eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted December 30, 2007 I'd rather have Niedermayer/Pronger than Lidstrom/Rafalski. I'd rather have Lidstrom and Lilja than Pronger and Niedermayer. Pronger and Niedermayer are very good...but of the three, only Nick is an All-Time great. Since the 1997-98 season, Lidstrom has been arguably the best defenseman in the world eight times in nine seasons. The only time he can't be argued as the best during that period was during what was one of the worst seasons of his career statistically, and he was still top five! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lou_Siffer 1 Report post Posted December 30, 2007 I'd rather have Lidstrom and Lilja than Pronger and Niedermayer. Pronger and Niedermayer are very good...but of the three, only Nick is an All-Time great. Since the 1997-98 season, Lidstrom has been arguably the best defenseman in the world eight times in nine seasons. The only time he can't be argued as the best during that period was during what was one of the worst seasons of his career statistically, and he was still top five! Thats gotta be total favoritism towards Lidstrom blinding you eva. Lilja is so far and way below the level of Pronger and Niedermayer there is no hockey reasoning to justify your statement. That combo is better easily. I have to think its all based on the fact that you like Lidstrom and thats it...you'd probably argue Lidstrom/Meech over Pronger/Neidermayer too! How is Neidermayer not one of the all time greats? He may not be top 5, but he's in the mix after that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
betterREDthandead 58 Report post Posted December 30, 2007 Back on topic: Playoff locks: Detroit Ottawa Dallas New Jersey Playoffs likely: Montreal Minnesota San Jose Colorado San Jose Not a chance: Washington Tampa Bay Los Angeles Edmonton Phoenix Everyone else, I consider it wide open: 9 players for 4 spots in the East, and 7 players for 2 spots in the West. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dicksmack 33 Report post Posted December 30, 2007 I'd rather have Lidstrom and Lilja than Pronger and Niedermayer. Pronger and Niedermayer are very good...but of the three, only Nick is an All-Time great. Since the 1997-98 season, Lidstrom has been arguably the best defenseman in the world eight times in nine seasons. The only time he can't be argued as the best during that period was during what was one of the worst seasons of his career statistically, and he was still top five! Well that was good for a laugh... But getting back to some semblance of reality, above there was some disagreement about the Nucks. I think they are a great example of being a pretender as they might advance a round in the playoffs due to Luongo's play but they don't have the team in front of him to really challenge for the cup. Teams that made to the big dance on the back of a goalie in recent years Edm, Cal, Ducks (not last year) had some real shut down teams with scoring punch but still came up short; I don't see that coming from the Nucks whatsoever. So call them a contender with Luongo but even he can't save them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vangvace 12 Report post Posted December 30, 2007 Contenders: Detroit NJ Ottawa Pretenders: Dallas Vancouver Carolina SJ Minn Colorado Calgary Pitt NYR Buf Philly #1 draft pick going to... Tampa Bay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrisdetroit 189 Report post Posted December 30, 2007 The Ducks are the only team in the west that really concerns me. Throw out the games before Niedermayer came back. Now that he's returned (4-0-1 since he returned), they're winning games like they did last year, 2-1 and such. Their offense is a bit suspect, that's their weakness. But they can still try to make a move to address that. After Anaheim and Detroit, it's a pick-em in the west. Any team could get hot and make a playoff run. You are basing this on 5 games? Are you seroius? If the seaon ended today they wouldn't even make the playoffs. This is 2007-2008 not 2006-2007 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
