Hockey

[shadows]

I did a Search for NHL or hockey and I didn't see any threads dedicated to this topic yet, so...

Just wondering if there are any other hockey(NHL or any other League/International format) fans here?

I am a huge Toronto Maple Leaf fan(even though they suck horribly this year!) and have been since the Tom Watt era. I admit that it has been hard to watch them at times since it has been a long time since they've even been a real threat to win the Stanley Cup, but they are my team. I've gotta stick by them through thick and thin.

Anyone else surprised at how good the Colorado Avalance are doing this year?

[transjen]

I love the only hockey team the maters THE FLYERS
Jerseygirl Jen

[shadows]

Originally Posted by transjen

I love the only hockey team the maters THE FLYERS
Jerseygirl Jen

Hello Jen. With your nickname being Jerseygirl Jen I would have figured you to be a Devils fan. LOL!

The Flyers are a rival in the East, so I cannot say that I root for them very much. However, I have Scott Hartnell in my Hockey Pool so I hope he does well.:D

I'm glad to see they gave Ray Emery another chance as I felt he got a raw deal in Ottawa(one of the teams I won't root for.

It's hard to root for a team that is 1-8-1. Er...go Leafs go?

[transjen]

Jersey is an odd state with two differnt halves NORTH JERSEY and SOUTH JERSEY those who live in North Jersey are for the Giants and Devils and Mets while those who live in South Jersey are for the Eagles, Flyers and Phillies and as you can guess i live in South Jersey which is very close to Phillie
Oh did i forget to mention that the Flyers had the greatest center ever one Bobby Clark
Jerseygirl Jen

[shadows]

Originally Posted by transjen

Jersey is an odd state with two differnt halves NORTH JERSEY and SOUTH JERSEY those who live in North Jersey are for the Giants and Devils and Mets while those who live in South Jersey are for the Eagles, Flyers and Phillies and as you can guess i live in South Jersey which is very close to Phillie
Oh did i forget to mention that the Flyers had the greatest center ever one Bobby Clark
Jerseygirl Jen

I never saw Bobby Clark as a player, but I have seen him as the GM of the Flyers. Quite a character.:D

A little off topic, but does that mean you are a Phillies fan as well? I am a Toronto Blue Jays fan(Ouch. Thank goodness J.P. Riccardi is GONE!), but I am rooting for the Phillies to beat the Evil Empire this year(plus Matt Stairs, a good Canuck, has been on the team for the past season and a half)!

As a further off topic, if that is you in your Avatar, you are a very lovely woman Jen.

[transjen]

He was a much better player then he is as a GM
Yeap i'm a Phillies fan and yes i rember 93
And yes that's little old me
Jerseygirl Jen

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

......I am a huge Toronto Maple Leaf fan(even though they suck horribly this year!).....

It's not just this year.


Montreal - the best ever NHL team. They've been my favourite since forever.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

It's not just this year.


Montreal - the best ever NHL team. They've been my favourite since forever.

Awwww, why did you have to go and insult my team? LOL! It's fine. Friendly rivalries are good for the game.

I will say that Montreal needs to treat their goalies a little better(the same can be said for the Leafs somewhat), as they put so much pressure on their young goalies that they crack. Look at Huet for example. He was touted as the next Patrick Roy(very tough shoes to fill, even though he is kind of a tool off the ice) and when he couldn't handle all the pressure he started to falter. They ended up dumping him for Carey Price, but I can't help but see the same things happening to him. Halak can be good, but I don't think he's a first string goalie(better than Toskala though, LOL, but even a cardboard cutout would be as well).

Besides the goalie problem, they don't have the size. They got some good talent in the offseason(Cammalleri mainly, as I don't see Gomez doing great things), but they don't have size. They will probably make the playoffs, but I don't think they'll make it to the finals due to the grueling nature of the playoffs. Myself, I just hope we don't end up giving Boston a #1 pick in the next draft!

