Metal Reviews

That 2nd period was RIDICULOUS.

SLAPSHOT! DDDAAMN! DUCKS!

Toasted Senator with a side of delight, anyone?

Quacking high-five, Walnut!

*slap*

Congrats to tha Ducks and of course Teemu Selänne! It was about damn time, yea!!

Yes the Ducks desserved it. And I accept your quacking high-five. The Senators blew it, scoring on themselves and not getting shots off on penalty shots. Sucks to be a Sen. And I love how the boo's lasted throughout the game. I hate Alfredsson, and now the fans of my favourite western team hate him to.

And that concludes another hockey season. I guess I'll start this thread over in September when the Pre-Season starts.

GO LEAFS GO!! HAHA

I also love how 90 percent of the Ducks are Canadian. And 90 percent of those are from Ontario. Rick Jackman (defence) is from Barrie Ontario where I live. And he use to be a Leaf. I'm so going to see this guy when he gets his day with the cup.

Yeah, I guess that's some consolation for the folks wanting the Cup back in Canada (that most of the Ducks are from Canada). I'm glad it went to them that way instead of through Ottawa... Of course, I'm still annoyed that the Oilers didn't get it last season, but that's another story.

I have to say though that I was a little disappointed with the playoffs overall. There really weren't that many series I found to be all that exciting, and the Finals were particularly blah. ... The draft will be coming up though, and it never takes all that long for the new season to start, so I'm excited about that.

Honestly, if the Ducks stay pretty much intact, I see no reason why they wouldn't be the favorites to repeat. Yes, there are other good teams and anything can happen, but as it sits right now, I'd pick them to win again. I think it'll be interesting to see just how good the Penguins are next season, and I also wonder if the Avalanche can pick up where they left off. If they can, they may have a bit of an advantage over some other teams that were in the playoffs and didn't get nearly as much rest over the summer...

-Tyrion

I know the Leafs suck, and it pains me to say that. But with all the rookies they have been sigining it's not hard to see them like Pittsburgh is now in a couple of seasons. The worst part is though they are only signing Swedes and Russians. Wheres the Canadians? And I can't believe they re-signed Nik Antropov, he needs to be put to rest. Go home to Kazhakstan.

The Leafs don't suck, they're just quite mediocre and can't seem to make up their minds (as an organization) on how to move forward. But hey, at least they finally got rid of Pat Quinn. Paul Maurice is pretty much the best thing going for them right now, but that's not a knock. He's a great coach.

At any rate, I'm not buying at all your comparison of the Leafs to the Pens. Two things immediately stand out. One is goaltending, and the other is an aging captain with no one really there to replace him. Now Andre-Fleury hasn't been as good yet as maybe he could be, but he still has a strong upside and youth. Sundin is still a good player, but he's not great anymore. The team scored a fair number of goals, but there really isn't an explosive player or scorer there, which is good and bad, I suppose. But again, who will take that leadership role?

Let's also not forget that the Leafs haven't gotten any number one or two draft picks recently either. And continuing to be an aging team that is treading water doesn't help, particularly when they're not pulling any big trade moves (then again, what do they have to offer?).

But hey, it could be worse. You could be in Edmonton.

-Tyrion.

Canucks need an offense so that luongo can stop being 95% of the team.

I didn't mean they are like Pittsburgh, I mean they are becoming like Pittsburgh. All they are doing now is sigining these young guns who are supposed to be really good where they are from. Russia and Sweden. And I couldn't agree more, Sundin is the only guy who can lead them, and if he's gone they have nobody. Kaberle maybe, but they need someone to score. But! Yes there is a but. There is a lot of good free agents at the end of this month, and the Leafs have cap room. Hopefully we can get somebody. Some good free agents are: Ryan Smyth, Bill Guerin, Daniel Briere, Chris Drury. All would be perfect in a Leafs jersey. Except for Briere, he's too small for the way the Leafs play. But hey, I wouldn't argue if they signed him.

EDIT: As for the Edmonto comment

The free agent market is interesting for sure this year, but it's gonna be hard to sign the big names since lots of teams will be interested. Montreal also some space under the cap and will be looking to sign a big name. At leats they have managed to keep Markov, their best defense. In Soury's case I don't care much if he leaves, as I really doubt he'll be able to scroe 27 goals again. Soury's good on the power play but as a Defense player he totally blows, so giving 5 million to a guy like that is a bad investment.

Ok so pre-season hockey is right around the corner, like less than 2 weeks. And that means real hockey is only a month away. A lot of teams made some big changes in the off season.

Toronto got: Jason Blake, Vesa Toskala, and Mark Bell

Colarado got: Ryan Smyth

NYR got: Scott Gomez, and Chris Drury

NYI got: Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie

St Louis got: Paul Kariya and Keith Tkatchuk

Philli got: Daniel Briere

Boston got: Manny Fernandez

Anaheim got: Todd Bertuzzi and Michael Schneider

Detroit got: Bryan Rafalski

NJD got: Danius Zubrus

I know I am missing some, but those are the biggest ones. Still lots of rumors like Ottawa or Toronto getting Peter Forsberg. Colarado trading Milan Hejduk and San Jose trading Patrick Marleau. Anyway, the countdown begins. Who's ready for antoher season of the worlds greatest game? I am.
EDIT: if there was only a way to get the name of the thread changed...

