http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blogs/ Community Blog List Syndication Fri, 03 May 2013 01:09:51 +0000 charles.warner@invisionpower.com (Calgary Flames Community) IP.Blog 60 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/72/entry-108-the-loss-of-a-true-fan/ My mom was a true Calgary Flames fan. For the last 25 years, whether they were winning or losing, she never let anyone say anything bad about them and get away with it. She went to as many games as she possibly could and did what she could not to miss watching a game at home. Yesterday May 1st 2013 after an 8 year battle with ovarian cancer the Calgary Flames lost a true Fan, A fan so dedicated that she even requested to be barried in her jersey. She was truely amazing and the strongest woman I ever knew. She was a fighter down to the very last day. She is greatly missed and will never be forgotten. Thu, 02 May 2013 23:42:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/72/entry-108-the-loss-of-a-true-fan/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/9/entry-107-thank-you-jarome/ I love sports, not just hockey, and not just love them but I believe in them. For me, sports are not just a game or a competition they are an arena, an arena of life.  Sports can take you inside a game, a community or town, or even a person to show you not just a player but a person or a hero. In today’s day and age players come and go, more frequently go, that you never see people anymore. They are numbers in your programs that a few nights a week entertain you only to be out of the picture almost as soon as they enter. Once in a while, if you are lucky, a player will transcend to the point that you have a sense of personal pride knowing that they are part of your life. For me, that person was Jarome Iginla. He made me proud to wear his jersey, proud to have his poster on my wall because you always knew that whether things were bad or good you had a great person to admire. Not only was he a great hockey player and one that could bring you out of your seat, he was as good a person. He was not just a Calgary Flame or a hockey player; he was a person and not just any person but a person worth admiring. That is not something that comes along very often today, but it’s someone that can really re-establish someone’s belief in the power of sport.
I doubt very much that he will ever read this and I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to tell him this or share with him just what exactly he has meant to me or even just get to say thank you, but here I go. Thank you Jarome. Thank you not just for what you did on the ice and your passion you brought to this game and this team for so long but thank you for what you did off the ice. Most importantly, thank you for being a constant reminder of what it truly means to be an athlete and for allowing a kid like me to keep his belief in the purity of sports.  You deserve success in your future endeavours and I wish you all the best. No one deserves a cup more than you.
Sincerely,
Cross]]> Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:37:02 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/9/entry-107-thank-you-jarome/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/68/entry-106-the-pre-season-that-counts/
Anaheim, game Two, improving upon the 20 mins of solid sustained inspiring Hockey from the San Jose Game the Flames put a solid 40 min effort in against the Ducks. take away the first period which saw the Flames in quicksand and Anaheim capitalizing on every opportunity I thought the Flames were not only in that game but out playing the ducks in many aspects. Something that can only improve with the nice week long layoff coming after the Edmonton game on Saturday.

Chalk it up to Pre-Season, only one that counts on the scoreboard. If and when the Flames put together a 60 min effort with the squad expected to be iced in the near future the Flames have no where to go but up, and look around the League the Flames are not the only team off to 0-2 but Flames fans know that if this team can put together a run we have seen in recent years that the Flames are far from out and just getting Warmed up. That being said I will say one thing more keep doing what your doing Flames put it all together and of course "Go Flames Go!!"

7deuce_kid]]> Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:54:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/68/entry-106-the-pre-season-that-counts/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-105-1-edmonton-oilers/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
1. Edmonton
2. St. Louis
3. Florida
4. NY Islanders
5. Chicago
6. Montréal
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

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#1: Edmonton Oilers



Top Fws: Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle
Top Ds: Ladislav Smid, Ryan Whitney
Top G: Devan Dubnyk

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. F Jordan Eberle (22)
2. F Taylor Hall (20)
3. F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (19)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Nail Yakupov (18)
2. D Justin Schultz (22)
3. D Oscar Klefbom (19)
4. D David Musil (19)
5. D Martin Marincin (20)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: B
Bluechip Talent: A
Diversity: C
Overall: B

Organizational Strengths:

Edmonton's years of being at the bottom of the well has allowed them to build an outstanding young group of forwards. Their best players are all 23 or younger, and they've got some support around the top lines up front with Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner providing secondary scoring while Ryan Smyth and Shawn Horcoff bring veteran stability to a youthful core.

