2015-16 Central Division Thoughts / Discussion

[Cashville]

Dallas is ridiculous right now but this is a defensive league. Eventually they will cool down and come back to earth. Whether it be now, mid season, playoffs or whenever. They will come back down to earth with their defense.

I don't think they fall that far though; they are really solid right now. Klingberg has been a huge difference maker for them on the backend and is developing quickly into a real #1 blueline option. Puck Daddy had a good article on him and the Stars recently.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...yYjJiBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

We'll see; really think DAL will be in the #2-4 range in the division come season end.

 

[Scoresberg]

I don't think they fall that far though; they are really solid right now. Klingberg has been a huge difference maker for them on the backend and is developing quickly into a real #1 blueline option. Puck Daddy had a good article on him and the Stars recently.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...yYjJiBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

We'll see; really think DAL will be in the #2-4 range in the division come season end.

Agreed, the Stars are in it to win it this year. They have 2 decent goalies, who are going to do just fine, and their defense isn't so horrid as it used to be. Plus, it's not physically possible that their offense wouldn't carry them into the postseason.

2nd or 3rd in the division this year, book it.

 

[101st_fan]

The division will sort itself out through interdivisional play. The Central has a strong record against the East right now ... no help there. It's something like a 20-7-2 combined record versus the Pacific ... again no help there. It comes down to beating our division to win our division.

Round two of that season long fight is tonight.

 

[Byrddog]

The division will sort itself out through interdivisional play. The Central has a strong record against the East right now ... no help there. It's something like a 20-7-2 combined record versus the Pacific ... again no help there. It comes down to beating our division to win our division.

Round two of that season long fight is tonight.

Exactly this was the reason I broke down the next 7 to 10 days in around the NHL. Pretty amazing that 29 division games will Probably decide the 2 two team who do not make the playoffs. Really only 1 other team in the central will come out as a loser Colorado has really claimed one spot of the non playoff teams.

 

[Cashville]

#2
I have been bullish on this team for ~3 years now; every single year I am wrong. I will likely be wrong again this year. Last year they started slow, had atrocious goaltending (like come on Kari), and couldn't get back to par before the music stopped. Signing Niemi is kind of crazy because they now have amongst the highest goal cap hits in the league, but also kind of smart as it gives them a legitimate option should Lehtonen fall apart (unfortunately Lindback was not able to fill that role last year). If DAL gets #2 in the Central in 2015-2016, it will be because they have the highest GF/G in the league; their defense is still highly suspect even with the Klingberg coming out party. Can they push an obscene scoring rate over a season? We'll see, but the tools are definitely there.

Looks like I may finally be correct about DAL this year; actually may be sandbagging them a bit as they are comfortably in the Central driver's seat. Barring a catastrophic injury to Benn/Seguin/Klingberg, they look freaking unstoppable. Thankfully MIN is slumping as bad as we are right now.

 

[NSH615]

Looks like I may finally be correct about DAL this year; actually may be sandbagging them a bit as they are comfortably in the Central driver's seat. Barring a catastrophic injury to Benn/Seguin/Klingberg, they look freaking unstoppable. Thankfully MIN is slumping as bad as we are right now.

All it will take is something to hit that borderline D or borderline G and they are sliding.

 

[Byrddog]

Oduya was washed up when he was on the Thrashers.... he wouldn't even crack our D pairings. I would take Bartley over him.

Wanted to bring this back now that we are facing Dallas. Oduya going into this game has 13 points the same that Craig Smith and Jrankrok have.

 

[NSH615]

Wanted to bring this back now that we are facing Dallas. Oduya going into this game has 13 points the same that Craig Smith and Jrankrok have.

A monkey could have 13 points playing with Benn/Seguin/Sharp/Spezza. This is why I don't put as much stock in Klingberg's points. Kling has 5 goals. I will consider him an offensive machine when he scores more.

 

[Scoresberg]

Even though we have been going through a rough stretch for a 1 and a half months we can still salvage this. We have a lot of games within division coming and racking up points out of those games we can rise in the standings.

The only team we can't catch anymore is Dallas so we aren't going to win the division.

7p behind Chicago with 1 game in hand

Schedule against them: 1 home game, 2 road games

6p behind St.Louis with 2 games in hand

Schedule against them: 2 home games

4p behind Minnesota, they have 1 game in hand

Schedule against them: 1 home game

4p ahead of Colorado, games even

Schedule against them: 2 home games, 2 road games

5p ahead of Winnipeg, games even

Schedule against them: 3 road games

So, you see we have 17 division games left (including Dallas). And it's time for our toughest month of the season. Let's see what this team is made of.

 

[Byrddog]

Even though we have been going through a rough stretch for a 1 and a half months we can still salvage this. We have a lot of games within division coming and racking up points out of those games we can rise in the standings.

The only team we can't catch anymore is Dallas so we aren't going to win the division.

