The Canucks are looking very flat tonight. What is it with them and Game 5's? Every game 5 this post-season has been the same thing...the Canucks playing horribly!:rolleyes:

It is currently 2-1 San Jose with 13:12 left in the third period.

And Vancouver is going to the STANLEY CUP FINALS!!!!!!

A goal by Kevin Bieksa in the 2nd overtime ended the game. I can't take anything away from the Sharks as they played a great series(except for the 7-3 game) and gave the Canucks a battle!

Luongo played great, particularly in both OTs, as did Niemi. It is a shame that the game ended on a weird bounce, but I am happy that the bounce went the way of the Canuck's.:):yes::)

Both Thornton and Kesler played great, especially due to the fact that they were both playing injured. You could tell that the refs put the whistles away after the third period as there were a few that weren't called(for both sides).

Congratulations to the Vancouver Canucks, and I hope that you will face Boston in the Finals!:)

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 4. That was a tough one to watch.

I still think the Bruins will pull it out. Game 7, Friday, in Boston.

:no: Boston should have finished them off in game five instead of letting them hang around my Penguins did the same stupid thing Tampa should have been sent home to the golfcourse a long time ago
They should deem the no souther team should be allowed in the playoffs to start with
Playing hockey in 90 degree temps is just wrong
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

Well, you already know that I agree with you on everything above, although I would go further and say that there should be no southern teams so that your rule doesn't have to apply.

It's supposed to hit 90 in Boston on Monday, and in the 80s over the weekend, by the way.

I think a couple of positives can be taken from the game. One, Roloson let in 4 goals on 20 shots, so he is still shaky in net. Two, David Krejci scored a hat trick, and is on a tear.

I think Boston will prevail. Game #7 is in Boston, so the Bruins should be able to feed off the energy of the fans.

Two hours and fify-four minutes until the puck drops! The suspense is killing me.

Be sure to post in this thread once the game is over so we know the suspense wasn't successful.;)

Last night i had the most horriable nightmare
Tampa wins the Stanley Cup
:eek: Penguinsfan Jen

I'm exhausted just from watching the first period. Even my television is sweating bullets!

Wow, what an awesome hockey game.

Vancouver, here we come!!

Congratulations, Boston. I wanted Boston to win and they came through in a hard fought, exciting, and fast game.

I think Vancouver will have the advantage in the finals as they've had more time to rest throughout the playoffs. Luongo is playing great. Tim Thomas must be feeling quite tired by now. He hasn't had a game off since the playoffs began. Still, it's not going to be easy to get a puck past Thomas. Nor will it be easy to get past Luongo.

Then again the only prediction that has worked out for me so far this year is that Boston will win the East.

Thankfully your nightmare won't come true (at least this year).

While I am rooting for Vancouver to win, it should be an excellent series to watch! I can't wait for it to start.:)

I assume you are rooting for Vancouver because it is a Canadian team. If so, I remind you that I rooted for Canada in the Olympics (and made that known here). Just as I believe that Canada's connection with hockey merits and Olympic Gold Medal, so too does Boston's status as an Original 6 team merit a Stanley Cup and being rooted for when one's own team is not a contender.

I went back to look at my predictions for this past season and I had predicted that Boston would beat Montreal in the playoffs, not that Boston would win. Still, I'm glad that Boston did win the East after eliminating Montreal.

Is there still hockey going on? I just spent the last week in Oklahoma City for work. As far as your thread about which cities don't deserve hockey. This place should be the top of the list. Lots of hotels don't have Versus, but you couldn't even get it in the bars. All televisions were set to watch the OK City Thunder vs Dallas Mavericks. As far as US cities where they should add a team, how about Seattle? If would be a natural rival for Vancouver, and Seattle is home to the first US team to win the Stanley Cup. The Seattle Metropolitans won the cup in 1917 and were in the finals two other years.

To accept Seattle would subvert my basic criterion, which is that there must be a place for kids to play pond hockey (outside, obviously) when they're growing up. That is the basis for the hockey culture that exists in the deserving cities. That being said, I could be persuaded to accept Seattle because of its longitude, for a price. ;)

I just had to share this picture of Zdeno Chara (6'9") and Martin St. Louis (5'8").

