Annual "Where will the Canes finish?" poll

[Moosetache]

I had to go 2. Mostly because I assume Vegas and Colorado will only lose to each other, the rest of that division is just awful. so now you only have 3 spots left. Tampa, and I assume one team from each other division. So we finish 6th.

 

[LakeLivin]

#2 central. Can't legitimately place league wide standings when all the games are intra division. So tier 2 makes sense with a distinct possibility that we're in Schrodinger's tier 1

+1 for a Schrödinger's cat reference in a hockey forum, lol.

 

[cptjeff]

Due to the division, I would not be shocked if we have a Top 5 point total by the end of the year. I think its a 2-way battle between us and Tampa for division champions with a glut of teams battling it out for the other playoff spots. We will finish closer to the top of the division than the playoff cut line.

That's where I am. It's a weak division, and Tampa and Carolina are clearly a tier above the rest, at least on paper. Tampa and the Canes spend the entire season beating up on a fairly weak division, and that should allow both teams to rack up points. Do I think the Canes will actually be a top 5 team in the NHL? Borderline maybe, but I think we'll have a more than decent shot at a top 5 point total.

 

[AD Skinner]

I had to go 2. Mostly because I assume Vegas and Colorado will only lose to each other, the rest of that division is just awful. so now you only have 3 spots left. Tampa, and I assume one team from each other division. So we finish 6th.

Not sure where you're going with this. Playoffs will be all division based until they get to the 3rd round. So 8 teams in the central division, 4 will make it and play each other. Vegas and Colorado are in the west division, completely irrelevant to the central.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Not sure where you're going with this. Playoffs will be all division based until they get to the 3rd round. So 8 teams in the central division, 4 will make it and play each other. Vegas and Colorado are in the west division, completely irrelevant to the central.

I think he was talking about the “top 5 in the NHl” option.

 

[Canes]

The skaters have top 5ish talent in the NHL. The ability to stay healthy and goaltending will determine a lot as well, too many problems with those issues will sink even the best of teams. Put me in the we should comfortably make the playoffs camp though. Even with injuries and our goaltending, we should be a very good team with depth especially with the taxi squad this year.

 

[AD Skinner]

I think he was talking about the “top 5 in the NHl” option.

Ahhhh i see. My bad

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

North - TOR, WPG, EDM, CGY
East - PHI, WAS, NYI, PIT
Central - TB, CAR, NSH, CLB
Pacific - COL, VGK, STL, SJ

Playoffs R1
North - CGY def TOR, WPG def EDM
East - PHI, def PIT, NYI def WAS
Central - TB def CLB, CAR def NSH
Pacific - COL def SJ, VGK def STL

R2
North - WPG def CGY
East - PHI, def NYI
Central - TB def CAR
Pacific - COL def VGK

R3
PHI def WPG
COL def TB

R4
COL def PHI

Not sure who plays who division wise in the final 4 but had to go with something

 

[HisIceness]

I seem to recall I've been bad luck when I vote so I'll just say I expect big things from this team.

The key for this franchise to make the playoffs going back to the Cup season has been getting off to a good start. At no point since that season has this franchise seen the playoffs w/ a lackluster start. With all the late season surges that fell short, if they had won more often in October they would have been playoff teams easy. The 08/09 and 18/19 teams won something like the first 4 out of 5 and/or gained points in those games. Last years team won 5 straight to open the year.

They will hit a slump at some point, but not getting off to a good start isn't an option especially in a shortened season.

 

[Lempo]

+1 for a Schrödinger's cat reference in a hockey forum, lol.

+1 for the ö

 

[MinJaBen]

+1 for a Schrödinger's cat reference in a hockey forum, lol.

+1 for the ö

* -2 to balance the equations.










*Sorry, engineering school graduate here...

 

[Penaltykiller17]

I think although we’ll finish 2nd or 3rd in our division, it’s not going to be a cake walk. Florida, Nashville, and Dallas always give us a run for our money. Tampa and Columbus tend to have our number during the regular season in recent years. And we’ve been known to go through droughts. Lastly, and something that might get overlooked considering our division is historically we’re a team that gets by on playing the right way. We never won too many games purely based off talent alone like a Tampa or Pittsburgh of yesteryears.

 

[Moosetache]

Ahhhh i see. My bad

Glad I read this far down the page before responding....You are forgiven!

 

[A Star is Burns]

Figured this was one of those threads that deserves a bump now that the season is largely over and our place is cemented.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Gratz to
@VAcaniac
@cptjeff
@storm636
@Azor Aho
@Highway29
@zman77
@Bunch of Jurcos
@Svechhammer
@Andrew H
@Daeavorn
@AhosDatsyukian

for being unrealistically optimistic enough to get this question right.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Gratz to
@VAcaniac
@cptjeff
@storm636
@Azor Aho
@Highway29
@zman77
@Bunch of Jurcos
@Svechhammer
@Andrew H
@Daeavorn
@AhosDatsyukian

for being unrealistically optimistic enough to get this question right.

I honestly believed even if we finished 2nd to Tampa we would be in that range. Considering where Florida finished, guess that could have been correct. I thought the division was bad enough at the bottom for that to happen.

Now, if I'd known Mrazek and Turbo would have missed all that time and we'd get hit with covid early on, and we'd struggle with the Red Wings, I'd likely have moved down a notch and been spectacularly wrong.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Gratz to
@VAcaniac
@cptjeff
@storm636
@Azor Aho
@Highway29
@zman77
@Bunch of Jurcos
@Svechhammer
@Andrew H
@Daeavorn
@AhosDatsyukian

for being unrealistically optimistic enough to get this question right.

why’d you leave me out? That’s my vote also.

 

[A Star is Burns]

why’d you leave me out? That’s my vote also.

Gee, I wonder what could possibly explain that total that got it correct going from 11 to 12?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Gee, I wonder what could possibly explain that total that got it correct going from 11 to 12?

No idea. Must be a glitch in the Matrix.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Tampa is clearly the class of the division, but the extent to which the Bolts will put their foot on the gas pedal in the regular season is a question. Of the previous 10 cup winners pre-Tampa, only 3 won the division the following year (St. Louis going by P%, Washington and Boston).

Make that 3 in 11.

Tampa did win at a ~110 point pace. The foot was firmly on the gas. Carolina and Florida were just better.

 

[Daeavorn]

Gratz to
@VAcaniac
@cptjeff
@storm636
@Azor Aho
@Highway29
@zman77
@Bunch of Jurcos
@Svechhammer
@Andrew H
@Daeavorn
@AhosDatsyukian

for being unrealistically optimistic enough to get this question right.

Hell yeah Bro! We got this! Time to crush these fools and win us a second cup!

 

[Svechhammer]

Make that 3 in 11.

Tampa did win at a ~110 point pace. The foot was firmly on the gas. Carolina and Florida were just better.

Yeah my prediction before the season was that we would be a Top 5 team in the league, but that was because I thought the Central was a 2 headed monster with a bunch of underperforming muck below Tampa and Carolina. Yeah, so I got the first part right, we were a Top 3 team, so yay me. But we did that in a division with 3 elite teams, another 2 really good teams, Chicago who was surprisingly good, and two stinkers.

Like, I thought we had the potential to be a decent team with a great record. I didn't think we'd be an elite team with an elite record. To win this division with Tampa and Florida going supernova as well is incredible for this team. To do it on the back of elite goaltending is something that I don't think anyone could have possibly predicted.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

I would have chosen top 3 but it wasn't an option. Top 5 wasn't doing it for me.

 

[Tryamw]

Killing them with fire also wasn't an option in this case it was the other teams dying to it..