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Hank Dats 'N Homer

The Blues to Win the Central This year?

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http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/story/13633947/central-blackhawks-will-have-tough-time-retaining-top-spot/rss

Saw this article on yahoo's homepage. Kind of a joke in my book. After bashing the Hawks for all of ther losses and not filling holes, the guy says the Hawks are heading:Sideways? How does that work? If you are the defending champs and are moving sideways, doesnt that mean that you are in as good of shape as you were the season before? When clearly the Hawks are not?

Then he says that the Wings had a terrible start to the season, due to our injuries, but then finished very strong. And then says that the wings are heading:Down? How does that work? I dont get writers these days. Then he says that we are to old of a team (which I dont really understand because we dont have that many vetrans o nthe team anymore. Lids, Rafs, drapes, homer and ozzy as a backup? the rest are younger guys). But then says that we would be improved if we add Modano...a 40 YEAR OLD. This guy is contradicting himself in so many ways its not even funny.

He Picks St Louis to be Heading:Up. Which i kind of agree with since they got good goaltending and have a good young core, so yes they are heading up, but i dont see them winning the central or even finishing second at this point.

What do you guys think?

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I was just thinking about a topic related to this. Like who's the new favorite or who's going to be the new cup winner? Well, if you wanted to base your prediction on the two past cup winners then basically look for those organizations that tanked it for years, drafted well and now are an up and coming team.

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CBS Sports is also a contradiction, when it comes to hockey.

ding. ding. ding.

That article is pretty ridiculous all over... I can definitely see the Blues improving, but they'll probably finish 4th, behind Detroit and... wait for it... Nashville... I'm calling it right now

My prediction for Central standings right now:

Detroit

Nashville

Chicago

St. Louis

Columbus

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Chicago is clearly heading downhill.The article had its flaws lol.As for St.Louis,people seem to say "watch out for the Blues next year" every single summer.That being said,I think they could be a playoff contender assuming Halak plays decent all year.They don't have a ton of offensive firepower,even less now with Kariya leaving.I'm not sure what their cap situation is,but I'm interested to see who they will pick up to fill the spots of Kariya and Tkachuk in the top 6.If they can acquire some scoring punch,they will be a very well rounded team.They're not gonna be easy to play against with tough guys like Cam Janssen,B.J. Crombeen,and Brad Winchester in the bottom 6.As for the defense,assuming Erik Johnson is re-signed,they seem to have solid defensive corps.I'm expecting to see more of Alex Pietrangelo on the blue line.They've got solid shut down guys in Barret Jackman and Roman Polak,as well as prospect Tyson Strachan.

I think Nashville's signing of Matthew Lombardi was a bit underrated.Everyone seems to count the Preds out every year,but they play playoff-caliber hockey with very limited funds.

So if the Blues acquire some offense,I'm thinking a playoff spot is in their future,but not the Central.I think we take it back :thumbup:

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Where did the article the Blues would win the Central? :unsure:

Im assuming you left the word "say" out. I figured it was implied when the writer said that every team was heading down besides the Blues and Hawks. Add that with the aritcle stating that the hawks are going to have a hard time retaining the top spot that kind of means that the Blues would have to win the central. Lets see...if every team is said to be heading DOWN in the standings...and everyteam finished behind the hawks that leaves first and second place open. Since the author says that the hawks are going to have a hard time retaining the top spot that would have to imply that the only team that he projects to be heading UP would have to take the first place spot. Atleast thats how logic would have it... :unsure:

Edited by Hank Dats 'N Homer

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ding. ding. ding.

That article is pretty ridiculous all over... I can definitely see the Blues improving, but they'll probably finish 4th, behind Detroit and... wait for it... Nashville... I'm calling it right now

My prediction for Central standings right now:

Detroit

Nashville

Chicago

St. Louis

Columbus

That's tough to say. Nashville's kind of a wild card right now because their team got gutted so badly this offseason, not unlike Chicago - main difference being that Nashville did it by choice, whereas Chicago did it by necessity. My guess for the Central Standings would be Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, then poor, poor Columbus (hey, at least they made the playoffs once, right?).