Organizational Weaknesses:

Namely on the backend, of course. Ryan Whitney is a top pairing guy when in the lineup, but he's only healthy for 2/3s of a season. The Oilers lack a go-to player on the backend as well as reliable depth down the defensive pairings. Goaltending is a question mark; Devan Dubnyk has yet to put together a consistent effort in any season and Nikolai Khabibulin is quickly falling off the cliff in terms of performance. Most of their young players have already missed significant time due to injury, which could be a sign of poor luck and an inability to handle the rigors of the NHL game.

Prospect Strengths:

When you draft as high as the Oilers have for the last three years, you're bound to have a lot of quality prospects. Nail Yakupov is the gem in a group of solid but unspectacular forwards, but their biggest strength is on the backend; the Oilers have both high-quality bluechip talent and a strong amount of depth throughout the defensive pool led by top prospects Oscar Klefbom and Justin Schultz. Names like Musil, Gernat, and Simpson are sprinkled throughout all levels of Edmonton's developmental system.

Prospect Weaknesses:

Beyond Nail Yakupov, the Oilers lack in talented forwards and potential NHL forwards in general (although this weakness is mitigated by the players already in their  NHL lineup). The best prospects they have up front, while skilled, are all small and will face uphill battles just to crack the NHL roster and some (like Toni Rajala) are longshots to ever return to North American ice. In goal, while they have a couple of decent prospects, the pool of goalies itself is rather limited.

Outlook:

When you've been the worst team in hockey for three years running, there's nowhere to go but up. The Oilers, bolstered by 1st overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, came out of the gates running and looked like they could fight for a playoff spot as late as December. Then the wheels completely fell off the bus and the Oilers limped to 29th in the NHL before lucking out in the lottery and being awarded the 1st overall pick for the record-tying 3rd straight season. Despite strong seasons from a number of players, the Oilers didn't have the horses to compete in the tight Western Conference and thus faced a long summer for the third straight season.

There are positives to every negative, however. One was the arrival of hotshot prospect Nail Yakupov. Another was the developments of the big 3 of Eberle, Hall and Nugent-Hopkins. Not to mention the improvements of young players such as Jeff Petry and Devan Dubnyk. Adding another couple of bigtime prospects to the prospect pool (including Anaheim defector Justin Schultz) was just icing on the cake for Steve Tambellini and his crew.

The Oilers will look to refocus and aim for a playoff spot next season, although it's more likely that they finish out of the postseason for the 7th straight season. What Tambo and Co. are hoping for is that this team can take that next step within the next few years and become a contender in the future.]]> Tue, 14 Aug 2012 01:43:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-105-1-edmonton-oilers/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-104-2-st-louis-blues/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
2. St. Louis
3. Florida
4. NY Islanders
5. Chicago
6. Montréal
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

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#2: St. Louis Blues



Top Fws: David Backes, T.J. Oshie, David Perron
Top Ds: Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk
Top G: Jaroslav Halak

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. D Alex Pietrangelo (22)
2. D Kevin Shattenkirk (23)
3. D Ian Cole (23)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Vladimir Tarasenko (20)
2. F Jaden Schwartz (20)
3. F Ty Rattie (19)
4. G Jake Allen (22)
5. F Philip McRae (22)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: B
Bluechip Talent: B
Diversity: B
Overall: B

Organizational Strengths:

The Blues have built a team based on much of the same philosophies as their division-rival Nashville Predators; namely, a strong group mentality and team focus as well as a willingness to grind it out. While they don't look overwhelmingly strong at any one area, there's good depth throughout the organization and their batch of young players continue to improve year-to-year.

