How the West Will be Won

[Baxter Renegade]

My step brother is a Journalist in Kelowna and recently wrote a pretty interesting piece regarding center depth as an important factor in today's NHL (which we all can agree on I'm sure). Give it a read!

http://thehockeywriters.com/centres-...on-in-2014-15/

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Predicting Van ahead of Col is quite bold. I like the Avs lineup way more. I like MIN quite a bit more than the Nucks as well.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Predicting Van ahead of Col is quite bold. I like the Avs lineup way more. I like MIN quite a bit more than the Nucks as well.

My thoughts exactly. Not much will change in terms of who makes the playoffs this year, but the order of the 1-8 teams and the 9-14 teams will probably change quite a bit this year.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

I'm assuming a bit of BC bias crept in since he's Kelowna based. Zero reason to believe Vancouver has improved itself enough to pass MIN and COL after the abysmal year they had. I don't think MIN or COL has taken a significant step back either.

[vanisleflamesfan]

This sentence fragment "but I’d label them a dark horse, albeit as a long shot" is a redundancy and is driving me crazy.

Actually, now that I look again, that is not the only error in that sentence. I guess the "writers" part of THE HOCKEY WRITERS is a term that is used pretty loosely.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Your step-brother is a Vancouver fan.

Oilers fans drink the Kool-Aid, I suppose Canucks fans drink the Soy Mocha Frappuccino?

[Vinny01]

Yeah I don't see how Vancouver will be better than the Wild. Terrible article actually. So Van loses Kesler and Garisson while adding Bonino, Miller and Sbisa. They will be lucky to not be bottom 2-3 in the conference. The wild have prospects coming up and added Vanek they will be better this year than last. Colorado has a budding superstar in MacKinnon with several other young star players and some solid greybeards

[StrykerSteve]

The article is all about how Center depth wins championships, then he places Colorado (Duchene/MacKinnon/O'Reilly) below Vancouver (Sedin/Bonino/Vey)?

Something's fishy here.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

The article is all about how Center depth wins championships, then he places Colorado (Duchene/MacKinnon/O'Reilly) below Vancouver (Sedin/Bonino/Vey)?

Something's fishy here.

Yeah, I don't see the Canucks improving in the standings much but I'm not convinced the Avs are a legitimate top team yet either.

[Enoch Root]

The point if the article is that C depth is key to success and the west is full of it.

He then lists all the upgrades throughout the conference.

Then, despite the fact that the Canucks took the biggest step backwards of all the teams with respect to depth at C, the author predicts they will overtake 5 teams and jump from 12th to 7th.

Ok then

[Northendzone]

Oi-vey.........thankfully the bucks did not make the playoffs last year, ca't see what they have done to improve to get in the playoffs and I can't see who they are going to bump out.

[Table 5]

Despite the quirk with the rankings, I think what this article shows is that you can never really have enough depth at that position. All the top teams in the league have seem to have at least two "Number 1" centers. Even with Monahan and Bennett, if that 2015 draft rolls around and the best player available is a Center, you take him.

[dissentowner]

The Canucks are hard to figure because of the Miller factor. If he is Vezina Miller than the Canucks could finish 7th but if he is the Miller we saw in the past few seasons that team is probably bottom 3 in the NHL.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Sure, but stacked teams are stacked.

You could just as easily have written about how western playoff teams need Norris-calibre #1D men, or boat-loads of solid scoring wingers.

A sound majority of cup winners in the last couple of decades have had a Doughty, Keith, Lidstrom, or Niedermayer on the roster.

Not guys "like" them. Literally one of those 4 guys.

Those 4 players were the #1D man on 60% of Stanley Cup wins in the last 20 years. The rest of the winners usually had guys like Zdeno Chara, or Ray Bourque.

Championship teams are good throughout the roster (except for Carolina that one year).

And the west is just good right now. At every position.

[MarkGio]

I'm surprised the Sharks did so little this off season.

Anywho, the Flames will lose a lot of games. This is the time to rebuild for sure. Once teams in the West start loosening up a bit, the Flames will have a roster entering its prime with some highly skilled players. These clubs will beat on each other for a few years and eventually assets will be traded east, so I'm not worried once the Flames are ready to compete.

[Vulcan]

I think the Canucks fans are counting on a new coach re-invigorating the team but like most here, I don't think they have enough talent or mojo to do much.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

The article is all about how Center depth wins championships, then he places Colorado (Duchene/MacKinnon/O'Reilly) below Vancouver (Sedin/Bonino/Vey)?

Something's fishy here.

The writer is from Kelowna. He's probably a homer Canucks fan

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I think the Canucks fans are counting on a new coach re-invigorating the team but like most here, I don't think they have enough talent or mojo to do much.

I think many Canucks fans are also convinced that the Sedins are still near point/game players. If one of them cracks the 70-point mark this season, then that will be a good year for him, and it still won't be enough to get the Canucks into the playoffs.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

The Canucks are hard to figure because of the Miller factor. If he is Vezina Miller than the Canucks could finish 7th but if he is the Miller we saw in the past few seasons that team is probably bottom 3 in the NHL.

His stats with Buffalo were brilliant, considering it was Buffalo. He was even fine when he first joined St. Louis, he just crapped the bed late in the season and in the playoffs. Miller is still a great starting goalie.

[djsFlames]

I hope Miller is decent then, I don't want Vancouver picking top 3 in this draft. I really don't care if Van somehow squeaks into 8th. They won't go anywhere and they won't get a great pick at the same time.