^^^
good post, seph, agree with most of it. i think preds take a step back in the regular season. and i really don't like avs chances against the hawks.. only way to win the series is the way we've won them the past two seasons: vargodmov.
definitely agree that they have had lot of good luck with health but all those long summers has to start taking their toll... keith isn't human so he should be fine but seabs should definitely start taking steps back... his next contract is going to be bad one, though hawks have to do it.
When I meant the Avs fancy against the Hawks, of course I don't expect Avs to win, but Avs definitely match up better against them than the Blues, Wild, or even Jets do. Plus Coach Q's game plan against Avs/Varlamov is beyond ********. He demands them to shoot more when things are not going right, but shooting more gets Varlamov more in the game. It is like the super power of every punch or physical attack against a hero, only makes the hero stronger.
Keith and Suter in particular play some humongous tasks on each club. It is a matter of time, IMO that one of them (or both) will have a lengthy spell. Unfortunately for us, it will probably be like a bruised calf at the beginning of the season.
I do think Preds will be the best team if they do not have major injures, I absolutely understand if people think they will take a step back. Hard to get that consistency amongst years for coaches in new organizations. I see Rinne's below-average play last season more on point from the injury than the workload IMO.
Oh SEPH; how can Dano be a year from being an NHL quality player when he has already played in the NHL and done very well?
It is a pretty dang small sample size. There is no mistake that Dano's last half of the season, in particular the last 15 to 20 games was amazing...BUT he did not show the same consistent impact that Horvat was able to do the whole year with Canucks in both regular and post seasons.
Another example is this, there are a TON of non-playoff junior players who get their try outs for the last two weeks of the AHL season. And because they just played a 60ish game season, get a couple days break, they get refreshed enough (though still have the hockey mind) to post PPG status in the AHL. But after a year of summer and off of hockey, they normally come in and post some extremely average rookie numbers like 30 points in 70 games. All of this is after their PPG hot streaks on the try-outs the previous season. What I am saying is that hot streaks normally never last and I saw Dano's 15 game sample more of a hot streak than actuality concerning a dynamic NHL player for next season. Of course, do not think I am calling him a bust, he WILL be very good in a Blackhawks uniform for his career, but next year, I think he will experience some growing pains IMO. And if not, all the more praise for him!