Organizational Weaknesses:

It'd be nice if their players can stay healthy; for example, Perron and Andy McDonald are arguably the Blues' two most skilled forwards, but have combined for a total of just 150 games between the two of them over the past 2 seasons. While the team can roll four lines, that plan becomes moot when players start hitting the IR. Jaro Halak and Brian Elliott were brilliant for 95% of last season, then promptly faceplanted in the wake of the Kings' multi-faceted offensive firepower.

Prospect Strengths:

The Blues' strengths in their system lie up front and in goal. Jake Allen leads a small-but-talented group of goaltenders, while the Blues have a multitude of prospects at center and on the wing. Vlad Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz are arguably the best one-two punch in any system's forward group, and guys like Brett Sonne, Ty Rattie and Evgeny Grachev look like they could be fighting for spots in camp as early as next season.

Prospect Weaknesses:

While the defensive group is solid overall, the team lacks a major topnotch blueline prospect. The forwards are mostly 3rd and 4th line types and a few of their skilled prospects up front have hit snags in their development. The Blues will likely see top prospects Schwartz and Tarasenko graduate to the big club this season, but the team doesn't have anyone to replace them within the system.

Outlook:

The Blues got off to a rough start in 2012. Limping along in the early stages of the season, GM Doug Armstrong eventually said enough's enough and went out and got a hardass coach to prod the Blues along in Ken Hitchcock. Almost immediately, the team was transformed and they found themselves in an unfamiliar position at the end of the season; 2nd in the West and holding home-ice advantage for the first time since the Chris Pronger era in St. Louis.

St. Louis has spent the last few years patiently biding their time and acquiring young assets, and that patience has been rewarding. The Blues have one of the best young cores in the league, and a strong group of prospects to boot. Names like T.J. Oshie, Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Perron and Patrik Berglund will lead this team for the foreseeable future and they've got young prospects coming up at all positions.

The Blues will look to build on their surprise 2011-12 season by following it up with an even better one. They're likely to be among the top teams in the league for a long time.]]> Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:25:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-104-2-st-louis-blues/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-103-3-florida-panthers/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
3. Florida
4. NY Islanders
5. Chicago
6. Montréal
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

------------------

#3: Florida Panthers



Top Fws: Stephen Weiss, Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg
Top Ds: Brian Campbell, Dmitry Kulikov
Top G: Jose Theodore

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. D Dmitry Kulikov (21)
2. D Erik Gudbranson (20)
3. D Keaton Ellerby (23)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Jonathan Huberdeau (19)
2. F Nick Bjugstad (20)
3. G Jacob Markstrom (22)
4. D Alexander Petrovic (20)
5. F Quinton Howden (20)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: B
Bluechip Talent: A
Diversity: C
Overall: A

Organizational Strengths:

The Panthers have built a strong group of defensemen. Brian Campbell bounced back in a big way, Kulikov emerged as a top-3 defender, and veterans Filip Kuba and Ed Jovanovski will be around to help mentor young guys Erik Gudbranson and Keaton Ellerby, as well as provide some offense from the backend. The defense is aggressive, mobile and solid defensively in front of Theodore and Co.

Organizational Weaknesses:

The team's top line is solid, but there isn't any proven scoring depth behind them. Tomas Kopecky, Mike Santorelli and Scottie Upshall were all inconsistent last season, and will need to have bounce-back years for the Panthers. New acquisition Peter Mueller and rookie Huberdeau are potential scoring threats, but Huberdeau hasn't played an NHL game yet and Mueller is coming off two consecutive major injuries.

Prospect Strengths:

There's a lot of high-end skill in the Panther's system. Up the middle the Panthers have accumulated a lot of skilled players such as Drew Shore, Nick Bjugstad, Vince Trocheck, John McFarland and Rocco Grimaldi. While the Panthers lack a true high-caliber defensive prospect, the group is deep and skilled with Colby Robak, Alex Petrovic, Rasmus Bengtsson and newly-drafted Michael Matheson. Jacob Markstrom is one of the top goalie prospects in the world.

