2012-13 Toughest Team Predictions?

[Sapunka16]

A lot of tough guys moved around with the opening of free agency. Based on these moves and the likelihood of who may actually get playing time, which teams does everyone anticipate being in the running for the NHL's toughest?

Looking at last year's finalists:

New York Rangers: The Rangers "lost" John Scott, though he was barely a part of the team. The departure of Brandon Prust was filled in with the signing of Arron Asham. Micheal Haley was added as well. Could the blueshirts roll out Michael Rupp, with Asham, Haley and Stu Bickel? That could keep them atop toughness votings.

Boston Bruins: Pretty much stayed the same in toughness. No significant moves.

Philadelphia Flyers:Right now they are down one forward. After traded away James van Riemsdyk and losing Jaromir Jagr to the Dallas Stars, the team has added one forward, Ruslan Fedotenko. Though none of the three are fighters, the extra spot could mean more playing time for Tom Sestito, who the Flyers re-signed, or Jody Shelley. Zac Rinaldo likely has his spot on the fourth line intact after being the only Flyers player to have a pair of balls in their Game 5 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Ottawa Senators: Went from having one of the league's best 1-2-3's with Matt Carkner, Chris Neil and Zenon Konopka, to having just Chris Neil (and possibly a Francis Lessard callup?)

Anaheim Ducks: Lost George Parros, gained Brad Staubitz.

New York Islanders: Made up for the loss of Micheal Haley by adding two top-ten heavyweights in Matt Carkner and Eric Boulton. There is a chance both could play, since Carkner is a defenseman and Boulton is a forward. However, with Trevor Gillies being relagated to the AHL last season, there is a good chance the organization may only use one. Carkner would be more likely.

Minnesota Wild: Added Zenon Konopka to ride shotgun with Matt Kassian. Suddenly a good 1-2 combination.

New Jersey Devils: Lost Eric Boulton, gained Krys Barch.

Florida Panthers: Lost Krys Barch, gained George Parros

Montreal Canadiens: Lost Staubitz, gained Prust.


I think our top 5 next year will be, NYR, BOS, NYI, PHI, and either NJ or MIN.

Let me know if I've missed anything.

*Also, I'm not including Montreal here to say they're going to be tough, I just tried to note the most major moves.

[R.Middleton]

A team you're missing is Chicago.

Enforcer - Brandon Bollig
Middleweights - Daniel Carcillo, Jamal Mayers, Sheldon Brookbank
Back-up - Andrew Shaw, Steve Montador

[Stevens Lindros]

Originally Posted by R.Middleton

A team you're missing is Chicago.

Enforcer - Brandon Bollig
Middleweights - Daniel Carcillo, Jamal Mayers, Sheldon Brookbank
Back-up - Andrew Shaw, Steve Montador

Sheldon Brookbank is more of a LHW than a MW.

Bollig jumps around weight classes [fought both LW Tootoo and HW Biz] a bit and is "only" 6'2 223, I don't want to call him a true heavyweight, but I agree he is an enforcer and Chicago is way up there in toughness.

[Philly Fan 27]

on paper it is the islanders. if boulton plays alot they should be the toughest on the ice too

[fcm]

Originally Posted by Stevens Lindros

Bollig jumps around weight classes [fought both LW Tootoo and HW Biz] a bit and is "only" 6'2 223, I don't want to call him a true heavyweight, but I agree he is an enforcer and Chicago is way up there in toughness.

Brandon Bollig must be a heavyweight in today's league. He's an enforcer a la Jared Boll or Ryan Reaves.

That being said, I still think that the Bruins are the toughest team in the league, just by the way they almost didn't move since last season. If the Rangers kept John Scott, they would easily have been, but seriously:

Boston: Thornton, Lucic, Chara, McQuaid, Horton, Ference, Boychuk, Campbell, and possible call-ups like MacDermid and Exelby.

