Auts... :mark:
Felt really bad watching that hit. I also think it wasn't intentional but still needs to be punished. This year has been pretty rough and that directiuon needs to be changed. This is still a sport, not a gladiator arena.
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Auts... :mark:
Felt really bad watching that hit. I also think it wasn't intentional but still needs to be punished. This year has been pretty rough and that directiuon needs to be changed. This is still a sport, not a gladiator arena.
Well the NHL is consistent, and for anyone who thought Chara was going to get a suspension, I have some swampland I will sell you. The reality is that in today's game, interference isn't called. It is now Finishing your check to drill some poor schmuck who passed the puck. Also understand that how many players have been blindsided in deliberate attempts to injure? How many suspensions? How long will it be for Matt Cooke to finally be dealt with?
It is ironic that it takes an injured Hab to get corporate sponsors all excited, and of course, VIA and Air Canada; the two that are putting the league on notice (sort of) are based in Montreal? Did they not see the Savard hit? How about the blindside cheap shot that still has the best player in the league sitting out? OH yes, it only is bad when it is ON TV or my team...right.
The reality is, this BS has been going on for YEARS. It wont change because the league doesn't want it to change. They have this notion it sells the game. I see how well that is working for Bettman in Atlanta and Phoenix, but hey, what do I know? I just watch hockey and love it....or at least try to.
Chara should have gotten some games. Not sure what is the right number, but an acknowledgement that you cant drill guys into stanchions and partitions where the glass ends. You cant and do not hit a guy into the open door on a line change, why Chara didn't see the partition I don't know. I really cant judge his intent, and I like him as a player, but he should be sitting. The Bruin's faithful after all they have gone through with Savard would surely understand. But no....maybe because Jacobs and Bettman are best buds this didn't happen. I almost think hockey operations and their discipline department are told when to actually do their jobs or not.
The NHL is the worst run of the 4 major sports in North America and this week they proved it over and over again.
Meanwhile, Gary keeps insisting Phoenix is a viable market for the sport while the team loses 35 million a year with a winning record! With brains like this, I suspect someone will have to get killed or get a clue soon...but I keep waiting...
I will continue to spend my money on watching Junior games live, and paying little or no attention to NHL games other than the highlights.
Just out of interest, which is the best run of the 4 Major US Sports?
I quite often think that some of our British sports (especially cricket, which is appallingly run) could do with some lessons from US Sports.
NBA, NFL, NHL and ??? Nascar? :D
Been a while since anyone commented on hockey. Since the last few postings, Take note, that Matt Cooke is pretty much done unless Pittsburgh makes the second round of the playoffs due to a half hearted elbow he took at some New York Ranger. I guess when you try to run over a New York player, the league figured they had to do something. That, and all the abuse we gave them.
I wont knock the 10 plus games and first round of the playoffs that Cooke will sit for. It is LONG over due.
In other hockey news, I am still wired from helping broadcast (Rogers TV Durham Region) the 2nd game of the Oshawa Generals and Niagara Ice Dogs in the Conference Semi Finals of the OHL. Game ended 6 - 4 for Oshawa in a wild and hard fought game. Good clean but tough hockey from start to finish and decent officiating OTHER than a missed goal. Oh well.....we had it on our replay, but for whatever reason, the OHL officials didn't see it as we did....just as well since It would have put Niagara up 5-4 when it was "scored".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0BDFCJXpWs
Check out this beauty by Bobby Ryan.
I saw that live and only a few meters away.Quote:
Originally Posted by Garry Walker
It was even sweeter in person, but too bad the Ducks lost.
WTF happened to them ????Quote:
Originally Posted by gloomyDAY
I don't have a clue. I got out of my seat during the 3rd period with only 5 minutes to play. I came back and the game was tied. Overtime came around and I was left stunned that the Predators had won! :(Quote:
Originally Posted by A.F.F.
Gloomy, that Ryan goal summed up the skill of hockey beautifully. Seeing a guy deke and dive like that at speed was something to see. One of the best goals I have seen all year.
Too bad Nashville seems to have your number. OH well, another round of Carrie Underwood watching her hubs playing the leadership role that The Pred's needed all these years. That said, til the Ducks are done, I suppose I shouldn't say they are dead. Perry and Getzlaf are stars in my books and that Ryan kid is alright too. I just don't think your goalie is in Rinne's class....
:bigcry: :bigcry: :bigcry: :bigcry: :bigcry:
Again captain nick pulls one out of his bag of tricks getting a shot through to be tipped in front. will try one more at home. go wings.
Schmenke, look at the bright side, they likely lost to the Stanley Cup Champions!Quote:
Originally Posted by schmenke
^ true that.
I'd love now to see a Boston - Detroit final!
Aboout the world championships, you know, the hockey games that actually matter. :)
Semifinals today
Sweden - Czech
Finland - Russia
Finland, Russia, Sweden haven't been good at all this year, loosing to the likes of germany, Norway. I was quite surprised that Russia beat Canada last night, I thought they couldn't bother at all after watching the frist period.
