As you can tell by my name I am a New York Islanders fan and proud of it. This isnt the days where they could never get the players. They lost alot in the off season, but I have seen them play this season and honestly they look more like a team then last year. Nolan is a great coach, they need to work on defense a bit, DiPietro has been awesome so far. They are this gritty team that battles along the boards to win pucks. Got to love a team like that
Underrated team right now I would say has to be the Minnesota Wild, good team, good goaltending, but in a conference that holds Teams from Canada, California and of course Detroit and Colorado, they dont get much attention
Havent though of a player yet, we will see as the year goes on
2007-10-11 07:00:42 · 14 answers · asked by James P 2 in Sports ➔ Hockey
Minnesota Wild
Corey Perry
2007-10-11 09:06:55 · answer #1 · answered by shotgunmerc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It won't last much longer if they keep up their success, but the Islanders look to be underrated coming in to the season. I doubt many picked them to make the playoffs. To be fair, there were lots of shuffles so it's hard to know what to expect from such a team.
In order to know which players are underrated you have to watch them closely. I'm a Habs fan, so my pick for player is Andrei Markov. When he's missed games in the past, the mediocrity of their defense became ever more apparent. The team can't win without him. It was way more important to have brought him back then Souray.
Finally, surprising teams, for now is a tie between the 3-0 Capitals and Wild. GF vs GA is 7-2 and 6-2 respectively for those teams. Backstrom was expected to be that good, and Lemaire is often called the best active coach. Still, what a start. For the Capitals however 2 goals against in 3 games is a complete surprise. Their offense was what was expected to keep them competitive.
Very tough question. It took some thinking for sure.
2007-10-11 09:25:48 · answer #2 · answered by AJCrocks 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Underrated Team- Minnesota Wild
Underrated Player- Jason Spezza
Surprising Player- Olaf Kolzig
2007-10-12 12:25:55 · answer #3 · answered by master of disasters 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Underrated Team: Chicago
- I'm not being a homer here. But this tem has a lot of young talent, and in back to back games against powerhouse teams like Detroit and San Jose, they have played a lot better than last year. I'm not sure they are good enough to make the playoffs in the west, but over the long haul, I think they can battle for 2nd in their division with Nashville and St. Louis.
Underrated Player: Mike Comrie
- Mike Comrie is an excellent player who has a bit of an attitude, but he knows how to play hockey. The Islanders provide him an excellent chance to be an on-ice leader and I expect Nolan and Guerin to keep him in line as well. He's 'floated' around the NHL the last few years and 'washing' up on the island may be the best thing that has happened to him in a while.
2007-10-11 07:49:34 · answer #4 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Underrated team: St. Louis Blues
Underrated player: Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres
2007-10-11 08:09:55 · answer #5 · answered by J Z 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Underrated team: Columbus, won't make the playoffs, but they have some good talent and get little to no respect.
The Hockey News predicted that the Wild would have the 5th best record in the West this season and they had the best defense in the entire NHL last season, so I can't really say I didn't see their strong start coming.
Underrated goal scorers: Nathan Horton, Brad Boyes
Underrated set-up men: Martin Erat, Ales Hemsky
Underrated defensemen: Brent Burns, Shea Weber
Who has surprised me so far: Roberto Luongo. 4.22GAA and an .863 save %. I know its early, but he has not looked solid at all.
2007-10-11 07:23:57 · answer #6 · answered by Zam 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I've got to agree with you - I think the Wild are the most underrated team so far. They are undefeated so far (granted, there have only played 3 games so far), but they have been put towards the bottom of almost everybody's lists and are all picked towards the bottom of the Northwest.
With a great defense, an strong offense (assuming Gabby can stay healthy), and Backstrom playing like he has been, I think they stand a great chance to make a great run.
2007-10-11 11:28:04 · answer #7 · answered by bluecrew_17 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmmm.. there's a lot that I could say but I will pick a team with lots of veterans.
Dallas Stars... always on the bottom of predictions and always makes the playoffs. And always is a contender for their division leader (and has only lost it twice I think since they won the Cup). They are only one of a handful of teams in the last eight or ten years that has broken 100 pts consecutively... but always forgotten.
Turco is extremely underrated when there are discussions about the top goaltenders... Zubov and Lehtinen are rarely discussed at all. A lot of fans don't know about Brenden Morrow but every coach in the league knows him.
Its a quiet group but very successful... totally under the radar when we have these kind of discussions.
Underrated player? I always get bit in the *** on this one. But I have always liked Steve Sullivan. Of course, he won't be playing for awhile so I'd say Doug Weight.
2007-10-11 07:35:44 · answer #8 · answered by cattledog 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'll say the whole Central Division minus the Red Wings.
They are all looking good at the moment.
Columbus, St Louis, and Chicago are suposed to all out suck, I haven't seen that yet.
And Nashville was supposed to fall off the face of the Hockey world, but IMO they haven't.
Not too sure on the player yet though.
2007-10-11 08:41:06 · answer #9 · answered by Wings Fan! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
underrated team - Blue Jackets
underated player- Johan Holmqvist
2007-10-12 04:56:06 · answer #10 · answered by Dennis Y 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