Maybe Sutter has never played with guys who can put the puck in the net? Maybe its the wingers who are making Sutter worse?

I really have no idea, just being a d!ck.
- 1970vintage

Id agree with this, most of the penguins cap went into the top two lines, didn't have a good third line. I expect sutter to have a huge year. Vey aswell to early to put McCann or cassels ahead of him

Id agree with this, most of the penguins cap went into the top two lines, didn't have a good third line. I expect sutter to have a huge year. Vey aswell to early to put McCann or cassels ahead of him
- phyllee

Penguins haven't had a good third line since Staal left at the 2012 draft. Sutter came in and played with the exact same wingers (Cooke and Kennedy) and the line sucked. Sutter also played 2C to start last season with Malkin and Dupuis and the line sucked.

http://www.theprovince.co...+than/11372050/story.html


Good read on the Canucks this morning. I agree that they don't have to be a 101 point team to be better, they may in fact have less points but be better 5on5 and that'll make them a better team, even if the special teams numbers slightly drop.

Goes back to the old saying of them being harder to play against.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/hockey/canucks-hockey/botchford+canucks+think+they+better+than/11372050/story.html


Good read on the Canucks this morning. I agree that they don't have to be a 101 point team to be better, they may in fact have less points but be better 5on5 and that'll make them a better team, even if the special teams numbers slightly drop.

Goes back to the old saying of them being harder to play against.
- LeftCoaster

They have to be.. All the other teams in the west will be harder to play against as well.

They have to be.. All the other teams in the west will be harder to play against as well.
- VanHockeyGuy

Realistically, for me, I only see Dallas and Colorado being better than they were last year in the West.

In the Pacific Division:

LA didn't do anything to get better, although they'll still play that heavy game and they're always difficult to play against.
San Jose really didn't do anything to get better, did they?
Anaheim still very good, but are they better?
Calgary should be the same or worse if they don't improve their fancy stats.
The Oilers were terrible so getting better doesn't really scare anyone, does it?

Arizona - need I say more? We should wipe the floor with them every game!

Realistically, for me, I only see Dallas and Colorado being better than they were last year in the West.

In the Pacific Division:

LA didn't do anything to get better, although they'll still play that heavy game and they're always difficult to play against.
San Jose really didn't do anything to get better, did they?
Anaheim still very good, but are they better?
Calgary should be the same or worse if they don't improve their fancy stats.
The Oilers were terrible so getting better doesn't really scare anyone, does it?

Arizona - need I say more? We should wipe the floor with them every game!
- LeftCoaster

Happy National Cheeseburger Day!

Realistically, for me, I only see Dallas and Colorado being better than they were last year in the West.

In the Pacific Division:

LA didn't do anything to get better, although they'll still play that heavy game and they're always difficult to play against.
San Jose really didn't do anything to get better, did they?
Anaheim still very good, but are they better?
Calgary should be the same or worse if they don't improve their fancy stats.
The Oilers were terrible so getting better doesn't really scare anyone, does it?

Arizona - need I say more? We should wipe the floor with them every game!
- LeftCoaster

LA Won't miss the playoffs this season, the Oilers will steal the odd game, Calgary/Hartley will give WD headaches. I say 88 points tops.

Happy National Cheeseburger Day!
- Marwood

Can I pay on Tuesday

LA Won't miss the playoffs this season, the Oilers will steal the odd game, Calgary/Hartley will give WD headaches. I say 88 points tops.
- VanHockeyGuy

I hope 83

Happy National Cheeseburger Day!
- Marwood

LA Won't miss the playoffs this season, the Oilers will steal the odd game, Calgary/Hartley will give WD headaches. I say 88 points tops.
- VanHockeyGuy

LA's lost Voynov and the fallout from the Richards termination and their hatred for their coach will haunt them all season. Sutter will be fired by mid-season as they start out slow and quit on him. Next season will be the year they recover, this year is a loss.

Edmonton will be better, but nowhere near where they need to challenge for the playoffs unless Nurse = Doughty in his rookie year. They may steal a game, but that's all.

SJ is falling down the standings due to the amount of playoff failures they've had and their complete unwillingness to turn over the roster in a significant way. They're where we were when we hired Torts and I see them having roughly the same sort of season and the same sort of off-season as we did last year where both the coach and GM get canned and the clean up crew comes in.

Anaheim will be about the same, Bieksa replaces Beauchemin and the difference is he's not going to be counted on to provide toughness, just offense and hard minutes. Boudreau is on the hot seat though, he needs to get to the Finals and win this year or he's done. Another elimination in the playoffs save for the Finals isn't going to cut it.

Calgary slightly regresses, but will make the playoffs and probably takes home ice this time. Hamilton and a healthy Giordano is Calgary's answer to the Suter/Weber pairing in Nashville before Suter signed in Minnesota. Gaudreau, Bennet and Monahan are all a year older and more experienced and will be better.