GO LEAFS GO!!

After reading over some of these posts, I can't help but feel good because how right I was. And reading a lot of Brahm's posts made me laugh at how wrong he was.

I wish Tyrion was still here, he knew his hockey.

I am sorta... I just don't have the time to make much of a reply to this thread (or any of them) at the moment.

BTW, I think I read yesterday that the Sharks extended Marleau for 2 more years...

-Tyrion

...I really haven't studied the off-season trades and signings all that much, so I'll admit up front to being out of the loop a bit. I know most of the major ones that Walnut already covered though.

Anyway, I was really disappointed to see the Sabres lose Drury and Briere. But what really makes it sting is that they lost those guys to division rivals. The Flyers were so bad last year that I don't see them contending for a bit no matter who they sign, but the Rangers, for once, finally seemed to get it together late last season, particularly in the playoffs. How long have they been a team that looked pretty good on paper but never did anything? Well, now I think they might be really tough. Don't forget they got Scott Gomez too. ... So between the Rangers and the Penguins, I think Buffalo missed their window, and it'll be those two teams at the top this year.

Ottawa may still be a contender too. I don't think they've done much in the offseason, but I'm not sure they really needed to. Last year, I'll admit that I was impressed. Ottawa never had the grit to make it in the playoffs. Not so last year. We'll see... I'll be interested to see how teams like Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Florida play this season, etc. (all those teams that were kind of middle of the road). Toronto, well, I think they'll miss the playoffs again unless enough other teams do worse, heh.

I still think Anaheim will be the team to beat again out west. Don't know if they'll be hungry enough, and as the defending champs they will have to get used to seeing the other team's best hockey every night. Still no decision from Niedermeyer either, but from the sounds of the supposed quotes coming from him, he sounds done whether he plays or not.

It's hard telling what Nashville will do this season (I'm not sure it will matter if Detroit falls off this season, they'll still probably win the division)... Same with Dallas, a team that relied so much on their goaltending and system I thought. Same with Minnesota too. All those teams will be interesting to watch. And once again, I think the northwest division will be quite interesting and competitive.

My team to watch at the start of the season out west though is definitely Colorado. No one was playing as good as they were at the end of the season last year, and they had so much momentum. You would think adding Ryan Smith would be a good thing, but you never know how it will work out. If it does, and they keep firing, look out. If they do well and get bored, I hope it's sometime mid-season, and they get it back together and go into the playoffs on a roll again (because we all know how it ended for Buffalo last year).

My preseason guess for the Finals is Avs/Ducks vs. Pens/Rangers/Senators. Hard for me to narrow it down more than that without seeing a few games first.

-Tyrion

YESSIR!

Ottawa mostly lost this offseason. They lost Mike Comrie but did gain former Leafs d-man Luke Richardson. Plus rumor has it they want to trade Gerber. And Toronto not making the playoffs? I think they can, all they need is to stay healthy. They will be fighting for 7th or 8th, but if they can stay healthy no key losses like Kyle Wellwood or Darcy Tucker last year than I think they can make it. Vesa Toskala is a very nice addition, and with Raycroft we have a nice goaltending situation.

As for Anaheim, still my favourite western team, may not be so tuff next season. If Neidermeyer retires so does Selanne, then thats 2 key guys gone. Yeah they added Bertuzzi and Schneider, no offense to either of them, but they are no Neidermeyer or Selanne. Plus they lost Corey Perry who was a big part of the PPG line with Dustin Penner and Ryan Getzlaf. I know Anaheim will still be good, but they will have to play really good to continue to be a top team.

And yes I agree with you on Colarado being the team to beat. As for the Rangers, remember back before the lockout when they had that stacked team but couldn't produce? Back when they had Lindros, Kovalev, Bure, Leetch, Messier, Nylander, Straka, Carter etc. etc... I think that will happen again next season.

Ottawa may have lost during the offseason (didn't realize they lost Comrie), but they did gain some grit and an understanding of how to win in the playoffs last year, and that's something they've never had before. I think it'll be interesting to see where they end up.

Sure, Toronto may fight for 7th or 8th, but that's about as much as you can realistically hope for. And they're all another year older...

Agreed on Anaheim and Colorado obviously.

As for the Rangers, don't forget that I said, "How long have they been a team that looked pretty good on paper but never did anything?" I just think this may be a year when that actually isn't the case (particularly with the way they performed late last season and into the playoffs). The other nice thing for them this year is that all the focus (and pressure) within their division is pretty much going to be on the Penguins. ... I look for them to be one of the top four teams in the conference, but it's true that you really never know with them.

-Tyrion