Winnipeg has an NHL team again. The Thrashers have been sold and are moving to a city that deserves an NHL team. Apparently the new name is still unknown, but I hope that the owners keep the Jets name. It may not be original, but it is well known.

Happy dance as another southern hockey teams folds and moves north where they should have been to start with

Anywho ILA i dout Jets will be in the running mainly due to the Coyts still own that name and still have the Jets records and states as part of there teams history so the Jets are a piece of hockey history and will not return to Winnipeg
:cool: Penguinsfan Jen

Definitely a happy dance, Jen, and for the reason that you mentioned.

From what I've been able to find out, the NHL owns the Jets name and logo and not Phoenix.

I didn't know that, i just assumed that Phoenix retained the the rights to the Jets name and logo

Ithink Jets would be most peoples choice but Phoenix may raise a fuss about them naming them the Jets
:yes:Penguinsfan Jen

How's this for fast? On the "Winnipeg" page on Wikipedia:

"On May 31, 2011, Mark Chipman of True North Sports & Entertainment announced the NHL's return to Winnipeg with the purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers from Atlanta Spirit, LLC, May 2011."

Can the Qubec Lightening be far behind
and can Phoenix become the Hartford Roadrunners

:innocent: Penguinsfan Jen

I don't see the return of the NHL to Hartford any time soon.

^^^^OK how about the Halifax Roadrunners?
:yes:Penguinsfan Jen

Now that I'd like to see! I like the way you're thinking, Jen!

I love Halifax -- it's one of my favorite cities in North America. And there should be an NHL team somewhere in the Maritime Provinces. But I think they'd get a more Halifax-appropriate name. Perhaps the Halifax Citadels? (The Citadel is a famous fort in Halifax.) Or the Halifax Mariners?

Bob Ryan, a sports columnist for The Boston Globe, has a great piece in today's paper about Boston and its love affair with hockey, how despite decades of disappointment the Bruins were never too far from the top of the city's affections, and how the game has changed. It's a fun read.

Deep roots have kept us rooting


By Bob Ryan

The Old Guy was patient. The Old Guy knew you?d come around.

Yup, Old Man Hockey knew that deep down in your heart, lodged in the depth of your psyche, there resided a little round rubber disk, right next to that little white ball with the red stitches. Football and basketball have had their moments of glory during the past two decades, but Old Man Hockey knew that the two sports permanently embedded in the local DNA were baseball and, yes, hockey.

Old Man Hockey watched in sadness as other sports elbowed him to the side. But he had faith. He knew you just needed an excuse to reacquaint yourself with a sport that has extremely deep roots in these here parts.

And you have. There was only one dominant conversational topic in our town last Saturday morning.

?Did you see the game???

?Oh, what a game!??

?Best game I?ve seen in years!??

?Love that Tim Thomas!??

?Can?t beat that playoff hockey!??

Or variations thereof.

It has been 21 years since the Boston Bruins have even played for the Cup, and it has been 39 years since they actually won it. So much has changed, on and off the ice. Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito are in their 60s. Even Ray Bourque has hit 50.

There was no music blaring in the Old Garden, and not much in the way of video, either. There was just John Kiley, bringing the Bruins out to ?Paree?? and rousing the crowd during languid moments with such tunes as ?Mexican Hat Dance.??

When Johnny ?Chief?? Bucyk skated around the Garden with Lord Stanley?s Cup held aloft following that 1970 triumph, there may have been six people sporting Bruins garb. Friday night, at least 75 percent of the 17,565 breaking every decibel record in the newer building were wearing something black and gold, none of it cheap. Being a fan now calls for a far more substantial financial commitment than it did in Ye Olden Days. And we?re not even talking about the price of tickets.

The teams are surely different. The last Bruins team to win a Stanley Cup was led by a pair of extraordinary all-time talents who played a far different game. Phil Esposito led the league with 133 points (which sounded good until Wayne Gretzky came along). The incomparable Bobby Orr augmented his annual Norris Trophy with 117 points. The Chief, who played the regular season at a spry 36, had 83. Six other Bruins had more than 50 points.

