fragile with confidence that two bad games spirals into long stretches of losing... Especially when they are at home. That's why all those home games early in the season could work against them. Once the jerseys start flying onto the ice again... The oilers will settle into their comfortable spot at the bottom of the league.

[MarkGio]

I'm hoping the Flames make another good draft while improving RW prospect depth and high end defensive prospect depth. Maybe trade off Jones, Wideman, Glencross and Byron to make this happen.

I think both the Canucks and the Oilers will be better this year, while the Flames, Jets and Yotes are the team in the basement

[Oil Stain]

Realistically I'm expecting the Canucks to be the best team out of the three. They'll probably finish 10th. Oilers come after. Maybe 11-13. Flames will probably finish last in the west.

[Bourque's Twin]

Hiller > Miller > Scrivens
Canucks D > Flames D > Oilers D
Canucks F > Oilers F > Flames F
Flames Compete > Canucks Compete > Oilers Compete

1st place = 3 points
2nd place = 2 points
3rd place = 1 point

Canucks = 10 pts
Flames = 9 pts
Oilers = 5 pts

Canucks 22nd
Flames 25th
Oilers 28th

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin

...Canucks F > Oilers F > Flames F...

How do you figure when the Canucks were the #28 ranked offence in the NHL last season, the Oilers were 25th, and both were behind the Flames?

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

How do you figure when the Canucks were the #28 ranked offence in the NHL last season, the Oilers were 25th, and both were behind the Flames?

And Hiller has literally never been better than Miller over any of the last 3 years.

I would guess part of how the math worked on the offence was that the Flames lost 44 NHL goals from last years team and added 25 goals for a net loss of 19

The Canucks lost 55 goals but added 56 NHL goals for a net gain of 1.

The Oilers lost 37 NHL goals from their roster but added 35 NHL goals for a net loss of 2 goals.

So for next year and the goal numbers that really matter on their respective rosters the 3 teams have:

The Flames - 190 goals
The Oilers - 201 goals
The Canucks - 197 goals

I would guess that is how the math worked for the offence, but I have no idea how Hiller is better than Miller. Hiller isn't even an upgrade on Ramo.

[Caged Great]

Hiller lost his job in Anahein to Freddy Andersen. He's not the same guy since the vertigo.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Hiller lost his job in Anahein to Freddy Andersen. He's not the same guy since the vertigo.

He is our Ken Wregget

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by stemit14

I'm kind of shocked that so many people think the oilers are going to do so much better than the flames. Despite year after year after year after year of them being sooo bad... People still seem to think they'll just suddenly improve by a wide margin? In the western conference no less? The oilers have proven to be so fragile with confidence that two bad games spirals into long stretches of losing... Especially when they are at home. That's why all those home games early in the season could work against them. Once the jerseys start flying onto the ice again... The oilers will settle into their comfortable spot at the bottom of the league.

I hear you but I am slightly sucked into it this year for so e reason. The major thing they did not fix though is the second line centre spot which will be their downfall this year as they likely try and put Draisaitl in that role. They added 2 second pairing guys in the offseason and addressed some bottom 6 needs.

I don't like the contracts they handed out but do think they improved in areas of need.

Meanwhile I think the flames took a step back. While Hiller is an upgrade in net Raymond does not replace Cammy and all the rest of the improvement is expected to come from within. Now there are some prospects that maybe come in and make a difference but that remains to be seen. Can Gio be as good this year? Will the work ethic carry through another 82 games?

It is tough to say but I think the Flames are poised for a step back. I thin the Canucks spin their tires with their revamped team and the Oilers can't be worse than last year (I think at least)

[Bourque's Twin]

Just look at the depth charts. Also, what has Miller proved since his 2010 Olympics? Hiller has been fine. I honestly don't see how Miller > Hiller.
The Oilers lost Gagner and Hemsky and gained Pouliot. The Canucks lost Kesler and gained Bonino and Vrbata. I still think Sedin, Sedin, Vrbata > Hall, Nuge, Eberle.

[Vinny01]

Oilers added Pouliot, Purcell, Nikitin, Fayne, Aulie while losing Gagner and Hemsky. They look good on the wing with Hall, Eberle, Perron, Yakupov, Pouliot, Purcell but weak at C with RNH, Gordon, Arcobello, Drasaitl.

Their D is still pretty weak with Nikitin, Fayne, Schultz, Petry, Ference, Aulie/Marcinin/Nurse

Goaltending is a big ? With Scrivens and Fasth. Neither guy has been a starter and both are late 20's early 30's so not expecting one of them to jump to elite status.

MacT has failed to make the "bold moves" he had talked about bit certainly has shuffled the deck around his young core. The current hole up the middle is their biggest issue and a tough spot to fill. Really surprised they didn't go after a guy like Olli Jokinen in free agency

[CaptainCrunch]

Canucks 9th in the West. This will be their last year of competing for a playoff spot for a while. This is that "We don't need to rebuild" year that teams go through before they crash out completely.

Flames 13th in the West - I don't think they'll be that much worse, but I think that this will be the rock bottom year before they start to climb towards respectability as their prospect pool begins to graduate.

Oilers 14th in the West - I don't like their centers, LD is going to have to be an impact player this year or the Oilers are in huge trouble. They added bit parts on defense in Fayne and Nikitin who are the equivalent of redshirts in Star Trek, in other words their teams could survive without them. What they needed to fix their defense was legitimate top defensemen and not more bottom half guys being forced to play top minutes. I predict that Scrivens and whoever else plays goal in Edmonton is going to be in for a long year and probably drop from exhaustion at the halfway point. The culture of that team is sour, I don't think that Ramsey coming in is going to change the fact that the core of the Oilers doesn't care and knows that Eakins is on the bubble and they don't have to play for him. The Oilers are still defensively terrible, Poulliot with a long term big money contract is just going to expose how lazy and heartless he is, and Purcell is way past his best before label. The only question is, will this be the year that Katz finally grows some balls and cleans house like he should have 3 years ago.

[Lanny_McDonald]

On paper the Flames have by far the worst lineup in the western conference and possibly in the league. This could be an incredibly bad year for the team, but at the best time humanly possible. We could end up with a generational talent if this team plays down to their level. As last year proved, paper doesn't mean a heckuva lot. The proof will be in the games played, and for that reason only I believe the Flames will still finish above the Oilers.

[puckedoff]

Oilers will still struggle against the big western conference teams, but they will improve from last year. Flames will have a tough season.

Western conf standings at season end:
Canucks 11th
Oilers 12th
Flames 13th
Winnipeg 14th

[AcGold]

If Giordano and Ramo stay healthy we have a shot at making the playoffs. Better coach, captain and goalie than the sucks or coilers