NHL Season In Review (Part 2) - The East
And now for part 2....
Atlantic Division
The Devils fought off the advances of the upstart Penguins to win the division and take the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Apparently that wasn't good enough for Lou Lamoriello, who fired coach Claude Julien. I wonder what he would've done if they didn't make the playoffs.
The Penguins are in the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Led by Gretzky's heir and the new Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, they had the 4th best turnaround in NHL history. But that's not good enough for Pittsburgh fans. They seem compelled to keep booing Jagr. What the fuck? They don't boo other Pittsburgh refugees like Robert Lang or Martin Straka, so what's up? It's been 6 years, wash the rust out of your underwear already.
The Rangers slumped hard and looked like they weren't going to make the playoffs. It wasn't too long ago that they were the #11 seed in the conference. But everyone stepped up and Lundqvist started playing like he did before last year's Olympics and the team ended the season sixth in the conference.
The Islanders were flying high behind the stalwart goaltending of DiPietro. He departed the lineup with an injury and the team's hopes went right along with him. Back up goalie, Mike Dunham, couldn't get the job done (well, when has he ever?) so the Isles turned to Doobie and he got the job done. The Islanders had to win every single game to get in and they did. Will the momentum be any good against Buffalo? Are they this year's Edmonton?
And the Flyers made it official late last month. They would end the season as the worst team in the league. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but I still can't get over their dismal performance this season. I'm calling it the "Surprise of the Season." No one in the pool predicted it, though Rick came close (care to let on Rick?).
The pool was thrown completely off by the Flyers and the Penguins. The Devils taking the division was the only thing that seemed to make sense. Only 8 total points were had here. Tied for the worst with the Northwest.
Northeast Division
Buffalo recovered from its injuries to hold off the Senators, take the division, the Conference, and the President's Trophy (3 bonus points to Tammy, Dad, and me). Ottawa finished strong and Ray Emery made everyone forget about that whiny Czech goalie, who moved back to Detroit.
Montreal and Toronto were both supposed to go to the playoffs but neither one could get their shit together for long enough to make any kind of run. Toronto stepped on Montreal in their last game to get themselves into a position for the playoffs only to be usurped by the Islanders. It's the second year in a row for Maple Leafs fans to be disgruntled. Can't blame this one on ex-coach Quinn this time.
And despite finishing last in the division, the Bruins were contenders for the playoffs until the end of March when they were sidelined by a huge slide (2-7-1) going into April.
The collective average of the pool had no problem guessing that Buffalo would win and Ottawa would place. And Boston's last place finish (again) was no surprise to most. But Montreal and Toronto were harder to pin down. Both teams were picked to finish everywhere except first, well, Toronto did get one first place vote. 18 points were had, with Tammy, Tim, and Claude snagging 3 each.
Southeast Division
After all of Carolina's off season maneuvers, most of us felt that they weren't going to repeat. But only a couple people felt strong enough that they wouldn't even make the playoffs. So much for defending the Cup. In fact, they barely held onto third in the division. They had to fight off the Panthers on the last game of the season to avoid falling to fourth. Hmmm, I suspect someone's gonna get fired.
Instead, the accolades go to Atlanta for making the playoffs for the first time, ever. But 9 out of 11 of us knew that it was finally time for that to happen. They have a good mix of old and new players, with the younger guys scoring goals (Hossa and Kovalchuk) and the older guys providing solid leadership (Holik, Tkachuk, Mellanby). These guys might be the sleeper favorite in the playoffs.
Tampa was up and down in the division, but always slightly better than we expected. At the end, they wound up higher than most of us thought. But they still only managed the #7 seed in the conference. I don't think that they've plugged the hole left by Khabibulin.
Florida managed to not get any worse after losing their star goalie, Roberto Luongo, who shipped off to Vancouver. Injuries put Joe Nieuwendyk and Todd Bertuzzi (and then he was traded) on the sidelines before the team could get going. Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton (who?) carried the team offensively while Ed Belfour got peppered at the net. They made an attempt at a playoff run but it was too little, too late.
The Capitols last place finish was an easy one. 8 out of 11 of us called that one.
The Southeast was very good to us. Although the collective average managed 3 out of 5, we racked up 27 points, our second best division. Dad led the way with a perfect 5 of 5, while Damian, Tim, Rick 1, and I came up with 3 each.
Final Standings....
Thanks to the 3 point President's Trophy Bonus, Tammy wins!
\_/
DED
Atlantic Division
The Devils fought off the advances of the upstart Penguins to win the division and take the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Apparently that wasn't good enough for Lou Lamoriello, who fired coach Claude Julien. I wonder what he would've done if they didn't make the playoffs.
