Half Season Predictions 2013

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Disclaimer I am trying to be realistic here and not pessimistic, but I think given the circumstances of:

- a worse CBA than last time

- losses: perfect human, Stuart and Holmer

- no legitimate #1 defenseman

- no stars despite Datsyuk and Zetterberg

the following should be very realistic

Division

1. Blues

2. Predators

3. Blackhawks

4. Red Wings

5. Blue Jackets

Conference

1. Blues

2. Kings given Quick has fully recovered

3. Canucks

4. Blackhawks

5. Predators

6. Sharks

7. Ducks

8. Red Wings

can a mod change the title to HALF please?

Edited January 16, 2013 by frankgrimes

[xtrememachine1 795]

Central division:

1. Red Wings

2. Blues

3. Blackhawks

4. Predators

5. Blue Jackets

- Wings finish 3rd in the Western conference.

- Brunner scores close to 20 goals

- Kronwall picks up his game and solidifies himself as the new number one d-man.

- Howard plays more games, than Gustavsson, but the Monster has better numbers.

- Datsyuk finishes in the top 5 in scoring.

- Nyquist finishes the season on one of the scoring lines.

- Franzen will be a $3.9 mil cap hit, score around 30 goals, and people will complain.

- Crosby wins the Art Ross.

- Ovechkin wins the Hart and Rocket Richard

- Tuuka Rask wins the Vezina

- Shea Weber wins the Norris.

- Parise scores less than 30 goals.

- Suter finishes the season as a minus player

- Rick Nash does only slightly better than he did in Columbus.

- Anaheim makes the playoffs and Selanne's final run for a championship is an exciting one.

- Rangers, Flyers, Wild, Hurricanes, and Kings underachieve.

- Stars, Canadiens, Oilers and Ducks overachieve.

- The Kings start off slow, but finish strong to barely make the playoffs.

- Penguins and Canucks are top seeds in their respective conference.

I don't understand why people are ranking the Wings so low, just because of Lidstrom. I mean, I know he's great and all, but he's not the whole team. There are plenty of teams that won the Stanley Cup without Nick Lidstrom in their line up, we can too. We have more depth and speed up front. While other teams are cramming in as much training camp as they can before the season, Datsyuk is already in midseason form and Zetterberg and Brunner have been playing together, developing chemistry for the past few months over in Switzerland. IMO, Kronwall can be the next Scott Stevens. That hard hitting, stay-at-home defensive style with a big shot from the point every now and then. Colaiacovo is a very solid pick up for us. I think he's an improvement over Stuart. Plus, we have Brendan Smith, who is really motivated and excited to be playing in the NHL this year. People complain so often during the season that the Wings looked lazy or "unmotivated" out there. We have plenty of new blood in our lineup that should change that perception.

I think the pessimists and the critics who have been predicting the Wings downfall for over a decade now are going to be surprised/disappointed.

[toby91_ca 620]

Central division:

1. Red Wings

2. Blues

3. Blackhawks

4. Predators

5. Blue Jackets

- Wings finish 3rd in the Western conference.

- Brunner scores close to 20 goals

- Kronwall picks up his game and solidifies himself as the new number one d-man.

- Howard plays more games, than Gustavsson, but the Monster has better numbers.

- Datsyuk finishes in the top 5 in scoring.

- Nyquist finishes the season on one of the scoring lines.

- Franzen will be a $3.9 mil cap hit, score around 30 goals, and people will complain.

- Crosby wins the Art Ross.

- Ovechkin wins the Hart and Rocket Richard

- Tuuka Rask wins the Vezina

- Shea Weber wins the Norris.

- Parise scores less than 30 goals.

- Suter finishes the season as a minus player

- Rick Nash does only slightly better than he did in Columbus.

- Anaheim makes the playoffs and Selanne's final run for a championship is an exciting one.

- Rangers, Flyers, Wild, Hurricanes, and Kings underachieve.

- Stars, Canadiens, Oilers and Ducks overachieve.

- The Kings start off slow, but finish strong to barely make the playoffs.

- Penguins and Canucks are top seeds in their respective conference.

