2010-11 Hockey!
Goot
Posts: 3,496
in Sports Talk
So I got my Lightning tickets in the mail today and it really hit me that hockey season is right around the corner! Things are really looking up here in Tampa. New owner, new coach, STEVE freakin Yzerman as our GM, new players, etc. There's definitely a buzz around Tampa for this hockey season and hopefully the bolts can squeeze into the playoffs.
Yzerman successfully ripped off the Flyers in a couple of trades this summer, one that allowed the Bolts to pick up Simon Gagne. Between Gagne, Downie, Malone, Lecavalier, St Louis and that Stamkos kid the Bolts Offense looks to be one of the most exciting in the league this year. If the D and goaltending are solid this team will be able to slide on into the playoffs, IMO.
Who else is excited??? What are some of your guys predictions for your teams/the league?
Opening night can't get here soon enough!
Yzerman successfully ripped off the Flyers in a couple of trades this summer, one that allowed the Bolts to pick up Simon Gagne. Between Gagne, Downie, Malone, Lecavalier, St Louis and that Stamkos kid the Bolts Offense looks to be one of the most exciting in the league this year. If the D and goaltending are solid this team will be able to slide on into the playoffs, IMO.
Who else is excited??? What are some of your guys predictions for your teams/the league?
Opening night can't get here soon enough!
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Comments
<< <i>I can see the Tampa fans being excited about the poorman's Capitals you'll be running out there this year....but I think you're throwing "solid" D around pretty liberally. >>
I didn't say the D is solid....I said IF the goaltending and D is solid then I see them making the playoffs. Reading more closely would've saved you a lot of typing.
Tampa fans are just happy to have a team AND ownership that actually has a respectable feel for once. Chicago fans can relate...they've been through crappy ownership. The Lightning won the Cup in 2004, then the lockout happened. They sold out the arena and were near the tops in attendance for a few years during seasons that saw them make the playoffs before getting swept in the first round both years. The Bolts were then sold in 2007 to two of the slimiest owners out there. They ran a crappy organization and the team immediately tanked finishing as the worst team in -'08, second to worst in '09 and then 6th worst in '10. This ownership chased off fans and ultimately threw the fanbase that the team had built during the Cup and Playoff years into the toilet. I think this is pretty telling...the day after the Lightning's sale to Jeff Vinik was approved, the Lightning saw 20,000 people show up to see them face off against Atlanta....a normal game against ATL would draw 15k these past few seasons.
So yeah, Tampa fans are pretty excited to have some credibility and respect back to their organization. The buzz around Tampa isn't due to high hopes this year, it's because the team's owners aren't shady scumbag owners anymore and the organization has hired some amazing people throughout the overhaul(CEO, GM, etc). Most Lightning fans see it how I see it, if things fall into place, they'll squeak into the playoffs. They were god awful and only finished a few points behind the 8th seed last season. It's more of the long term goal that the Bolts fans are excited about.
Thanks for being a dick though.
another parade down Michigan Ave. next summer.
<< <i>I guess it depends on how you like your hockey. I can see the Tampa fans being excited about the poorman's Capitals you'll be running out there this year....but I think you're throwing "solid" D around pretty liberally. TB has two + defenders - Dominic Moore and Malone and they're 3rd line forwards. So unless Hedman takes a Doughty-like quick route to greatness (and it's rare with young defensemen as it usually takes 4 years to fully develop) I don't see it. They have a decent offensive-defense core with Kubina, Ohlund, and Hedman, but defensively, teams like the Caps, Hawks, and Canucks will continue to run fire drills around those pylons. Then on the flipside, TB is built like the Capitals where you have a myriad of forwards like St Louis, Stamkos, Lecavalier etc that are well below average defensively. Gagne was also in that group, but he really improved defensively last season, but a lot of that is likely due to Philly's system. We'll have to see how Tampa sets up their team D...but you can afford to have a couple guys like that, but not the majority of your top 6 forwards. I mean you look at teams like the Hawks and Wings, 5 of the top 6 forwards are plus defenders. That's how you win in the current NHL. Ask Washington and Vancouver. They haven't been able to figure that out yet. So if you're going to have a top 6 group that can't play D, you're going to need at least one top shutdown pair on the blue line, and you simply don't have it. You guys need a good two way 2nd line C like Kesler or Joe Pavelski. TB has improved, but the best part of TB's season already occurred when Yzerman freed the franchise of useless mouthbreathers like Konopka and the human punching bag-Fedoruk, and even more importantly, dealt away Mezsaros' & Matt Walker's awful contracts. Perhaps next season you can get Montreal to take their hometown hero Lecavalier, and perhaps entice Vokoun to move north. >>
That's great-- if the Lightning just sit on their heels for the next seven months and don't make a single deal. As currently constructed that team isn't looking at playing in May, but they're a couple of Chris Kelly/Marty Reasoner types away from having a very solid PK, and God knows this team is going to score. Defensively they're a mess, but so what? Nobody's talking about hoisting the Cup in June- we're talking about a team squeezing in with a seven seed, and this team looks entirely capable of pulling that off.
