Lights...Camera...Action...PREDICTIONS 2011-12
- Thread starter Madferret
- Start date
Pucken Chronic
New member
I'm not gonna try to guess 1 through 15 this early as trades or injuries can and will change things. I will however predict that the Pens will beat the Hawks for the Cup and that I believe that the Leafs will make the play-offs.
Spare Change
New member
L.A. over Tampa
hockeyfan1
New member
Thought I might post some other's predictions for the NHL in 2012..
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/43889-Campbell-Five-issues-for-2012.html
4. Play great, win, repeat.
For the first time since the lockout, we?ve reached the halfway point of the schedule with the defending Stanley Cup champion playing like a Stanley Cup champion. After a terrible start, the Boston Bruins have been the best team in the NHL and look poised to take a run at becoming the first team to repeat since the 1997 and ?98 Detroit Red Wings.
PREDICTION: The Bruins will win the Eastern Conference, but will lose in the Stanley Cup final to either the Chicago Blackhawks or Vancouver Canucks.
5. Who has Hart?
There have been few seasons when the race for the Hart Trophy has been this wide open this late in the season. And the race for the other individual awards should be just as interesting.
PREDICTION(S): Don?t discount a second-half run by Alex Ovechkin, who looks like he?s starting to heat up, but it likely won?t be enough to usurp Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who will become the first brother combination in league history to finish 1-2 in NHL scoring. Lord knows how voters will decide which one wins the Hart. The one thing preventing one of them from winning would be that voters split the vote, letting someone else sneak through.
The Lady Byng Trophy will be won by a defenseman for the first time since Red Kelly in 1953-54 when Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild takes the trophy for most gentlemanly player.
The Rocket Richard will go to Steven Stamkos, who will be the only 50-goal scorer in the NHL this season.
The Vezina will go to Tim Thomas of the Bruins, who will continue to defy time and the limitations of advanced age.
Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators will continue to put up his impressive offensive numbers to win his first Norris Trophy.
Anyone agree with any of these?
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/43889-Campbell-Five-issues-for-2012.html
4. Play great, win, repeat.
For the first time since the lockout, we?ve reached the halfway point of the schedule with the defending Stanley Cup champion playing like a Stanley Cup champion. After a terrible start, the Boston Bruins have been the best team in the NHL and look poised to take a run at becoming the first team to repeat since the 1997 and ?98 Detroit Red Wings.
PREDICTION: The Bruins will win the Eastern Conference, but will lose in the Stanley Cup final to either the Chicago Blackhawks or Vancouver Canucks.
5. Who has Hart?
There have been few seasons when the race for the Hart Trophy has been this wide open this late in the season. And the race for the other individual awards should be just as interesting.
PREDICTION(S): Don?t discount a second-half run by Alex Ovechkin, who looks like he?s starting to heat up, but it likely won?t be enough to usurp Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who will become the first brother combination in league history to finish 1-2 in NHL scoring. Lord knows how voters will decide which one wins the Hart. The one thing preventing one of them from winning would be that voters split the vote, letting someone else sneak through.
The Lady Byng Trophy will be won by a defenseman for the first time since Red Kelly in 1953-54 when Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild takes the trophy for most gentlemanly player.
The Rocket Richard will go to Steven Stamkos, who will be the only 50-goal scorer in the NHL this season.
The Vezina will go to Tim Thomas of the Bruins, who will continue to defy time and the limitations of advanced age.
Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators will continue to put up his impressive offensive numbers to win his first Norris Trophy.
Anyone agree with any of these?
groundskeeper willie
New member
hockeyfan1 said:
The Hockey News still exists? They were irrelevant years ago.
bustaheims
Well-known member
hockeyfan1 said:
A Sedin winning the Hart is certainly a possibility, though, I don't see them finishing 1-2 in scoring. I don't see Boston, Vancouver or Chicago in the Finals - I expect the Bruins will fold in the 2nd round, the Nyucks in the 1st and The Hawks probably in the semis. Karlsson could win the Norris - I suspect he'll be top 3 in votes - though, it probably goes to Chara or Lidstrom.
I think Stamkos winning the Richard is the only one I completely agree with.
Peter D. said:Out of all of us who partook in this exercise, only Corn Flake had Florida above 14th (12th).
Whoops!
They could still end up there (okay, maybe not 14th, but out of the playoffs anyway) - I'm not overly impressed with them and it is pretty tight in the East.
Of my preseason picks, the most out to lunch so far:
East:
- I didn't see Tampa dropping this much
- The above mentioned Panthers being this good
West:
- I really didn't see the drop off in the Ducks
- I didn't see the resurgence of the Avs
Still lots of hockey to go though.