Prospect Weaknesses:

The team's development system is heavy on centers and defenders, but weak everywhere else. Quinton Howden and Huberdeau are two highly skilled wingers, but the team lacks any skill or depth behind them. The goalie pool is relatively shallow behind Markstrom. There's a lot of boom-or-bust prospects in the organization at every skating position. A large portion of their skilled prospects are in the NCAA and are at least a few years away.

Outlook:

Dale Tallon did a masterful job (and got a lot of luck) in hsi first season as Panthers GM. The team rode a hot start and managed to fend off charges from the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets en route to its first-ever division title. A group of what amounted to mostly misfits and scrubs managed to push the Cup finalist New Jersey Devils to a 7th game (the hardest series faced by the Devils in their postseason run) before losing in heartbreaking fashion in double overtime.

A lot of credit goes to the Panthers for their most successful season in 12 years. However, the team itself is far from perfect and still has some big holes to fill. Luckily for the Panthers, all their years of suck gave them one of the best prospect pools in the NHL and thus Dale Tallon has some great assets with which to work. There are young burgeoning superstars at all levels of their organization, and Florida hopes that the combination of these young centerpieces and a bunch of castoffs from other teams can bring about a return to prominence not seen in Florida since 1996.

The Panthers are going to be in the playoff bubble once again, and with the group of core players they have built, could be a playoff team for the foreseeable future.]]> Fri, 03 Aug 2012 23:41:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-103-3-florida-panthers/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-102-4-new-york-islanders/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
4. NY Islanders
5. Chicago
6. Montréal
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

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#4: New York Islanders



Top Fws: John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson
Top Ds: Mark Streit, Lubomir Visnovsky
Top G: Evgeni Nabokov

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. F John Tavares (21)
2. D Travis Hamonic (22)
3. F Josh Bailey (22)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Ryan Strome (19)
2. D Griffin Reinhart (18)
3. F Brock Nelson (20)
4. D Matt Donovan (22)
5. D Calvin de Haan (21)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: B
Bluechip Talent: B
Diversity: B
Overall: B

Organizational Strengths:

Simply put, John Tavares IS the Islanders organization. As long as they have the lacrosse player, the Isles can put up a few Ws. The Isles have the makings of an above average forward corps; Moulson, Okposo, Michael Grabner, Frans Nielsen, Josh Bailey, Nino Niederreiter and newly acquired Brad Boyes will be fighting for spots on the top 2 forward lines. They also have two certified high-caliber puckmovers on defense in Mark Streit and Lubomir Visnovsky.

Organizational Weaknesses:

Defensive depth and toughness on the backend are the Isles' biggest holes. Mark Streit is a decent two-way player, and Hamonic is a burgeoning young two-way blueliner, but the rest of the defense is merely passable-below average. They lack a big, clear-the-crease defensive defender who can play a regular shift; in general, the defense is soft. Nabokov/DiPietro looks like a decent tandem if this were 2007, but Nabokov is 37 and DiPietro has appeared in just 47 games in 4 seasons, including just 8 last year.

Prospect Strengths:

With all 7 of the new prospects from the recent draft defensemen, it's easy to see where their strengths lie; the Islanders boast a deep, skilled group of defensemen. Griffin Reinhart takes over as the top dog, but the group of players with NHL potential run deep after him with guys like Scott Mayfield, Calvin de Haan, Aaron Ness, Ville Pokka and Matt Donovan. The Isles also have a decent group of goaltending prospects.

Prospect Weaknesses:

The Islanders, with the graduation of Niederreiter, utterly lack depth on the wings and overall skill up front. Ryan Strome is a bluechip prospect and there's some potential up front in Brock Nelson, Kirill Kabanov, Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas, but in general the team's forwards are underwhelming at best. While the Isles have a couple of potential goalies, none of them project as starting netminders. Most of the Isles' prospects have a boom-or-bust feel to them, with a few (Koskinen, Trivino, Petrov, Joensuu) already looking like they won't be panning out as originally expected.

