Little Survey

[Eazy_b97 1]

Gerber will be their biggest hit in my eyes. I liked Cullen as well, but think Cole's full season and Walker will offset him. Their D was awful last season, I really don't see losing Ward making it worst. Their season is 100% dependant upon Cam Ward in my eyes. His save% was brutal in the regular season last year. He was very much hot and cold during the season.

Willy - Buffalo is very good, but it's a question of who will be on Buffalo come October. Can they afford Afi and Briere? Spacek won't replace McKee, they play two completely different games. I definately say them and Ottawa will be the top 2 teams in the East though (not necessarily point wise, but talent and "threat" wise)

[cp16 0]

1. Carolina Hurricanes-CURRENT top team in the NHL due to winning the cup last season, excellent goaltending in Cam Ward. Solid Defense, good but not great. Very skilled, quick forward group with the likes of Staal, Cole, Williams, Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman and veteran leader Rod brind'amour. I believe they will be a force next year as well.

2. Calgary Flames- Although they had an unfortunate first rd exit to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, I believe they are still one of the most solid teams in the NHL due to there well roundedness. In the backend they hv Miikka Kiprussoff, who is one of the NHL's best and most consistent goaltenders and have probably the most solid Defense core in the Northwest Division with Phaneuf, Hamrlik, Regehr etc. There forward group is also very solid now especially with the Acquisition of Tanguay for almost nothing. If Tanguay and Iginla are able to develop some good chemistry they will have one of the NHL's most dangrous first lines

3-Ottawa Senators- I believe there roster has a little more depth than Calgary, but an aging goalie in Hasek, the loss of one of their best dmen and very poor playoff results year after year brought them down to no.3 in my opinion. They still hv the NHL's best fwd group in my opinion and they are very solid in their backend as well.

4-Buffalo Sabres- If the Sabres were to make the Stanley Cup Finals over the Carlina Hurricanes i think tehy would top my list. They hv two solid and young goalies in the backend with Biron and Miller, and hv a good Defensive core and they hv a very speedy fwd group, which is led by Daniel Briere. They will be a force to reckon with next season

5-Anaheim Mighty Ducks- Although some ppl may disagree with me I feel that Anaheim has improved their team this summer with the acquisition of Pronger. They will hv one of the NHL's most dangerous backend with two very good goalies(despite the controversy over what Bryzgalov has said) and the NHLs best defensive group with Pronger and Niedermayer, arguably the two best defenders in the NHL. They have a decent fwd group as well especially if Selanne can re capture his turn around season last season and if Randy Getzlaff and Cory Perry can hv a breakout year.

[notorious#29 0]

1. Ottawa

2. Detroit

3. Anaheim

3.(a) Calgary

4. San Jose

5. Buffalo

[Meathead 0]

1. Carolina Hurricanes-CURRENT top team in the NHL due to winning the cup last season, excellent goaltending in Cam Ward. Solid Defense, good but not great. Very skilled, quick forward group with the likes of Staal, Cole, Williams, Ray Whitney and Cory Stillman and veteran leader Rod brind'amour. I believe they will be a force next year as well.

2. Calgary Flames- Although they had an unfortunate first rd exit to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, I believe they are still one of the most solid teams in the NHL due to there well roundedness. In the backend they hv Miikka Kiprussoff, who is one of the NHL's best and most consistent goaltenders and have probably the most solid Defense core in the Northwest Division with Phaneuf, Hamrlik, Regehr etc. There forward group is also very solid now especially with the Acquisition of Tanguay for almost nothing. If Tanguay and Iginla are able to develop some good chemistry they will have one of the NHL's most dangrous first lines

3-Ottawa Senators- I believe there roster has a little more depth than Calgary, but an aging goalie in Hasek, the loss of one of their best dmen and very poor playoff results year after year brought them down to no.3 in my opinion. They still hv the NHL's best fwd group in my opinion and they are very solid in their backend as well.

4-Buffalo Sabres- If the Sabres were to make the Stanley Cup Finals over the Carlina Hurricanes i think tehy would top my list. They hv two solid and young goalies in the backend with Biron and Miller, and hv a good Defensive core and they hv a very speedy fwd group, which is led by Daniel Briere. They will be a force to reckon with next season

5-Anaheim Mighty Ducks- Although some ppl may disagree with me I feel that Anaheim has improved their team this summer with the acquisition of Pronger. They will hv one of the NHL's most dangerous backend with two very good goalies(despite the controversy over what Bryzgalov has said) and the NHLs best defensive group with Pronger and Niedermayer, arguably the two best defenders in the NHL. They have a decent fwd group as well especially if Selanne can re capture his turn around season last season and if Randy Getzlaff and Cory Perry can hv a breakout year.

Good list.

Just to add a few things.

Carolina. If Cam Ward plays like he did in the playoffs, this team is definatley the team to beat. They got rid of the floater Vasicek and got an amazing leader in Scott Walker. I think this team is better than last years team when you consider that Staal, Williams, among others should improve. If Jack Johnson would man up and come to the NHL insted of getting an education they would have a true #1 defensmen in 2 years as well.

Calgary also has two of the most underatted defensmen in the league, Ference and Warrener. I also have to throw Yelle in there, who should have won the Selke last year. He's one of the most underatted players in the league. This is why I listed them at #1. I'm not a huge fan of Tanguay but he's certainly better than what they had last year.

Ottawa. In the regular season they will be good again. But they other than Neil, Schaefer, and some 4th liners, they are too soft. Heatley used to have some grit but now he's just a shooter. Spezza is an amzing passer but plays defense like a little girl even when he does get back. Alfredsson is one of my least liked players in the league and I loved when he got burned to loose the playoff series last year (Yeah, great defensive forward :lol: )

Buffalo. Eh. They'll sneak in the playoffs, but I don't like the team they have. Way to many Euros to be successful in the playoffs. They had a hot goalie last year.

Anaheim. All depends on how Giguere plays and how Neidermayer and Pronger mold together.

My list went Calgary, Carolina, San Jose, Anaheim, then Ottawa, Dallas, and Nashville all about the same. We shall see.

[willy0314 0]

Buffalo. Eh. They'll sneak in the playoffs, but I don't like the team they have. Way to many Euros to be successful in the playoffs. They had a hot goalie last year.

your not serious are you?

[pantherfan 0]

I think he is, numerous amounts of his other posts are Euro bashing

[Drury23 0]

nvm

[Drury23 0]

no love for buffalo huh? I think they are going to be the team to beat in the east. They have one of the top 6 defensive units in the NHL, a very good goalie and 4 crazy good lines up front. They only lost Mckee and Grier and both have been replaced with an upgrade. Aside from that, almost the entire team is going to be back next year (with the exception of either Dumont or Max most likely being traded for $ reasons). Guys like pominville, vanek, and connolly are only going to build off of last year as well.

My thoughts exactly. They are THE BEST team in the NHL. Do we have a mind reader here?

[pwrfwd26 0]

not in order...

sj

ducks

carolina

sens

philly