Something you'll learn this year with the wings in the east: never underestimate detroit.
- selanne4pres

this. they are legit for sure

How have the habs not improved? Also I find your idea thst the habs were man handled by the sens laughable. Did you not watch anderson stop 40++ shots agame for every game that series? We too had around 5 guys playing hurt and 2 important guys out. Call it soft or call it unlucky, but the habs system suits the way the team is built very nicely. The team does need a few tweaks, but stats don't lie, habs were a top 5 team and led the leafs in power ranking all season and even come playoffs. Also I will agree the habs are not built like the leafs but to say braun will beat finness come playoff time is silly. Again time will tell.
- munky123

how have the habs improved? adding briere, another small forward is like the leafs adding parros to play alongside orr and mclaren. They were manhandled physically by ottawa, and shots aside 2 games were blowouts. Can't mention habs injuries because none of them compared to the best centre in the series in spezza being out, and the best defenseman in ths series in karlsson playing not at 100%. And braun mixed with finess beats strictly finess unless you are the Red Wings 1997-2002, which no one is. After your run a few years ago when you beat Pit and Wsh, Philly simply pounded you. Signing prust was a start and parros will help but still WAY too soft.

The chart has to be a total joke! Vancouver & Buffalo entered league at same time and neither have a cup nor are they even close yet Vancouver is 12-1 Have to agree....even Toronto is or should be far ahead of Couver

how have the habs improved? adding briere, another small forward is like the leafs adding parros to play alongside orr and mclaren. They were manhandled physically by ottawa, and shots aside 2 games were blowouts. Can't mention habs injuries because none of them compared to the best centre in the series in spezza being out, and the best defenseman in ths series in karlsson playing not at 100%. And braun mixed with finess beats strictly finess unless you are the Red Wings 1997-2002, which no one is. After your run a few years ago when you beat Pit and Wsh, Philly simply pounded you. Signing prust was a start and parros will help but still WAY too soft.
- clark_griswold

I agree Habs need to get a little bigger and a little stronger...but everyone saying the leafs are much improved haven't looked at the possession statistics.

Leafs were one of the weakest possession teams in the league with a completely unsustainable shooting percentage. On top of that two of your better possession players in Grabo and Macarthur were let go.

The habs havent improved leaps and bounds but the leafs haven't either...both will be in a dogfight to make the playoffs with the new structure but unless Toronto can improve those possession numbers I think betweenToronto Ottawa and Montreal its going to be Toronto on the outside looking in.

And I say this with no malice to any team...i think Boston Detroit Montreal and Ottawa will come out of the east with Ottawa or Montreal grabbing a wildcard.

I agree Habs need to get a little bigger and a little stronger...but everyone saying the leafs are much improved haven't looked at the possession statistics.

Leafs were one of the weakest possession teams in the league with a completely unsustainable shooting percentage. On top of that two of your better possession players in Grabo and Macarthur were let go.

The habs havent improved leaps and bounds but the leafs haven't either...both will be in a dogfight to make the playoffs with the new structure but unless Toronto can improve those possession numbers I think betweenToronto Ottawa and Montreal its going to be Toronto on the outside looking in.

And I say this with no malice to any team...i think Boston Detroit Montreal and Ottawa will come out of the east with Ottawa or Montreal grabbing a wildcard.
- Joel_Eh

That said Leafs could grab a wildcard but they will have to improve their possession cuz i dont think they'll repeat the puck luck with their shots this year.

The chart has to be a total joke! Vancouver & Buffalo entered league at same time and neither have a cup nor are they even close yet Vancouver is 12-1 Have to agree....even Toronto is or should be far ahead of Couver
- Skeezix459

What does the fact that two teams entered the league the same year have to do with anything? Canucks are a much better team than Buffalo and Toronto.

how have the habs improved? adding briere, another small forward is like the leafs adding parros to play alongside orr and mclaren. They were manhandled physically by ottawa, and shots aside 2 games were blowouts. Can't mention habs injuries because none of them compared to the best centre in the series in spezza being out, and the best defenseman in ths series in karlsson playing not at 100%. And braun mixed with finess beats strictly finess unless you are the Red Wings 1997-2002, which no one is. After your run a few years ago when you beat Pit and Wsh, Philly simply pounded you. Signing prust was a start and parros will help but still WAY too soft.
- clark_griswold

dude, some of the things you post hurt my brain. it's obvious you just despise the Habs. you say the Habs are wimpe, yet Parros doesn't improve the Habs, but you talk about how tough Orr and McLaren make the Leafs and how effective they are. so... goons are only effective in Toronto? you talk about Bolland being so clutch in the playoffs despite scoring just 3 goals in 18 games, yet Briere, despite his playoff track record, doesn't improve the Habs. again... the Spezza thing is just idiodic and i don't for one second believe that you actually think that.