7p behind Chicago with 1 game in hand

Schedule against them: 1 home game, 2 road games

6p behind St.Louis with 2 games in hand

Schedule against them: 2 home games

4p behind Minnesota, they have 1 game in hand

Schedule against them: 1 home game

4p ahead of Colorado, games even

Schedule against them: 2 home games, 2 road games

5p ahead of Winnipeg, games even

Schedule against them: 3 road games

So, you see we have 17 division games left (including Dallas). And it's time for our toughest month of the season. Let's see what this team is made of.

Your probably not going to like seeing the answer to your last sentence.

 

[NSH615]

So, you see we have 17 division games left (including Dallas). And it's time for our toughest month of the season. Let's see what this team is made of.

I'm hoping this team loses everyone of them to force a HUGE change.

 

[token grinder]

I'm hoping this team loses everyone of them to force a HUGE change.

You should delete your account. That has to be one of the dumbest positions to take as a fan.

 

[NSH615]

You should delete your account. That has to be one of the dumbest positions to take as a fan.

At this point it will take something that drastic to get any kind of change going.

 

[Cashville]

I'm hoping this team loses everyone of them to force a HUGE change.

The team's not that bad; the possession game is one of the best in the league at a high level. The chart I just drafted from War on Ice below sums it up pretty well.

1) Great possession game
2) Terrible PDO because of our a) terrible shooting %, and b) Rinne struggling the worst I have ever seen him
3) Roughly even goal differential as a result and thus middling performance in the standings

Losing a game 4-1 where you outshoot the team by a factor of 3 sucks. Having a mediocre forward corps who can't put it in the net sucks. Peks playing like Pavelec sucks. Trust me I'm right there with you, but looking for a tank / wholesale change is not the answer.

I think the biggest practical change (#1C is not practical) I'd like to see Poile pursue is a reliable #2 / heir apparent in goal (see Hellebuyck, Connor). If you shore up the backend and take some pressure off Peks, I think you see the team start trending in the right direction. Productive forwards are extremely difficult to obtain in the trade market; outside of some luck at the deadline with some pending UFAs, I don't see us getting much help upfront in the near-term.

 

[Cashville]

The team's not that bad; the possession game is one of the best in the league at a high level. The chart I just drafted from War on Ice below sums it up pretty well.

1) Great possession game
2) Terrible PDO because of our a) terrible shooting %, and b) Rinne struggling the worst I have ever seen him
3) Roughly even goal differential as a result and thus middling performance in the standings

Losing a game 4-1 where you outshoot the team by a factor of 3 sucks. Having a mediocre forward corps who can't put it in the net sucks. Peks playing like Pavelec sucks. Trust me I'm right there with you, but looking for a tank / wholesale change is not the answer.

I think the biggest practical change (#1C is not practical)...

Really glad I posted this ~7 hours before we traded for RyJo...

 

[Armourboy]

Hey consider it a good thing. I say stuff like " here comes our crap PP" and then we score. I'll be wrong if things are good lol.

 

[token grinder]

all of a sudden, Dallas doesn't have a lock on the division.

 

[Armourboy]

Doesn't surprise me. They as a whole are better defensively than last season, but they are still winning lots of games by just blowing people out. I think their goalie play has probably been as much a part of the early season success as anything. If that starts to waiver they are in for some rough patches.

TBH we are pretty much in the same shape. Gotta have 4 a night at least to win, and that is going to be hard to do consistently.

 

[Scoresberg]

After tonight, we are 2 points from being last in the Central. Things are going from bad to worse.

Something to think about.

 

[Scoresberg]

No offense to the Hawks but: HOW THE HELL IS THIS LINEUP 2ND IN THE WEST AND 3RD IN THE LEAGUE?

#Blackhawks lines:
Shaw-Toews-Hossa
Panarin-Anisimov-Kane
Desjardins-Danault-Teravainen
Mashinter-Rasmussen-Garbutt

 

[Dave is a killer]

No offense to the Hawks but: HOW THE HELL IS THIS LINEUP 2ND IN THE WEST AND 3RD IN THE LEAGUE?

#Blackhawks lines:
Shaw-Toews-Hossa
Panarin-Anisimov-Kane
Desjardins-Danault-Teravainen
Mashinter-Rasmussen-Garbutt

And then
Keith - Seabrook
Hjalmarsson - Roszival

and Crawford isn't a terrible goalie.

 

[Scoresberg]

Gotta say Joel Quenneville is hell of a coach. And Hawks are hell of a team, how they can be so competetive every year is beyond me.

 

[roseyc]

Gotta say Joel Quenneville is hell of a coach. And Hawks are hell of a team, how they can be so competetive every year is beyond me.

They have great leadership in Keith and Toews and Seabrook

 

[twig]

all of ea sudden, Dallas doesn't have a lock on the division.

Means nothing to the preds, there heading the other direction like an rock.

 

[Scoresberg]

We said before the season that the playoff spots would be decided by games within the division and mow here we are with a record of 5-13-1 against division rivals. And 3 of those wins are against the Mild.