Outlook:

The Chicago Blackhawks are a great example of how to rebuild a professional hockey team from scorched earth. The Islanders are a great example of how NOT to rebuild a professional hockey team. The perennially shoddy team has consistently shown that they don't know how to turn high picks into a winning formula. Another below-average season (despite some great performances from Tavares, Moulson, the now-departed Parenteau, and Evgeni Nabokov) gave the Isles another lottery selection with which to work with.

That being said, the Isles have managed to build a good group of prospects (through years of draft picks and failures). There are a number of potential difference-makers in the system, and the team has already begun to see some of its best young talent break through into the NHL. The Isles already have a promising, if small, group of young NHL talent within its nucleus; if the team can push the winning buttons with regards to its prospects and acquisitions, the Isles may have what it takes to pull themselves out of the abyss.

It'll be extremely unlikely for the Islanders' current roster to make the postseason. However, with a little bit of luck, Long Island may find itself a competitive team sooner rather than later.]]> Wed, 01 Aug 2012 04:00:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-102-4-new-york-islanders/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-101-5-chicago-blackhawks/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
5. Chicago
6. Montréal
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

------------------

#5: Chicago Blackhawks



Top Fws: Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane
Top Ds: Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook
Top G: Corey Crawford

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. F Patrick Kane (23)
2. D Nick Leddy (21)
3. F Marcus Kruger (22)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Teuvo Teravainen (17)
2. F Brandon Saad (19)
3. F Jeremy Morin (21)
4. F Mark McNeill (19)
5. F Brandon Pirri (21)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: B
Bluechip Talent: B
Diversity: B
Overall: B

Organizational Strengths:

The Blackhawks are blessed with some of the best players in the NHL at the front of their team. The forward corps consist of such luminaries such as Toews, Kane, Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland. Not to be outdone, the backend also has some top talent with Keith, Seabrook, Nick Leddy, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Johnny Oduya. With a core that's as good as any, the Hawks are a highly skilled and speedy team that scores a lot of goals on the transition.

Organizational Weaknesses:

Depth throughout the pro system is thin. The offense is extremely top-heavy; after the aforementioned Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp and Viktor Stalberg, the rest of the forwards have been marginal in terms of production. On the backend, Duncan Keith has been merely ordinary since his glory year in 2010, while names like Leddy and Hjalmarsson have been on and off in their own ends (a fact only compounded by a goalie who is merely "good"). The team lacks a capable number 2 center up front.

Prospect Strengths:

The Hawks have a potent group of forward prospects. Some, like Morin and Pirri, are already top contributors at the AHL level and look to be NHL-ready, if not now then sometime soon. At the wings, names like Teravainen, Philip Danault, Jimmy and Kevin Hayes and Ben Smith all look like potential NHL players. Overall, it's a very well-balanced and deep development system that should churn out some assets for the Hawks.

Prospect Weaknesses:

While they have a good number of goalie prospects, none of them can be considered high-end (unless one comes out of nowhere and surprises). Similarly, while they have a good group of defenders (Dylan Olsen, Adam Clendening, Dillon Fournier, Stephen Johns), none of them look to be top quality prospects. In general, beyond a small group of forwards, none of the Blackhawks' prospects can be considered high-end players or bluechip talents.

Outlook:

The Hawks are coming off a second straight 1st-round ousting in the playoffs. Just two years removed from a Stanley Cup victory, the team has had to weather just about everything from management miscommunication to injuries to inconsistency over the last two years. To be fair, the Blackhawks had to gut their championship-winning support almost immediately after that win; while their star-studded core remains the same, the oh-so-important role players (guys like Ladd and Versteeg) were shipped off, leaving the team with a group of 6-7 really good players and a whole bunch of less-effective-than-thou players.

The Blackhawks have found a silver lining in those trades though, as it allowed them to rebuild their prospect pool. The Hawks, a prime example of a team that built itself through strong drafts and young players, have seemingly found a new group of young guns. While it's unlikely there's another Kane or Toews among the group, the prospects should eventually be able to provide the secondary contributions that the Hawks have lacked. Combine that with the aforementioned Kane and Toews, as well as names like Hossa, Keith, and Seabrook, and the Hawks have all the pieces required to remain contenders for a long time.

