Media Rankings/previews/predictions - 2008/2009

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

Here's this year projections from the Hockey News for the players of the Montreal Canadiens and some quick few lines of what the magazine thinks of the player.I will also give my personal opinion for each player,enjoy!

Team

2007-2008 Montreal Canadiens

Eastern Conference Ranking:1st

Players

1)Alex Tanguay-67 points

Tanguay wasn't a good fit in Calgary,but he will fit in better with Montreal.he moves right to the head of the class on the first line and power play.

2) Alexei Kovalev-65 points

A great comeback season for Kovalev,but some caution: A player who comes back can always go back and 47 of his points (56 percent) came on the power play.

3) Tomas Plekanec-64 points

Two good things about Plekanec:he led a power-play dependent team in even-strength points and his production has improved each year.But don't expect more yet.

4) Chris Higgins-53 points

Thirty-goal scorers aren't just OK,but that's the ceiling for Higgins,atleast for now.He looks like a guy who could score big numbers some day,but it's a longshot.

5) Saku Koivu-53 points

Koivu isn't the central figure on the forward lines anymore.He's still good,but is starting to fade.This is what happens when a team decides to spread the offense.

6) Andrei Kostitsyn-51 points

A breakout season for Kostitsyn came relatively quickly.A jump up to another level is unlikely:there are too many Montreal forwards with similar production.

7) Andrei Markov-49 points

Many of Montreal's points last season were inflated because of their productive power-play.Teams find ways to stop that and they're rarely as effective the next year.

8) Sergei Kostitsyn-42 points

The younger Kostitsyn wasn't a high draft pick like his brother,but impressive just the same in his first season.The big junior scorer produces wherever he plays.

9) Maxim Lapierre-30 points

Expect Lapierre on full-time checking duties this season.He's not a big scorer,but he'll have a decent third-line numbers on a balanced team.

10) Guillaume Latendresse-28 points

One of the problems with Latendresse is he's poor skater.While he can score,he has to find space to play,which creates a greater problem.

11) Roman Hamrlik-28 points

Hamrlik had a poor offensive year,but then again,he has only had one great offensive season over the past decade.Thirty points is considered a big year for him.

Goalies

1)Carey Price-34 Wins- .918 SP- 2.55 GAA- 4 SO

The problem where you're new is when you falter-even though every goalie does sometimes-critics say you're not ready.He's ready for 50 plus games.

2) Jaroslav Halak-14 Wins- .913 SP- 2.71 GAA- 1 SO

There's no reason to keep Halak glued to the bench.If not for Carey Price,he'd be a no.1 goalie prospect in Montreal.Until he gets his shot,he won't play a ton of games.

Here's the link of last year thread if you guys want to compare the magazine's projections or simply have a quick look at what was you're own prediction.

http://forum.canadiens.com/index.php?showtopic=16825

Hope you enjoyed!

I think it's funny that they are projecting us to be number 1 in the East, but seem to be under-projecting point totals in a lot of cases. However, that's "speculation" for you. It's neither here nor there. I suppose I could do an equally as good job projecting player point totals. We've seen how accurate last season's prjections were. What was it? Habs finish 13th in the East? MY PROJECTIONS are as follows:

#1 Tomas Plekanec! (81 points)

#2 Alexei Kovalev! (73 points)

#3 Andrei Kostitsyn! (60 points)

#4 Alex Tanguay! (59 points)

#5 Chris Higgins! (55 points)

#5 Saku Koivu! (55 points)

#7 Guillaume Latendresse! (40 points)

#8 Andrei Markov! (37 points)

#9 Sergei Kostitsyn! (30 points)

#10 Roman Hamrlik! (27 points)

#11 Maxim Lapierre! (20 points)

[ruuvimeisseli]

(I'm a big Halak fan and I predict that he's going to be our no.1 goalie by the end of the season!!!)

I think this is wrong. Plus the point totals are a little low.

[Guest Kovy-27]

(I'm a big Halak fan and I predict that he's going to be our no.1 goalie by the end of the season!!!)

I think this is wrong. Plus the point totals are a little low.

That's just how I feel if we give him a fair chance.You might call me crazy but then again people called me crazy last year when I said that Kovalev was going to be our best player.

[leafs_suck67]

I think it's funny that they are projecting us to be number 1 in the East, but seem to be under-projecting point totals in a lot of cases. However, that's "speculation" for you. It's neither here nor there. I suppose I could do an equally as good job projecting player point totals. We've seen how accurate last season's prjections were. What was it? Habs finish 13th in the East? MY PROJECTIONS are as follows:

#1 Tomas Plekanec! (81 points)

#2 Alexei Kovalev! (73 points)

#3 Andrei Kostitsyn! (60 points)

#4 Alex Tanguay! (59 points)

#5 Chris Higgins! (55 points)

#5 Saku Koivu! (55 points)

#7 Guillaume Latendresse! (40 points)

#8 Andrei Markov! (37 points)

#9 Sergei Kostitsyn! (30 points)

