Elite League 2016/17 - Who takes the crown?

[mattscold]

As the title says, what is everyone's prediction?

I am probably being hopelessly optimistic but I think if Wiikman stays fit Panthers take it. If not, then I think it'll be Cardiff.

[Deleted]

Sheffield, sadly

[Rob Scott]

At this point I will have a guess at....

1). Sheffield
2). Cardiff
3). Braehead
4). Belfast
5). Nottingham
6). Fife
7). Coventry
8). Manchester
9). Dundee
10). Edinburgh

[iginla]

1. Sheffield
2. Braehead
3. Cardiff
4. Nottingham

[jd]

Sheffield, Clan, Devils and then who knows

[Yotes]

Same as ftm, although last year I thought we'd win the league so bodes well

[BigLad]

Steelers just have that "must win" mentality and experience that should see them win it again.

[Deleted]

Sheffield will clean up this year. Watched them Sunday. Impressed with forwards and Moose looked Sharpe.

Cardiff and Braehead to fight it out for 2nd

[The Flying Shirt]

Sheffield unless there is a VERY big upset. They looked very good at the weekend.

[Gilly]

Sheffield
Cardiff
Braehead
Panthers
Belfast
Coventry
Fife
Dundee
Edinburgh
Manchester

[mattscold]

I think Sheffield's question mark is their defence.

[Kovalchuk17]

Cardiff look too stacked with firepower but also balanced with a solid D-corps for me.

Steelers look strong but seem to be strutting around (I'm using their social media output for this) with an air of arrogance & attitude of 'we've already got the league sorted'.

Panthers are the most difficult to read. If it clicks, players gel and injuries are kept to a minimum, I genuinely think we could win it all. We have at least 5 guys all capable of 30+ goals each, a keeper who could sit well over 93% svs and a good looking D-corps.

Unfortunately I can only see the next season being the same as the past 3... So I'll say:

1. Cardiff
2. Sheffield
3. Belfast
4. Blaze
5. Panthers
6. Clan
7. Fife
8. Dundee
9. Manchester
10. Capitals

[Mark Mac]

Aug 16, 2016 11:43:17 GMT Rob Scott said:

At this point I will have a guess at....

1). Sheffield
2). Cardiff
3). Braehead
4). Belfast
5). Nottingham
6). Fife
7). Coventry
8). Manchester
9). Dundee
10). Edinburgh

I pretty much agree with this. I reckon the league is between Cardiff and Sheffield. I hope Cardiff will win out of those, but I imagine Sheffield will do it again. As much as it pains me to say, they know how the do it.

[shinobi]

Who can stop the 2016/17 Sheffield Steelers...

[tim27]

Braehead this year I think. They have recruited strongly. In a fair league Sheffield would win it easily but in the lopsided league i think Braehead will just nip it.

[PantherB]

Devils. Steelers look good, as ever but Devils look better imo. Stonger defensively, lots of fire power but a potential for too many cooks in the kitchen, the deciding factor will be Bowns.

Panthers 3rd, Clan 4th and Giants 5th. Clan have much healthier competition this season, from all Gardiner teams so whilst Fife were the bogey team last season, i'd expect a mixture of results across the board, plus with Rosehill and Hendrikx, penalties galore against Fife and the rivalry games. Panthers to take 3rd due to Blaze looking weak and Giants looking average, Steelers don't have a particularly strong defence and with the loose cannon of Ratchuk on D with Philips and Fitzgerald, it's practically a recipe for disaster at some point. So i'd expect us to perhaps draw a lot of penalties with our grittiness and with the likes of Sertich, Spang, Nikiforuk and Schultz on the PP i'd expect us to have one of the better PP units in the league. I'll be disappointed if we don't win half of the games against Steelers, whilst i'd expect to win maybe 4 against Devils but depending on Bowns. They just look too strong at the back and up front compared to anyone else. They always have a dirty/rough tendency about them though with Lord as coach so that may go against them too.

Excited for the season regardless though. Want us to do well, obviously. But hockey is hockey, i just want to get back into a rink and hear the tape to tape passes and the STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWARTTT chants.

[Bagheera]

Panthers. Forget facts, stats & rational thinking. Im going with blind optimism & faith.
Until Christmas at least.

[ted logan]

A 5th place finish for Panthers - although highly possible - would be an absolute travesty. We may flower it up with a cup win but its the league that truly matters.

Way too difficult and way to early to call but if I were pushed. Sheffield. Sadly.

[iginla]

Why has everybody suddenly come around to my way of thinking ?
Last few weeks you were all digging at me for being ultra negative and now you've all suddenly changed course..........Janssen wasn't THAT important !

I don't get this poor Sheffield defence either,maybe it's not the best,but i reckon it's better than they had last year.

[ted logan]

Aug 16, 2016 19:43:09 GMT iginla said:

Why has everybody suddenly come around to my way of thinking ?
Last few weeks you were all digging at me for being ultra negative and now you've all suddenly changed course..........Janssen wasn't THAT important !

I don't get this poor Sheffield defence either,maybe it's not the best,but i reckon it's better than they had last year.

