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Its' Here! NHL 2007-2008 Regular Season Thread
Finally!!!!! Ducks vs Kings in London on Saturday.
Go devils. Also, anyone have any info on how much the center ice package will cost this year? |
What I know is if you order now you get $20 off. I am assuming $149 is the price now and it'll jump up to $169.
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I meant to order NHL Center Ice last night, and I forgot to. I'll want to take of that tonight.
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Yeah, season is still going, in case anyone noticed...
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Mike Cammalieri on pace for 164 goal season!!
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I'm originally from the UK and a ton of my good friends from back home were at the game, but that was the worst gimmick in the history of pro sports. The delay, the small and crappy ice surface, the exhibition type atmosphere... Bettman shows again why he is the worst commissioner in the history of anything.
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Hey, bhlloy, do you listen to 570 KLAC? If you can find Matt "Money" Smith's rant on Friday about Bettman and the condition of the NHL, it will make you and every NHL-loving fan smile (with some bitterness). He pretty much goes off on Bettman and gets in a piece about just about everything the man has screwed up with the game (the London trip, expansion, the strike season, Versus, etc). Brought a tear to my eye. |
The ineptitude of the Bruins franchise will continue to kill my enjoyment of the NHL.
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I'll have to search that one out online, although it would probably just make me even more angry. |
yeah, I was amazed at the botched opener. it's a banner event, meant to introduce the game to Europe...and manage to screw up just about everything (folk, if you are going to do the American anthem, don't you think it would be a good idea to find someone who can sing it?)
I'm on DirecTV and have the Center Ice. as of Thursday, the game wasn't even listed. It finally showed up on Friday - my wife happened to stumble across it and recorded it. So, with a bit of anticipation, I sit down Saturday afternoon to watch some hockey. What do I get? Infomercials. Finally, about an hour in someone at DirecTV woke up and flipped the switch (thankfully, the delay meant I only missed the first period). Meanwhile, I think the game was filmed by one of the CCTV security cams London is famous for - the game looked like ass. What other major sport would totally botch their opening game like this? It's really amazing how poorly run the NHL is. EDIT: it's more a minor niggle, but it really bugged me that the teams alternated being the "home" team...except they didn't bother to switch the jerseys. The Kings were the road team on Sunday, but wore their home uniforms. |
They only brought one set of uniforms to the UK apparently (which I don't buy because the Kings have been in Europe for a couple of weeks in a tournament in Austria)
The whole thing was just a joke. Ice Hockey probably attracts a total of 25,00 people a week to the various British leagues and the whole setup is pretty poor. Why they couldn't have had the game in Sweden or Russia, where the arenas are close to NHL quality and they actually watch hockey is completely beyond me. |
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well i find this utterly fascinating:
Brent Sopel has left the camp of the Detroit Red Wings and signed a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sopel signed a one-year contract with the Blackhawks, believed to be worth $1.5 million. He had been in Detroit's training camp on a tryout basis, and was offered a contract by the Red Wings shortly before signing with Chicago. who chooses the hawks over the red wings? unless there was an huge money difference, or told him theyd pay him to play in the minors....why?! |
dola
tsn says the penguins may open the next season in the czech republic against tb. not the rangers, who are like half czech... |
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My immediate thought was the Rangers...because all those Czech players there now, were here 7 years ago. Jagr, Straka, Rozsival...are you Jan Hrdina isn't there somewhere going by the alias Sean Avery? |
I was just looking around nhl.com, and I ran across this quote from Devils coach Brent Sutter. It was a LOL moment for me.