That kind of firepower doesn?t exist anymore, anywhere. Milan Lucic was this team?s only 30-goal scorer, sharing the team scoring lead at a rather modest 62 points with David Krejci. Patrice Bergeron had 57 points. Nathan Horton had 53. So much for 50-point men.

But these guys know how to D-up, as we say in basketball. The Bruins led the Eastern Conference in fewest goals allowed with 195, and that?s the way coach Claude Julien likes it. The 1-0 Game 7 conquest of Tampa Bay represented Julien hockey at its finest. The top-to-bottom attention to detail was extraordinary. There were no sloppy passes, no careless puckhandling, and no letdown in forechecking.

It was all backed up by Thomas, whose circuitous route to the 2011 Stanley Cup finals included watching the entire 2010 playoffs from the bench. Troubled by a hip injury that would require offseason surgery and facing competition from young Tuukka Rask, he did not play a second in the playoffs a year after winning the Vezina Trophy. Now he has been nominated for a second Vezina Trophy and he is heading to his first Stanley Cup finals. As Mr. Shaughnessy likes to say, you can?t make this stuff up.

The last Bruins team to win a Stanley Cup was easy enough to like, consisting, as it did, of so many A students. But this bunch is lovable more for its collective strength and its downright vulnerability than for its stars. These guys study hard, but most of them are lucky if they can come up with a B. Only when they pull together can they get a lot done.

Well, yes, there is a star aside from Thomas. It?s hard not to notice Zdeno Chara when he?s on the ice. The 6-foot-9-inch Slovakian plays about 7-4 when you throw in his skates and his stick, which enables him to execute poke checks when the play has emanated from Downtown Crossing. He won the 2009 Norris Trophy, and he has received his third nomination this season.

It is a team with little margin for error, and it has arrived in the Cup finals with a large stain on its r?sum?. Most teams love power plays. Some thrive on them. The Bruins would be better off if they could adopt a football policy and refuse penalties. They perform much better at even strength.

They set a record in the opening round against Montreal by winning in seven games despite scoring no power-play goals. They enter the finals having gone 5 for 61 (including a five-on-three goal) on the power play. They were fortunate indeed in last Friday night?s Game 7 with Tampa Bay: no penalties were called.

But Bruins fans have learned to love them despite their flaws because the game they are playing is hockey and certain elements remain constant, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Your father loved hockey, and so did his father, and maybe even his father.

Detroit fancies itself ?Hockeytown??? What a laugh. There is only one ?Hockeytown?? in America, one town where the NHL has been going on since 1924, one town where high school hockey has an eight-decade tradition, one town where you can stage an annual college hockey tournament featuring four high-quality teams located within a 2-mile radius.

The Bruins are right in the center of this hockey consciousness, and have been since the ?20s. The first great NHL superstar was Eddie Shore, and guess where he played all those years? We had the great ?Kraut Line,?? champs just before WWII, and, of course, we had the Big Bad Bruins. We had Ray Bourque and Cam Neely.

Granted, it has been a frustrating 21 years for Bruins devotees. There has been a lot of teasing, and little fulfillment, since the 1992 team advanced to the conference finals, only to be slapped around by the mighty Penguins. Only a year ago, the Bruins suffered the most humiliating series loss in NHL history.

But you knew there was something good going on when this team pulled off a 6-0 road trip from Feb. 17 through March 1. That told you this team had an inner resolve other recent Bruins teams lacked. They showed that resolve again after losing Games 1 and 2 at home to Montreal. And here they are, playing the game you and your forefathers have always loved with spunk and heart.

Old Man Hockey knew you?d come around. All you needed was a reason to care.

I believe Bobby Orr and company really sparked Boston's love affair with hockey and that affair is still going strong

:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

The Red Sox yesterday changed the start time of Saturday's game from 7:00 pm to 1:00 pm so everyone could get home from the ballpark in time to watch the Bruins!

Wow! What a hockey game. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn't what I had hoped for, with Vancouver scoring with 18.5 seconds left in the third period.

By the way, Alex Burrows clearly bit Patrice Bergeron at the end of the 1st period, and it's hard to imagine a suspension not coming his way.