NY Rangers: Rupp, Haley, Asham, Bickel, and Dubinsky(?), that's good but not even close form the Bruins.

To compete for the "toughest 2012-2013 team", you must have two heavyweights in your lineup to match Thornton and Lucic. Islanders do have Boulton and Carkner, but their only MW being Matt Martin, the Islanders are softer than the Bruins. The Devils have Janssen and Barch, but the Bruins have way more fighters in their lineup.

[Stevens Lindros]

Originally Posted by fcm

Brandon Bollig must be a heavyweight in today's league. He's an enforcer a la Jared Boll or Ryan Reaves.

That being said, I still think that the Bruins are the toughest team in the league, just by the way they almost didn't move since last season. If the Rangers kept John Scott, they would easily have been, but seriously:

Boston: Thornton, Lucic, Chara, McQuaid, Horton, Ference, Boychuk, Campbell, and possible call-ups like MacDermid and Exelby.

NY Rangers: Rupp, Haley, Asham, Bickel, and Dubinsky(?), that's good but not even close form the Bruins.

To compete for the "toughest 2012-2013 team", you must have two heavyweights in your lineup to match Thornton and Lucic. Islanders do have Boulton and Carkner, but their only MW being Matt Martin, the Islanders are softer than the Bruins. The Devils have Janssen and Barch, but the Bruins have way more fighters in their lineup.

The difference with Boll is he's fought the absolute best in Boogaard [RIP] and McGrattan, and Reaves has only played against and had the opportunity to fight the latter [which he did]. If Bollig fights McGrattan next year, I'll eat my words, but his fight card isn't impressive in the least.

[BullyFan]

I think the Bruins still have the toughest team with the players mentioned above.

Flyers should be active, especially if Shelley, Sestito, and Rinaldo consistently play together. Throw in Simmonds, Hartnell, the Schenns, and call-ups like Bourdon, Manning, and hopefully McGinn, and they should be in top 5 for FMs this season.

[Philly Fan 27]

shelley and sestito probably wont ever play together, but hopefully they combine for 15-20 FMs. rinaldo should have 12+ just for answering to big hits. im curious to see if playing in philly w/ brayden will light a fire under luke schenn. id expect more from him in the fighting department of the 2. it will be tough for simmonds to top what he did last year, dude was a beat w/ his gloves off. hopefully he hits double digits again.

[Sapunka16]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan 27

shelley and sestito probably wont ever play together,

True.

Giroux, Hartnell, Briere, Voracek, Simmonds, Read, Schenn, Talbot, Couturier, Fedotenko = 10 guys.

Rinaldo #11, then hope Sestito or Shelley plays over Eric Wellwood. I think it would take three injuries for Sestito and Shelley to play together.

[Stevens Lindros]

Originally Posted by Philly Fan 27

shelley and sestito probably wont ever play together, but hopefully they combine for 15-20 FMs. rinaldo should have 12+ just for answering to big hits. im curious to see if playing in philly w/ brayden will light a fire under luke schenn. id expect more from him in the fighting department of the 2. it will be tough for simmonds to top what he did last year, dude was a beat w/ his gloves off. hopefully he hits double digits again.

Regularly yes, but they did play together a few times with Sestito up to the third line and with Rinaldo also in the lineup. December 23rd against the Rangers for example.

[Sapunka16]

Originally Posted by fcm

Boston: Thornton, Lucic, Chara, McQuaid, Horton, Ference, Boychuk, Campbell

Never understood why guys with a couple fights a year get thrown into these conversations. Do we add Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn for the Flyers?

[pesadillamal]

Originally Posted by Sapunka16

Never understood why guys with a couple fights a year get thrown into these conversations. Do we add Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn for the Flyers?

And then the dope throws a question mark next to Dubinsky. Let's see;

Dubinsky's card = Bieksa, Clarkson 2X, Rinaldo, Sestito, and Carter.

Boychuk and Ference combined = Neal, Talbot, Hartnell, and Skille.