#10 Roman Hamrlik! (27 points)

#11 Maxim Lapierre! (20 points)

[leafs_suck67]

I think it's funny that they are projecting us to be number 1 in the East, but seem to be under-projecting point totals in a lot of cases. However, that's "speculation" for you. It's neither here nor there. I suppose I could do an equally as good job projecting player point totals. We've seen how accurate last season's prjections were. What was it? Habs finish 13th in the East? MY PROJECTIONS are as follows:

#1 Tomas Plekanec! (81 points)

#2 Alexei Kovalev! (73 points)

#3 Andrei Kostitsyn! (60 points)

#4 Alex Tanguay! (59 points)

#5 Chris Higgins! (55 points)

#5 Saku Koivu! (55 points)

#7 Guillaume Latendresse! (40 points)

#8 Andrei Markov! (37 points)

#9 Sergei Kostitsyn! (30 points)

#10 Roman Hamrlik! (27 points)

#11 Maxim Lapierre! (20 points)

not bad, sounds for the most part to be pretty reasonable. except i might expect a little more out'a sergei, 30 points seems kinda low. after what i saw of'em last year i'd have to ballpark'em around 40-55 points, IMO. all in all though it should be a good year, i cant wait to see how it all unfolds.

[ruuvimeisseli]

That's just how I feel if we give him a fair chance.You might call me crazy but then again people called me crazy last year when I said that Kovalev was going to be our best player.

I like halak too but Price is much better and im a huge Price fan. Last year i predicted the habs would come in 7th place (my guess was better then all the critics that said 9th-12th) this year im predicting them top 4.

[Guest Kovy-27]

I still think that people who said that the habs wouldn't make the playoff's last year where morons.I mean c'mon,the team was just behind Buffalo a few points in december,Samsonov didn't play well,Kovalev either and then got injured,Abby was horrible,Johnson didn't produce like expected,let's not forget about Ninnima.We had that flu bug that killed us for atleast 2 weeks.We had alot of bad luck 2 years ago but we still had a solid team before the team went down in December.Also the fact that Hamilton had won the Calder Cup and some of these great talents like Kostitsyn,Halak,Lapierre and Price where joining the club was something to look forward too.Nobody could have predicted that we where going to finish first but not making the playoff's...c'mon!

[leafs_rock_go_mccabe]

not bad, sounds for the most part to be pretty reasonable. except i might expect a little more out'a sergei, 30 points seems kinda low. after what i saw of'em last year i'd have to ballpark'em around 40-55 points, IMO. all in all though it should be a good year, i cant wait to see how it all unfolds.

Good point. I should boost that prediction up to somewhere around 35, I think. The sophmore year can be tough sometimes, and Sergei is going to struggle to find his "spot" on the club this season, I think. It's not a bad thing, it's just that there are a lot of good forwards, and Gui was thinking about moving him to center (per Habs I/O), so perhaps he's going to struggle from time-to-time. I expect his 3rd or 4th seasons with Montreal to be his breakout years, for somewhere around 50-60 points. He's still very young, and we shouldn't expect what we have expected from Guillaume to date.

[roy_133]

If Markov ends up with 37 points, whether it be because of injury or just him not playing as well, there's no way this team finishes top 3 in the East. With the loss of Streit, and Markov playing subpar/injured, there's just no way for our PP to overcome that much. We have a margin for error from some guys upfront, we have depth, we have absolutely no depth when it comes to PP QBs anymore, it's Markov and that's it.

[roy_133]

I think it's funny that they are projecting us to be number 1 in the East, but seem to be under-projecting point totals in a lot of cases. However, that's "speculation" for you. It's neither here nor there. I suppose I could do an equally as good job projecting player point totals. We've seen how accurate last season's prjections were. What was it? Habs finish 13th in the East? MY PROJECTIONS are as follows:

Here are mine, take it for what it's worth I suppose;

#1 Alex Kovalev (76 points)

#2 Alex Tanguay (68 points)

#3 Tomas Plekanec (66 points)

#4 Saku Koivu (63 points)

#5 Andrei Kostitsyn (59 points)

#6 Andrei Markov (56 points)

#7 Sergei Kostitsyn (54 points)

#8 Chris Higgins (51 points)

#9 Guillaume Latendresse (45 points)

#10 Roman Hamrlik (31 points)

#11 Maxim Lapierre (24 points)

[fourtrax]

Here are mine, take it for what it's worth I suppose;

#1 Alex Kovalev (76 points)

#2 Alex Tanguay (68 points)

#3 Tomas Plekanec (66 points)

#4 Saku Koivu (63 points)

#5 Andrei Kostitsyn (59 points)

#6 Andrei Markov (56 points)

#7 Sergei Kostitsyn (54 points)

#8 Chris Higgins (51 points)

#9 Guillaume Latendresse (45 points)

#10 Roman Hamrlik (31 points)

#11 Maxim Lapierre (24 points)

Here are mine:

Alex Kovalev (78 points)

Saku Koivu (74 points)

Alex Tanguay (68 points)