The video doesn't lie:

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2011/6/1...up-finals-2011

Tonights game was how i hope all the games go, i can careless who wins i just want to see a good game and not a blow out i loved seeing Bostons big guy doing a cartwheel on the ice and i think the player biteing another player is funny
All in all tonights game was enjoyable
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

Well, other than the actual outcome at the end, I could not agree more with the sentiment bolded in the quote from Jen above.

I honestly feel a little bad for the Atlanta fans. The NHL bends over backwards to try and protect the Coyotes(which is a waste of money as we all know) yet nary a word is uttered from the NHL to try and protect Atlanta.

Everyone knows that when one watches a hockey game finger food is one of the treats served at bars and homes everywhere.;):lol::p

He may get a fine, but I don't see him getting suspended for it(due to it being the Cup finals). It was bushleague on his part, but it's not like it hasn't happened before(didn't someone nibble on Savard's fingers a couple of years ago?). I can see (perhaps) biting if someone is trying to stick their fingers down your throat, but it looked like Burrows moved his head to perform his bite. Not cool.

As to the game, it was a very good game(from what I saw online as I was working). I think that Vancouver carried the play the back half of the third period and Boston was on their heels a little, but Tim Thomas was being Tim Thomas. He will deservedly win the Vezina this year. Even though it was a low scoring game, it was still full of excitement.

The damned refs better not try to dictate the flow of the game like they did in game #1. That was ridiculous!:rolleyes:

As the old saying goes, "Money talks."

I could not agree with you more.

Are you forgetting about Jim Balsillie? He tried to buy more than one NHL team and the league kept shutting down his plans. Balsillie's plans involved buying a team and moving that team to Hamilton. He had the money to buy the team, but because he wasn't on the approved list he could not buy anything.

I like to think that Jim Balsillie's rejection by the NHL was because of his membership in the Trilateral Commission. :lol:

Actually, come to think of it, perhaps the rejection of Balsillie was the first salvo in what I hope will become a generalized worldwide backlash against Blackberry (made by his company, Research In Motion) and all hand-held PDAs!

I'm pretty sure that that's not going to happen.

I'd still like to see Balsillie buy Carolina (the team and not the states) and move them to Hamilton.

I'm in favor of anyone buying Carolina and moving it north, even if it has to be state-by-state until it gets somewhere, anywhere into the "hockey zone" I have described in previous posts.

I hope the Phoenix Coyotes forever stay in the desert and rot. The citizens of Glendale can pay $30,000,000 and more each year to cover the Coyotes' losses because the NHL was too stubborn to sell the franchise and have it relocated to a city where it would actually make money instead of being a drain on the whole league.

This is the kind of mindless belligerence that results when you add ice or water or both to your glass of Jameson. Drink it straight, my friend! ;)

Oh, but I was drinking it straight.

My nastiness comes from the derogatory comments that some players made it looked like the team might move to Winnipeg. Some of those players come from the middle of Buttfuck, Nowhere, but they could only make nasty comments about the possibility of moving to Winnipeg. They are a bunch of spoiled arrogant jerks who make far too much money and a have a highly overrated opinion of their own self-worth.

Perhaps those players took one to many puck shots to the head, i know if i was a hockey player i'd rather play in a city who's people love and enjoy hockey rather then a city where they only care about the next WWE smackdown

:eek: Penguinsfan Jen

So, Jen, are you saying they are "pucked up" ? :lol:

Ilya Bryzgalov comes to mind. So you would rather play in Russia than Winnipeg?

Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out, jackass.:rolleyes:

Nevertheless, Bryzgalov played in the Russian Superleague and the Russian Supreme League. Whatever else one wants to say about playing in Russia, the names of those two leagues sure beat the crap out of "National Hockey League." ;)

Careful smc, even with the ;) smilie some people will think you were serious.;):lol:

I'm dead serious. We're talking only about names of the leagues here. Supreme and Super are so much cooler than National.

AMMNNN :no: :no: :no: :no:
:no: Penguinsfan Jen

What does "AMMNNN" mean?

Sorry it's Jersey slang for ummn
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

Seriously, you don't think it would be cool to be rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the, say, North American Super Supremo Hockey League? (Wait, that sounds like some kind of Mexican wrestling federation. :lol:)

I know that. However, some people would think that you were talking about the quality of the on-ice product.

Well, those people would have to presume that I am either a) an idiot, b) Russian, or c) both.