"The checking line, to me, is way overrated. Your best defense is still always having the puck, puck possession time. Yeah, there are certain guys that are better at working with the puck than others, but we want to be a puck possession team where we have the puck more. Defensive hockey doesn't mean just staying on your heels and playing well in your own zone. Defensive hockey is about working hard. It's about turning pucks over. It's about neutral-zone puck turnover." Checking lines are overrated, huh? I get what Sutter is saying here, and he wants to stress puck possession, but it makes me wonder how much ice time a guy like Jay Pandolfo is going to get this year. I guess it's also safe to assume that Grant Marshall will be spending the entire year in Lowell again (not that that's a bad thing). Where does that leave Mike Rupp? Should he even bother putting on skates now? The Devils are going to look like a different team for a while. They're starting the season with a ton of road games, so that'll wear them down. On top of that, they're apparently going to be playing a slightly different style with all this emphasis on puck possession. Then, of course, their defense will have to deal with the losses of Rafalski and Lukowich. Colin White's hurt again, too. I don't know what to expect out of the team this year. Hmm. I guess what I'm trying to say is... fuck Scott Gomez. |
"energy line" is usually a much better term.
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Hooker and drugs. Have you seen Artie lately? He weights around 300 lbs. |
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I always feel bad for Kevin Stevens. The guy was a force in the league for a while. A great power-forward, he got over 100 pts. and 200 pims one year. Obviously playing with Lemieux inflated his stats, but he was a really good player. Then he got hit from behind in some playoff game (I think), got knocked unconscious, fell to the ice, and smashed his face all up. He was never the same player again. It was quite the downward spiral. |
Go Sabres!
Lets hope all those wins by the Amerks turns into wins in the NHL too, cause we've lost any leadership this team had last season. |
yeah, Stevens was a monster for a few years. that fall was just gruesome
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Harry Neale will be doing Sabres games this year
http://www.globesports.com/servlet/s...071001.neale01 Neale and Jeanerette should make an interesting pair. |
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Yeah, I didn't remember the play being dirty, just flukey, like you said, because he was out could before he hit the ice so he couldn't make any effort to protect himself. It was brutal and resulted in some serious reconstruction that sort of took the physical edge off his game. He became sort of a shell of his former self, sort of like Lindros in a way. Next thing you know he's in East St. Louis smoking crack with a hooker. |
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While Bob Cole and Harry Neale definitely lost a few steps over the years, they were a great team for a long time. Those two and Dave Strader and Mickey Redmon, the Wings' broadcast team from the late 80's to the mid-90's, will always be the voices of hockey for me. |
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Rich Pilon...Stevens tried to hit him, and, like you said, flukey thing. Knocked out, and then fell face first to the ice. |
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Ah, Dicky Pilon... What a great name for a defensemen. He was kind of dirty too. I think I recall him fighting Ray Sheppard, twice. I think they were the only fighting majors I ever recall Ray Sheppard receiving. |
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Millen doesn't seem to be very popular with a lot of you Canadians, but I really like him.
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The Wings offered Sopel a contract a few days before. I would have to believe it was probably around half of what he got from the Blackhawks. I think the Wings considered Sopel to be a 5-7th defensemen, who would struggle to see consistant ice time. He obviously got a much richer contract from the Blackhawks and is likely to see a lot more ice time. I was hoping Sopel would work out in Detroit, since I think they could use his shot from the point after losing Schneider, but I guess it was not meant to be. It looks like it will be Derek Meech for the time being. |
Also, fuck Scott Gomez.
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Sam Gagner will get a taste of the NHL
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219646&hubname= |
Devils are so good, they don't even need captains.
http://njmg.typepad.com/devilsblog/2...tain-to-s.html |
Devils are so good, they don't even need captains.
http://njmg.typepad.com/devilsblog/2...tain-to-s.html |
and I'm so good, I get to post twice
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i love just about everything sutter has done so far with the devils.
