thejazz97

I meant in skill, but good point.

As of April 12. 1. New York Rangers PR Pts: 76.3 | Avg Rank: 6th The Rangers got their game back as a Christmas gift and have been performing amazingly ever since. 2. Tampa Bay Lightning PR Pts: 58.8 | Avg Rank: 1st The Lightning have been the best team all year, and they look to thunder into the playoffs against the Red Wings. 3. St. Louis Blues PR Pts: 51.6 | Avg Rank: 4th No one's singing the Blues in St. Louis. In fact, they'll be watching them later this week. 4. Washington Capitals PR Pts: 47.4 | Avg Rank: 12th Ovechkin and Holtby cap off a great year for Washington. 5. Minnesota Wild PR Pts: 43.2 | Avg Rank: 10th The State of Hockey is in a state of frenzy after Minnesota clinched a spot in the first round. 6. Calgary Flames PR Pts: 39.6 | Avg Rank: 13th Lost to the Jets in the season finale, but still had a hot end to a great season. 7. Montreal Canadiens PR Pts: 37.5 | Avg Rank: 11th Les Habitants finished off an amazing season with a tight shootout win over arch-nemesis Toronto. 8. Vancouver Canucks PR Pts: 37.2 | Avg Rank: 14th In a whale of a finish against the Oilers, the comeback kids showed they still have it a couple years down the road. 9. Ottawa Senators PR Pts: 36.0 | Avg Rank: 17th They're having a Hull of a time down the stretch. (Oh wait, it's Gatineau now?) 10. Winnipeg Jets PR Pts: 33.6 | Avg Rank: 18th Landed in the playoffs with a Los Angeles loss. Should have fun against the Ducks. 11. Anaheim Ducks PR Pts: 31.8 | Avg Rank: 7th The Ducks waddled into the playoffs without much competition. Unfortunately for them, they'll be in a physical series against the Jets that might make them quack. 12. Chicago Blackhawks PR Pts: 31.6 | Avg: 3rd Lost some steam in the last ten, but still going strong against a weak Predators team. 13. Dallas Stars PR Pts: 26.6 | Avg: 21st The Stars' captain has won the Art Ross with a dominant finish. Now he can say, "Benn there, done that." 14. Los Angeles Kings PR Pts: 26.5 | Avg: 15th The reigning Cup champions have been dethroned. And apparently it's now total anarchy in the Kings' dressing room, too. 15. Nashville Predators PR Pts: 26.0 | Avg: 2nd The hunters are slowly becoming the hunted. 16. New York Islanders PR Pts: 21.2 | Avg: 17th The Islanders almost missed the playoffs, but managed to hang on and clinch a spot. No one Nassau that coming. 17. Detroit Red Wings PR Pts: 21.2 | Avg: 8th The Red Wings are hoping their game takes off in a potentially brutal series against the Lightning. 18. Boston Bruins PR Pts: 19.5 | Avg: 19th The Bruins are looking to paws for a moment and evaluate what went wrong. 19. Columbus Blue Jackets PR Pts: 17.1 | Avg: 25th Columbus sure came on strong down the stretch, it's just too bad that they lost so much before. 20. San Jose Sharks PR Pts: 16.0 | Avg: 16th There's always more fish in the sea for a Sharks franchise that's struggled all season for a playoff spot. 21. Pittsburgh Penguins PR Pts: 15.0 | Avg: 5th The Penguins managed to escape being seal'd out of the playoffs. 22. Colorado Avalanche PR Pts: 12.6 | Avg: 26th This season was a landslide of bad memories, buried under an avalanche of injuries and losses. 23. Florida Panthers PR Pts: 6.5 | Avg: 23rd What about Bob? If he hadn't been injured, this season might have been a different story. Now that he's back, they've won 9 of their last 10. 24. Philadelphia Flyers PR Pts: 4.4 | Avg: 22nd Philadelphia needs some brotherly love right now. And probably a hug. 25. Carolina Hurricanes PR Pts: N/A | Avg: 28th Wasn't a totally stormy finish for Carolina, as they won 4 out of their last 10. 26. Edmonton Oilers PR Pts: N/A | Avg: 29th Tried to be slick in their last game versus the Canucks, but couldn't clean it up. 27. Toronto Maple Leafs PR Pts: N/A | Avg: 20th The Leafs and their staff are just a pile of wood and sticks right now: you know someone's going to get fired. 28. Arizona Coyotes PR Pts: N/A | Avg: 27th The Coyotes will gladly desert this season. 29. Buffalo Sabres PR Pts: N/A | Avg: 30th Less Sword in the Stone and more Dunder Mifflin Sabre. 30. New Jersey Devils PR Pts: N/A | Avg: 24th Even the Sabres won more than one of their last 10 games of the season.