Arizona probably ends up 30th in the league and wins all three lotteries, giving them the top three picks in the draft (thanks Bettman) and wins the Stanley Cup next year.

LA Won't miss the playoffs this season, the Oilers will steal the odd game, Calgary/Hartley will give WD headaches. I say 88 points tops.
- VanHockeyGuy

Disagree...they're still a 90+ point team IMO.

Los Angeles may not miss the playoffs again but I don't think they're going to be any harder to play against or they got any better. They had 95 points, two more wins and an overtime point puts them at 100.

The Oilers may be slightly better, but IMO they're still a team that lacks depth, defense and proven goaltending. I guess we'll see.

I hope 83
- VANTEL

That's almost a 20 point drop, I really don't see that happening. Hell, even Torts managed to get them 83

I'm against Grizzly Bear hunting....but truthfully he hasn't really done anything wrong other than they're deeming him a non-resident which is semantics really. It's about political correctness.

Whether people like it or not he applied for and received a limited permit to hunt Grizzly. Now they're saying he shouldn't have received the permit (or applied) because he wasn't in the country long enough during a calendar year to be classified as a resident due to his professional occupation.
- LeftCoaster

Was he not hunting out of season?

Was he not hunting out of season?
- docmorgan

There are different seasons for bear hunting in Canada and it depends upon which species of bear you are hunting but the specific dates vary by region. Spring grizzly bear hunting season in British Columbia is from May until June while the fall hunting season is from Sept. 22nd to the 30th and Oct. 2nd to the 10th.

From what I've read he was hunting during the proper times (May 28, 2013) for the region he was hunting, BUT, the government is saying he didn't have a proper LEH (limited entry hunting) draw so he was hunting "out of season" in their minds.

I'm not defending the guy, as I said I DO NOT agree with harvesting Black or Grizzly Bears because the meat is just awful, however, I do think the government is using a technicality/“bureaucratic reasons” to punish him and I don't think they're going to win.

Just my opinion as I've experienced living out of the country but maintained a residence on the island and the government deemed it my primary residence for tax purposes, even though I wasn't in the country more than 183 days per year. They can't on one hand say I have to pay taxes because I'm a "resident" and on the other hand say I'm not a "resident" for hunting purposes....just as an example. I don't know where Stoner pays his taxes or claims residency.

“All five charges are directly related to the residency requirement,” Detective-Sergeant Cynthia Mann of the Conservation Officer Service’s major investigation unit said in an interview Wednesday.

Disagree...they're still a 90+ point team IMO.

Los Angeles may not miss the playoffs again but I don't think they're going to be any harder to play against or they got any better. They had 95 points, two more wins and an overtime point puts them at 100.

The Oilers may be slightly better, but IMO they're still a team that lacks depth, defense and proven goaltending. I guess we'll see.
- LeftCoaster

I agree 90+ season, it will be interesting to see how close to the cutoff that will be.
Last year was 97 and the year before 91.

I would argue that SJ got better by replacing Scott and Irwin with Ward and Martin The only question mark there will be Jones but I like his chances a lot better than Lehner, Talbot or Lack. I see them having a season like we did last year and doing much better than everyone is guessing.

LA is impossible to predict but regardless of whether they make it or not, adding Lucic will make them harder to play against, the rest of the division will have to keep one eye on him at all times.

McDavid and Co won't make the playoffs but they will be better.

Calgary won't be as lucky as last season but will be good and as always hard to play against.

Arizona will be bad but they added a lot of vets who are tough to play against, Richardson, Gordon, Vitale, Downie, Grossman, *Michalek*. Domi and Duclair will help as well.

Fun Fact

Sutter scored 21 goals last year.... Kesler scored 20

discuss.....

Fun Fact

Sutter scored 21 goals last year.... Kesler scored 20

discuss.....
- Mungo

No - we've moved on

Baerschi Sutter Vrbata
Higgins Horvat Hansen

Lines at training camp.

Would be so nice if Higgins and Hansen were on another team and we could slot in Virtanen and Shinkaruk or McCann.

Remember to tie off the rectum properly, and get yourself a good bone saw.
- A_SteamingLombardi

Ahhh, the old moon box tie, only screwed that up once. .....

No - we've moved on
- LeftCoaster

Just giving you a heads-up, tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Just giving you a heads-up, tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
- Marwood

I can't get by it's still National Otter Awareness Week....or something like that?

I can't get by it's still National Otter Awareness Week....or something like that?
- LeftCoaster

Why are sea otters so high profile? No love for the river otter.

Baerschi Sutter Vrbata
Higgins Horvat Hansen

Lines at training camp.

Would be so nice if Higgins and Hansen were on another team and we could slot in Virtanen and Shinkaruk or McCann.
- Scooby_Doo

This would be nice for a bottom six!!

Prust Horvat Virtanen
Gaunce McCann Dorsett

Why are sea otters so high profile? No love for the river otter.
- Marwood

Ugly cousins?