Oh Canada Poll Question

Here we are 9-13 games into the season. We have got a good look at our favourite teams. Being in Canada I figured the pole question would be "Which Canadian Team Will Win Lord Stanley?"

I know Buffalo looks the best and Philadelphia looks the worst. Actually their goals for is the complete opposite (53-28, 28-53). But we are Canadian so give me your take on what the good ol' Canadian teams will do.

Here's my take on all the Canadian NHL teams in alphabetical order:

Calgary Flames:
Current Record - 9 games played = 3 W 5 L 1 otl 7 Pts
Analysis > Let's be honest their best player has to be Kiprusoff. But Calgary hasn't looked good yet but it's early. What's with Calgary any way? Amonte goes there and sucks. Tanguay goes there and can't score either. Is Ignila that hard to play with? Is Sutter than defensive he sucks the offensive life out of the Flames? It looks like they have 1 good line and the rest are grinders who score everyone once in a while (exception maybe Kobasew). They only have 23 goals for and are at the bottom of the league just in front of Philly, Columbo, and Boston. Defensively with Phaneuf and Regehr they should be solid. That into consideration Calgary has only played 9 games where everyone else has played over 10.

Edmonton Oilers:
Current Record - 11 games played 7 W 4 L 0 otl 14 Pts
Analysis > We all know that if Roloson played the whole final Edmonton would have won or if Conklin didn't give the puck up either...but that was last year.
These guys have impressed me this yr. They have scoring on every line. Stoll, Hemsky, Smyth, Sykora, Lupul, Horcoff, etc. Maybe their weakness is their defense but they have played well so far only allowing 28 goals. Roloson has played great with a GAA of 2.41.

Montreal Canadiens:
Current Record - 10 games played 5 W 2 L 3 otl 13 Pts
Analysis > Montreal is an interesting team. Some games they look good and others not so good. You look at their lineup and ask, "Where are they going to get their offense from?" We see the defensemen S.Souray is leading the team in scoring. In net who is the #1 Huet or Aebischer? Looks like a committee in goal. The goalies hate that. Kovalev leads the team in PIM.

Ottawa Senators:
Current Record - 10 games played 5 W 5 L 1 otl 10 Pts
Analysis > The Sens are not the team they used to be. They could have the best line in hockey in Spezza, Alfredsson and Heatley. But after that who do they got? Corvo was a great pick up for some offense on D. I know hind sight is 20/20 but they shouldn't have gone and got Gerber but let Emery be the guy. Then they could have used that $ to buy another offensive FA. Emery needs the opportunity to become a great goalie. Great move letting Chara go...$7.5 a yr...no wonder Boston sucks. Most there $ is going to a defensive defenseman who has scored a career high 30 pts.

Toronto Maple Leafs:
Current Record - 12 games played 5 W 4 L 3 otl 13 Pts
Analysis > Leaf fans seem to be coming back to reality. They don't seem to think they are going to win every season any more. No kiddin' because the last time was in 1967. Before we were all born!
They took a huge gamble this off season getting Raycroft. He hasn’t looked bad actually. This former rookie of the year will get a legit shot at proving himself. I really like Wellwood with Sundin & Tucker. The Leafs are tied for 3rd in goals for (40) but they are 2nd to last in the goals against in front of Phoenix (53). Defense wins championships but in the new NHL it might be who can score more goals.

Vancouver Canucks:
Current Record - 12 games played 7 W 4 L 1 otl 15 Pts
Analysis > I can't believe Vancouver is playing this well. Luongo has made a ton of massive saves but he still lets in the easy ones every once in a while. The Canucks as a team are playing hard. That's why we are winning games we shouldn't be...HARD WORK. Bertuzzi we are not missing you at all. 4 pts in the 1st game, 2 pts since and missed 3 games with an injury. And oh by the way, he still hasn't signed with the Panthers yet. If he bolts from Florida Nonis is a genius. The twins are incredible and Naslund looks like he’s ready for another good season. You know all the guys who have been crying we don’t have A.Carter…he’s got one goalie this season in Columbus. Pyatt has turned into a great acquisition (6 goals). The Canucks just have to stay out of the sin bin.

Leave a comment if you are Canadian and man enough!

How much does the crowd make a difference?

This post all stems from a conversation I had with my friend Phil Hamar this week. We were talking hockey and we were being serious about who's good and who's not. Then Phil says something to the affect of this, "You know why the Canucks were terrible last yr and why Bertuzzi didn't play well?...It's because the fans of Vancouver weren't behind them." After the awkward pause I realized he's serious and busted a gut laughing. "Are you serious I asked?" I asked...he was serious.

Now I understand that home ice/field/court advantage is valuable but how valuable is it?

Pacers guard Reggie Miller loved to play on the road. He felt he played better. No one knows that better than the Knicks.
Pittsburgh beat the Colts on the road in the dome to go to the Superbowl.
Sure the Carolina Hurriances won game 7 at home but if Roloson was healthy they would have won game 7 actually Edmonton would have won the series quicker than that.
Great players got to be great no matter if they are at home or away?

Going to the Seattle Seahawks game on Sept 24th showed what it's like when 68,000 fans go crazy. I saw first hand what the noise can do to disrupt a team as the Giants Eli Manning was having a hard time calling plays. That's why Seahawk fans are called the 12th man. Seattle went up 42-3 by the end of the 3rd q. But in the fourth qtr it was still loud and Eli threw 4 TD passes and the crowd was still tough.

What do you think?