As a Montreal fan, what do you think of the prospect of Quebec getting another team(which is what it sounds like will probably happen)? Another Canadian team would be a good thing, and I think that Quebec could handle another NHL team.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

.....I will say that Montreal needs to treat their goalies a little better(the same can be said for the Leafs somewhat), as they put so much pressure on their young goalies that they crack. Look at Huet for example. He was touted as the next Patrick Roy(very tough shoes to fill, even though he is kind of a tool off the ice) and when he couldn't handle all the pressure he started to falter. They ended up dumping him for Carey Price, but I can't help but see the same things happening to him.

You're right, Montreal tends to eat their goalies as soon as they don't live up to expectations. I'm going to say something sacreligious; I was never a fan of Patrick Roy. I thought that he was too full of himself.

Originally Posted by shadows

Halak can be good, but I don't think he's a first string goalie(better than Toskala though, LOL, but even a cardboard cutout would be as well).

Now that gave me a good laugh too.

Originally Posted by shadows

As a Montreal fan, what do you think of the prospect of Quebec getting another team(which is what it sounds like will probably happen)? Another Canadian team would be a good thing, and I think that Quebec could handle another NHL team.

It's going to be either Quebec City or Winnipeg that gets a team. I think Quebec may have the edge as they have a bigger arena. I would really rather see Hamilton get a team before either of those cities. Hamilton will support a team at least as well as Toronto. I think it's a shame the way Jim Balsillie was treated by the league.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

You're right, Montreal tends to eat their goalies as soon as they don't live up to expectations. I'm going to say something sacreligious; I was never a fan of Patrick Roy. I thought that he was too full of himself.



Now that gave me a good laugh too.



It's going to be either Quebec City or Winnipeg that gets a team. I think Quebec may have the edge as they have a bigger arena. I would really rather see Hamilton get a team before either of those cities. Hamilton will support a team at least as well as Toronto. I think it's a shame the way Jim Balsillie was treated by the league.

It's nice seeing other fans of hockey here. I hope that some other fans will decide to talk about their favourite(or most hated) teams besides yourself and Jen(I am enjoying both your posts here, though, so please keep them up!). So far the three of us root for Eastern teams. Are there any Western fans here?

Thanks for your honesty about Patrick Roy. I didn't want to say anything too bad about him just in case(bad first impression and all that:D). I don't like how he treated Montreal at the end(wahhhhhh! You left me in for all those goals. I want a trade...after a soother please). Good goalie but a true basket case at times.

I'm glad that I was able to give you a laugh, Ila. Normally, all Toskala does is give us fans heartburn when we have a 1-goal lead so it's a welcome change.:D

I feel that Basillie would have gotten a team if he hadn't been so mercenary about it all. Continually trying to snatch teams and move them to Hamilton was probably not the best way to go about things(especially with Bettman's huge((and fragile)) ego), and I am sure he realized that near the end of Baum's decision process. Will he get a team someday? I hope so, as his passion would be good for the team. I think either Bettman has to go, or Basillie mends his fences with the other owners before that will happen.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

It's nice seeing other fans of hockey here. I hope that some other fans will decide to talk about their favourite(or most hated) teams besides yourself and Jen(I am enjoying both your posts here, though, so please keep them up!). So far the three of us root for Eastern teams. Are there any Western fans here?

I'm an outwester. It's amazing how many westerners are Montreal fans.

Originally Posted by shadows

Thanks for your honesty about Patrick Roy. I didn't want to say anything too bad about him just in case(bad first impression and all that:D). I don't like how he treated Montreal at the end(wahhhhhh! You left me in for all those goals. I want a trade...after a soother please). Good goalie but a true basket case at times.

I'm still laughing over that comment. A lot of people I know were saying the same thing.

