Post by Deleted on May 19, 2009 15:21:01 GMT -5
Welcome! Ladies and Gentlemen to the Return of "The Sloppy Second. We are entering Season 5 Here at EA NHL Simulation, and on today's episode, i'm going to give you some things to watch out for, and some predictions of my own.
The Big Story of Last year was the triumph of Mike Bossy over the rest of the League. Mike Bossy got 82 Goals, thats right 82 Goals. And he missed some time being Injured and being on FA Auctions, after San Jose let him go, which he probably regrets now.
So the 1st thing we will watch out for this season, can Mike Bossy get 100 Goals? He is on a weaker Columbus Team, but still has a good group of players to play with, and will see even more Ice Time this year than last because of the weaker players he has surounding him.
MY PREDICTION: Bossy will NOT hit 100 Goals this Season, mainly because every team will be on the lookout and will have their biggest D-man on him, but i do believe he will break his own NHL and EA NHL league records again, by tallying 90 Goals.
The second big story around the League is the New York Islanders suprising Stanley Cup Win in Season 4. No one saw it coming as everyone (except for the select few) thought Pittsburgh would march right through the 1st round against the Islanders. But, the Islanders kept coming and defeated Sidney Crosby and his Penguins. One weakness for the Pens though, no "Kovy" which was probably the reason for the Penguins early exit.
This year the Islanders have basically the same team, but with some minor changes here and there. Thorton and Ohman carried the Islanders on their backs, and eventually to a Stanley Cup Ring, as Thorton finally proved he was a playoff preformer and that he is a elite player. But the question is....Can they do it again?
MY PREDICTION: No, The Islanders are a good team, but Thorton and Ohman can only do this "miricle" once and because of the weak team behind Thorton, Ohman and Merril this team will more than likely compete for a playoff spot and nothing else.
The 3rd of 4 stories i'm going to talk about is the Stanley Cup History. The Detroit Red Wings have won the Cup in season 1 and in season 3. Every time the Wings would win the cup, they would only win it 2 seasons later. If history repeats itself, the Detroit Red Wings will be Stanley Cup Champions again, but under a new Owner and GM can they pull it off?
The Red Wings have lost their major peice of their franchise, Mike Bossy. He wasn't there for the Red Wings Stanley Cups as he arrived last season, but he could of helped them out alot. He and Former GM/Owner JMCook went to Columbus, and will try and turn that franchise around, So Bossy and JMCoomwill not be of Service to the Wings. Anyway i'm getting off topic here, If the red Wings want to try and repeat history, they neeed to get another Star Player for themselves, my suggestion, Rick Nash, who quietly got 68 Goals last year, He is the next best thing the Wings can get.
MY PREDICTION: History will NOT repeat itself, unless Lundqvist and MacInnis can carry the Wings like Thorton and Ohman did for the Islanders, the Red Wings will not win the Cup this year, let alone win the Division, This Wings team will have to make in some moves, to change my mind.
And Last but not least, we saw 3 Franchise Changes this offseason
- GM Cor99 to the Flames / GM Hockeydude83 to the Leafs
- GM JMCook to the Jackets / GM 34Lutzy to the Wings
- GM Wynne to the Flyers / GM Slasher to the Oilers
All GM's brought atleast one "Good" player with them
Cor99 (John Tavares)
Hockeydude83 (Kyle Turris)
JMCook (Mike Bossy)
34Lutzy (Steve Yzerman {Traded})
Wynne (Jarome Iginla)
Slasher (Andreas Salomonsson {Traded} )
But what team will do the best?
MY PREDICTION: I believe Detroit will do the best out of all of them, just because they are naturally a good team. Here's my list of the teams in order of who will do the best to who will do the worst
1) Detroit
2) Edmonton
3) Columbus
4) Flames
5) Flyers
6) Leafs
But that is just my opinion.
That is all for Today, but we will see you very soon.
ON THE NEXT SLOPPY SECOND: I will break down the early season predictions, on the struggles and the suprises.
