http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-HwnyLBdG0&hl=en&fs=1&
At The Program we admittedly try to bring funny mixed with hard hitting info and this is why we are saying the following…..
With 100% of the precincts reporting….ESPN is officially on crack by a record landslide victory.
Yes we said it. We went there. Here is the link to ESPN’s power rankings. Just looking at some of these either makes me want to vomit or head to Bristol right now and ask which intern slipped in the magic shrooms into the morning breakfast tray. There are more shockers on this list than plot twists from the original Hostel. Okay maybe not but it sure feels that way.
This is like saying Peter Forsberg will come back this year and have 100 points in just 60 games. Did I just type that? I guess I did. Of course I say that sarcastically and maybe that is the message the ESPN folks are trying to convey here. That they have to be bold and snarky just for the sake of doing so. Some quotes are coming in from this list already which means likely ESPN achieved its desired goal here.
James Gerace a good friend of mine alluded to the following…..
i think those guys just like to try to be bold..no one who watches the NHL can make those predictions without chuckeling
Yes indeed. God save the queen perhaps. So Puck Daddy chimed in naturally and I think the words were like this……
Tampa…10th….and something with crack……
Scary I know. Does anyone want to go over these for somewhat of a good laugh? Because really you have to say that these rankings were cooked up by a dealer somewhere in a meth lab.
Tampa Bay…10th place…….
This is the first one that raised major red flags. Surely Mike Smith is a very good goalie and I will grant that but he cannot stay healthy on a team that revamps its roster more times than Joan Rivers having plastic surgery. Yes I know about the French Connection line but this team should not be ranked above the Carolina Hurricanes…..seriously.
Vancouver…17th place……
Another one causing runs to the beer shed for Canucks fans. Roberto Luongo probably is laughing at this one from his lush pad as he wakes up this morning. With the Sedin twins and a pretty stacked D, Vancouver was a favorite or co-favorite to win the Pacific and yet 17th. I understand things for shock value but this one was just a little bit off….don’t you think?
New York Rangers…..22nd place….
I object here even as a Devils fan….I OBJECT! For the record we had the Rangers around 16th or 17th season wise….but not 22nd. Henrik Lundqvist is still an elite goalie last I checked. With a player like Marian Gaborik…this team cannot be 22nd even if Gaborik gets hurt at some point during the season. John Tortorella just will not let that happen and they will play a bit more up tempo. Now I will not say the Rangers will score 240 goals…but they will score more than last year’s moribund total.
New Jersey Devils….24th place…..
And here I thought THN hated the Devils this much. Reality is ESPN does not care much for them either. I get the defensive deficiencies but last I checked the Devils have the best defensive goalie in the modern era and maybe ever. Unless Marty Brodeur aged 10 years in the offseason….things may not be quite this bad. Guys like Oduya and Martin are serviceable and do have nice +/-‘s. Also, the offense did pop in nearly 3 a game last year. That will not plummet like some predict with Jacques Lemaire in charge. He even knows this team must score to win. Its okay ESPN…take the “hash” brownies away now.
Dallas Stars….26th place…..
ESPN really underestimates a team that played much better once Mr. Sloppy Seconds left town. I understand teams have to have a place on this list and someone has to make a decisive decision but still. With guys like Modano, Turco, Morrow, Ribeiro, and Richards….do you really think they are worse off than a team like the Atlanta Thrashers? Are you serious ESPN? ARE YOU SERIOUS???? The Stars will finish a bit better than 26th and really did anyone at ESPN look at the schedule for the first 10 days? Likely not.
Now we did not forget our list for overachieving…but just a list of five that ESPN had a bit high as well as Tampa.
Washington Capitals (4th) — they may fail a bit on this one.
San Jose Sharks (2nd) — not as good as people think.
Philadelphia Flyers (3rd) — If Emery or Richards goes down.
Buffalo Sabres (13th) — Possible but not likely just yet.
Pittsburgh Penguins (1st) — Stanley Cup hangover…..
Like I said let us see what happens but when going for shock value ESPN really succeeded. But they failed on their humor and their reasoning. Tomorrow on the podcast we may just come up with our own power rankings for the season and week. Stay tuned.
