3rd Liner
You really think this years Ams team is better than last years?
Last years Ams team would have won the memorial cup had Tokarski not played his butt off in all those OT games. Then again, you have seen the Ams play a lot more than me ... but I have not been impressed them as much this year.
Vancouver's 2 road losses to Seattle in February are the main reason I favor Calgary.
Oh yeah, congrats Bowman on the Hat Trick plus one last night
3rd Liner
I personally don't think this year's Ams are anywhere near last year's Ams. The West isn't as good this year as it was last year; and I don't think they are even going to match their point total from last year - which to me is enough to say they aren't nearly as good. The Western Finals last year may very well have been the Memorial Cup (it sure seems like it was the WHL championship the way Lethbridge was knocked around) - if Tri doesn't get outscored 3-0 in the third in game 7, they may very well have done just what the Chiefs did. Like the Chiefs, I don't see the Ams going that deep again this year. They might make it to the conference finals, but getting past Kelowna and Spokane to even face Vancouver is going to be tough - and then comes the formitable task of actually downing the Giants.
I just don't see anyone knocking off that team.
Spokane Chiefs - 2008 Memorial Cup Champions!!!!!!!!!! punk rock
Rookie
honestly i do feel this years ams are better than last years team.
1- Offensively we've only gotten better with more depth. we can honestly roll 4 lines with each line having a real chance to score vs last year where it was the colton yellow horn show. Alot of teams have a hard time matching our overall team speed.
2- Defensively we're only missing 2 d-men from last years team. 1 being TJ Fast who i would throw into the offensive category anyway. 2 being Eric Mestery, and well just ask Lethbridge about him. Our top 4 D-men (Toll, Plouffe, Schmidt & McColm) are much better this year with some playoff experience and our other pair is any combo of McIntosh, Sutherland, and Werbowski who are all semi-experienced.
3- Goaltending is much, much better as long as Pickard doesn't have a bad game, which he hasn't in several games.
as far as knocking of kelowna or spokane to get the giants, i have faith. if it all pans out how i'm hoping and expecting we should have Everett, Kelowna, and Vancouver. barring any upsets of course, which are bound to happen somewhere along the way.
as far as knocking of the giants as i posted earlier, look at our record vs vancouver already, i think we might be the only team with a winning record vs them. granted it's out of 3 games, but it's still a winning record so far.
Super Moderator
actually amsfan05 Vancouver has beat Tri twice this season:
Oct 29th Van 4 Tri 3 (in Vancouver)
Nov 29th Van 3 Tri 5 (in Tri-Cities)
we didn't lose at all in December .. our only away game was
Dec 13th Van 3 Tri 1 (in Tri-Cities)
three games Van leads the series 2-1, not Tri-Cities .. not that we won't be in tough next week when they come to town.
and those road losses to Seattle were an anomaly .. yeah an anomaly
the sun was in our eyes and and and .. Seattle has some sort of Kent voodoo juju going on vci11 -- as much as the T-Birds have struggled on the road this year they only have 9 home losses I believe.
Last edited by dondo; 02-26-2009 at 07:56 PM.
Rookie
oh sorry about that dondo, it was after last nights game i read the scores on the website. i guess i learned a lesson, don't post "facts" or "stats" after drinking. that's 2 misposts i made due to my drunken reading lol.
Rookie
Originally Posted by amsfan05
The problem with the analysis comparing last year with this year is the quality of the US division. Last year it was the best division in the Dub, this year it is the worst. Everett and Seattle are way down from last year, especially Everett. Portland is actually the only team in the division that is better, and that isn't saying much. Tri has very similiar numbers this year against MUCH weaker teams. Having said that they probably have the best chance to knock off Vancouver, Especially since the Chiefs may be down to two healthy defensemen by playoff time the way things are going.
Assistant Coach
I'd have to agree with most posters in here that the Americans aren't as good of a team this year as they were last year. I'd compare this team more to the 2006-07 Americans who were also very good, but ran into a hot team in Seattle in the first round (Tri will get a much better matchup this year). And yes the US division is much weaker this year. Everett won 39 games last year and finished in 4th place and both Tri and Spokane won at least 50. This year the third place team will win fewer that 39 and it's possible that no one will reach 50 wins.
At the start of the playoffs last year, Tri-City was probably the favorite to win the WHL championship. This year I'd put definitely Vancouver, Calgary ahead of them, and put Tri on par with Kelowna, Brandon and Saskatoon with Spokane a smidgen below. Tri-City could definitely win the WHL championship though, but even if they do I still don't think this year's team is quite as good as last year's. JMO
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