stripping elias of the captaincy (but in a very diplomatic way) is a good start. elias certainly didnt seem like a leader at any point last season, and ill take 90 pts with an A than 70 with a C any day an entirely new, "aggressive" puck control gameplan. supposedly, no more defense-first, sit on your heels, wait for a mistake, and score on a rush. now maybe we'll have some possession on the other side of the blue line. splitting up the checking line. this one im not entirely sold on, since ive been watching the same devils team for 13 years (big scoring line, 2nd weaker line, checking line, "energy" line). now we'll supposedly be rolling 4 lines a lot more often. this includes splitting madden out wide, and dropping pandolfo to the 4th line. but maybe matching lines has had its day in court. and having 4 lines that can score would be a great thing, since we usually only have 1 and a half. resting brodeur more. nuff said. things i dont like dropping pando to the 4th line...and even crazier...taking him off the pk. i mean...what?! that said, very high hopes for the "new" devils. but its a rough road ahead for sutter - especially with all these changes, and then going on the road for 9 straight games to compound any issues. yikes. |
yeah, Sutter's going to be fun to watch while he warms the seat for Lou
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Just when things seem to be getting exciting in Edmonton (possibility that we'll see a Cogliano/Gagner/Pouliot line on Thursday), they go and do something like this:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=219716&hubname=nhl Long story short, Stortini (closest thing we have to an enforcer) is sent down (which I can understand with our forward situation), and also sent down is Ladislav Smid. I just simply can't fathom the second move. The kid proved time and again last year that not only is he read for the NHL game, but that he is also ready to be a leader on the team, numerous times mucking it up and being the first one to defend a team mate. I know Souray/Pitkanen/Staios are all assured spots as (imho) should have Smid and Greene barring horrific showings in the preseason. Having Smid up here to learn the nuances of the offensive side of the game from Souray and Pitkanen while continuing to grow his defensive game learning from Huddy, Staios and Greene could have seen him become maybe our best all around defenseman by years end. Instead, we get to watch Dick Tarnstrom on opening night then two of Greene/Grebeshkov/Gilbert. Gilbert had some great flashes at the end of last season and Grebeshkov is supposed to be a bit ahead of him, but I have heard nothing to suggest either is on par with where Smid was last year. Greene should be a regular starter right now and should be a 4/5 guy already, knowing MacT though, he'll probably end up being the guy in the press box more often than not when the rest of the crew are healthy. |
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I don't know enough to comment on Smid, but sending Zortini down seems fine. I like the guy. I love having guys like that in the league, but the Oilers don't need him. They have enough toughness in Greene, Staois, Moreau, etc. The Oilers will be an interesting team, as always, to watch. This season has really snuck up on me. I assume I have the NHL Center Ice package. I didn't re-order it, but I had it last year and I think it re-news itself. Anyone know if that's the case? |
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Tell that to Hemsky (and Pouliot, Cogliano, Gagner, Nilsson) when we play Minnesota. Trust me, I'm not saying Stortini is the answer and would rather see them use Jacques/Greene as their enforcers, but there is no certainty in saying either of those guys is going to be in the lineup regularily. Right now we have Moreau and Staios as our main two "tough" guys. Neither is particularily big, Moreau is getting quite an injury history at this point, and Staios is likely to be our #1 D for the PK which makes it hard for him to take too many penalties himself. As it stands, Penner may be our most imposing forward, another guy you don't want spending too much time in the box. Smid is nice as he is a D man that would stick his nose in there (certainly not a true enforcer by any means) when things get heated, could play both sides of the special teams and be very effective 5 on 5. Gilbert looks like he could be a very good player, but I just can't see how he'd be ahead of Smid at this point, especially given our lack of PK capable defensemen on the squad right now. Going to be a fast squad with lots of skill, but so far it looks like the brass hasn't learned any lessons from the physical beatings and resulting injuries that plagued them last year. |
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with DirecTV it does. |
What's everybody watching tonight? I might watch the Ducks and Wings just to see Brian Rafalski with his new team. Ottawa and Toronto will probably put on a show. Montreal/Carolina does nothing for me, as I generally find both teams kinda boring. Dallas/Colorado sounds like fun for a playoff matchup, but I'm normally not really into the Western Conference, especially not in October. Also, it's a late start out in Denver.
It seems like the Ottawa/Toronto game is the one for me. I'll catch the first half hour of the Ducks and Wings, and then I'll switch over to Sens and Leafs. If I haven't had enough hockey by the time that game is over, I'll watch as much of the late game as I can until I fall asleep. Hockey's back, gentlemen! |
I have to limit my hockey tonight to get a good night's rest. The Flyers open tomorrow in Calgary and I am going to try to watch the entire game that does not start until 10pm on the East Coast.