I agree Habs need to get a little bigger and a little stronger...but everyone saying the leafs are much improved haven't looked at the possession statistics.

Leafs were one of the weakest possession teams in the league with a completely unsustainable shooting percentage. On top of that two of your better possession players in Grabo and Macarthur were let go.

The habs havent improved leaps and bounds but the leafs haven't either...both will be in a dogfight to make the playoffs with the new structure but unless Toronto can improve those possession numbers I think betweenToronto Ottawa and Montreal its going to be Toronto on the outside looking in.

And I say this with no malice to any team...i think Boston Detroit Montreal and Ottawa will come out of the east with Ottawa or Montreal grabbing a wildcard.
- Joel_Eh

Clarkson is a great possession player btw. Bolland is a clutch, winning, shut down 3rd line centre. Grabo is NOT suited for 3rd line shutdown, hence him finishing minus 10 in the boston series. Good player? yes. But not as a 3rd line role player. The leafs have improved because clarke mac was a healthy scratch for us so basically, we got bolland, clarkson and bernier for scrivens, frattin and grabo. That is improvement any way you look at it. Losing like we did to Boston also will be a positive long term to a young team like Toronto. I just think montreal's additions were moot. Parros will actually be more effective than briere (even though briere puts up great playoff numbers). You already have about 5 brieres on your team.

dude, some of the things you post hurt my brain. it's obvious you just despise the Habs. you say the Habs are wimpe, yet Parros doesn't improve the Habs, but you talk about how tough Orr and McLaren make the Leafs and how effective they are. so... goons are only effective in Toronto? you talk about Bolland being so clutch in the playoffs despite scoring just 3 goals in 18 games, yet Briere, despite his playoff track record, doesn't improve the Habs. again... the Spezza thing is just idiodic and i don't for one second believe that you actually think that.
- DoubleDown

actually i said parros will help. Bolland is clutch more from a defensive point of view, where we seriously lacked before. Briere is great in the playoffs but ancient and you already have a bunch of tiny forwards. What about the spezza thing? You're telling me ottawa didn't miss him in the playoffs? Or that he wasn't the best centre in that series between you and ottawa? He clearly is

As a resident of Vegas and being employed by a sports book I'd love to know from Mr. Eklund why his friends think hockey is a sucker bet in Vegas? BTW: we only set the lines, once set the customer determines which way the odds will sway. The more money on a team the lower the odds. Wagering on hockey is done the exact same way as baseball: Money line, total and point spread, so tell me why your friends think it's a sucker bet?

yeah i can lecture the habs on the playoffs. Oh i forgot, they won in 93 so i guess i should shut up.

we're talking about next year, and the habs got smoked by ottawa without spezza, and with anderson and karlsson on the limp.
- clark_griswold

Do tell us about the knowledge you gained watching the Leafs in the playoffs in the 7 years prior to this season?

Clarkson is a great possession player btw. Bolland is a clutch, winning, shut down 3rd line centre. Grabo is NOT suited for 3rd line shutdown, hence him finishing minus 10 in the boston series. Good player? yes. But not as a 3rd line role player. The leafs have improved because clarke mac was a healthy scratch for us so basically, we got bolland, clarkson and bernier for scrivens, frattin and grabo. That is improvement any way you look at it. Losing like we did to Boston also will be a positive long term to a young team like Toronto. I just think montreal's additions were moot. Parros will actually be more effective than briere (even though briere puts up great playoff numbers). You already have about 5 brieres on your team.
- clark_griswold

Clarkson is a good addition...not at the price but regardless a decent player. I dont think he's going to be the saviour that ppl expect considering he's broken 40 points once in his career but yes he's a solid possession player.

But Macarthur played 40 games last season so i'm not sure why you're discounting him and Grabo being on the third line still provided you with a player that could drive possession.

In reality I dont think either the habs nor the leafs improved very much year over year.

Clarkson is a good addition...not at the price but regardless a decent player. I dont think he's going to be the saviour that ppl expect considering he's broken 40 points once in his career but yes he's a solid possession player.

But Macarthur played 40 games last season so i'm not sure why you're discounting him and Grabo being on the third line still provided you with a player that could drive possession.

In reality I dont think either the habs nor the leafs improved very much year over year.
- Joel_Eh

i liked clarke mac but come playoff time he was in and out of the lineup. We need a bolland on that 3rd line much more than a grabo. Putting bolland mcclemant and kule against krejci's line would have been much better than mac/frattin kule and grabo. Clarkson doesn't need to score 30 goals he just needs to hit everything in sight, chip in offensively and play with alot of balls. He's overpaid, but every UFA is.

Do tell us about the knowledge you gained watching the Leafs in the playoffs in the 7 years prior to this season?
- mlindsay

montreal accomlished so much in those 7 years. you're right. And it was 9 years actually.