Originally Posted by shadows

I feel that Basillie would have gotten a team if he hadn't been so mercenary about it all. Continually trying to snatch teams and move them to Hamilton was probably not the best way to go about things(especially with Bettman's huge((and fragile)) ego), and I am sure he realized that near the end of Baum's decision process. Will he get a team someday? I hope so, as his passion would be good for the team. I think either Bettman has to go, or Basillie mends his fences with the other owners before that will happen.

According to some reports that I read it was less than a year ago the other owners thought that Balsillie would be a good team owner. He's always been upfront about his intentions to move a team to Hamilton. I really think that the NHL has to change their thinking. They should be moving back to where their fan base is, not trying to expand into the sunbelt where hockey is a foreign sport.

[Hourglass]

Definite hockey fan, here. In fact it's the only sport I follow (unless you count surfing, which isn't a sport so much as a lifestyle )

Why, oh, why did it have to be an Major League Soccer team Seattle got? Why not pro hockey? I'd have loved an NHL team in Seattle.

[purplehead]

A tough time for Philadelphia fans.

First, the Phillies lose to the "Evil Empire" Bronx Bombers.

Then, the Eagles lose on national TV to "America's Team" and the annual winner of the NFL's "Most Popular" and "Most Hated" team-the Dallas Cowboys.

Wow!

[ila]

shadows, what do you think of Gretzky's decision not to go to the Hall of Fame dinner. As I write this I haven't heard of any change yet. Some sports writers are saying it is a slap to Bettman and a rebuke to the NHL.

I think Bettman has to go. The NHL should also move the head office to either Toronto or Montreal. It's time we took back our game.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

shadows, what do you think of Gretzky's decision not to go to the Hall of Fame dinner. As I write this I haven't heard of any change yet. Some sports writers are saying it is a slap to Bettman and a rebuke to the NHL.

I think Bettman has to go. The NHL should also move the head office to either Toronto or Montreal. It's time we took back our game.

I think that Gretzky is showing what he thinks of Bettman, and deservedly so. Bettman only looks for ways to stroke his ego and makes decisions that will make him look like a genius(which fails more often than not as he always seems to fall flat on his face) no matter how little sense it really makes.

Bettman(and in turn, the NHL) screwed Gretzky royally over the whole Phoenix fiasco. Phoenix is NOT a hockey market, and having only 6000 fans show up for a game when the team is playing great is not a way to show everyone else around the US/Canada that it is a viable market. Bettman's "deal" does not give Gretzky one penny, and that smacks of getting "thrown under the bus" to me. Some can say "Oh, but Gretzky makes millions of dollars he shouldn't complain about money!", but they are totally wrong. How would they feel if a troll named Bettman said that a bid that would allow everyone to get their money was not going to be allowed and that only the ones that HE wanted would be accepted? They would be mighty pissed off, I would think. Hence, Gretzky's reaction. And good on him. I agree with him 100%.

I will say that I do not have a problem with hockey teams being in the US(as there are a lot of good teams with great fans...such as the Flyers and their fans), but I do have problems with teams being in a city with either a poor or non-existant fan base. If there is no market for a team in a city, then why not move it? Bettman had no problem moving Canadian teams to the US, so why does he have such a hard-on about moving a team back to Canada? We all know that Bettman is just biding his time and then will move the Coyotes to either Las Vegas or Kansas like he has always planned on doing(and mark my words, Jerry Reinsdorf will be the owner. Talk about shady dealings!). Bettman is a good example of "little man" syndrome. Ugh.

I hope I didn't forget to say anything.:D

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

I will say that I do not have a problem with hockey teams being in the US(as there are a lot of good teams with great fans...such as the Flyers and their fans), but I do have problems with teams being in a city with either a poor or non-existant fan base. If there is no market for a team in a city, then why not move it? Bettman had no problem moving Canadian teams to the US, so why does he have such a hard-on about moving a team back to Canada? We all know that Bettman is just biding his time and then will move the Coyotes to either Las Vegas or Kansas like he has always planned on doing(and mark my words, Jerry Reinsdorf will be the owner. Talk about shady dealings!). Bettman is a good example of "little man" syndrome. Ugh.