This must be from the same people who brought us the XFL
:eek: NHL Penguinsfan Jen

Happy dance time
The ratings for the stanley cup game one were better then the ratings for the NBA game one which here in the states is a great day
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

This is the internet. People using it tend to presume a lot.;):lol:

To be fair, Nathan Horton wasn't suspended for an action that had been suspendable before(squirting a water bottle and then throwing it into the stands). And who happened to score the game-winner in Game 7 vs Tampa Bay?;)

Unless Burrows bit his finger clean off, there wasn't going to be any suspension.:eek:

Another close game that could have gone either way(I was following it on someone's cellphone while at my sister's wedding reception). I think Tim Thomas made a serious error in judgement committing himself so much with Chara there to cut it off. I also think that he'll be able to shake that off and be a wall again in game #3. Plus, they'll be at home and the home crowd should get them into a frenzy.

It's been a great series so far! The refs were less prominent in game 2, and I am thankful for that.

And how great was it to see Manny Malhotra playing in game #2? For a while there, it didn't look like he may ever get a chance to play again, and now he is playing in the Stanley Cup finals! He may have only logged about 7 minutes of ice time, but he was definitely a boost for Vancouver.

I cannot wait for game #3. It should be another action-packed close game.:respect:

How you can equate what Horton did and what Burrows did is truly beyond my comprehension, irrespective of anything else ... including my team allegiance.

For those who still wonder why i'm now a Penguins fan
Just watch the link below and all i have to say is after watching it how can anyone not love the Penguins
http://youtu.be/csNiFY4SeKk

;) Penguinsfan Jen

I can equate them as they would both be considered suspendable offenses under the NHL rules normally. I did not say that what Horton did was as bad as what Burrows did. Those are two totally different things.

While I still think that Vancouver can take the series(no guarantees, especially after this game), they certainly got their asses handed to them on a platter tonight. It was like only one team decided to show up, and that was Boston.

While I can only go by what I read on the tsn.ca comment pages, it sounds like Boston was a little guilty of whacking their sticks on Vancouver players. That certainly doesn't justify what was done to Horton, and I am certain that Rome will be gone for at least 2 games(more than likely the rest of the series, and perhaps a few games during the next season due to this being his second Game Misconduct in these playoffs).

I like good, hard hitting but there is NO place for dirty hits.

I don't think that Boston took much motivation over the fact that Burrows was not suspended, nor what Lapierre did. I think that the team being down 2 games to none, and this being a must-win game was all the motivation that they needed, and they proved that by playing with a lot more intensity.

Game four should be a good game, but I think it will be another close game like the first two(at least, I hope so as they are far more entertaining games to watch) were.:)

I forgot to mention earlier...congratulations on your 10000th post, smc!:respect:

Kevin Paul Dupont, the Hall of Fame hockey writer for The Boston Globe, makes a compelling case against fighting in last Sunday's column. Thoughts?

Hockey Notes

It hurts to say, but it?s time to give up the fight

By Kevin Paul Dupont
June 5, 2011

I am done with fighting in hockey. Time to get it gone.

It took a very long journey for me to get here, roughly a half-century, including my years as a fan prior to covering the NHL night-and-day in the late 1970s. I also realize there is no going back now after skating across the pacifist?s green line.

Granted, there is no green line in the NHL, but I offer it up here as a visual in the general context of 21st century green/sustainability.

There was no epiphany for me during the Stanley Cup Final, the Bruins? first trip to the championship round in 21 years. No ah-hah! or gotcha! moment in the middle of the Hub?s hockey renaissance.

If someone wants to say now that I?ve finally grown up, then fine, but I can prove otherwise with any number of adolescent habits that I still hold dear, including such things as ?Three Stooges,?? ?Looney Tunes,?? and ?Honeymooners?? reruns, not to mention a fixation with Friendly?s Awful-Awfuls and Fudge Flat Tops that should have ended in the ?60s.

Most of all, I?ve evolved to this point because of the game?s culture, one that I?ve been saying and writing these last 18-24 months must change, principally because players today get injured too often, some of their brains damaged beyond repair, and fighting plays a part in that. That?s not to say all of that, but a part of that, and I now believe that taking out the fights ? as much as I will miss them ? is simply the easiest, most obvious first step to change the game?s runaway seek-and-destroy culture.