The Penguins are in the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Led by Gretzky's heir and the new Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, they had the 4th best turnaround in NHL history. But that's not good enough for Pittsburgh fans. They seem compelled to keep booing Jagr. What the fuck? They don't boo other Pittsburgh refugees like Robert Lang or Martin Straka, so what's up? It's been 6 years, wash the rust out of your underwear already.
The Rangers slumped hard and looked like they weren't going to make the playoffs. It wasn't too long ago that they were the #11 seed in the conference. But everyone stepped up and Lundqvist started playing like he did before last year's Olympics and the team ended the season sixth in the conference.
The Islanders were flying high behind the stalwart goaltending of DiPietro. He departed the lineup with an injury and the team's hopes went right along with him. Back up goalie, Mike Dunham, couldn't get the job done (well, when has he ever?) so the Isles turned to Doobie and he got the job done. The Islanders had to win every single game to get in and they did. Will the momentum be any good against Buffalo? Are they this year's Edmonton?
And the Flyers made it official late last month. They would end the season as the worst team in the league. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but I still can't get over their dismal performance this season. I'm calling it the "Surprise of the Season." No one in the pool predicted it, though Rick came close (care to let on Rick?).
The pool was thrown completely off by the Flyers and the Penguins. The Devils taking the division was the only thing that seemed to make sense. Only 8 total points were had here. Tied for the worst with the Northwest.
Northeast Division
Buffalo recovered from its injuries to hold off the Senators, take the division, the Conference, and the President's Trophy (3 bonus points to Tammy, Dad, and me). Ottawa finished strong and Ray Emery made everyone forget about that whiny Czech goalie, who moved back to Detroit.
Montreal and Toronto were both supposed to go to the playoffs but neither one could get their shit together for long enough to make any kind of run. Toronto stepped on Montreal in their last game to get themselves into a position for the playoffs only to be usurped by the Islanders. It's the second year in a row for Maple Leafs fans to be disgruntled. Can't blame this one on ex-coach Quinn this time.
And despite finishing last in the division, the Bruins were contenders for the playoffs until the end of March when they were sidelined by a huge slide (2-7-1) going into April.
The collective average of the pool had no problem guessing that Buffalo would win and Ottawa would place. And Boston's last place finish (again) was no surprise to most. But Montreal and Toronto were harder to pin down. Both teams were picked to finish everywhere except first, well, Toronto did get one first place vote. 18 points were had, with Tammy, Tim, and Claude snagging 3 each.
Southeast Division
After all of Carolina's off season maneuvers, most of us felt that they weren't going to repeat. But only a couple people felt strong enough that they wouldn't even make the playoffs. So much for defending the Cup. In fact, they barely held onto third in the division. They had to fight off the Panthers on the last game of the season to avoid falling to fourth. Hmmm, I suspect someone's gonna get fired.
Instead, the accolades go to Atlanta for making the playoffs for the first time, ever. But 9 out of 11 of us knew that it was finally time for that to happen. They have a good mix of old and new players, with the younger guys scoring goals (Hossa and Kovalchuk) and the older guys providing solid leadership (Holik, Tkachuk, Mellanby). These guys might be the sleeper favorite in the playoffs.
Tampa was up and down in the division, but always slightly better than we expected. At the end, they wound up higher than most of us thought. But they still only managed the #7 seed in the conference. I don't think that they've plugged the hole left by Khabibulin.
Florida managed to not get any worse after losing their star goalie, Roberto Luongo, who shipped off to Vancouver. Injuries put Joe Nieuwendyk and Todd Bertuzzi (and then he was traded) on the sidelines before the team could get going. Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton (who?) carried the team offensively while Ed Belfour got peppered at the net. They made an attempt at a playoff run but it was too little, too late.
The Capitols last place finish was an easy one. 8 out of 11 of us called that one.
The Southeast was very good to us. Although the collective average managed 3 out of 5, we racked up 27 points, our second best division. Dad led the way with a perfect 5 of 5, while Damian, Tim, Rick 1, and I came up with 3 each.
Final Standings....
| 1. | Tammy | 16 |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Dad | 15 |
| 3. | Damian | 14 |
| 4. | Tim | 12 |
| Me | ||
| 5. | Rich | 10 |
| Rick 1 | ||
| Claude | ||
| 6. | Peter | 7 |
| 7. | Rick 2 | 6 |
| 8. | Annie | 4 |
Thanks to the 3 point President's Trophy Bonus, Tammy wins!
\_/
DED
Labels: hockey
posted by DED at 11:42 PM
6 Comments:
Despte all that power, Atlanta finished with only 3 points more then the Rangers.
Famous Doug Sauter mustache here.
That's big, even by NHL standards for the 70's.
Lanny McDonald had one of the best.
Oh yeah, he did.
Hey, that isn't the best picture of him. Sometimes they use it to sweep the Ford Center. He doesn't even have to stoop to do it either.
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