Unless their team defense implodes on itself (unlikely in its own right considering Seabrook, Keith, Toews and Hossa remain on the team) the Blackhawks can be counted as a postseason team again next season and for what they hope will be a long time.]]> Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:01:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-101-5-chicago-blackhawks/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-100-6-montreal-canadiens/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
6. Montréal
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

------------------

#6: Montréal Canadiens



Top Fws: Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta
Top Ds: Andrei Markov*, P.K. Subban
Top G: Carey Price

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. F Max Pacioretty (23)
2. D P.K. Subban (23)
3. F Lars Eller (23)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Alex Galchenyuk (18)
2. D Nathan Beaulieu (19)
3. D Jarred Tinordi (20)
4. F Danny Kristo (22)
5. F Sebastian Collberg (18)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: B
Bluechip Talent: B
Diversity: B
Overall: B

Organizational Strengths:

The Canadiens have, on paper, a deep and talented group of defensemen. While none of them can be considered "true" top-pairing defenders (except for oft-injured Andrei Markov) the depth goes 8-deep and they have a good mix of both offensive and defensive punch. The team's scoring wingers have good size (except for Gionta) and the team looks like it has two solid scoring lines. Carey Price will be the number 1 in net for a long time, and the team's core players are all 25 and under.

Organizational Weaknesses:

Size up the middle is lacking; the team's top 2 centers (Plekanec and David Desharnais) are both under 6 feet tall. The team is weak in terms of depth players up front, although this isn't as big an issue with the signings of Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong. The team has struggled with injuries and inconsistency from their top players over the last few years; a healthy Markov and bounceback years from guys like Tomas Kaberle would go a long way in making this team a playoff contender.

Prospect Strengths:

The Habs have quietly built an impressive group of young players. They have some depth at every skating position, and their best prospects have varied skillsets. Beaulieu headlines a solid defensive group that includes massive bruiser Tinordi and hard-hitting sparkplug Dalton Thrower. Up front, Alex Galchenyuk is the new big man on campus, and he may get to line up with a deep and talented group of wingers in Kristo, Colberg, Brendan Gallagher, Aaron Palushaj, Tim Bozon, and Charles Hudon.

Prospect Weaknesses:

The team's goaltending pipeline is utterly barren, although with Carey Price being only 24, that need is negated somewhat. While they have good depth throughout the forward ranks, the only top notch talent up front is Galchenyuk; the rest of the players all project to being second and third line players at best. Up the middle, beyond the aforementioned Galchenyuk, the team is weak in terms of potential scoring centers.

Outlook:

Coming off a successful 2010-11 season, the Canadiens entered the regular season looking to improve upon their 6th place standing in the East. What they got instead was an absolute disaster of a season. The Habs wound up 15th in the East, well short of a playoff berth, and would end up receiving their highest first round pick in years. A team that has perennially faced inner pressure from the Francophone community saw some bad luck with injuries and inconsistency and really never was able to get back on its horse.

The Habs have thus refurnished their front office and bench, bringing in a new coach and a new GM, and the two will have some pieces to work with. The team has been able to find some elite talents despite regularly drafting in mediocre positions, and finds itself with a burgeoning group of young players at the NHL level such as Louis Leblanc. The system itself is well-stocked with young potential as well; Montreal has done very well for itself through the draft, leaving the team with soem hope that they can turn around an ailing franchise quickly, if not immediately.