Too much of today?s game is about hitting to hurt, literally to break the opponent, and that?s not just a danger to players but also to the game?s image, its marketability, and I think its sustainability. To abolish fighting won?t be a cure-all, but I believe it can be key in unraveling a complicated, dangerous, and ultimately losing environment.

So I made that very case the other day to Bruins career tough guy Shawn Thornton, whom I respect as a person, a player, and a fighter (my kind of hat trick). He looked at me in dismay, and then in all sincerity, and with a good amount of animation and invective, told me I was nuts. He made his points in support of the sweet science (all in line with my lifetime position) and really couldn?t be swayed with my ?culture change?? postulate.

?I think if you take fighting out,?? said Thornton, ?you?ll see the game go to places where you?ll want it back just to stop the nonsense ? more stick work, more cheap shots, just all the junk. Maybe that?s my old-school thinking, but ..."

Should anyone be surprised by that? Thornton is a sincere, passionate, honest guy, and he freely admits that he wouldn?t be making a decent paycheck today if he hadn?t spent roughly a decade beating up people in junior and minor pro hockey.

He is more than a pugilist at age 33 ? in fact, quite a bit more than a lot of people think ? but he is unwilling to surrender his stance on fighting. Not even when faced with the hard truth, as shown by the continuing Boston University study on concussions in sports, that career hockey tough guy Bob Probert suffered brain damage, likely from trading too many blows to the head in his many epic punch-ups.

The landmark BU study, centered on dissected brains harvested from deceased athletes, will have a profound impact on contact sports and their inherent risks to athletes? brains. The study is in its infancy, but I am already convinced that it is going to be a game-changer in many sports, especially hockey and football, perhaps lacrosse.

I don?t know if that?s going to take a couple of years, a decade or longer, but as the study expands, evidence mounts, and knowledge grows, parents and the public at large will grasp just how dangerous it is for kids and adults to keep getting smacked upside the head. If I am correct, the public eventually will perceive that head contact is to sports what cigarette smoking is to general health.

?I?ll agree with you, our sport needs a culture change,?? said Thornton. ?It needs to happen and it will be difficult.

?I think a large part of that is the equipment ? the big, killer shoulder pads and elbow pads. I think if everyone wore the smaller pads, like me and Rex [Mark Recchi] wear, you?d see fewer concussions and a lot fewer injuries all around.??

All of that is good and necessary, I said to Thornton, but that won?t stop brain injuries that are the direct result of fighting. The NHL continues to peck its way through its concussion data and likely won?t make the numbers public. Recent published reports, noting the league?s extensive study, suggested that some 8 percent of the NHL?s concussions the last few years were a direct result of fighting.

?OK,?? said Thornton, ?if that?s true, then that tells me that 92 percent came from other causes, right? I say let?s work at fixing the 92 percent.

?Guys are going to get concussions, and if a guy?s got his head down, and gets popped on the chin, nothing?s going to prevent that. I really think a lot of this is that some of the equipment has to be downsized, softened maybe, and the culture will change around that."

And what of Probert? There is no guarantee that his brain degenerated because of fighting, but many are willing to accept the prima facie evidence that Probert?s lifetime penalty card (3,300 minutes) included too many concussions meted out by opponents? fists delivered to his skull.

Probert, 45, died less than a year ago, succumbing to a heart attack while boating with his family in Ontario. BU?s Sports Legacy Institute announced in February that it found Probert?s brain was damaged by chronic, degenerative disease.

?I can?t think about that, the danger, and go out there and do what I do,?? mused Thornton. ?I can?t think about all the fights I?ve had, either. I just can?t go there.

?I?ve worked hard, really hard, to get here. I had to fight to get here. If I hadn?t done all that in the American League, at a time when that?s really all I did, then I?m probably still back home, working in the steel factory.??

I?ve supported hockey fights forever, in every print and electronic platform at my disposal, and have returned countless e-mails to readers, some of them incensed educators (pre-K through college), telling them what I still believe to be true: that players enter the game, and play it, and in some cases fight within it, by their own free will. I?ve also said that fighting sells, that many fans like the fighting more than the hockey, and that, for better or worse, for decades it has helped define a sport in the United States, which, even today, essentially remains largely a non-traditional hockey market.

