Hockey 2010-2011

[shadows]

I can't say that I agree with Burke. The fabric of the game doesn't include dirty hits that concuss players. The majority of the concussions this season have happened from either dirty or borderline-dirty hits. They need to start punishing the offenders with REAL suspensions rather than the mickey-mouse ones that Campbell is so fond of handing out.

Getting rid of Campbell(and Bettman, as he obviously has a say in this regardless of what his "official" role is) would be a good step in the right direction.

[shadows]

Woohooooooooo! Toronto won 5-4 over Montreal. Sorry Ila, but Toronto needed this win.

They are now only 4 points out of a playoff spot(something that I honestly thought they would never attain a few weeks ago!), having passed an idle Atlanta to claim 10th place. They are only 1 point behind Buffalo(I hope Ottawa beats them tomorrow!) and 4 points behind Carolina. Boy, I haven't been this excited to be a Leafs fan in quite some time!

Go Leafs GOOOOOOOOOO!

[smc]

Originally Posted by shadows

I can't say that I agree with Burke. The fabric of the game doesn't include dirty hits that concuss players. The majority of the concussions this season have happened from either dirty or borderline-dirty hits. They need to start punishing the offenders with REAL suspensions rather than the mickey-mouse ones that Campbell is so fond of handing out.

Getting rid of Campbell(and Bettman, as he obviously has a say in this regardless of what his "official" role is) would be a good step in the right direction.

I agree with you. None of this will change until there is some radical action. Andrew Ference of the Bruins spoke out against one of his teammates doing to a player what happened to Mark Savard, and broadcasters like Don Cherry and Mike Milbury went out of their way to excoriate Ference as some kind of traitor. That shows how deeply ingrained is the culture of excessive violence in hockey. They put the "sport" over the life of players who may be scarred forever.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by smc

I agree with you. None of this will change until there is some radical action. Andrew Ference of the Bruins spoke out against one of his teammates doing to a player what happened to Mark Savard, and broadcasters like Don Cherry and Mike Milbury went out of their way to excoriate Ference as some kind of traitor. That shows how deeply ingrained is the culture of excessive violence in hockey. They put the "sport" over the life of players who may be scarred forever.

I think more people would have listened to Mario Lemieux's rant the other day if he didn't have Matt Cooke on his team. Cooke is one of the dirtiest players in the NHL today. He is a guy that should have been punted a long time ago.

[dauls]

Our eight-game winning streak ended by two Bolts' goals in 54 mad, 2nd period seconds.

...11pts behind 8th in the East.

[transjen]

Originally Posted by dauls

Our eight-game winning streak ended by two Bolts' goals in 54 mad, 2nd period seconds.

...11pts behind 8th in the East.

It's always a sad event when Tampa wins, a team that shouldn't be in the NHL to start with they have no true fan base when the played the Redwings awhile back in Tampa it was a sea of red jerseys as it looked more like a Redwings home game

Flyersfan Jen

[k.sucks.you]

Originally Posted by transjen

It's always a sad event when Tampa wins, a team that shouldn't be in the NHL to start with they have no true fan base when the played the Redwings awhile back in Tampa it was a sea of red jerseys as it looked more like a Redwings home game

:-) More than 450 Sharks fans went on the last road trip to Anaheim. The quote was "maybe we'll finally help them get a sellout down there". 17562 every game in the tank.

Sharks just swept a three game road trip. Red Wings, Pens, then Calgary. Nice! Niemi is playing on his head. Most of February was on the road, but we now have fewer road games left of any NHL team.

Wings game was a heart stopper both ways all night. Great game.

Marleau dropped the Pens with 4 seconds left in OT. Take your point east. The west needs two. Another great game.

The Calgary game was reffed pretty poorly, but was still pretty exciting, back and forth. Clowe gets some kind of modern Gordie Howe hat-trick, 4-minute minor, KO of Jackman (who didn't return), the game tying goal late in the third, then the OT shootout winner WITH HIS FOREHAND!

The west is still very tight, but Sharks are starting to separate a bit. You can't watch all the combinations of other teams helping out, just win your own games.

-K

[shadows]

Originally Posted by dauls

Our eight-game winning streak ended by two Bolts' goals in 54 mad, 2nd period seconds.

...11pts behind 8th in the East.

The amazing part of their winning streak was the fact that Hedberg is now the #1 goalie! Brodeur has now been relegated to backup! I didn't think I would see that this season.

Pittsburgh and Ottawa did not do either of our teams a favour. Ottawa lost to Buffalo 4-2 and Pittsburgh lost 4-1 to Carolina. Some bad news for Carolina, that being Eric Staal left with an injury(the whispers saying that it could be a concussion).

That is bad news for Carolina. You never want to see a player get hurt even one from an opposing team. If it is a concussion, something NEEDS to be done! How many freaking stars have we lost this season to CONCUSSIONS?!?!

------------

At least Florida beat Atlanta 2-1 in a shootout to keep Toronto ahead of them.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

...Pittsburgh and Ottawa did not do either of our teams a favour. Ottawa lost to Buffalo 4-2 and Pittsburgh lost 4-1 to Carolina. Some bad news for Carolina, that being Eric Staal left with an injury(the whispers saying that it could be a concussion).

That is bad news for Carolina. You never want to see a player get hurt even one from an opposing team. If it is a concussion, something NEEDS to be done! How many freaking stars have we lost this season to CONCUSSIONS?!?!

The NHL paid only slightly more than lip service to the problems of concussions until Crosbie got hurt. Now it's all the talk with Lemieux doing a public whine about it. The problem of concussions should have been dealt with long ago. I think it's interesting that concussions became more common after hockey introduced all the safety equipment such as helmets and thicker padding all over. I think all this equipment gave players a false sense of security that has resulted in more dirty hits; or perhaps it's the bonus that goons receive not for playing hockey but for eliminating good players on the opposing teams.

Originally Posted by shadows

At least Florida beat Atlanta 2-1 in a shootout to keep Toronto ahead of them.

You realize, shadows, that if Toronto makes the playoffs this year that they will be eliminated in the first round, unless they meet Montreal in which case it becomes completely unpredictable.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

The NHL paid only slightly more than lip service to the problems of concussions until Crosbie got hurt. Now it's all the talk with Lemieux doing a public whine about it. The problem of concussions should have been dealt with long ago. I think it's interesting that concussions became more common after hockey introduced all the safety equipment such as helmets and thicker padding all over. I think all this equipment gave players a false sense of security that has resulted in more dirty hits; or perhaps it's the bonus that goons receive not for playing hockey but for eliminating good players on the opposing teams.



You realize, shadows, that if Toronto makes the playoffs this year that they will be eliminated in the first round, unless they meet Montreal in which case it becomes completely unpredictable.

The playoffs being the way they are, you never can tell who will make it onto the second round. All it takes is a super-hot goalie and all bets are off(like Halak last year). Washington are notorious playoff chokers, and who knows if Crosby will ever be like he was before the concussion so Pittsburgh is a crapshoot.

Philly would be a challenge, as would Boston(Toronto has struggled against them). Tampa Bay has good offense, but their goaltending is suspect(which is why I think they will get bounced fairly early). The Rangers? 50-50 chance.

Montreal I would not want to face just so two Canadian teams would have a chance to move onto the second round than just the one.

At least Montreal did the Leafs a favour tonight and won in regulation. Unfortunately the Leafs played a sloppy game and only got 1 point. Buffalo lost in the shootout, so at least they did not gain any more ground either.

If Toronto gets back to playing a good defensive game, then they should beat Atlanta tomorrow. I think they have a good chance to do so(Atlanta is freefalling!).