NHL

[sggg]

I can't wait!

The 'Yote unis are really growing on me. I quite like them now. I still think the white (or some of the white) on the red sweater should have been sand coloured, but it's still good. They look a bit like the old USSR kits, which is cool....

Here it is on the ice:

[The Bastard]

The jersey seems to go well with the ice. That shade of red was a good choice. It's not tacky at all.

The NHL season is almost upon us and there's like a crap load of players still unsigned. The CBA is scaring owners real good (well the ones with half a brain anyway). I wonder how this season is gonna pan out? Anybody got any predictions? Heh Heh Heh...

[The Bastard]

This apparently was supposed to be the Quebec Nordiques new logo if they didn't move to Colorado. It looks like something out of junior hockey.

[sggg]

Hrm.. predictions.

I think the Senators will be the team to beat this year. They have it all and came within a whisker of making it to the Finals last season. In that regard they remind me of the 1994/5 Devils, who also lost a heartbreaker in Game 7 of the Conference Finals but used it to fuel their championship run the next season.

The Devils will be right there again, as usual. It will be interesting to see how the new defence corps works, with Sean Brown and possibly two rookies added to the team. Nieuwendyk probably won't be back, but they won the Cup without him and he has lost a few steps. Hopefully Christian Berglund will finally break into the lineup this year.

The Flyers took a huge step backwards by signing Hackett. He's fragile and inconsistent. The Leafs are a circus and this chould be the year they finally fall out of the playoffs entirely. The Habs are loaded with young talent, but have lots of question marks. After the Devils and Sens, the East should be wide open.

After years of dominance (only broken up by the Devils 3 Cups), I think the West is downturn. The Wings lost Federov and are another year older. If Hašek comes back strong he'll be a huge grade over CuJo, though. The Avs are loaded up front but are weaker on defence and in goal. The Stars.. meh.. I don't think they were as good as last year's regular season, and Turco has a lot to prove. On paper the Ducks will be better, as Federov and Prospal are better than Kariya and Oates... but Giguère should come back to Earth a bit and they are prime for a small let down.

This may well be the Canucks year. I fully expect Johan Hedberg to take the goaltending duties away from the godawful Cloutier. Like the Sens, they will have lots of desire and have few weak points. It's just a matter of seeing if Hedberg can plug the hole in goal.

I think (and hope) that this season will continue the trend established in last year's playoffs which saw many younger, quicker, lesser known teams establishing themselves.

This apparently was supposed to be the Quebec Nordiques new logo if they didn't move to Colorado. It looks like something out of junior hockey.

Yeh, that was definitely going to be their next logo.... I think it's ok, not too bad..... but speaking as a fan of the team (they were my 2nd fave team after the Devils) I would have been extremely upset about them dropping their old uniforms, the nicest in all of professional sports! I adore the old logo and unis so much. Maybe if they had stayed they would actually be bringing back the retro look this season.

The Nordiques vintage sweater and other goods lead the league in retro sales. All of the stores here in Montréal have them and you see them all the time, which is quite strange considering this is the location of the arch enemy.

I maintain that there is a good chance Québec City (and Winnipeg) could get a team back within the next 10 years. Much will depend on how next year's Labour war goes down. But if the league becomes one where the small markets can survive, there is a decent chance. The fans will be there, and the NHL is quickly dying in many markets it expanded to in the 90s and the US TV ratings are horrible. So, we'll see. *hope*

Here are some pics of the never worn unis, as well as other concepts the team had worked on:

:

[The Bastard]

Very good, sound predictions SGGG. I can't disagree with much. The only thing I might disagree on is your assessment of Jeff Hackett. While yes he is very fragile and injury prone, his career goals against average seem to be consistent to a certain extent (usually in the 2.50-3.50 range) when he's healthy. From what I can tell, Bob Clarke's reasoning (if he uses any at all) to sign Hackett and get rid of Cechmanek was probably because Hackett's positioning when playing the puck is much better than Cechmanek and the fact that Hackett doesn't give all that many rebounds in comparison to the monkey of a goalie he's replacing. Also, Hackett fits into Hitchcock's defensive scheme better and is more of a team player than Roman apparently. The Flyers aren't gonna do much in the playoffs anyway so none of this matters too much.


And now my bold and outrageous predictions...

Teams that make the playoffs...
East: Senators, Devils, Lightning, Leafs, Flyers, Bruins, Thrashers, Rangers
West: Canucks, Red Wings, Ducks, Avalanche, Blues, Stars, Wild, Kings

Western Conference Final: Canucks over Ducks in 6
Eastern Conference Final: Senators over Devils in 7

Stanley Cup Final: Senators over Canucks in 7

The Sens Win Teh Stanley Cup!

[sggg]

Hackett is definitely an upgrade over Cechmanek, if he stays healthy. The thing is, the Flyers fancy themselves a Stanley Cup contender and Hackett was not even that calibre of goaltender in his prime. He'll probably be OK and more consistent than Cechmanek. I just don't see them winning more than 1 playoff series with him in goal. Not only is he injory prone and over the hill, but he's also not known as a clutch goalie.