Ohmygood, it's going to be a hellish sunday.
Granlund was rather good today. :p
Granlund is just awesome. I thought there's hype all over him but now that I've seen him play, .... just wow. Goal of the year!!!
Games that matter??? lmao....Europeans take the World Hockey Championships more seriously than North Americans. To us, the NHL playoffs get all the attention. I wish the IIHF would settle for a World Cup like all the other sports have every 4 years where everything can stop and go best on best. Play it on the 2 years in between the Olympics and alternate back and forth, World Cup and then to the Olympics.Quote:
Originally Posted by janneppi
Canada played well against the Russians, but they had a talent boost with Ovechkin flying over there. We usually take the guys who miss the playoffs who feel they have something left after an NHL season. I wish our best were over there.
I hears the Finns beat the Russians and good on Finland. I say Finland will beat the Swedes in the Final! (I always cheer for the Finns when they are not playing Canada!).
Quite an amazing guy that Granlund, tomorrow will be the game of the year, cant wait!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by janneppi
Well, I hope Russian goalie Barulin made a statement to the police, because what Granlund did to him was Rape.
Amazing goal and justified result, good luck to finns tomorrow against Tre Kronor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomi
That is an old lacrosse player's trick. Never seen anyone do it in a real game though. Granlund has some serious onions for pulling it off though...
Go Finland Go!
It's not just Granlund's goal. The guy has been amazing. Playing his first worldchampion tournament and he has been one of the best players of the team. He is not fast, not big but how he reads the game is unbelievable. He let the opponent come on his skin and then makes perfect passes to others... And how about that penaltyshot? I think he is ready to put Wild jersey on...
Exactly, I only wish he would stay here for a 1 or 2 years in proper coaching.Quote:
Originally Posted by A.F.F.
Congratulations Finland!!! Nicely done, burying the Swede's in the third like that. Nice to see Koivu win a World Championship as Captain.
Also on the junior level here in Canada, it looks like the 4 teams are set for the Memorial Cup. The WHL champs are the Kooteney ICE from British Columbia, Ontario's champs are the Owen Sound Attack (an OT goal in Game 7 in Mississauga's arena); The QMJHL champs are from St. John NB and then the host team and OHL finalists against Owen Sound, Mississauga St. Mike's Majors.
Good night for hockey all in all, with the Canucks winning and the Sedin Brother's being actually in a game for once this playoffs. Those guys are better than they have shown...and I want them to do well.
Congrats to Finns! A game to remember for sure!! Jalonen has put together a team which had no significant stars in it, but it was a TEAM. Granlunds goals against Russia was epic, impressive performance overall.
Hip Hei!
Excellent third period from the Finnish team, I guess Swedes ran out of steam towards the end due relying so much on the two top lines. to be honest, I didn't think they'd win it during the second period, Sweden was miles ahead at that time in the way they moved.
Thanks everybody! Watching the game wasn't fun, it was actually quite painful, I mean my stomach was cramping and I was sweating all the time. That's how important national team hockey is for us. :)
Weren't they in the movie Slap Shot?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
You're thinking of the Hansen brothers :p :
You think you were tight. Last Olympics, when the US tied the game with 2 or 3 minutes to go, you heard 33 Million people hold their breath and start sweating....no nation is as anally fixated on a hockey game as this one when the big game is on the line and the national team is on the ice. My stomach was churning until Crosby scored.Quote:
Originally Posted by DexDexter
That said, watching the replay of the gold medal game I saw the Finn's in the stands after every goal and it is CLEAR you guys love your team and the sport. Not that the Swedes looking shocked didn't. Just the right guys won!
:up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
Yep, that's how it goes. BTW Hockey is number one sport only in two countries in the world, Finland and Canada so no wonder people sweat over there and here :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa
Canucks made it to the finals.... I could be happy if I could tolerate Bros Sedin even the slighest thing :mark:
Is it true that NHL is coming back to Winnibeg ?? I can't remember but wasn't it Coyotes which was formerly Jets? But now Trashers are moving to Winnibeg? Please correct if I'm wrong. I'm just happy that it's one more to Canada :) ( Winnibeg is in Canada, right? ;) )
Winnibeg?? Oh I think you mean Winnipeg...or is this some Finnish humour thing? lolQuote:
Originally Posted by A.F.F.
The latest I have heard is the Atlanta Thrashers (dopey name for a hockey team since the Thrasher in question is a little bird) who after 10 years or so of losing money hand over fist in a city that doesn't give a flying fidoo about most pro sports has been sold to a group called True North Sports who will relocate them to the MTS center in Downtown Winnipeg.