While it's unlikely that the Habs will implode on itself the way last year's team did, it'll take an uphill battle for the team to climb into postseason contention. They'll be looking to improve their team over the next few years, however, as they gradually phase in their young talent.]]> Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:29:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-100-6-montreal-canadiens/ http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-99-7-new-york-rangers/
Feel free to leave comments; I'm always willing to take feedback and I readily accept that I'm not the next Charles Dickens, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Current Rankings List:
7. NY Rangers
8. Anaheim
9. Pittsburgh
10. Buffalo
11. Ottawa
12. Minnesota
13. Colorado
14. Phoenix
15. Detroit
16. Toronto
17. Boston
18. Washington
19. Winnipeg
20. Tampa Bay
21. Carolina
22. Los Angeles
23. Philadelphia
24. Nashville
25. New Jersey
26. Dallas
27. Calgary
28. Vancouver
29. Columbus
30. San Jose

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#7: New York Rangers



Top Fws: Marian Gaborik*, Brad Richards, Rick Nash
Top Ds: Marc Staal, Ryan McDonagh
Top G: Henrik Lundqvist

Top 3 Under-23s:
1. D Ryan McDonagh (23)
2. D Michael Del Zotto (22)
3. F Derek Stepan (22)

Top 5 Prospects
1. F Chris Kreider (21)
2. F J.T. Miller (19)
3. D Dylan McIlrath (20)
4. F Michael St. Croix (19)
5. D Brady Skjei (18)

Prospect Pool Rating:
Depth: C
Bluechip Talent: C
Diversity: B
Overall: C

Organizational Strengths:

The biggest organizational strength lies in net, plain and simple. Henrik Lundqvist is going to win them 35+ games a year guaranteed (more than a few of them by himself). With the recent acquisition of Rick Nash, the team has created a potentially lethal Big 3 up front in power forward Nash, skilled sniper Gaborik and reliable playmaker Brad Richards (imagine that line put together?). The team has a strong top 6 forward unit, as well as a young and stable top 4 on defense.

Organizational Weaknesses:

The depth at both forward and defense drops off after the top 3 lines and top 2 defense pairings. The defense in particular is filled with young, relatively inexperienced players (with the oldest man being Dan Girardi at 28) and while names like McDonagh and Staal can hold their own defensively, guys like Michael Sauer, Anton Stralman and Michael Del Zotto are still works in progress in the defensive zone.

Prospect Strengths:

The Rangers have a varied group of prospects. Though lacking in true bluechippers, the team has some interesting pieces in place at every position excluding goal. Dylan McIlrath is a big crease clearing defender, Christian Thomas, Ryan Bourque and Mats Zuccarello-Aasen are three small-but-skilled forwards, Brady Skjei is a smooth-skating two-way blueliner, and Andrew Yogan is a big powerful forward with goalscoring abilities.

Prospect Weaknesses:

The team utterly lacks any goaltending skill and depth. With the recent trade of Tim Erixon, the team's defensive depth and skill has taken a big hit. Most of the team's best prospects are already making waves at the NHL level (Stepan, Hagelin, Del Zotto etc.), leaving the prospect pool relatively short on high-end talent. Most of the remaining prospects have question marks all over them, whether it be related to size, speed or overall upside.

Outlook:

The New York Rangers, who made a big splash last summer in signing FA Brad Richards to a big money deal, came into the season looking to secure a playoff berth. They got what they wanted and more: after a stellar season by Henrik Lundqvist, a bounceback year from Marian Gaborik and Michael Del Zotto, and steps forward by young players such as Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan, the team wound up in 1st place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the constellation of star studded rosters such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and went all the way to the Conference finals before bowing out of the postseason.

All in all, it was a highly successful, if a little surprising, season for the Rangers considering the makeup of their roster. With a group of extremely young talent, the Rangers were able to beat out every other team in the East in the regular season, no small feat given that their number 1 defenseman for the season was Ryan McDonagh out of necessity. The Rangers have assembled a highly potent group of young core players through some good drafting and have a few more coming up this year as well. The team, for so long considered a wasteland in terms of young players, has managed to combine homegrown talent and big money free agents into a team that should be major players in the NHL for a long time.

Barring a significant case of bad luck, the Rangers should be a competitive team both now and in the future.]]> Tue, 24 Jul 2012 03:28:00 +0000 http://fans.flames.nhl.com/community/blog/44/entry-99-7-new-york-rangers/