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it may not materialize into anything, but these teams played twice in the preseason. Combined, there was like 12 fighting majors (sorry, 11 fighting majors and 1 crosschecking major) and 2 game misconducts. of course, I'll be watching no matter what, but it might be fun even for you lame eastern fans. Rycroft starting tonight for the Leafs (the team I boldly picked in my FTB to go to the finals). Is it too late to change my answer? |
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that's late. usually those mountain games are at 9, and those aren't much of an issue for me. the 10:00 games just seem SO much later. |
Love the fact that the Leafs dealt for a #1 goalie(toskula) but yet...starting in net for the Leafs tonight will be Raycroft..LOL....first dagger into JFJ and the season has'nt even started yet.
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What's the Over/Under on when Lou comes in to take over the Devils bench?
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So yes, I can't imagine why JFJ isn't getting that extension he wants. He's clearly working his butt off. |
I love the 10pm games. Not sure what I'll watch tonight. Have to wait until Friday for Isles opener. :-/
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What happened to Toskala? Hurt?
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Coaches decision. |
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Seriously? Holy crap that's not good if Raycroft is beating him out for opening day... |
Dola... I hope someone in my hockey pool doesn't hear about this before friday's draft, I can't wait to mock him to high-heaven when he drafts Toskala 15 rounds too soon.
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It's not a bad decision, since a.) Raycroft did earn the job, and b.) there's at least a 60% chance the Sens will bomb the Leafs 7-1 tonight and the fans will turn on whoever's in net, so might as well be the guy they already hate instead of the new guy. I still expect Toskala to be the main guy sooner than later and get 55 or so starts. |
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So you're saying my new strategy should be to submarine his value by telling everyone Raycroft is the starter or at best they are platooning, then pick him up as a solid back-up in the late rounds. I like it. |
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ill take at least 150. |
and hey, really great to have one of the 2 early games on CI broadcast in French.
I'm sure the 9 hockey fans in the US who speak French only are very grateful. |
Two minutes into the 2nd period of the Ott/Tor game and Pierre McGuire reminds me why I hate him so much...
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I love Free NHL Center Ice time.
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*sigh* New year, same result. Still can't win in OT/SO as Canes drop the home opener 3-2 against Montreal in OT. Not the best of starts considering Carolina will be out of town for most of October. They get Pittsburgh at home Friday, but then go on the road for six straight after that including complete tours of eastern Canada and Pennsylvania. With such a lack of home games to start with, it wa essential to take advantage of the two they had to start with to build up any momentum at all. Now that they've dropped one, it's going to put a lot of early pressure to win Friday or the Canes could be digging out of an early hole by the time they come home for most of November.
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Hey, does anyone know how many games Heatley has played against Toronto, and how many goals he has in those games? I'm really surprised that TSN never mentioned it.
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If it makes you feel better, losing shootouts seems to be a Stanley Cup champion trend. |
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Signed, Leaf fans |
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Lemme see here, ESPN player bio, split stats 07-08 2G/1A in 1 game (1 GWG) 06-07 5G/5A in 8 games (1 GWG) 05-06, 9G/9A in 9 games (1 GWG) Ottawa sub-total = 16 goals/15 assists in 18 games (3 GWG) 03-04, 1G/0A in 2 games 02-03, 1G/1A in 2 games 01-02, 4G/3A in 4 games (2 GWG) Atlanta sub-total = 6 goals/4 assists in 8 games (2 GWG) Career to date = 22 goals/19 assists in 26 games (5 GWG) That's an average of 0.85 gpg / 1.58 ppg vs Toronto Vs the rest of the league, he gets 0.48 gpg / 1.07 ppg (158 goals/190 assists in 326 games) |
I sensed sarcasm.
