Red Wings WILL WIN 08-09 Stanley Cup
Chuk wrote:
CronoX,
It is impossible not to include DET in the list of favourites to win, but statistically the odds of repeating favor the rest of the pack.
There are a few other reasons as well.
Goaltending: Of the teams you would consider favourites: SJ, MON, PIT and let\'s say DAL due to their success last year, Osgoode would be ranked last among goaltenders. Sure he made it through this year, but to do it two in a row at his age?
Injuries: DET made the playoff run and had to suffer through the Fanzen injury but how critical was that? Take Lidstrom, Zetterberg or Datsyuk off that roster and things are a lot different.
Playoff schedule: After a tough first round that may have caught them a little off guard, the Wings faced a pathetic shell of a COL team. If they had a tougher 2nd round opponent maybe they lose, maybe they are a little more worn down in the finals. A hot team or goalie in the palyoffs can wreck a favorite rather quickly.
Being the favorite: If the Wings are #1, it means every coach, GM and player better be thinking of ways to beat them starting now. Line ups, acquisitions, style of play, tendencies are all going to be studied from day 1 and not the 10 days before they are faced in a cup run.
DET is probably the best team on paper. That and a quarter might get you a phone call. So many things can happen, but if we are given a choice between the Wings vs. everybody else, the smart money takes the field. Every time.
I agree COMPLETELY with this.
Nothing against Detroit at all, but their goaltending is very weak compared to the other \"challenger\" teams, and they are one or two injuries (even just \"nagging\" type injuries) away from dipping out of the playoffs early.
Detroit has won the president\'s trophy every season since 2002-03 (when they missed it by only 1 point in the standings), yet remarkably they only won the stanley cup once in that time...
It just goes to show that you can have an OUTSTANDING team that romps competition during the regular season that doesn\'t win the cup. It happens all the time.
Not only is detroit against the statistical improbability of repeating back-to-back, but they are also still against the statistical improbability (that EVERY team in the league faces) of just winning the cup at all.
Bottom line:
Detroit has had a phenominal team for a number of years in a row, and yet they hadn\'t won the cup since 2001-02. That\'s five years that they were \"favored\" to win the cup; four of which they did not win it. Why everyone (except for dobber, myself, and a few others) seems to think that the odds are somehow in detroit\'s favor is beyond me.
In the salary cap world, every team that makes the playoffs has a chance to win the cup. Look at how far Philidelphia made it this season and how far edmonton made it a couple of years back...
Plus while detroit is still getting older, the younger teams and players are getting more seasoned all the while gaining more playoff experience. I expect Washington to give pittsburgh a HUGE challenge this year as the eastern representative in the finals. EVERYONE on that D.C. team plays with a load of passion and unlike a lot of teams, it seems as though they don\'t know how to \"give up.\"
12 Team Dynasty League w/ Salary Cap (Updated: 3/23/2011)
(CBS Sports Commissioner's League)
Maximum Salary Cap: 70.5 million
Roster Limit(s):
Total: 23 + 2 available IR slot
Active: C, C, C, W, W, W, W, D, D, D, D, G, G
23 + 1 Man Roster (69.62 million) - 17 Keepers
- Crosby (IR), Carter, Tavares, Duchene, Anisimov, Desharnais
- Ovechkin, Giroux, Downie, Hall (LTIR), Tanguay, Samuelsson, Whitney, Justin Williams, Zuccarello
- Green, Phaneuf, Doughty, Letang, Carlson, Karlsson
- Price, Halak, Neuvirth, Varlamov
Scoring Setup: W, L, GA, Saves, SO
G, A, PIM, PPG, PPA, SHG, SHA, SOG, GWG, HT, FOW
Reply With Quote