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Well, let's look at the teams in the Central, and see what comes of it.

Detroit:

Forwards: A

Defensemen: A

Goaltender: B

Overall: A-

Chicago:

Forwards: A-

Defensemen: A

Goaltender: B

Overall: A-

St. Louis:

Forwards: B-

Defensemen: B

Goaltender: B

Overall: B

Nashville:

Forwards: B-

Defensemen: B-

Goaltender: B

Overall: B-

Columbus:

Forwards: B-

Defensemen: B-

Goaltender: B-

Overall: B-

So as it stands right now, there's your analysis of Central teams and how they will finish in the division.

Edited by eva unit zero

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Im assuming you left the word "say" out. I figured it was implied when the writer said that every team was heading down besides the Blues and Hawks. Add that with the aritcle stating that the hawks are going to have a hard time retaining the top spot that kind of means that the Blues would have to win the central. Lets see...if every team is said to be heading DOWN in the standings...and everyteam finished behind the hawks that leaves first and second place open. Since the author says that the hawks are going to have a hard time retaining the top spot that would have to imply that the only team that he projects to be heading UP would have to take the first place spot. Atleast thats how logic would have it... :unsure:

Yeah, typo. My bad.

Just because a bad team gets better doesn't mean they become good, or even win a division. It just means they are less bad. Oh, and what you did is not actually applying "logic" to it.

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ding. ding. ding.

That article is pretty ridiculous all over... I can definitely see the Blues improving, but they'll probably finish 4th, behind Detroit and... wait for it... Nashville... I'm calling it right now

My prediction for Central standings right now:

Detroit

Nashville

Chicago

St. Louis

Columbus

ahhh that looks a little more like it. Thats what the central is supposed to look like year in and year out.

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That's tough to say. Nashville's kind of a wild card right now because their team got gutted so badly this offseason, not unlike Chicago - main difference being that Nashville did it by choice, whereas Chicago did it by necessity. My guess for the Central Standings would be Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, then poor, poor Columbus (hey, at least they made the playoffs once, right?).

I know I'm making a bold prediction, but I liked what I saw of Nashville last year and with the addition of Lombardi and a lot of young talent really getting a chance to blossom, along with the emergence of Rinne I think they're going to surprise a lot of people... just my prediction though, that and $5 will get you a Hot N' Ready :)

Edited by stevkrause

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I know I'm making a bold prediction, but I liked what I saw of Nashville last year and with the addition Lombardi and a lot of young talent really getting a chance to blossom, along with the emergence of Rinne I think they're going to surprise a lot of people... just my prediction though, that and $5 will get you a Hot N' Ready :)

Nashville has a good roster, and many of the same pieces as last year, plus one of the league's top goalies.

The big question there is chemistry, and how the new pieces will fit in. They made a couple big moves and more than a couple minor moves... how will all of that mesh together? If it works out well, they could be a much more difficult team than they seem.

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Where did the article the Blues would win the Central? :unsure:

i'm with you. the article doesn't go anywhere near implying the blues are winning anything. just that they are trending upwards. and when you finished 9th the previous year, there's lots of room to go up and still not win the division.

i do agree the article is poorly written with lots of contradictions; however, this thread is mis-titled and there was a lot of misunderstanding by the OP in my opinion.

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A lot has been made of the formidable losses Chicago has faced so far, but I don't think they're going to completely tank. They won't be at the top, but I could see them pulling away with a 3rd or 4th seed. They had a +60 goal differential, which I don't think will be completely erased by a scrub fourth line. But the players who benefited from Byfuglien's play--Kane and Toews, from what I've read--should feel his absence. There will also probably be more injuries to their lineup with less toughness.

