Which team will do better, the Habs or the Devils?

JohnM · Guru

Which team will do better, the Habs or the Devils?

barry33 · Guru

JohnM wrote:

One of Barry's posts had me thinking, which team will do better, the Habs or the Devils. I would have to guess the Devils since they have Brodeur and a pretty solid team in front of him.

John- I think that the Devils have a few "what ifs" just like Montreal does. But I tend to agree. They are deeper than Montreal is right now and more experienced. Even if they do lose, say Gionta because of cap, they will get some young talent back in a trade. They big what if in Jersey will be Julien. Will the guys buy into his system? Will his system work with that team like it did when he started in Montreal? I guess being a coach myself, I always put alot of weight on the coaching anywhere. But like you, I believe that any team with Marty Brodeur in goal already starts the season 30 points ahead of anyone else.

macneil · Guru

i'll be the first to say montreal will finish ahead of jersey this year , looking at their roster they are not as strong as in the past and if the league doesnt allow lou to drop the russian anchors on the salary cap they will have to do some reshuffling and who know what that will lead too .

JohnM · Guru

I would agree with you Macneil, but they have Brodeur. He will win 30 games on his own.

macneil · Guru

i know hes good but if the forwards dont score , if the d cant play d then he better be better than he ever has been . brodeur wasnt as sharp as previous years , he had some good games and some bad games .

heet_150 · Guru

macneil wrote:

i know hes good but if the forwards dont score , if the d cant play d then he better be better than he ever has been . brodeur wasnt as sharp as previous years , he had some good games and some bad games .

Going to disagree with you there macneil, 2.57 GAA last season. That's pretty good considering scoring was up last year with the new rules. He also put up 43 wins, which is the highest in his career (he had 43 in 97-98 and 99-00 as well). However, I do agree that he alone will not put the Devils into the playoffs.

I, too, will say that the Habs finish ahead of the Devils this year. I am predicting bigger and better things for Ribiero and Bonk. I think both will step up and play up to their potential. I think that no matter who is between Kovalev and Samsonov, it will be one of the most productive lines we have seen in Montreal in a while.

barry33 · Guru

macneil wrote:

i know hes good but if the forwards dont score , if the d cant play d then he better be better than he ever has been . brodeur wasnt as sharp as previous years , he had some good games and some bad games .

Red- Devils have lost nothing in the way of dmen this year and finished ahead of Montreal in goals against. Devils were 9th at 2.74 and Habs were 13th at 2.98. So I really do not see the devils defence as being any weaker than Montreal's. As far as scoring, they were neck and neck as well. Montreal was 20th at 2.94 Goals per game, Jersey 22nd at 2.84 per game. The advantage was to Montreal on the Power Play but Jersey was without ELias much of the year. Neither team burned up the league in that department and the same arguments you are making regarding Jersey (ie if the forwards don't score and the d can't play d) are the same for both teams in my humble opinion. Keeping in mind that they played most of the season without Elias who STILL ended up with 16 goals, 29 assists and 45 points in a mere 38 games (and a Plus 11). He is healthy and they will have him all season. (For comparisons sake, Samsonov, who many claim to be our svaiour this year, played 74 games and was 23-30 for 53 points)

Jersey will lose either Gomez or Gionta but will replace them with younger talent in a trade. Habs are HOPING that Huet was not a flash in the pan...Devils know what they are getting game in and game out with Brodeur. My money is on Marty. In my mind, even if Jersey loses a player, they still have a pretty solid team.And Heeter- isn't it a bot scary that you are pinning yoru hopes on Bonk and Ribs?

-- Edited by barry33 at 14:04, 2006-09-13

macneil · Guru

im not saying montral has a better team , i just think jersey will be less than last year. they only have 4 d signed this year and 1 of them is malkhov , if they lose gionta or gomez and replace them with younger talent in a trade whos to say that the younger talent would put up the numbers gionta - gomes did. they have no backup goalie , brodeur plays 70-75 games a year but it still leaves 10 games for a noname backup.as far as montreal's gaa you can blame that on theo . will elias play as well now that he has his big fat contract, same for gomez . all in all i feel we will be there with jersey come the end of the season .brodeur gaa average was up .5 goals against last year heet so he did slip abit .

barry33 · Guru

macneil wrote:

im not saying montral has a better team , i just think jersey will be less than last year. they only have 4 d signed this year and 1 of them is malkhov , if they lose gionta or gomez and replace them with younger talent in a trade whos to say that the younger talent would put up the numbers gionta - gomes did. they have no backup goalie , brodeur plays 70-75 games a year but it still leaves 10 games for a noname backup.as far as montreal's gaa you can blame that on theo . will elias play as well now that he has his big fat contract, same for gomez . all in all i feel we will be there with jersey come the end of the season .brodeur gaa average was up .5 goals against last year heet so he did slip abit .

Good points heet. Like I said, Jersey has alot of what ifs like Montreal I guess. Time will tell.

macneil · Guru

whats up with that , you quote me then say good points heet , lol give me my props ,lol

barry33 · Guru

macneil wrote:

whats up with that , you quote me then say good points heet , lol give me my props ,lol

Sorry red lol..been a longgggg day at the office...almost Miller time thank GAWD

JohnM · Guru

macneil wrote:

whats up with that , you quote me then say good points heet , lol give me my props ,lol

heet_150 · Guru

macneil wrote:

whats up with that , you quote me then say good points heet , lol give me my props ,lol

I'll take the free pats on the back whenever I can get them, deserving or not. lol

AB Habman · Guru

Devils will be better than Habs! Brodeur and Elias are my reasoning.

doodie · Veteran Member

LAST YEAR !!!! THIS YEAR!!!! STATISTICS---THATS WHAT THEY ARE---JUST STATISTICS---THEY MEAN NOTHING YOU CANNOT BASE LAST YEARS STATISTICS FOR THIS YEAR. PERIOD

barry33 · Guru

doodie wrote:

LAST YEAR !!!! THIS YEAR!!!! STATISTICS---THATS WHAT THEY ARE---JUST STATISTICS---THEY MEAN NOTHING YOU CANNOT BASE LAST YEARS STATISTICS FOR THIS YEAR. PERIOD

Well at this stage that is all we have to go on..statistics. So you take those, factor in the changes each team has made, and make an educated guess. But that is all ANY of these predictions are right now..educated guesses. There are so many factors involved with every team and every team has question marks. For instance, those who have gone on and on at nauseum about "what if" we only had Huet playing all last year will hopefully get an answer to that question this year. The fact is that we did NOThave Huet all year so, like trying to predict what will happen this year, we can only guess as to what would have or should have been. had we had Huet in goal last year.

I for one am getting tired of trying to predict what will happen this year...I want to watch it all play out..GO HABS GO!!

plouf · Guru

If we went on statistics, no way Carolina would have turned around like they did last year.

It's really hard to predict how things will go these days.

I can't wait for the season to start.