I don't have any problem with NHL teams being in the US. There are some very good and viable markets, especially in the northern states. When I said that we should take our game back I was only referring to moving the head office back to Canada. The NHL should be run out of Canada not out of NYC.

[ila]

Originally Posted by interal

I agree with you Canada would be a more sensible place to have a team, would Toronto be favourites? I am surprised there isnt a team in Canada already.

I would not want to ever see the NFL in Canada. The NFL plays the most boring game in the world and the commentators are twice or even three times as boring. There is no other game in the world in which one hour of playing time results in 3-1/2 to 4 hours of actual time. The last five minutes of an NFL game can take up to a half hour to play. It especially pisses me off when I'm waiting to watch 60 minutes and the game isn't even close to being over.

Canadian football is a much better and more exciting game. The field is longer and wider, the ball is bigger, and there are fewer downs. Unfortunately there are too many coaches and players that have infiltrated the CFL and ruined our game.

It is interesting to note that although the NFL has never made it into Canada, the CFL did have teams in the US.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

I would not want to ever see the NFL in Canada. The NFL plays the most boring game in the world and the commentators are twice or even three times as boring. There is no other game in the world in which one hour of playing time results in 3-1/2 to 4 hours of actual time. The last five minutes of an NFL game can take up to a half hour to play. It especially pisses me off when I'm waiting to watch 60 minutes and the game isn't even close to being over.

I have to add basketball to this, Ila. The last five minutes of the fourth quarter can take almost a 1/2 hour!

[transjen]

Originally Posted by shadows

I have to add basketball to this, Ila. The last five minutes of the fourth quarter can take almost a 1/2 hour!

I agree with you about basketball, i never liked it To me watchibg basketball should be deemed as cruel and unusall punishment
Jerseygirl Jen

[shadows]

Originally Posted by transjen

I agree with you about basketball, i never liked it To me watchibg basketball should be deemed as cruel and unusall punishment
Jerseygirl Jen

Jen, I will be sure to never force you to watch a basketball game, as I could never do anything cruel to you.

[k.sucks.you]

Sharks!
Our year!
:-)

[shadows]

Originally Posted by k.sucks.you

Sharks!
Our year!
:-)

Welcome to the forums!

They are playing very well this year(so far), but we should wait and see how they perform in the playoffs before we will know for sure. Even as a fan, you will probably agree that they have a habit of playing badly in the playoffs.

[shadows]

Okay. Here are the scores. I will place the Devils score at the very bottome of the post with ***DEVIL'S GAME SPOILERS*** above and below it so that dauls can watch the game unaware of the outcome. Allrighty, here we go!

1. Florida beat Boston in the shootout, 1-0. Boston lost, but Thomas still got the shutout(his second in a row!) unfortunately for me and my chances in the pool. Sounds like it was a boring game, at least if the score is any indication.

2. (For Jen) Philadelphia kicked Ottawa's ass, 5-1! I thought it was going to be a close game once Ottawa tied it up, but Philly just pulled away. I'll bet Emery had an extra large smile on his face when this one was completed.

3. Atlanta beat the Rangers 5-3. Darn it Lundqvist! Start playing better! You have yet to give me a point since I traded away Cam Ward to get you. Grumble, grumble.

4. Tampa Bay beat Minnesota 4-3 in the....wait for it....are you reading Ila and Jen....the SHOOTOUT! Yay! Or not.

5. Detroit beat Vancouver 3-1. Dang it! Another goalie that didn't give me points tonight! Play better Vancouver(or at least win please!).

6. Nashville beat St. Louis 3-1. I can't say I care about either of these teams, so...moving on......

7. (For Ila) Montreal beat Phoenix 4-2. While I am happy for you Ila, I wanted Phoenix to win(and get the shutout) just for the fact that I have Bryzgalov in my pool(and would have gotten 7 points for that!).