The good: An NHL team in a city that will passionately care about hockey is good. One of the Backers of True North is David Thompson. For those who read Forbes Mag and their annual accounting of the richest people on the planet, ole Dave pops up in the top 20 or something of Billionaires. He has cash. Lots of it.....and he will need it because here is the bad:
While there is no shortage of passion and love for hockey in Winnipeg, the NHL and the salaries they pay will mean the MTS center will need to be sold out pretty much solid and at a ticket price a hell of a lot higher than when the Jets were around. Winnipeg, even with their Metro area of population is only about 750000 so they would be one of the smallest markets in the NHL. What is more, the MTS Center only holds about 16000 and that is if you pay off the fire marshal. It is a new building, which replaced the Winnipeg Arena, but for some dumb reason, they didn't make it that extra 2000 seats it really needs to be a really decent sized NHL rink. It does however have boxes, but with Manitoba being sort of an Agricultural and crossroads center miles from no where really, it doesn't have the corporate climate to pay big bucks for all those private boxes the way the oil and gas industry fills the boxes in Edmonton and Calgary, or the big corps based out of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal support those. Winnipeg will be like Ottawa without the 19000 seats. If the Canadian dollar drops down to 70 cents US, Winnipeg will be in jeopardy unless David Thompson wants to write checks....for the red ink. The NHL and the stupid Salary Cap is an economically stupid outfit. Ya, they have cost certainty with the top of the food chain, so the Red Wings, Leafs and Flyers don't over spend; but the salary floor they agreed to almost guarantees owning about 10 of the 30 teams is almost always a money loser, and if the Canadian dollar drops below the US past a point, all but 3 Canadian teams are in the red with full buildings.
So yes...Winnipeg is likely going to have hockey. The Jets were a great team, with great fans, and for a while, one of the hottest hockey players ever in Teemu Selanne (Anyone who saw his goal celebration after winning the rookie record for goal scoring would love him!).
This weekend is big hockey people..Memorial Cup final Sunday...St. John Sea Dogs vs one of three teams (they all tied in round robin play as of today). Also, we will know the opposition for Vancouver for the final.....
It's going to be Winnipeg right after they get the team. Now it's Winnibeg :D
Good news about Winnipeg, now what about Quebec??
As for the NHL, good to see the Canucks in the Finals - they've been the best team all season - so deserve to win Lord Stanley's Cup!! Whether that happens is another matter. Boston seem to have their name on it....but it's about time the Cup returned to it's rightful home - Canada!!!
On Winnipeg etc...if there's any movement, it's Atlanta, and they may be the Manitoba Moose rather than the Winnipeg Jets, with the AHL team of the former name moving to St. John's. Québec's going to have to wait while the NHL denies the whole Phoenix thing didn't work out. And if there's movement, they aren't going to play with the conferences for at least a year, meaning Winnipeg/Manitoba would be in the Southeast Division. No doubt they'll report an increase in attendance for Southeast Division teams and deem the whole expansion down there a success! :D
On the playoffs...
You want a way to not support the Boston Bruins?
Live in Boston.
Fans will put you off in minutes. Retreated back to my usual Rangers pretty quickly. I'd love a great series, but for my sanity, I think I'd like Canucks in four so we can get past all those Facebook statuses. ;)
Really looking forward to a competitive, safe series in all seriousness. Been a surprising year of hockey when you really think about it. Never would have predicted anyone other than the Red Wings in the finals and even moreso I couldn't expect the "FIRE CLAUDE JULIEN" brigade to have a shot at winning the Cup under his very guidance.
Isn't Winnipeg quite a small city? Do they now have the resources to maintain a profitable NHL club? I remember when Teemu was playing there, they had a bad team, terrible arena, lacklustre attendance and no money.
Yes, Winnipeg is quite small, about 700,000.Quote:
Originally Posted by DexDexter
Can a team here be profitable? I think Mark summed it up pretty acurately a few posts back. I read or heard a few days ago (I wish I remember where) that all the Canadian teams are in the top 10 in the league in profitabitily and Winnipeg, if it got a team should be right up there as well.
Things have changed in the league and in our city since the Jets left. The league now has a salary cap. That, combined with the Canadian dollar being pretty much at par with the US dollar (15 yrs ago it was about .65US and the players contracts are all in US) gives a team here a chance to be competative. Also, the team previously didn't have rights to consession or parking money. The new owners (if the deal goes through) own the new arena (the old one was demolished a few years ago) so they have that going for them as well.
You're right about them usually being a bad team (dump & chase, dump & chase....man that was some boring hockey) but with the factors listed above changing things in their favour, I think they've got a chance here.
Two possible things holding them back are the size of the new arena (16,000?) being quite small by NHL standards, and that Winnipeg is known to be quite a wholesale (read - cheap) town. So will the fans fill the arena every game , paying NHL ticket prices after the initial jubilation wears off? Hard to say. People here have been talking about the return of the Jets for years now, and it's gotten loads of attention lately. There have been new rumours in the local papers here nearly every day for months now. People are getting really excited, but will they put their money into it?
Me? - my boys are Calgary & Montreal fans, so we might go to the occasional game when those teams are in town.
People here loved Teemu, one of I believe 6 players still in the league that played here before the team left. Do you remember Thomas Steen? He's still here and recently was elected one of our city councellors.