As for your predictions. They're very solid. The only thing I strongly disagree with is the Rangers and Thrashers making the playoffs. The Rangers are still a running joke. Tonnes of floaters up-front, lousy D, arrogant lousy coach/GM. They're doomed again. The Thrashers are an up-and-coming team that improved a lot under Hartley, but they still lack depth. That division is awful and the East has a lot of parody, so you never know. The key for them may be the play of the rookie goalie Lehtonen.

Anyway, I like your prediction format. So here are mine..

Teams that make the playoffs...
East: Senators, Devils, Lightning, Flyers, Capitals, Canadiens, Islanders, Panthers
West: Canucks, Red Wings, Ducks, Avalanche, Blues, Stars, Wild, Kings

Western Conference Final: Canucks over Wild in 5
Eastern Conference Final: Devils over Senators in 7

Stanley Cup Final: Devils over Canucks in 5

The Devils Win Teh Stanley Cup!

...

I had to go with my heart and pick the Devils to finally repeat and make up for the 2001 SCF disaster. Even though the Devils are the defending champs, I think the Sens are the favourites. But with Brodeur in net, the Devils always have a chance! This time the Conn Smythe will be his.

If the Devils don't win, I would love nothing more than to see a Sens-Nucks final however.

[The Bastard]

Heh Heh Heh...

The only reason I think the Rangers will make the playoffs is simply because that much talent can't possibly suck that much or that long and well most of the conference is either rebuilding or they just suck major ass . My reasoning with the Thrashers getting there is because they are in a pathetic division and they will get many free points off of their division "rivals" and they seem to be steadly improving under Hartley.

I must add something to my finals prediction.

If Cloutier is in net, Ottawa will win in 4.
If Hedberg is in net, Ottawa will win in 7.

I suggest you do the same SGGG.

Hockey season can't come soon enough. Good thing the Ottawa 67's exhibition games start this evening.

Why can't hockey be popular like Football (either one)?

[sggg]

If Cloutier is in net, Vancouver will be lucky to get out of the first round.

[sggg]

Well, training camps are opening and the newspapers are filled with hockey stories once again. The Devils let Nieuwendyk go and then surprisingly replaced him with Larionov. I think it's a good move. I liked Nieuwy, he didn't do too much for the Devils even though he was a good leader and good on faceoffs. He's well past his prime and pretty brittle. Larionov is older but he's been durable and he could help the power play. I don't expect him to be more than a 3rd liner though. What I would really like to see the Devils do is trade Gomez for damn near anything. My main interest in camp is hoping that Berglund makes the team this season, after he flopped last year.

The Habs camp should be really exciting because they have quite a few roster spots available and they have so many great young players like Perezhogin, Higgins, Hainsey, and Komisarek competing for places. I may attend one of the open-to-the-public practices.

I saw a feature on the Canucks earlier, I think they are going to be great this year. You can see Hedberg really wants to compete for that #1 goalie job and if Canuck fans are lucky, he'll take it away from Cloutier. It's also neat to see that the 'Nucks have a new shoulder patch on their sweater this year - its their original logo. Très cool. The Canucks are one of several teams wearing throwbacks this year. Here is the list:

* Habs: 1945-46 White -- Woohoo! Finally! I will own this!!!
* Habs: 1958-59 Red -- Nice touch, should be FT.
* Oilers: 1979-80 -- Ho-hum.
* Bruins: 1967- 68 -- They should really make those full-time.
* Kings: 1980-81 -- Purple & yellow should always be their colours.
* Rangers: 1976-77 -- No stupid diagonal letters = Improvement.
* Blues: 1979-80 -- I always liked those.
* Canucks: 1972-73 -- Very nice, but I prefer the old yellow/black ones!

[The Bastard]

Well, once again the Leafs get an old guy they don't need. Instead of getting some defencemen, they decided once again to ignore the obvious. Nieuwendyk is good player to have on a team, but the Leafs don't need much help up front. Typical Leafs move to shut the fans up for a bit. Man, I feel for Belfour. He's gonna get blasted at.

Larionov will fit right in with the Devils. Probably the smartest player in the league. Lou probably signed him to smarten up the youngsters and distribute the puck. Good move to strengthen up New Jersey's weakest position.

Getting rid of Gomez is like the best idea ever. He's way too streaky to be dependable. Makes too many small mistakes. Hopefully for Devils fans, this will be a reality sooner or later.

The Canadiens will be very exciting to watch this season with all their young talent. Hopefully they get some size up front and get rid of Patrice "Breeze By" Brisebois. I'm certain Gainey will think of some crazy scheme to do this. And that damn Jose Theodore better play good, or Habs fans are gonna lynch him.

The additions of Arvedson, Slegr, Hedburg and possibly Mike Keane (if he gets through camp) is great for the Canucks. This edition of the Vancouver Canucks are gonna kick ass. Now if only they would make Cloutier the backup or something.

All these throwbacks jerseys and patches are awesome and all, but they seem to be implying to me that this'll be the last hockey season ever and it make me sad. Hopefully the CBA will be fixed up quickly.

Finally, would the following greedy jackasses sign with their respective teams: Havlat, Gaborik, Comrie, Turco...add anybody I missed.