8. Dallas beat San Jose 3-2 in the shootout. Hmmmm. Another shootout tonight? Well, I am happy that Dallas won since too many other people in the pool have Nabokov and if he had gotten the shutout(like I thought he was going to during the third period) I would have been down even more points! The new member that posted their first post in this thread won't be too happy with that final score, I would imagine.

And finally, game number 9!


***DEVIL'S GAME SPOILER***












The Devil's won 4-1. They played well again. 9-0(or is it 10-0?) on the road now. Congratulations dauls.








***DEVIL'S GAME SPOILER ENDS***

[dauls]

Originally Posted by shadows

Okay. Here are the scores. I will place the Devils score at the very bottome of the post with ***DEVIL'S GAME SPOILERS*** above and below it so that dauls can watch the game unaware of the outcome. Allrighty, here we go!

~~~

***DEVIL'S GAME SPOILER ENDS***

A thorough game summary shadows. Thanks for the ***SPOILER***, but if I'd gotten that far before I'd seen the game I don't think I'd have had the self control to stop myself from scrolling any further down, especially trailing 1-0 at the end of the 1st period.

That's 9-0-0 on the road, and a win streak of 7. A good start to the season, but they've only played 17 games, a long way to go before worring about the Devils in the Stanley Cup ruining my sleep.

Probably be a month before the Devils appear on ESPN in the UK again.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by dauls

A thorough game summary shadows. Thanks for the ***SPOILER***, but if I'd gotten that far before I'd seen the game I don't think I'd have had the self control to stop myself from scrolling any further down, especially trailing 1-0 at the end of the 1st period.

That's 9-0-0 on the road, and a win streak of 7. A good start to the season, but they've only played 17 games, a long way to go before worring about the Devils in the Stanley Cup ruining my sleep.

Probably be a month before the Devils appear on ESPN in the UK again.

Does that mean I should skip the spoiler warning next time?:D

They are clicking right now, big time! Zach Parise is proving that last season was not a fluke. He can challenge for the lead in scoring, and all of this with a Devil's team that is built to play low-scoring games due to a defense-first mindset.

[k.sucks.you]

Originally Posted by shadows

Welcome to the forums!

They are playing very well this year(so far), but we should wait and see how they perform in the playoffs before we will know for sure. Even as a fan, you will probably agree that they have a habit of playing badly in the playoffs.

I don't blame anyone telling the Sharks: "We won't worry about you until the playoffs". For sure they deserve to hear that 1000 times. :-)

Nevertheless, we've retained or added to the offensive firepower from last year. We've also added grittiness, toughness, and intensity.

It rubs both directions. Our top lines are acting more gritty; fewer shots, but more checking and grinding. Our third and fourth line start trying to score. All four lines can score against anyone now.

On top of our game, we're hands down the best in the league. There's still occasional bonehead mistakes, and this magical dust that seems to come and go (as in all sports).

If the Sharks spend the rest of the regular season, not winning games, but learning how to be consistent, it's our year!

[Tbone]

Nice to see a busy thread about what is unfortunately a minority sport in the UK.

Flyers fan since the '97-'98 season, the first season that channel Five (in UK) started showing live hockey. They pulled their coverage at the end of last season. But with no ESPN I've lost my hockey, even if it's on in the early hours of the morning.

Q:Why the Flyers? A: Eric Lindros and all the hype.
A student from Montreal moved into the flat next door to me about 15 years ago. He played hockey and always moaned that he couldn't watch NHL in the UK. He also said he'd played with Eric Lindros when he was younger - at the time Lindros was just about the only player apart from Wayne Gretzky I knew.
Eric Lindros was the big Philadelphia story I couldn't avoid when I was there in 1992. When it was eventually confirmed that he'd joined the Flyers, the Philadelphia media made it sound like the Flyers had signed 'the new Gretzky'. I suppose I now realise their joy in beating the Rangers to his signature.
