|
| Webs
August 28, 2024
4:11:11 PM
Entry #: 4356883
| Welcome to a new season and the start of another Prediction Pool. Once again, the first week does not count toward the season total but you can feel free to include your two cents worth. Season officially starts with the week 2 slate of games.
The rules:
$20 get you in for the year, every week you select the teams you think will win and the person with the most points at the end wins the pot. I will collect the money starting week 22 or 23, I do not want to be paid before then.
If you enter picks any week during the year you are considered entered for the year.
You can pick a straight win which gets 1 point if correct in regulation or shootout, a regulation tie which is 2 points if correct, a shootout win which gets you 3 points if correct.
If there is a tie at the end of the regular season the pot will be split amongst the winners.
Picks must be entered by game time each week this means if you miss the 8pm game you can still enter the other games if it is to me by 9pm or 10pm respectively. Once you have entered your picks on the website they cannot be changed after 9pm on Friday unless changed on the website and must be done before each gametime that you are changing, not what time the game starts Martin Taiani, but the time the game is listed as starting.
If you forget to make picks you automatically get a point if your own team wins if you selected your own every other week you entered picks.
There are 2 ways to enter picks, post them on the website or text me @ 902-471-0013. The preferred way is on the site. Preferably with a bit of a writeup explaining your selections.
I will mention player achievements and blunders throughout the year, if you wish to not have you name posted to be praised or humiliated let me know and I will exclude you.
Good luck and enjoy your season!!
Wolfpack (0-0-0) vs Flames (0-0-0)
Well here we go again and to start on a positive note I played against the Pack in the exhibition game and even though they were missing two of their top 5 selections they were still much improved from last season. It does my heart good to see my old franchise in the hands of competent leadership who are looking to bring the storied franchise back to it’s former glory, McNeil and Hill if you run this program right you will reap many rewards, chicks love hockey players. Right off the bat I can tell you that if they stick with the Bray/Ingraham duo that they have a line that no one is going to like playing against, strong fast and scoring touch, what more could you want. Throw big brother LeBlanc on the wing and you add another big body that can put the puck in the net. That leaves a second line that would normally be a first line. Fougere and Baxter have a history together from Hockey Helps the Homeless, showing they are not only top notch players but also have their hearts in the right place raising money for our vets. I am going to toss Pudge on this line to give them a solid nose tackle and now you have a line that can win net front battles and score with any second line in the league. Now we get to the Wolfpack’s question mark. 4 guys left, all forwards by trade so who drops back to aid the three D men including captains Hill and McNeil along with first time Pack member Curl, and who makes up the third line. I am going young LeBlanc for the fourth D and a solid third line of MacEachern, Pecarski and Strong. Teddy is a beast if front of the net, MacEachern has posted improved numbers every year and Strong is the biggest draft steal in the league. Add Logan in nets coming off a Vezina nominated season and you have the makings of a solid contender to win it all. Enjoy your improved team and your hour long showers boys, bring lots of body wash. The Flames have a couple of big questions early as the injury bug has hit preseason. Coombs tried to cut off his hand and while he failed at that he did manage a pretty good laceration. Will he be ready to play the season opener? Straight from the Flames first picks wife’s mouth and I quote “he can barely walk, you might have wasted a first round pick on him”, Burgess tried to keep her quiet, but it was too late, cat is out of the bag. Unless of course she was trying to make it seem like he was injured so he would have an advantage. The third injury that the Flames must deal with is Doctor Powell, with a broken wrist. No early season stitches for anyone until Joel is healed. Right off the bat the Flames could be running just 10 guys out there, they better run a vigorous training camp to get in top shape. Good news for the Flames is they have three of the hardest workers in the league in Ross, Dempsey and Taylor, all three come in fit and raring to go. Priest returns after taking a year off and he brings top end scoring touch with him. Chappy is coming off a great season on a not so great team, can he repeat those numbers or even improve on them? We likely will have to wait and see as Chappy tends to spend the first few weeks of the season on PEI. Can Flemming earn his seventh overall draft spot, it would require dominating and winning the Calder, some sources say he is up to the task. Stoney is back with big brother Murphy and in his happy place so look for another solid year from a guy who seems to get better with age and is versatile enough to play any position. The Flames are another team that get an absolute steal in the final round grabbing Currie who may not have put up his twenty goals a season that he promised at his inaugural draft, but his years of coaching means he knows the game and makes the right plays. Matty is the tendy for the Flames this season and while he is disappointed that he moved up a round in the draft he offers unmatched size between the pipes and that does seem to be the way the position is trending. He also can offer a unique branding sense as seen by his summer league Stewtennials brand. Kerr and Murphy return as leaders of this Flames group and if Strong from the Pack isn’t the steal of the draft, then it could be Kerr, who are the clowns that rank this guy so low, this needs some fixing next season.