For a lot of people in the Lower 48, the idea lingers that paying to attend a hockey game is buying a ticket to a fight. Many of my Canadian-born pals, some in this beautiful city, think that?s funny, even ridiculous. But they come from a place where virtually every child, boy and girl, has a hockey stick placed in one hand at the same time the other is otherwise occupied by a binky. Canadians don?t just get hockey, they are hockey. They are born into it.

Now, I would say most Canadians don?t consider themselves hockey purists or elitists, or too refined or possessive about their sport to think fighting is a problem. Based on 30-plus years of conversations with friends in Canada, I can tell you many of them very much like the fights.

You might be familiar with former Boston coach/Canadian icon Don Cherry?s love of a good, honest dustup? On the whole, Canadians can probably take it or leave it, and there are probably slightly more in the ?Grapes?? category.

But hockey just has too much hurt in it now, too many broken bodies, fueled by a mentality among the players that big hits and big fights make them big players, fueled by marketing departments that show endless in-arena videos of crunching body slams and brutal bouts. To its credit, the league has done away with the bloody donnybrooks of old (I?ll confess to liking those, too).

Fighting really is, for all the talk it garners, a very tiny piece of the NHL puzzle these days. It has become a piece easy to remove, and getting rid of it is essential, I?m convinced, in dialing back the overall emphasis on seek-and-destroy and placing more on skate-pass-and-shoot.

It?s not all that bad in and of itself, but I think it serves as a crusty, barnacled anchor for violence, for danger, for broken bodies and ravaged, irreparable brains. Just time to go away.

Hockey is a great sport, and it can thrive beyond the green line. I?ve crossed, and hope you?ll come, too.

It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't
Hockey fights are very popular don't believe me? just check youtube
The fighting in hockey put people in the seats and what team owner hates when that happens
You have to walk a tight rope to cut down on the amount of fights but you still have to allow some for the non true hockey fans
Hockey fights sadly are about the only thing that makes it on ESPN's highlights programs
:rolleyes: Penguinsfan Jen

I think Dupont's point is that you can have the physicality at a level that is still attractive to fans without the fighting that is so dangerous. Who knows? I am glad that whereas the "fan base" for NASCAR is primarily waiting for a crash (after all, what is there to see in cars going around and around, endlessly, on an oval track), at least real hockey fans also like hockey, not just fighting.

Meanwhile, how about this for a tradeoff.

The Canucks lose a third-tier defenseman.
The Bruins lose their number-two scorer in the playoffs, who was responsible for two winning goals in overtime and two winning Game 7 goals.

I'd say the Canucks made a damn good trade.

I just hope that Horton can begin playing for the pre-season next year. Concussions can be a career-ender, and I don't want to see anyone's career ended because of one.

With regards to the article posted above, I like fighting in hockey for the most part. If someone takes liberties with one of your players, you can give them a reason to stop doing it. I don't like the "scripted" fights, the ones where it is obvious that they are going to fight before there is even a reason to fight(5 seconds into the freaking game for instance!). I love watching hockey, and not just for the fighting.
I love games like the ones that Boston and Vancouver played in the first two games(minus the stupid penalties, both bogus and deserved) rather than the blowout game 3(even if it had been Vancouver winning 8-1). There is no suspense in blowout games, and the one-goal games are heart-pounding through and through.

Did hell freeze over?
 

Did hell just freeze over?
I ask this because the Flyers just got the rights for Ilya Bryzgalov
Can it be that the Flyers are serious about getting a decent goalie?
:eek: Penguinsfan Jen

I think they knew it was the only way to steal you back from the penguins. :yes:

Not going to happen, i'm a Penguins fan now and i even went to the mall today and i brought a Penguins jersey for myself and before everyone asks which player i picked it's number 87 Crosby
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

Now if they can only sign him and figure out a way to stay under the cap. It also depends on how much he is asking for. Some reports are saying anywhere from 6 to 8 million dollars per year which I don't think Philly will give him. They might go 6 but I doubt any higher.