I think Sven has a chance to be a Corey Perry-type player.

This year's playoffs, according to one writer from theScore, are going to be a gong show. And he's not wrong. With teams in the playoffs this year that weren't last year, such as Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Nashville, Washington, Ottawa, and the New York Islanders, it really is quite open as to who could take the Stanley Cup this year. Now, while there might be a little bit of bias, There's a lot of bias toward my pick, as I think this could be Vancouver's year to win it all. Yes, I am a Canucks fan. But yes, the Canucks can definitely win the Cup this year, and here's three reasons why: 1. Our Coach This last summer, John Tortorella, forever known (to me, at least) as "Hallway Invader John", was let go. Canucks fans everywhere were pleased, as last season was one wasted. His replacement? A man named Willie Desjardins from Climax, SK. This moustachioed coach wasn't any old coach, however. He'd just finished a Calder Cup run with the Texas Stars. And his winning record doesn't stop there. In fact, he's won in every league he's coached in. Now he's with Vancouver in a wide-open horse race for hockey's ultimate prize. Willie's record of winning should only spill over into the NHL, where he's done an excellent job not only with veterans like the Sedins, but young guns such as Bo Horvat and Zack Kassian as well. If he can carry this on into the playoffs, there's no doubt about the fact we'll go far. 2. Our Depth Our depth this year has been fantastic. Not only have we been able to supplement our oft-injured roster with the likes of Ronalds Kenins, Frank Corrado (above), Alex Biega, Brandon de Fazio, Sven Baertschi, Jacob Markstrom, and Adam Clendening, but the Utica Comets themselves have enough depth to carry on without them. At goalie, we have two NHL starters in the NHL and two NHL backups in the AHL. With Ryan Miller out with a knee strain, Eddie Lack stepped up to the challenge and gave us plenty of wins, building up a better stat line almost than Miller. Markstrom came up to be Eddie's backup, and while he wasn't exactly stellar, he did manage a win and has been lights-out as a Second Team All-Star in Utica. While Markstrom was up with the big team, Joacim Eriksson kept the Comets afloat near the top of the AHL standings. At defense, there were tons of injuries this year. Tons. Playing at least nine defensemen this year, all have stepped up and have been able to contribute with goals and hits to help the Canucks back to offense. While some started terribly (I'm looking at you, Luca), the defensive unit as a whole has improved to help keep Vancouver in games. With young guns Ben Hutton and Ashton Sautner signing PTOs with the Comets, this should provide the Canucks with sufficient depth in the playoffs, should they need it. At forward, we haven't needed much depth, but when we have, guys like Kenins were able to step up and contribute hits and goals. A lot of his production has tapered off, but he still delivers big hits when needed. With Baertschi called up, and Shinkaruk and Conacher still in Utica scoring goals, our depth at forward is nothing to turn your nose up at. Once we get guys like Brad Richardson and Kassian back, our depth will help us get through a rough playoffs. 3. Radim Vrbata Likely the most underrated signing of the summer, Radim "The Dream" Vrbata (31-30-61,+4) has been a revelation for the Canucks. Playing with the Sedins for the first half of the season, Vrbata became a first-time all-star. Now playing on the second line, he has continued to provide offense for Vancouver. The star right winger has not only performed on the power play with 12 goals, but even draws up plays for man-advantage situations as well. Reigniting the Sedins' magic and a friendship with junior teammate Alex Burrows, Vrbata has become well-loved by Canucks fans. If he can continue his scoring touch, he might just end up as the Conn Smythe winner if the Canucks win it all. So what about you? Do you think there are any more reasons the Canucks could win the Cup? And as always, Go Canucks Go!

22-33-14 27-13-17 41-53-36 20-7-51 And your defensive lineups are good. I think Kassian goes on the first line to act as a Marty McSorely Richardson works the Bottom 6 C, and Vey and Kenins come out. It's a tough problem when you have this many players that are actually good.

Thanks for clarifying...

Then what is the point of them? I thought that was the whole deal.

Benning might keep Weber if Weber agrees to a 2-way

He'll be next year's Horvat. You know that one (at least) of Matthias and Richardson is going.

Next year.

Yeah, he needs to prove himself, but he can't do that on the third or fourth line, really. In Calgary, the only time he scored goals was at 14+ minutes a game.

Erm, no. Just checked the AHL site, and they say he's a LW

Switch Bonino and Horvat Switch Higgins and Baertschi. All's good!