I'd love to say the Leafs, but realistically, probably one of the usual suspects (New Jersey, Colorado, Detroit). Teams like St. Louis, Philly and (sigh) Toronto always seem to put together strong regular seasons, but it's one of the big three that last all the way to the end.
If the Leafs can't win, it'd be nice to see another Canadian club --- Vancouver has the best shot --- bring the Cup back home, or perhaps a longtime NHL city like St. Louis or Los Angeles win their first Cup.
Oh Tino...put some pants on for God's sake.-- Chuckc14 in the Worst Album Covers thread Click Here (The W)
Manny [Ramirez] could show up for spring training with ice-blue hair, a "Free Lee Boyd Malvo" tattoo and a batting helmet made out of chorizo and I wouldn't be surprised. Hey, it's just Manny being Manny.-- Bill Simmons
Watching "Mad Dog Time" is like waiting for the bus in a city where you're not sure they have a bus line.-- Roger Ebert
Fuck the Canucks, the Flames are the hottest team in hockey right now. Will the win the Cup? No, probably some generic American team will. Will they make the playoffs? God willing.
FLAMES: 12-8-1-3; 28pts SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLANDS: 5 Remain [Darrah, Jon, Sandra, Burton & Lillian] TOP 10 FILMS OF 2003 [So Far]: Mystic River, Lost In Translation, Finding Nemo, Seabiscuit, Kill Bill V1, X2: X-Men United, Open Range, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matchstick Men & The Last Samurai
Oh, it's a good time to be a Toronto and Calgary fan.
I say the Flames are the hotter team. 10 straight games with at least a point, 18 points in that stretch. The Leafs have 16 points in their last 10 games, although they've won the last 8. Just before the streak started, they lost to Calgary and Edmonton, and looked quite poor doing so(I was at the Calgary-Toronto match).
I hope the Leafs build up as much points as they can right now, because the wear of the season will take out some of their older legs. Nieuwendyk and Roberts have already missed time with injury, and I'd bet they'll do so again before the season is out.
The fun thing is this: Calgary is injured. Roman Turek (our #1 netminder) is out. Craig Conroy (Assistant captain and #1 center) is out. Steve Reinprecht (#2 center) is out. Blair Betts (#3 center) is out. Toni Lydman (#3 D-man) is out. Andrew Ference (#4 D-man) is playing hurt.
And we're still winning. The real test is coming up, with 30 games between now and the All-Star Break. If we're still sitting pretty when all our players get healthy, we may actually have a shot.
Maybe Sutter's actually turned the team around. Or maybe we're just lucky. All I know is this city hasn't been this excited in seven or eight years.
FLAMES: 13-8-1-3; 30pts SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLANDS: 5 Remain [Darrah, Jon, Sandra, Burton & Lillian] TOP 10 FILMS OF 2003 [So Far]: Mystic River, Lost In Translation, Finding Nemo, Seabiscuit, Kill Bill V1, X2: X-Men United, Open Range, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matchstick Men & The Last Samurai
As a long suffering fan (with one bright light in 94) of the New York Rangers, I will always firmly believe that my team will win the CUP until the day we are sent to the first tee.
That said, I will cringe with disgust if I have to witness another parade in the parking lot but the devils are looking strong as always and should outlast Toronto & philly......out west i think that Aebischer's relative inexperience will hurt the Avs in the long run and that either Vancouver or Calgary will square off with Hasek for a trip to the finals........
(edited by dunkndollaz on 9.12.03 0838) 5 Time 5 Time 5 Time 5 Time 5 Time Wiener of the Day Runner-up
Eh... as a spoiled Red Wings fan, I treat the regular season with a general feeling of apathy. I suspect no matter how streaky or good a team looks in the regular season, the usual suspects (NJ, Detroit, Colorado, some East Cinderella that may make the finals, but has no chance of winning, etc) will be dominating the airwaves in May.
You may now commence with the Red Wings bashing. Hell, I can't even be bothered to care about the season until someone tells me this year the (insert team with great regular season record) will kill the Wings. It's kinda fun, actually...
I like the All Star lineup this year. Specifically the alternates that the NHL picked because the fans, well, they always do a crappy job of picking the starters. Damphouse an All Star? Yeah, back in his Montreal days.
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