I don't understand why people are ranking the Wings so low, just because of Lidstrom. I mean, I know he's great and all, but he's not the whole team. There are plenty of teams that won the Stanley Cup without Nick Lidstrom in their line up, we can too. We have more depth and speed up front. While other teams are cramming in as much training camp as they can before the season, Datsyuk is already in midseason form and Zetterberg and Brunner have been playing together, developing chemistry for the past few months over in Switzerland. IMO, Kronwall can be the next Scott Stevens. That hard hitting, stay-at-home defensive style with a big shot from the point every now and then. Colaiacovo is a very solid pick up for us. I think he's an improvement over Stuart. Plus, we have Brendan Smith, who is really motivated and excited to be playing in the NHL this year. People complain so often during the season that the Wings looked lazy or "unmotivated" out there. We have plenty of new blood in our lineup that should change that perception.

I think the pessimists and the critics who have been predicting the Wings downfall for over a decade now are going to be surprised/disappointed.

Did you consider the season being 48 games when you suggested Parise would score less than 30 (any more than 25 or so would be equivalent to a career high, so less than 30 seems like a lock) and Brunner scoring close to 20?

[amato 3,210]

puck daddy had a pretty funny prediction..

15. Jiri Hudler and Dennis Wideman will both make a real strong case for "Dumbest Jay Feaster signing of the summer." Hudler wins by a slim margin.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/learned-20-bold-predictions-2013-nhl-season-131458612--nhl.html

[xtrememachine1 795]

Did you consider the season being 48 games when you suggested Parise would score less than 30 (any more than 25 or so would be equivalent to a career high, so less than 30 seems like a lock) and Brunner scoring close to 20?

Brunner, yes, I considered the schedule. Parise, I did not. Probably like 13-14 goals for Parise.

[toby91_ca 620]

Brunner, yes, I considered the schedule. Parise, I did not. Probably like 13-14 goals for Parise.

Okay, I'm guessing Brunner will have less than that and Parise probably more....well, you'd hope more. If he's only putting up those stats, huge overpayment for him.

So you think Brunner would be a 30-35 goal scorer right away (assuming full season)? That's completely possible, from my perspective, I just see it as a pure unknown as he's never played in NA...how will his game translate. Why hasn't he played in NHL yet? All those types of questions.

[GoalieManPat 1,007]

Central:

1. St Louis

2. Detroit

3. Chicago

4. Nashville

5. Columbus

Any of the 1-4 can switch spots. To be more specific on my prediction is that those 1 and 4 will finish just 5 pts between each other.

- Wings finish 3rd in the Western conference.

- Brunner scores close to 20 goals

- Kronwall picks up his game and solidifies himself as the new number one d-man.

- Howard plays more games, than Gustavsson, but the Monster has better numbers.

- Datsyuk finishes in the top 5 in scoring.

- Nyquist finishes the season on one of the scoring lines.

- Franzen will be a $3.9 mil cap hit, score around 30 goals, and people will complain.

- Crosby wins the Art Ross.

- Ovechkin wins the Hart and Rocket Richard

- Tuuka Rask wins the Vezina

- Shea Weber wins the Norris.

- Parise scores less than 30 goals.

- Suter finishes the season as a minus player

- Rick Nash does only slightly better than he did in Columbus.

- Anaheim makes the playoffs and Selanne's final run for a championship is an exciting one.

- Rangers, Flyers, Wild, Hurricanes, and Kings underachieve.

- Stars, Canadiens, Oilers and Ducks overachieve.

- The Kings start off slow, but finish strong to barely make the playoffs.

- Penguins and Canucks are top seeds in their respective conference.

I agree with pretty all you said there except for the Norris. Weber brings size and a sexy shot but in my opinion Suter was the better all around player. Weber could do a lot because he had Suter supporting him. I see Weber having the worst season of his career this year.

[gowingsgo 3]

Lots can happen in a short season. Only hope is that we make it into the playoffs healthy and ready to roll for a shot at Stanley

[CrimsonFlame 424]

1. Predators

2. Wings

3. Blues

4. Blackhawks

5. Blue Jackets

[amato 3,210]

1. wings/blues

2. wings/blues

3. hawks

4. prednecks

5. jackets

i think without suter, tootoo, and the other couple players that nashville lost, they drop a lot of close games. granted rinne is good and can keep them in games, he can only do so much..

hawks could finish higher too but crawford is a big question mark IMO.

sure the wings could flop but i just don't see it happening. i think we have the right guys in place to be a solid team and finish 3rd-5th this half season. we have a lot of forwards who are going to be fighting for spots and fighting to keep their spots and i think that keeps the squad motivated to perform at their best. the bottom 6 has the potential to be one of the best in the league and that's a lot more important than many people think. forward depth will slightly make up for a shallow defense but the D needs to step up and i think they will.

