Sabres: Adams Division Predictions

Well it's that time of the year again...say it with me...PHL Hockey!!! And with the start of every season comes hopes and promises. Some are able to back up their big words while others seem to fall flatter then Keira Knightley's chest (i still wouldn't turn her down though). With further adieu here is the Adams Division predictions.

1st place: Buffalo Sabres - 100 pts
I'm not the type to talk smack about the sabres. I prefer to let them prove everything on the ice. After the phl 6 season, GM MacDougall traded in his fringe cup contending roster for and expansion roster full of hacks. After 2 seasons cellar dweller, the Sabres have built up a roster that should give the their 2nd division crown under GM MacDougall. The contender building started mid last season with the additions of Getzlaf, Blake, Jovanovski, and Gleason. The building continued during the offseason with Macdonald, Hemsky, and Ryznar. When dust settled the Sabres had built 3 competitve lines and assembled the best bench group of GM MacDougall's tenure.
The team has upgraded the wings with 5 good shooters (Hemsky, Gartner on the right side and McDonald, Daugs, and Ryznar on te left side). Even with all the shooters, this season will hinge on the play of Mikeal Samuelsson and Mike Zigomanis and their ability to feed their wingers the puck. The hope this year is to atb Samuelsson into a solid center and be an unstoppable 1-2 punch with Ryan Getzalf.
The defense is lead by Rob Blake, Ed Jovanovski, and Tim Gleason. The rest of the defensive core brings different assets to the table and the ability to atb into future top notch defensemen. In nets the Sabres hav highly touted former #1 pick overall, Justin Peters. Although for some reason some numb skull in a previous blog though the sabres would go with Kipper..c'mon man wake up and smell the Folger in your cup GM Gagne.

2nd place: Boston Bruins - 97 pts

When the "Bacardi Binger" took over the Bruins, one of two things happened: 1) GM McIntyre made some shrewd moves to restock the once bare cupboard of the Bruins and 2) The amount of Bacardi Breezer consumed by Tigers and Leafs front offices have increased. We hear their favorites are the Bacardi Limon and Grand Melon.
In all seriousness, the Bruins made some shrewd trades that enabled them to stock up the farm team and not take away from their Pro scoring ability. The best example of these moves was the deal of Superstud Jeff Taffe to the Tigers. The Bruins dealt their monster rw and got a package deal which included a young promising lw in Matt Martin. The season is about to start and Mr.Martin is a great option to fill in the goals lost with Taffe being dealt. This team is really solid with its top 6 forwards and the subtraction of Taffe should not be missed.
The Bruins d-core is weak but has a ton of promise. Morris, Lynch, and Seabrook will make a solid top three and if 1 or 2 of the others can step up this weakness could be patch worked for the season. If the defense does break down then the opposition still have to deal with star goalie Matthew Spezza.

3rd place - Montreal Canadiens - 92 pts

The PHL P-I-M-P's team has taken a hit like when one of his women step out of line. They still have alot of positives to work with like a tough grizzled group on the backend and some firepower up front with Eaves, Crosby, and Sutter. Its not a case of this team sucking or making bad moves since last year more then the fact rerates hurt them and a couple of teams loading up. The Habs are looking to upgrade the offense by jingling perrenial underachievers Dan Ellis. It looks like Dan Brown's solid performance has given him the inside track for the starting role.
Looks like the Habs/Sabres rivalry is back at its finest in a really tough division.

4th - Quebec Nordiques - 90 pts

Similiar to the Habs it is not that this team got worse but that other teams have gotten better. The Nords suprisingly tore up the league last year without a gm for most of the year. Not much is known abou the new Nords GM, Sunny Rajwan. Mulitiple rumors are floating around such has: Mike Kandler reincarnated, mafia front for money laundering, and my personal favorite the former strip who worked hard and saved every dirty dollar he earned to eventually live his dream as a PHL owner.
Last year this team was lead by a full team effort. The center postion is strong with Mitchell/Todd and the winger group is not top notch but they all do different things right and work as a whole.
The defense is the bread and butter of this team and it will be the head of the Nords beast this year. Lead by "Double C " Carlos Colaiacovo, Braydon Coburn, Filip Kuba, and defensive monster Shawn Belle. Last year, Nords had a goal difference of +62 but look for that difference to be reduced with the Sabres improving since last year and not being the Nords punching bag.

5th - Hartford Whalers - 89 pts

The biggest change since last year is the Whalers have a gm who is active. Too bad the GM has blurred real life with his dream world. The Whalers are a good team but they are not Division winning material just yet. They have a SOLID top 4 d-core in Green, Lavin, Wennerlof, and Kurceba. If any team is lucky to get by that foursome then they have to deal with arguably the top goaltender in the PHL.
The forwards have some nice talent in Svatos, Chistov and others. But can this group of forwards match up against the top 6 of the Bruins or the deph of the Sabres.

On a sidenote: If the PHL was giving out xmas gifts to each GM its obvious that GM Gagne would get a set of reading glasses and a hearing aid. Why you ask because he has to be blind since he doesnt read properly...PHL FA is about 5 months away Paul but i figure your bids will be in my inbox in about 3 months ;). The hearing aid is so he can hear his mentor and other gms who offer advice to help Paul grow as a GM. Since its obvious the only person GM Gagne hears is inexperienced rookie inside his head (Sorry Paul had to take a shot at ya...Kipper put me up to it).