If I was a Lightning fan-- and I'm not, but play along-- I'd be looking forward to watching this team take the ice a month from now. They're going to be a blast to watch, and I don't see why they shouldn't be competitive.
I guess I see your point to an extent...but it's not like we're talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates here. The "Ning are only 3 years removed from their last playoff appearance, and what...not counting the lockout year, 5 years removed from a cup. If I were a Lightning fan, squeaking into the playoffs in a first round out wouldn't mean anything to me. I'm just saying, some folks down there are expecting a markedly better team this year (I've seen several comparisons of TB taking a '09-'10 LA Kings type leap in various publications which to me is ridiculous) and it's just not possible with that defense. Hence why I said, "depends how you like your hockey". If all you care about is offense and being "entertained", then chances are you're a casual hockey fan anyway. Yeah they should be interesting to watch (if you don't like defense which most casual fans don't or even understand) in those 6-5 losses just as they were last year. The team hasn't changed THAT much. They've dumped 4 useless pieces and will use in-house borderline AHLers to fill those spots, flipped Tanguay for Gagne, and Niitymaki for Ellis is at best a wash to me seeing as Ellis is coming from a top 5 defensive team where he was merely a lower mid-tier goalie. But I already pointed out that I actually like what your boy Yzerman has done for the most part. Clipping penalty magnets like Konopka and Fedorek is very Wings like, leading me to believe he will be building the team in Ken Holland fashion. Robbing Holmgren for Meszaros and Walker - fantastic moves. I like Domonic Moore as the checking line C. If Yzerman actually cared about sneaking into the playoffs, he probably could have upgraded a few more low pay - one year deals to round out the 4th line though (Kyle Wellwood for the 4th line C would work), and they could really use even a Greg Zanon/Sopel type on the blueline. Perhaps he could have taken a run at that jag Willie Mitchell to take some of the pressure off of Hedman, but I wouldn't blame him for not doing so given his concussion issues. No one outside of a Canadiens front office staffer or a Hamilton Bulldogs season ticket holder knows much about Guy Boucher, so I have no idea what his system will be. I'll assume given the roster, he's not going to be going to be a Barry Trotz doppelganger. To me, I really don't anticipate much of an improvement seeing that in their own division ATL has improved it's depth exponentially thanks to the Hawks, and a solid Chris Mason signing, and Carolina can't possibly have the same rash of injuries as they did last season. They played really well down the stretch when they got healthy. So given that Florida should be the only dreadful team in that division, and I think it's asking a lot for Stamkos to repeat 50 goals, I don't anticipate seeing a marked improvement record wise. If they do squeak into the playoffs, I think it will have more to do with prior playoff teams falling off (say Ottawa and/or Montreal), rather than Tampa improving. In the East I think you have 6 virtual locks in
Washington
Boston
Buffalo
New Jersey
Philly
Pittsburgh
and the Rangers always seem to find a way to snag the 7th or 8th spot...but that would likely leave
Montreal
Carolina
NY Rangers
Ottawa
TB (if nothing else for the sake of the thread)
to fight it out for the last two spots. Can't predict injuries...I mean if Ryan Miller misses 50 games, Buffalo has no shot. If Cam Ward and E.Staal go down for lengthy periods of time again, Carolina has no shot. So yeah TB could conceivably sneak in.