Sucker Punch
New member
About Karlsson for Norris, while I don't think he'll win it, he would definitely get my vote.
No one has dominated the competition offensively like this since Paul Coffey. He's 23 points ahead of the second place defenseman in scoring, he's got over 50% more points than Brian Campbell. He's tied for 6th in the league in scoring with Phil Kessel. He would be the leading scorer on 24 teams in the league. He's +15 on a team that has a +3 goal differential. He's also not just racking up power play points. He has 40 points at even strength, and the only defenseman in the league that has more total points than he has ESP is Brian Campbell.
Mike Green was a finalist in 09/10 when he was tied for 20th in league scoring, on far and away the highest scoring team in the league, behind three forwards that combined for 294 points. Erik Karlsson is better defensively than Mike Green was, and has Jason Spezza, and that's about it.
Karlsson is 11th in the league in Time on Ice per game, and matches up against the opponent's top line every game. He's among the best in the league at using his speed and stick defensively, while not a very reliable stat, he's also far and away leading all defensemen in takeaways. He's great at creating turnovers by breaking up the rush. Even when he makes mistakes, he generally recovers. In the last little while, he's caught up to both Kovalchuk and Pominville to prevent scoring opportunities when they were on clean breakaways. He also shows flashes of defensive brilliance like when he dominated 6'7" Brian Boyle physically all game against the Rangers a while ago.
The knocks against him are related to his youth and size, he's not a Weber or Chara in his own zone. Once the opponent establishes a forecheck and gets a cycle going, he's out of his element. He's generally not going to be able to rub a guy out or clear the crease.
He also doesn't kill penalties. He's shown he can do it well, like he did in the last half of last season, but he really only goes out in the dying seconds of penalty kills now. It's a smart coaching move, he's already playing over 25 minutes a game, why would you waste the best offensive defenseman in the league killing penalties? But it is still true that penalty killing is one facet of the game for defenseman that he simply doesn't do. Although, Pavel Datsyuk won the Selke without killing penalties, so it's not out of the question.
His age, obviously, will also hurt his chances. The Norris especially is an award that generally goes to veterans who have a record of consistency and a reputation for elite play. While his age makes what he's doing all that more impressive, it doesn't help him win the award as best all-around defenseman.
I think Weber will probably take it, but Karlsson will be at least a finalist.
No one has dominated the competition offensively like this since Paul Coffey. He's 23 points ahead of the second place defenseman in scoring, he's got over 50% more points than Brian Campbell. He's tied for 6th in the league in scoring with Phil Kessel. He would be the leading scorer on 24 teams in the league. He's +15 on a team that has a +3 goal differential. He's also not just racking up power play points. He has 40 points at even strength, and the only defenseman in the league that has more total points than he has ESP is Brian Campbell.
Mike Green was a finalist in 09/10 when he was tied for 20th in league scoring, on far and away the highest scoring team in the league, behind three forwards that combined for 294 points. Erik Karlsson is better defensively than Mike Green was, and has Jason Spezza, and that's about it.
Karlsson is 11th in the league in Time on Ice per game, and matches up against the opponent's top line every game. He's among the best in the league at using his speed and stick defensively, while not a very reliable stat, he's also far and away leading all defensemen in takeaways. He's great at creating turnovers by breaking up the rush. Even when he makes mistakes, he generally recovers. In the last little while, he's caught up to both Kovalchuk and Pominville to prevent scoring opportunities when they were on clean breakaways. He also shows flashes of defensive brilliance like when he dominated 6'7" Brian Boyle physically all game against the Rangers a while ago.
The knocks against him are related to his youth and size, he's not a Weber or Chara in his own zone. Once the opponent establishes a forecheck and gets a cycle going, he's out of his element. He's generally not going to be able to rub a guy out or clear the crease.
He also doesn't kill penalties. He's shown he can do it well, like he did in the last half of last season, but he really only goes out in the dying seconds of penalty kills now. It's a smart coaching move, he's already playing over 25 minutes a game, why would you waste the best offensive defenseman in the league killing penalties? But it is still true that penalty killing is one facet of the game for defenseman that he simply doesn't do. Although, Pavel Datsyuk won the Selke without killing penalties, so it's not out of the question.
His age, obviously, will also hurt his chances. The Norris especially is an award that generally goes to veterans who have a record of consistency and a reputation for elite play. While his age makes what he's doing all that more impressive, it doesn't help him win the award as best all-around defenseman.
I think Weber will probably take it, but Karlsson will be at least a finalist.
Pucken Chronic
New member
13 said:
Can I retract one of these?