When Five started showing hockey I picked the Flyers to catch Lindros. Was Lindros worth all the fuss? Clearly the Avalanche benefitted from the trade. Did it cost the Flyers a Cup? Oh, the ifs and maybes of sport.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by Tbone

Nice to see a busy thread about what is unfortunately a minority sport in the UK.

Flyers fan since the '97-'98 season, the first season that channel Five (in UK) started showing live hockey. They pulled their coverage at the end of last season. But with no ESPN I've lost my hockey, even if it's on in the early hours of the morning.

Q:Why the Flyers? A: Eric Lindros and all the hype.
A student from Montreal moved into the flat next door to me about 15 years ago. He played hockey and always moaned that he couldn't watch NHL in the UK. He also said he'd played with Eric Lindros when he was younger - at the time Lindros was just about the only player apart from Wayne Gretzky I knew.
Eric Lindros was the big Philadelphia story I couldn't avoid when I was there in 1992. When it was eventually confirmed that he'd joined the Flyers, the Philadelphia media made it sound like the Flyers had signed 'the new Gretzky'. I suppose I now realise their joy in beating the Rangers to his signature.
When Five started showing hockey I picked the Flyers to catch Lindros. Was Lindros worth all the fuss? Clearly the Avalanche benefitted from the trade. Did it cost the Flyers a Cup? Oh, the ifs and maybes of sport.

Hello Tbone! Nice to see another face in the Hockey thread(well, other sports too, so if you have another sport you want to talk about, feel free!).

[transjen]

Originally Posted by Tbone

Q:Why the Flyers? A: Eric Lindros and all the hype.
A student from Montreal moved into the flat next door to me about 15 years ago. He played hockey and always moaned that he couldn't watch NHL in the UK. He also said he'd played with Eric Lindros when he was younger - at the time Lindros was just about the only player apart from Wayne Gretzky I knew.
Eric Lindros was the big Philadelphia story I couldn't avoid when I was there in 1992. When it was eventually confirmed that he'd joined the Flyers, the Philadelphia media made it sound like the Flyers had signed 'the new Gretzky'. I suppose I now realise their joy in beating the Rangers to his signature.
When Five started showing hockey I picked the Flyers to catch Lindros. Was Lindros worth all the fuss? Clearly the Avalanche benefitted from the trade. Did it cost the Flyers a Cup? Oh, the ifs and maybes of sport.

And to think we lost a damn good up and coming player at the rime Peter Frosberg for Lindros But on the plus side he packed em in at the home games and the team racked up hugh jersey sales in the end i wouldn't say they got burned as he had a some what decent career but he'c no hall of famer
Jerseygirl Jen

[shadows]

Originally Posted by k.sucks.you

I don't blame anyone telling the Sharks: "We won't worry about you until the playoffs". For sure they deserve to hear that 1000 times. :-)

Nevertheless, we've retained or added to the offensive firepower from last year. We've also added grittiness, toughness, and intensity.

It rubs both directions. Our top lines are acting more gritty; fewer shots, but more checking and grinding. Our third and fourth line start trying to score. All four lines can score against anyone now.

On top of our game, we're hands down the best in the league. There's still occasional bonehead mistakes, and this magical dust that seems to come and go (as in all sports).

If the Sharks spend the rest of the regular season, not winning games, but learning how to be consistent, it's our year!

As much as it hurts for me to say it(as I do not have any respect for Heatley for what he did to Ottawa, and I'm not even an Ottawa fan!), but Heatley has changed that team for the better. He gives a huge offensive boost to an already offensively-heavy roster. One thing I wonder about is whether the layoff for the Olympics will slow down any of the hot teams?

And how about Dan Boyle? 22 points for a D-man! I'm glad I've got him in my pool. I think he will be able to keep up the pace all year and win the Norris(if he can keep his +/- respectable).

SJ Sharks baby! They disappoint every year in the playoffs, but I love em anyway