Their disaster should play out over the next couple of years, making for a better team over those years, but a longer period of adjusting to these front office mistakes. The offer sheet to Hjalmarsson (that spelling was a stab in the dark) definitely kept the drama rolling... I'm surprised Chicago bit the bullet and signed him on that one. It could pay off for them, like the Kronwall deal.

I think that Chicago has lost enough, and Detroit is healthy enough, that the Central race should be close to the end (injuries pending).

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A lot has been made of the formidable losses Chicago has faced so far, but I don't think they're going to completely tank. They won't be at the top, but I could see them pulling away with a 3rd or 4th seed. They had a +60 goal differential, which I don't think will be completely erased by a scrub fourth line. But the players who benefited from Byfuglien's play--Kane and Toews, from what I've read--should feel his absence. There will also probably be more injuries to their lineup with less toughness.

Their disaster should play out over the next couple of years, making for a better team over those years, but a longer period of adjusting to these front office mistakes. The offer sheet to Hjalmarsson (that spelling was a stab in the dark) definitely kept the drama rolling... I'm surprised Chicago bit the bullet and signed him on that one. It could pay off for them, like the Kronwall deal.

I think that Chicago has lost enough, and Detroit is healthy enough, that the Central race should be close to the end (injuries pending).

As far as Byfuglien's absence, he was on a different line that Toews for most of the finals, and Toews' line was pretty effective. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks carry the Kopecky/Toews/Hossa line over into next season and put Stalberg or Brouwer on the left side with Sharp and Kane for the second unit. Kopecky is easily the most suited Hawk to replace Byfuglien's role. The KTH line did very well when together, so it seems like even Q could make that connection to start the season.

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A lot has been made of the formidable losses Chicago has faced so far, but I don't think they're going to completely tank. They won't be at the top, but I could see them pulling away with a 3rd or 4th seed. They had a +60 goal differential, which I don't think will be completely erased by a scrub fourth line. But the players who benefited from Byfuglien's play--Kane and Toews, from what I've read--should feel his absence. There will also probably be more injuries to their lineup with less toughness.

Their disaster should play out over the next couple of years, making for a better team over those years, but a longer period of adjusting to these front office mistakes. The offer sheet to Hjalmarsson (that spelling was a stab in the dark) definitely kept the drama rolling... I'm surprised Chicago bit the bullet and signed him on that one. It could pay off for them, like the Kronwall deal.

I think that Chicago has lost enough, and Detroit is healthy enough, that the Central race should be close to the end (injuries pending).

one hell of a stab in the dark - you nailed it.

As for the rest of your points, I agree to some extent, but I think the drop off is going to be more drastic - chemistry is WAY too often discounted and just changing that many PEOPLE in the locker room, let alone quality players can REALLY mess with a team... I still think they'll be a playoff team, but I see them as maybe a 3rd or 4th seed... in OUR division... I think they'll likely be a 6-8th seed/fringe playoff team in the Western conference next year...

As far as Byfuglien's absence, he was on a different line that Toews for most of the finals, and Toews' line was pretty effective. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks carry the Kopecky/Toews/Hossa line over into next season and put Stalberg or Brouwer on the left side with Sharp and Kane for the second unit. Kopecky is easily the most suited Hawk to replace Byfuglien's role. The KTH line did very well when together, so it seems like even Q could make that connection to start the season.

That's assuming that Sharp isn't dealt... which I still think he will be...

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they did improve, but I think that a depleted hawks team will be better than the blues. The Wings will dominate the division. But alot of it depends on Howard and if we stay healthy.

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The Hawks are definitely closer to everyone else's level after their exodus (considerably more so if the Sharp-trade rumors come to fruition) but they still have a high quality core of players. Compared to Nashville that doesn't have any first line forwards outside of maybe Hornqvist, or C-bus's case of not having any first pairing Dmen, and I have a hard time seeing them not finishing at least second in the division. St. Louis might be good if all their young players step up and play to their potential, but even in that highly unlikely scenario I don't see their top 6 and top pairing Dmen as better than Chicago's.

Edited by Heroes of Hockeytown

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