What does the fact that two teams entered the league the same year have to do with anything? Canucks are a much better team than Buffalo and Toronto.
- hankthetank

Yannick Weber

What does the fact that two teams entered the league the same year have to do with anything? Canucks WERE a much better team than Toronto.
- hankthetank

fixed.

montreal accomlished so much in those 7 years. you're right. And it was 9 years actually.
- clark_griswold

Yup... as fans we got to watch our team battle deep a few times and go 7 a few times in the playoffs too!
From a team standpoint they got to make some extra revenue in the playoffs.
Probably what they got most from their long run a few years back was the play of Halak overvalueing him right before trading him.
What did missing the playoffs do for the Leafs?

As a resident of Vegas and being employed by a sports book I'd love to know from Mr. Eklund why his friends think hockey is a sucker bet in Vegas? BTW: we only set the lines, once set the customer determines which way the odds will sway. The more money on a team the lower the odds. Wagering on hockey is done the exact same way as baseball: Money line, total and point spread, so tell me why your friends think it's a sucker bet?
- biloxijay

Why the he'll would the Canucks be 12-1. I should come work for u guys. So if no one bet on pittsburg would the odds sky rocket or just move up to say 7-1

As a resident of Vegas and being employed by a sports book I'd love to know from Mr. Eklund why his friends think hockey is a sucker bet in Vegas? BTW: we only set the lines, once set the customer determines which way the odds will sway. The more money on a team the lower the odds. Wagering on hockey is done the exact same way as baseball: Money line, total and point spread, so tell me why your friends think it's a sucker bet?
- biloxijay

He means you're a sucker if you bet on those teams.

Different definition.

Yup... as fans we got to watch our team battle deep a few times and go 7 a few times in the playoffs too!
From a team standpoint they got to make some extra revenue in the playoffs.
Probably what they got most from their long run a few years back was the play of Halak overvalueing him right before trading him.
What did missing the playoffs do for the Leafs?
- mlindsay

sooo i can go and say that in my life time i've seen the leafs in the conference finals 4 times, and on a few deep playoff runs? Hey we also made some good trades, MLSE makes alot of money,etc... Now that i think of it, next time someone says 1967, i'll just say this.

cool.

As a resident of Vegas and being employed by a sports book I'd love to know from Mr. Eklund why his friends think hockey is a sucker bet in Vegas? BTW: we only set the lines, once set the customer determines which way the odds will sway. The more money on a team the lower the odds. Wagering on hockey is done the exact same way as baseball: Money line, total and point spread, so tell me why your friends think it's a sucker bet?
- biloxijay

If u want gamblers placing lots of bets you should be putting teams like Canucks at least 25-1 to start the year, which might get the betting pubic tossing dollars down early and often, if u wait for the whole season before their value climbs u inturn have less people spending money.

sooo i can go and say that in my life time i've seen the leafs in the conference finals 4 times, and on a few deep playoff runs? Hey we also made some good trades, MLSE makes alot of money,etc... Now that i think of it, next time someone says 1967, i'll just say this.

cool.
- clark_griswold

Sure... I guess I'll go with seeing them in the finals four times (winning three times) in my lifetime.
I won't get into deep playoff runs though... that would just be cruel.

I agree Habs need to get a little bigger and a little stronger...but everyone saying the leafs are much improved haven't looked at the possession statistics.

Leafs were one of the weakest possession teams in the league with a completely unsustainable shooting percentage. On top of that two of your better possession players in Grabo and Macarthur were let go.

The habs havent improved leaps and bounds but the leafs haven't either...both will be in a dogfight to make the playoffs with the new structure but unless Toronto can improve those possession numbers I think betweenToronto Ottawa and Montreal its going to be Toronto on the outside looking in.

And I say this with no malice to any team...i think Boston Detroit Montreal and Ottawa will come out of the east with Ottawa or Montreal grabbing a wildcard.
- Joel_Eh[/quot

I think thats why leafs fans dont trust these posession stat things.macca was god awful last year and grabbo had a rough year for him. There is absolutely no way you can tell leafs fans that macca was if any use last year, and I agree

If u want gamblers placing lots of bets you should be putting teams like Canucks at least 25-1 to start the year, which might get the betting pubic tossing dollars down early and often, if u wait for the whole season before their value climbs u inturn have less people spending money.
- Snagglepuss

ok if they did that as a general rule, they'd get (frank)ed by all those people who put down money on the team that does win... because you can't just deflate the Canucks' odds. you'd have to do it across the board.

Sure... I guess I'll go with seeing them in the finals four times (winning three times) in my lifetime.
I won't get into deep playoff runs though... that would just be cruel.
- mlindsay

you should chirp hawks fans too...seems like you've moved on from current - next years playoffs to "look what my team has done in my lifetime".

But yeah, you're right for sure, habs are the best. ole ole ole .