Canucks playoff bound?

I was driving in my sweet pimped out mini van the other day and listening to Vancouver sports talk radio. The pole ? was "do you think the Canucks are better than last yr"? I know we live in BC and it will be a biased pole but 80+ % believes we are better than last yr!

Let me tell you...we are not better than last yr. From our top 2 lines last yr we have replaced Bertuzzi and Carter with Cooke and Bulis. Where is our scoring going to come from? Sure we improved in net but defensively I would rather have Jovo instead of Willie Mitchell any day.

Honestly, we look like Florida with Naslund on the wing. Luongo is going to face 40 + shots a night and where is our scoring going to come from??? Burrows, King, Bulis, Cooke, Linden?

For all you fans out there that already want Nonis' head on a silver platter remember this he needs at least 3 yrs to turn things around here. This team is rebuilding NOT retooling. I loved Burke as GM but think of the results the "core" was together for 5 yrs and we won only 1 playoff rd and it was against the Blues.

There are many sports experts out there that are not picking the Canucks to make the playoffs. And unless we make some significant trades I am agreeing with them. I know it's easy to be negative and critical but this time we got to be realistic. I even heard a guy on the radio call in and say we are going to win the Stanley Cup?! By the way I am cheering for Vancouver and I hope I am terribly wrong.

NY Islanders: Dumbest Franchise

Okay the NY Islanders are officially the dumbest franchise in NHL history if not sports history. They just signed Rick “Mr.Average” Dipietro to a FIFTEEN YEAR contract. It’s a guaranteed deal worth $4.5 mil a year. He’s 25 right now so that makes him 40 when the contract is finished. What other goalies have made it to 40 yrs old in the NHL? Hasek, Belfour, and Cujo. The only reason they have signed with other teams is they are proven great goalies.

Actually the NY Islanders had a great tradition with winning 4 Stanley Cups with Bossy, Trottier, Billy Smith, etc. But they are also known for there incredibly stupid trades and now signing. Not only did they over pay but they give too long of contracts. They signed A.Yashin to a 10 year 87.5 million dollar deal.

Here are some more facts why this franchise is the dumbest with terrible trades:
1999: New York Islanders traded Tommy Salo to the Edmonton Oilers for Mats Lindgren and 8th round selection (Radek Martinek) in 1999.

2000: New York Islanders traded Olli Jokien and Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.

2001: Ottawa Senators traded Alexei Yashin to the New York Islanders for Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt and 1st round selection (Jason Spezza) in 2001.

The dumbest deal 1998: The New York Islanders traded Todd Bertuzzi, Brian McCabe, and a 3rd rounder (Ruutu) to the Canucks for Trevor Linden.

I am surprised Mike Milbury had his GM job for SO long.

NFL Educated Guesses - 2006

- Shaun Alexander will break the Madden curse and not face a major injury this season.
- Seattle will make the playoffs unlike the loser of the Superbowl the past how many years.
- LJ is overrated and hasn’t proven himself but might be the real deal or get knocked out by “Lights out!” just like Priest.
- The Houston Texans will wish they selected Reggie Bush.
- P.Rivers will be better than E.Manning was in his 1st yr. Yeppie!
- Green Bay will shock the world by beating Chicago in week 1 and will not be 4-12 like every “expert” is predicting. Favre will take them to at least 7-9 or 8-8.
- McNair and J.Lewis won’t start all season or much of the season.
- C.Dillon will play most the yr getting 10+ TD’s.
- Offensive rookie of the year will go to DeAngelo Williams.
- T.Owens will behave a bit better and make Dallas a whole lot better making the playoffs.
- Peyton Manning will win MVP and lead Indy to be the Superbowl champs without James.
- Cincinnati will be the only team in the AFC playoffs to give Indy a run for their money.
- Arizona will struggle not because of Warner or Leinart or injuries but because of the terrible O line they have. - The 3 top D’s will be Chicago, Carolina and Dallas.
- Chad Johnson will pay big $ in fines for his end zone antics.
- The Giants won’t make the playoffs because their WR’s and defensive won’t be that good. And Philly might win a wild card spot. New England won’t make the playoffs as they watch the Dolphin swim by and take that division.
- The Jets will get 1st pick overall in next yr’s draft selecting Brady Quinn who will win the Heisman.
- NFC Championship game: Cowboys over Falcons
- AFC Championship game: Colts over Bengals.
- Superbowl Champs: Indy and Marvin Harrison gets MVP. Peyton gets league MVP.

As you can see most of these educated guesses are biased.