Crosby? Seriously? What a shock! ;):respect:

Jen, please send me a picture with your new jersey. I need to see JerseyGirl Jen's Jersey. :yes:

Speaking of goalies (I write this as Luongo comes back, shockingly, for the 3rd period in the Bruins-Canucks game), someone needs to get this kid Robin Lehner from the Binghamton Senators. They just won the Calder Cup and he was the MVP of the post-season.

Boston is definitely outplaying Vancouver in Game 4, but I am getting sick and tired of Marchand being able to continue getting away will all his bullcrap. Call a penalty and get him to stop, otherwise it could escalate as the series goes on(and we have had enough shenanigans to last us true hockey fans a lifetime so far this series).

Back to Vancouver for game 5. I hope that they get their collective heads out of their asses and remember to play hockey again. Luongo also needs to remember to STOP the pucks from going in. I swear, why does he have these meltdowns when they are least needed?

Actualy his jersey was the only one they had for the Penguins,
keep in mind it's the end of the season plus the mall is here in NJ but on the bright side Sid's jersey was on mark down and i got it for $35
Oh i planned to buy either 87 or 66 but they had no 66 jerseys
A picture hah, i'm sure by next season i'll be showing off my love for the Penguins
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

Would you believe he was taking lessons from the Flyers trio of goalies
:lol: Penguinsfan Jen

Of all the stuff to notice in the "bullcrap" category, you mention ONLY Marchand? What do you have to say about the bullcrap Burrows pulled at the end, when he knocked Tim Thomas' stick out of his hand while waiting for the faceoff? There's over-the-top physical play, like Marchand's (note "over-the-top" before you accuse me of excusing it), and then there's bush-league shit like what Burrows did. It reminded me of when Alex Rodriguez tried to slap the ball out of Jonathan Papelbon's glove as they raced for first base.

My request has nothing to do with your love for the Penguins and everything to do with my love for you. ;)

When the hockey 11/12 thread starts i'll post a new photo of me in my Penguins jersey
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

I wouldn't know what Burrows did as I had turned the game off by then. It was obvious the Canucks weren't coming back to win, so I went onto my computer to finish watching the Jays game(which they barely won!).

I recall that play of ARoid's. I can't believe he thought he wouldn't get called out for that. Even Jeter(who was on first, going to second at the time) couldn't believe he did it. He just shook his head and rolled his eyes. That is just one of the reasons I will never respect ARoid.

With regards to the Finals, it is now back to Vancouver. I don't know what it is with Vancouver. They can play brilliantly, and then forget how to perform even the basics. I honestly don't know if Luongo should start in game 5 or not. I think the Bruins have gotten into his head(he seems to have that problem from time to time, letting the other team get into his head).

I think this series will now go the entire 7 games. Of course, I thought that tonight's game would be decided by one goal, and look how that turned out.:eek:

Everyone loves Jennifer. How could we not?:respect:

The fact that you didn't see it doesn't change any of what I wrote about the comparison between Marchand's "bullcrap" and "bush league" play by Burrows, Lapierre (and other Canucks). So, when you see it on YouTube or CBC or somewhere, perhaps you'll have a comment. :yes:

A one to zip game
I know my friend SMC much prefered the last two games which were blow outs
but i much prefered tonights games not because of who won or lost but because it was a solid game that hinged on a single shot getting by and who could ask for more in a cup game
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

Not quite. I prefer the OUTCOME of the previous two games to which you prefer, but for pure hockey enjoyment I, too, would rather watch a game like Game 5.

May I take credit for your new signature line? ;)

I guess that leaves me out of the running Jen :( as I've never been a Penguins fan and it's not likely that I ever will.

Come on how can you not love the Penguins? come on come on you to can be a Penguins fan
Looks like next season i'll be the Penguins number one cheerleader here on the forum
:innocent: Penguinsfan Jen

Blowouts are only fun to watch if it's your team doing the scoring
Ok the credit is yours so you can now try and comfert our friend ila
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen

And as such you will look WAY BETTER than this! :yes:

Or, for that matter, either of these two!

Or these.

I think I've made my point. ;)

Hey, ila, how's this for comfort?

I GOT THERE FIRST, SUCKA! ;)

Wonder if they hold tryouts?
:yes: Penguinsfan Jen