Edited January 16, 2013 by amato

[Euro_Twins 4,475]

Disclaimer I am trying to be realistic here and not pessimistic, but I think given the circumstances of:

- a worse CBA than last time

- losses: perfect human, Stuart and Holmer

- no legitimate #1 defenseman

- no stars despite Datsyuk and Zetterberg

the following should be very realistic

Division

1. Blues

2. Predators

3. Blackhawks

4. Red Wings

5. Blue Jackets

Conference

1. Blues

2. Kings given Quick has fully recovered

3. Canucks

4. Blackhawks

5. Predators

6. Sharks

7. Ducks

8. Red Wings

can a mod change the title to HALF please?

No faith in our beloved wings, if they finish 8th then so be it. Until then I have hope and faith that they finish 2-3 in division and 3-5 in conference. With additions of Colo and Smith on the blueline we aren't as bad as people suggest. Mix that with our first line of Z-dats-Brunner, 2nd line of Franz-Flip-Sammy, and then our grind lines and I think we are looking solid. Also Jimmy will perform better knowing Gus is just waiting to steal the starter position for him. I predict Jimmy finishes 1.97 gaa, .931 sv% gus with 2.15 gaa, .912 sv%

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Central:

1. Blackhawks

2. Blues

3. Red Wings

4. Predators

5. Blue Jackets

West:

1. Canucks

2. Kings

3. Blackhawks

4. Blues

5. Sharks

6. Red Wings

7. Stars

8. Wild

[Euro_Twins 4,475]

Central:

1. Blackhawks

2. Blues

3. Red Wings

4. Predators

5. Blue Jackets

West:

1. Canucks

2. Kings

3. Blackhawks

4. Blues

5. Sharks

6. Red Wings

7. Stars

8. Wild

I highly doubt blackhawks at #1 in central... They have a good team but are seriously lacking a few pieces, starting with goaltending and forwards

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Never thought I'd say this, but the Blues can make a run for the Cup this year. Look at the last few Cup winners.

Chicago 2010

Boston 2011

Los Angeles 2012

All those franchises have been around for a while, and either never won the Cup (like LA), or had gone four or five decades without winning one. That pattern could fit the Blues. And I don't see either Philly or Toronto making a Cup run this year.

And yes, Vancouver also could fit that pattern.

Edited January 16, 2013 by GMRwings1983

[evilzyme 769]

Never thought I'd say this, but the Blues can make a run for the Cup this year. Look at the last few Cup winners.

Chicago 2010

Boston 2011

Los Angeles 2012

All those franchises have been around for a while, and either never won the Cup (like LA), or had gone four or five decades without winning one. That pattern could fit the Blues. And I don't see either Philly or Toronto making a Cup run this year.

And yes, Vancouver also could fit that pattern.

the blues have an outstanding roster, with a great top 9 and a deadly system that hitchcock rolls but i can't see them performing like they did last season. I think they just bought into the system, new coach, new motivation, they had something going for them. I don't see Elliott and Halak throwing a tandem season like they did previously, I completely see Elliott's numbers going down for sure. They are a dangerous team, and certainly could make it out to represent the Western conference in the finals, so who knows. All I can say is that the first game is going to be a good judgement on how we well against top teams and their pressure.

[chrisdetroit 189]

Look at the other teams in the Central. I think our chances are good.

Columbus will obviously be worse

Chicago did nothing even though their goaltending was terrible last year.

Nashville lost Radolov, Kostytsn and Suter

St. Louis played over their heads last year and fell apart in the playoffs. I don't see them being as good

In the Central:

1. Blues/WIngs

2. Wings/Blues

3. Preds/Hawks

4. Hawks/Preds

5. BJ's

What were the odds of the Kings winning the Cup last year?

[gowingsgo 3]

Never thought I'd say this, but the Blues can make a run for the Cup this year. Look at the last few Cup winners.

Chicago 2010

Boston 2011

Los Angeles 2012

All those franchises have been around for a while, and either never won the Cup (like LA), or had gone four or five decades without winning one. That pattern could fit the Blues. And I don't see either Philly or Toronto making a Cup run this year.

And yes, Vancouver also could fit that pattern.

Each season stands on its own. That pattern really is just a coincidence. The team that gets hot in the postseason with stellar goalie play is going to win the Cup every year. The best team doesn't always win it all.

[chrisdetroit 189]

the blues have an outstanding roster, with a great top 9 and a deadly system that hitchcock rolls but i can't see them performing like they did last season. I think they just bought into the system, new coach, new motivation, they had something going for them. I don't see Elliott and Halak throwing a tandem season like they did previously, I completely see Elliott's numbers going down for sure. They are a dangerous team, and certainly could make it out to represent the Western conference in the finals, so who knows. All I can say is that the first game is going to be a good judgement on how we well against top teams and their pressure.