Its all about opinions Iggy and I like a lot of the stuff you post on here but I'm not sure what point your making here?

This is pretty much the first thread purely aimed at gauging peoples opinions who they think will win the league. Nobody has previously posted that we will win the league and nobody has said Sheffield will win it because we've lost #55.

Who knows? I'm a betting man but I'm parting with nowt on this league!

[iginla]

Aug 16, 2016 19:50:03 GMT ted logan said:

Aug 16, 2016 19:43:09 GMT iginla said:

Why has everybody suddenly come around to my way of thinking ?
Last few weeks you were all digging at me for being ultra negative and now you've all suddenly changed course..........Janssen wasn't THAT important !

I don't get this poor Sheffield defence either,maybe it's not the best,but i reckon it's better than they had last year.

Its all about opinions Iggy and I like a lot of the stuff you post on here but I'm not sure what point your making here?

This is pretty much the first thread purely aimed at gauging peoples opinions who they think will win the league. Nobody has previously posted that we will win the league and nobody has said Sheffield will win it because we've lost #55.

Who knows? I'm a betting man but I'm parting with nowt on this league!

Just seems strange Ted.
I seemed to be pretty much the only one writing us off as not being good enough recently.

Then we lost Janssen but signed an excellent looking Dan Spang and all of a sudden most are now predicting 3rd,4th or 5th place,which is exactly what I was saying ?

[ted logan]

Aug 16, 2016 20:01:29 GMT iginla said:

Aug 16, 2016 19:50:03 GMT ted logan said:

Its all about opinions Iggy and I like a lot of the stuff you post on here but I'm not sure what point your making here?

This is pretty much the first thread purely aimed at gauging peoples opinions who they think will win the league. Nobody has previously posted that we will win the league and nobody has said Sheffield will win it because we've lost #55.

Who knows? I'm a betting man but I'm parting with nowt on this league!

Just seems strange Ted.
I seemed to be pretty much the only one writing us off as not being good enough recently.

Then we lost Janssen but signed an excellent looking Dan Spang and all of a sudden most are now predicting 3rd,4th or 5th place,which is exactly what I was saying ?

I honestly feel that with some long awaited luck on the injury front, we could go closer than you think.

The D is probably the strongest CN has assembled, Spang is an excellent pick up and won't be far off being the top dman in the league. In Wiikman we have arguably the best NM in the league, his fitness is key. I think it's the forwards where the greatest doubt lies. Having said that, if we can get two lines to click, have a strong checking line and get a quality replacement for Janssen then we could give it a real go.

On paper, yes, most people would pick Sheffield or maybe Devils. I'm not writing us off, way too early for that.

[PantherG]

No question Sheffield, unless Braehead can dominate the Gardiner Conference and steal some points down south. As much as I hate the Steelers they have an owner and an organisation that want to win at all costs, it is in their DNA, In my opinion we have an owner who wants to make a profit and already stated that this season the priority is a cup that only a small percentage of the fan base are interested in. Survey the majority of the fan base and they will tell you they want the league, sadly it feels that there is little appetite for that from the Club, for some bizarre reason! My interest in hockey is waning, I just don't feel hyped for this season at all, despite the fact I have bought a season ticket.

Mind you it could be worse, we could be Belfast fans, despite their Coach going ballistic week in week out and threatening changes to key players, they have re-signed the bulk of last seasons team and haven't replaced Peacock.

[dill1015]

Aug 16, 2016 19:43:09 GMT iginla said:

Why has everybody suddenly come around to my way of thinking ?
Last few weeks you were all digging at me for being ultra negative and now you've all suddenly changed course..........Janssen wasn't THAT important !

I don't get this poor Sheffield defence either,maybe it's not the best,but i reckon it's better than they had last year.

I think Steelers defense and our forwards might in a similar position in terms of comparing to last years teams. I would say both are probably a downgrade on paper, but are possibley going to perform better on the ice.

Steelers defence was awful in the first half of last season. I remember all their fans calling for their heads. They weren't exactly desparate to re-resign them all.

Our forwards also went through large dry spells last season. Which on paper they shouldn't have.

Steelers have clearly spent heavily upfront this year. But dont look to me to have brough in the same quality of dman as ourselves and Cardiff. I think their season will largely depend on Moose.

[Doom]

It should be Braehead. Whilst 4 well matched teams in our Conference are battering each other night after night, on paper Braehead should be getting a much easier ride against inferior opponents. With the roster they had Braehead should have walked it last year, you'd assume one year they'll actually get it right.

For me it's:

1. Braehead
2. Sheffield
3. Cardiff
4. Nottingham
5. Belfast
6. Fife
7. Coventry
8. Manchester
9. Dundee
10 Edinburgh

As last season though, I really think any one of the top 5 is capable of winning it. I would have written Belfast off a couple of weeks ago, but their recent signings are top notch.

I think you folks have the best defence/netminding combination, but I'm not convinced by your forwards.

I think we(Steelers)look very strong in attack and have a very good netminder, but I'm not convinced by our defence.

Regards

Doom