If someone doesn't want to count Dubinsky because he isn't very good at fighting that is one thing. But you really have to be dense to throw a question mark by his name and then count those other guys. Pyatt fought once and beat Dorssett, I guess he counts. Unreal how far some will go to to try and convonce people they know their head from their ass.

Anyway, Buffalo is my longshot pick. I think the Flyers, Isles, and Blackhawks will be more consistently tough this year. Blues and Kings may deserve a mention.

[I_am_Belak_2]

Originally Posted by Sapunka16

A lot of tough guys moved around with the opening of free agency. Based on these moves and the likelihood of who may actually get playing time, which teams does everyone anticipate being in the running for the NHL's toughest?

Looking at last year's finalists:

New York Rangers: The Rangers "lost" John Scott, though he was barely a part of the team. The departure of Brandon Prust was filled in with the signing of Arron Asham. Micheal Haley was added as well. Could the blueshirts roll out Michael Rupp, with Asham, Haley and Stu Bickel? That could keep them atop toughness votings.

Boston Bruins: Pretty much stayed the same in toughness. No significant moves.

Philadelphia Flyers:Right now they are down one forward. After traded away James van Riemsdyk and losing Jaromir Jagr to the Dallas Stars, the team has added one forward, Ruslan Fedotenko. Though none of the three are fighters, the extra spot could mean more playing time for Tom Sestito, who the Flyers re-signed, or Jody Shelley. Zac Rinaldo likely has his spot on the fourth line intact after being the only Flyers player to have a pair of balls in their Game 5 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Ottawa Senators: Went from having one of the league's best 1-2-3's with Matt Carkner, Chris Neil and Zenon Konopka, to having just Chris Neil (and possibly a Francis Lessard callup?)

Anaheim Ducks: Lost George Parros, gained Brad Staubitz.

New York Islanders: Made up for the loss of Micheal Haley by adding two top-ten heavyweights in Matt Carkner and Eric Boulton. There is a chance both could play, since Carkner is a defenseman and Boulton is a forward. However, with Trevor Gillies being relagated to the AHL last season, there is a good chance the organization may only use one. Carkner would be more likely.

Minnesota Wild: Added Zenon Konopka to ride shotgun with Matt Kassian. Suddenly a good 1-2 combination.

New Jersey Devils: Lost Eric Boulton, gained Krys Barch.

Florida Panthers: Lost Krys Barch, gained George Parros

Montreal Canadiens: Lost Staubitz, gained Prust.


I think our top 5 next year will be, NYR, BOS, NYI, PHI, and either NJ or MIN.

Let me know if I've missed anything.

*Also, I'm not including Montreal here to say they're going to be tough, I just tried to note the most major moves.

I think Lessard is a free agent. So yes, Neil is going to be by his lonesome, unless Cowan picks up some slack. Zack Smith is good for a few too. Colin Greening has been known to drop them, but he's like a featherweight.

Toronto: Brown, Orr, Rosehill(if he re-signs), Mark Fraser, Komisarek I guess, Ashton might get in a few. Plus Devane and Neuber(?) on the farm. Kelsey Wilson if he's still signed.

[MattBurger]

The Bruins, Blackhawks and Rangers will be the three teams that dress their tough guys every night.

If the Flyers dress Sestito and Shelley every night, the Islanders dress Boulton every night, and the Sabres dress John Scott, they will all be right there too.

[TheBeast1212]

Hard to see how the rags are the "toughest" team with their irrelevant HW in Mike Rupp, and add to the fact that Haley most likely won't see a game this season. Asham and Bickel are nice, but Bickel needs to improve his fighting.

And then the dope throws a question mark next to Dubinsky. Let's see;

Dubinsky's card = Bieksa, Clarkson 2X, Rinaldo, Sestito, and Carter.

Dubinsky is nothing more than a f@ggot, plain and simple. He was forced into the majority of those scraps. He isn't tough at all. He is really good at owning gatorade jugs, however.