I agree about the Blues but I don't think you should judge anything from the first game about any of the teams because everybody will be rusty.

The Blues don't have enough experience to go very far. They showed this in the playoffs last year.

[xtrememachine1 795]

Okay, I'm guessing Brunner will have less than that and Parise probably more....well, you'd hope more. If he's only putting up those stats, huge overpayment for him.

So you think Brunner would be a 30-35 goal scorer right away (assuming full season)? That's completely possible, from my perspective, I just see it as a pure unknown as he's never played in NA...how will his game translate. Why hasn't he played in NHL yet? All those types of questions.

I think Brunner will put up good numbers if he stays with Z and/or D. If he's on a line on his own, forget it. Also, I think Z and Brunner has an advantage going into this year. Like I said in my original post, Zetterberg and Brunner have been playing together, developing chemistry for the past few months over in Switzerland meanwhile, everyone over here is cramming in training camps and may not be ready yet.

[Dabura 12,207]

Not sure why anyone would be so quick to say Colaiacovo will be better for us than Stuart was. That, to me, is a head-scratcher.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Lots can happen in a short season. Only hope is that we make it into the playoffs healthy and ready to roll for a shot at Stanley

Agreed.

And I think people are probably ranking the Wings low not necessarily because they're bad, but because when you look at the Wings blueline there are a whole lot of question marks.

They lost not just their #1 d-man but one of the greatest D-men to ever play the game. Lids was logging almost 24 minutes a night, and still at a high level.

So on defense it's:

how will White perform without Lids?

Can Kronwall step up?

Will Ericsson continue to improve and fill the greater role they need from him?

Will Quincey fit in and improve his consistency?

How will Smith do as a rookie?

What will become of Kindl?

Will Cola stay healthy and play well?

The Wings success will depend greatly on what the answers to those questions are.

Then on offense they really need their top guys to produce, and there's the unknown of how the young guys will do.

[puckbags 863]

Not sure why anyone would be so quick to say Colaiacovo will be better for us than Stuart was. That, to me, is a head-scratcher.

For large parts of the season last year it was quite clear his head was already in California. Served us well but if Cola stays healthy I think the comparison is just fine.

[shoobiedoobin 138]

We're too focused on losing/gaining players. Teams who lose players get better, we've seen it happen. And teams who acquire more talent somehow end up worse. Because there's too much of an on paper type of roster-stack mentality. Like we're comparing NHL 13 lineups. Sometimes what you lose in one player, you can make up for with hard work. We're so obsessed with losing Nick that we forget two vital things. One, he was on a level by himself but he was only half of the ice for half of the game. We still have an entire team that functions as a team. And second, and this isn't his fault but the last couple years even with him here we were lazy as all hell. We were the guy who jogged and thought his dangles could make up for it while the harder working less skilled guy stole the puck from him eventually. That was our playoff series in a nutshell, and our whole season in a nutshell. What we lose in Nick we can more than make up for in footwork if we're willing. No other team ever had Nick but many were successful and some won championships. Go look at us in 08-we're busting serious ass. Even Mule is skating hard. The entire team working hard is much more important than one player, no matter who it is.

I guess I should make a quick prediction...

Central:

1. STL

2. DET

3. CHI

4. NSH

5. COL

WEST:

1. LA

2. STL

3. VAN

4. DET

5. MIN

6. CHI

7. PHO

8. DAL

I think the Preds and Sharks start slow and catch up later and Dallas surprises people by starting super quick and dropping off later, but remaining in 8th by the midway point. I think we'll have the points to be second or third but go to 4th because we're not leading the division (a silly rule). This is of course assuming we try. If we don't like we haven't the last couple seasons we could drop to 7th or 8th. The standings for the first half will have a lot to do with the health of teams around the league more than ever.

Edited January 16, 2013 by shoobiedoobin

[Dabura 12,207]

If we're just talking about last season, then maybe I can see it. But overall? Stuart was great for us. Colaiacovo misses about 90 games a season, and, when healthy, he wasn't exactly a top-4 fixture on the Blues' back-end.

I'm expecting good things from him, don't get me wrong. I guess I'm looking more in Quincey's direction, re: filling Stuart's void.

[evilzyme 769]

wrong fkn thread

Edited January 16, 2013 by evilzyme