Wolfpack 4 – Flames 2
Lions (0-0-0) vs Jets (0-0-0)
The Lions wanted to bring back their same championship team, but the Stars ruined that right away by making Havey the number one overall pick. They did grab Playoff MVP Grease in the third. Who will be the lucky bastard that gets to play alongside Glazebrook and Munden? These two go back to when they were just two little guys trying out for Squirt B where they clicked for 349 goals combined. Desi score 348 of them and Jabs had 1 with 348 apples, no Desi didn’t assist on Jabs’ goal, he doesn’t pass. Could be magic in the air. Tracey has been the best producing second liner in the HRHL for a few years, yes, he deserves a top line billing but you could spread the wealth a bit and have 2 great lines if you were to pair him up with McNeil and Mitchell. Toss Brad MacDonald on that top line as a grinder/puck retriever and you are set. That leaves Taiani, Bent and Hartnett to make up the line that leads the league in speed discrepancy, I expect Hartnett and Taiani to be doing the line drills after every game to get in Stefan like shape. With Sto and Walshy to lead the D and stay at home anchors Oliver and Hype Train this Lions team is ready to compete. Maybe not at last season’s pace but who knows. Late breaking news is Taiani is broken so bad he may miss a summer playoff game. I change my mind, Lions are done. Captain Croke is shining up the cup after just a single exhibition game. Seems like yesterday that Ritcey and Messervey were top three overall picks and now as they gently age, they are drafted onto the same squad. This team has two team MVP’s from last season with Parsons and Ritz. Those three together would make one hell of a line. States can center MacQueen and Ashley and they would be a line that can shut down any line in the league while still providing a good amount of offence. Orser, Morry and Holt will be a tight third line that give a lot of flexibility as Orser and Morry both can play up or back on any given night. Holt may look slow, but those hands are sweet in tight. Findlay is happy to be backstopping a team that doesn’t shower together for the entire night and will have a bounce back year justifying being the second goalie selected. A solid but aging D group is led by co-captains Duke and Croke with Mousek and Proctor making it a tough group to play against. These games are always tough to pick as we don’t know how well teams will gel but we do know that Munden and Glazebrook will be great together and Grease rarely lets in 3 goals. Mousek and Walshy likely both miss game one if history is any indicator.
Lions 4 – Jets 3
Stars (0-0-0) vs Oilers (0-0-0)
Well Havey, you made it to the top of the HRHL draft board, no where left to go but down in your hockey career. Enjoy the view from the top. Havey selects Perry and Longo to be his linemates but Timmy vetoes it and put his scoring skill alongside the top guy. Longo stays as Havey has a soft spot for him. Perry takes top end work ethic and speed to the second line with Corky and JB to form a terrific second line. Poirier and Flinner get centered by whichever D they drafted gets put up front, Giles seems to be the logical fit. Rumour has it that the young Billard kid is going to challenge Turple for the Norris, if he does that goes a long way towards making the Stars great again. Redden was hand selected by Havey as his top D, add the surprising rookie with two beasts on the back end in Myrick and Clark and you have a top end D group. Glennie can be up or down but as we speak he is the current summer league William Jennings winner so it is up today. Will the cottage dust up between him and Timmy have any lasting effects on their relationship. Mostly Timmy has drank away the hard feelings one beer of the week at a time and Glenn has gummied his way out. The Oilers go as far as the vast skill set of Veinot can take them and now being paired with a true sniper like Bent it looks like the sky is the limit. Tough to talk about the Oilers without mentioning that they have 15 of the last 19 Norris winners on board with two retired. FYI, Walshy and Murphy had the other two. Turple, d’Entremont and Webber have their name all over the trophy and each one aims to keep it in the family, Cleveland will join this illustrious group and that should be as solid a D core as there is. The rookie to watch on the Oilers is Huebert, even if he doesn’t dominate the league has a new leader in great hair, I though I was passing to Troy Polamalu out there this week. Sorry Josh your reign has ended. The LeBlanc twins dumped their illegitimate brother so he faces the world alone this season but combined with Polamalu and Gallant we have the makings of a great second line. Rookie LaPointe snipes one in the preseason to secure an opening day spot on the top line, a rare feat for a fourteenth round selection. That put Skinner, Flemming and Coates together on the leagues top third trio. With rookie tender Theuerkauf being pushed for hard the Oilers look like the team to beat, only thing that could drag them down is poor water boy skills, lets go Young Skin.
Oilers 7 – Stars 2
Pre-season Award Picks
Norris – Turple, long live the king
Art Ross – Haverstock, life at the top is great for a third season in a row
Rocket Richard – Haverstock, who beats 38
Vezina – Grease, to be the man you got to beat the man
Hart – Veinot, a rebound happy season
Calder – Billard, if the first reports are accurate
Selke – MacIsaac, engine never stops
Lady Byng – Bright, nicest gut you will ever meet
Jack Adams – McNeil, takes the entire load at the draft with Eddie MIA and builds a contender
King Clancy – Glenn Ingraham every year, he is a better person that you.
Ted Lindsay – Grease, players understand what management doesn’t, you win with tendies
Jennings – Theuerkauf, and as a rookie
Messier – Ingraham, tough, big, bit of a nasty streak if he needs to
Jim Gregory – Veinot/Skinner, build a team from the back out
Masterton – Fougere, dominates 25lbs lighter
Presidents Trophy – Oilers, top team from game 1
Conn Smyth – Veinot, best player on the best team
Stanley Cup – Oilers, first for this duo
I wish each of you a great season and I am always available to chat HRHL. Anything you would do to improve the league we would like to hear it. Just not before noon on weekends!!!
|