Andrei Kostitsyn (65 points)

Tomas Plekanec (64 points)

Andrei Markov (60 points)

Christopher Higgins (55 points)

Sergei Kostitsyn (48 points)

Guillaume Latendresse (40 points)

Roman Hamrlik (38 points)

[koreysecord1992]

Jumping on the bandwagon...arranged roughly by lines (omitting 4th line and most defensemen)

Kovalev 29-45-74

Plekanec 26-42-68

A. Kostitsyn 28-30-58

Koivu 19-48-67

Tanguay 23-47-70

Higgins 28-26-54

Lapierre 8-13-21

Latendresse 19-17-36

S. Kostitsyn 17-30-47

Markov 14-42-56

Hamrlik 7-27-34

[ruuvimeisseli]

#1 Alex Kovalev (65 points)

#2 Alex Tanguay (75 points)

#3 Tomas Plekanec (65 points)

#4 Saku Koivu (80 points)

#5 Andrei Kostitsyn (65 points)

#6 Andrei Markov (50 points)

#7 Sergei Kostitsyn (45 points)

#8 Chris Higgins (55 points)

#9 Guillaume Latendresse (35 points)

#10 Roman Hamrlik (25 points)

#11 Maxim Lapierre ( 25 points)

[goleafsgo08]

http://www.crashthecrease.com/predictions.html

Some Habs any other NHL players..

btw, is that timmins in that some of those videos? at the bottom.. the one with the goalie instructions.. I think it is and so does my buddy.. or are we both way off

[mbryson27]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ex.html?eref=T1

"Is this Price right?

A tidy $1.6 million. That's the sum total that GM Bob Gainey has invested in his sophomore goaltending duo of Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak, less than half the gold Toronto used to honor Jeff Finger. Considering what's at stake this season -- Stanley Cup or bust during the team's centennial celebration -- it's a bold move ameliorated not one bit by the signing of veteran Marc Denis to be the team's third stopper.

If all goes according to plan, it'll be Price carrying the Habs to glory. But is he ready to tote that kind of weight? He wasn't last season...at least, not when it mattered. He was wildly uneven against the Bruins in the first round, twice shutting them out and twice giving up five goals in the final four games of that series. He followed that up by watching 15 pucks sail by him on just 89 shots in four games against the Flyers, his glove hand and positioning exploited mercilessly by Philly's snipers.

But that was what it was: a rookie, one who'd played up to his paper and then some all season long, finally starting to act his age in the playoffs. Price failed to live up to the freshmen legacies of Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden. So what? That doesn't detract from his potential. Pushed by Halak, he should establish himself as an elite stopper this year, just a rung below Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo. And if Price delivers, the Habs will contend for the Eastern Conference title -- the postseason edition -- this time."

[Habcup]

http://www.crashthecrease.com/predictions.html

They have pitts in 1st place and Mtl in 2nd. I think everyone is overating Pitts. They lost some important depth (not that they add a lot) including Malone. Sure they have 2 elite superstar and Stall in the forward position but after that they don't have much. Defense is also a problem. After Orpik (and he over achieved last year (maybe)) the D is weak. And they have a good goalie. How does all this add up to #1 in the east.

I think the flyers will be a team competing with Mtl for 1st place. in the 2nd half of last year they were playing very well and Gagner was not even playing.

[ruuvimeisseli]

Since they predicted us to do good this season, how many drafts pick do we have? So far i know we got a 1st round pick,

2nd round pick WAS and 2nd round pick TOR.

[teststory]

There is to much parity in the NHL right now to predict who is going to finish in a top spot IMO. Last year things could have gone differently if the Habs had gotten a key injury to some like Kovy/Koivu/Markov/Hammer/etc earlier in the season like the Flyers and Bruins had to their players. The Habs have a good team, but they will have to work hard to get back to a top 5 finish in the NHL. They aren't so talented that they will make it there on talent alone.

[tony1234]

There is to much parity in the NHL right now to predict who is going to finish in a top spot IMO. Last year things could have gone differently if the Habs had gotten a key injury to some like Kovy/Koivu/Markov/Hammer/etc earlier in the season like the Flyers and Bruins had to their players. The Habs have a good team, but they will have to work hard to get back to a top 5 finish in the NHL. They aren't so talented that they will make it there on talent alone.

I agree, and I actually expect them to drop in the standings a bit. It will be another year of learning for this young team. They are playing a new role, we are no longer seen kind of like door mats, we are up and comers. This comes with new challenges. I do however expect them to be a much better PLAYOFF TEAM, which is what we are looking for anyway !!!

[concreteveins]

There is to much parity in the NHL right now to predict who is going to finish in a top spot IMO. Last year things could have gone differently if the Habs had gotten a key injury to some like Kovy/Koivu/Markov/Hammer/etc earlier in the season like the Flyers and Bruins had to their players. The Habs have a good team, but they will have to work hard to get back to a top 5 finish in the NHL. They aren't so talented that they will make it there on talent alone.

This team was .500 when Hamrlik went down with a virus last year...