Hockey Fan Forums banner

Which of the top teams will miss the playoffs?

  • Vancouver

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Washington

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Philadelphia

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Pittsburgh

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • San Jose

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Detroit

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Boston

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tampa Bay

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Anaheim

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Nashville

    Votes: 2 18.2%

Which top team will surprise and miss the playoffs?

2595 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  MadDevil
The top 10 teams in the league last year were (by points):

1 Vancouver
2 Washington
3 Philadelphia
4 Pittsburgh
5 San Jose
6 Detroit
7 Boston
8 Tampa Bay
9 Anaheim
10 Nashville

Which one can you see missing the playoffs this year?

I will make a case for why each team may miss:

1. Vancouver - Hamhuis has battled injuries, Ehrhoff left, there will be more pressure than ever on Luongo
2. Washington - Hard to fault the Caps. Got a goalie, Ovechkin should bounce back, Carlson and Alzner should be better.
3. Philadelphia - Can they gel? There has been a massive change, with 2 core players leaving in Richards and Carter, a new goalie, and an aging defense. They also lost Leino and Versteeg, but picked up an aging Jagr and a feisty Max Talbot.
4. Pittsburg - The health of Crosby and Malkin is the biggest question of all. Crosby, Malkin and Staal played in the same game less than 10 times last year.
5. San Jose - More massive change, with the departure of Heatley and Setoguchi, and the addition of Burns and Havlat.
6. Detroit - With Rafalski gone and Lidstrom a year older is this the year that they falter?
7. Boston - Lost Ryder and Recchi, and swapped Kaberle for Corvo. You have to think with the core in place and Seguin getting better that they will remain strong.
8. Tampa Bay - The team is largely unchanged. The biggest question is whether they vintage Roloson can continue his strong play.
9. Will Hiller's health be an issue? Can Perry repeat his incredible season?
10. Nashville - The core of the team is still on defense and all are returning.
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 1
1 - 1 of 13 Posts
Which one can you see missing the playoffs this year?


6. Detroit - With Rafalski gone and Lidstrom a year older is this the year that they falter?
Sooner or later the bubble has to burst.
I'm more inclined to think they haven't fallen back quite as much as the rest of the West has potentially caught up.

Division:
Chicago, should be much better not suffering a SC hangover. I see them as Div. Winners.
Columbus should be a bit tougher to put away with Carter and NAsh as opposed to just Nash. If Brassard and some of the other young talent step up they might make some noise.
St. Louis is a bit of a question mark to me. IS MacDonald a 70pt guy if healthy this year? Is Stewart a 35g powerforward? Boyes, Steen, Pietrangelo, Halak, the list of question marks goes on. Should they catch lightning in a bottle, they will be hell to play against any given night.
Nashville is always tough to play against. They need scoring, but everyone always says that.

Bottom line is that if Detroit has another bad bout of the injury bug the teams in their own division are better equiped to hand them a loss. Finishing 3rd in their Division could see them on the outside looking in in April.
See less See more
1 - 1 of 13 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top