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Oopsie. 'Twas lost on me as I wasn't anywhere near a TV during the game (and most likely wouldn't have seen/heard the TSN feed anyway) |
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No worries. When Maple Leafs discusses the Toronto Maple Leafs, a player dominating the Toronto Maple Leafs, and shitty Canadian TV, he tends to get a little snarky. |
Blues - Coyotes tonight!
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Paul Stastny was marvelous last night as he notched his first career hat trick. He had a great game defensively as well.
any fantasy players out there, here's a tip. Jaroslav Hlinka is a 30-year old rookie from the Czech Republic (I believe he led his league in scoring last year). The Avs signed him this summer to a $600k contract, and was a mostly unknown to everyone here. He had a strong preseason, and looked excellent last night. He's playing with Stastny at the moment, so should have a chance to put up some nice numbers. Might be worth a look... |
For Fantasy i used my last round draft pick to pick up Peter Forsberg. I then put him on IR and picked up Andrew Burnette who had 3 assists last night. Oh yea, I also drafted Stastny in the 4th round. So good night for me!
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The Wings were about 2,500 below capacity last night (an end sellout streak going back to 1996). The Avs were about 500 under capacity, the first time they haven't sold out a home opener since coming to Denver. They had an even longer sellout streak than Detroit's end last year.
but hey, we've got a foothold in England! |
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I did enjoy the new Sens uni's.Very european.
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I didn't enjoy the Flyers...I mean, Panthers new unis.
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Briere scores on his 2nd shift as a Flyer!
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Anyone see anything on the NHL Network?
Co-worker told me Direct TV was to launch it Oct 1st . I have looked the past few nights for it with no luck. |
Here's a picture of Havlat at a Chicago-area comic store:
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Nice comeback by the Blues tonight down 3-1 to the Kings!
I have 7th row tickets for the home opener Wednesday!!! |
I'm starting to wonder if Atlanta really doesn't even hold training camp or pre-season games, that the news & results from there are just some sort of ruse.
Outshot 34-15 last night (5-2 loss @ TB), outshot 40-29 in the 3-1 loss at home to Washington, at least 3 different centers have played with Kovy in the first six periods. Multiple comments from players about how they just have to get used to working with each other since there's so many new faces, etc. WTF have they been doing for the past couple of months, just going through the motions? |
Pens twice score 2 quick goals last night.
2nd period, 20 seconds apart-- Colby Armstrong on a ridiculous chance that looked like something Crosby would try, and Malkin on the doorstep from Sykora. 3rd period - Petr Sykora (his 2nd of the night) and Ryan Malone alone from the blueline in after Crosby dives to make a pass between Pronger's skates. Of course, like last year, Pens allowed Anaheim to come back and make it close at the end, but win 5-4 |
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Meh. Washington actually looks a little more serious about playing hockey this year. Carolina rolled the Pens 4-1 Friday, but couldn't touch Kolzig last night in a 2-0 loss. Don't judge the Washington loss too quickly. The Canes are 1-1-1 through three, but the next five on the road (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Pittsburgh, and Philly--the last two as a back-to-back) will be a good measure of whether this year will be like last year or two years ago. Anything over .500 and I think this team will be doing alright. Could actually be the toughest road stretch they face since the Southeast is at the Central this year, which means no west coast swing and the Central outside of Detroit and perhaps Nashville is still a muddle (not that the Southeast is any sort of powerhouse). Examining the schedule, I think perhaps the only other swing that may provide greater difficulty is in early December starting at Buffalo on 12/1, then the Rangers, Bolts, Habs, and ending up in Detroit on the 9th. I think this one they're on now is more difficult simply because it's so early in the season. |
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It's not so much the loss, it's the manner of losing. I mean, they hung the freakin' banner on Friday for crying out loud, the least they could do is show up & be competitive. And outshot 74-44 in the opening weekend doesn't seem competitive, I don't care if they're playing the ghosts of the Montreal greats and the All-Time CCCP All-Stars. Hartley may not make it to the All-Star break. |
my islanders looking good in early season
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The Devils just happen to have many of their early games at times that I can't watch them. At least I see that they won 4-1 the other night. I'll periodically check this afternoon's score online, but I wish I were at home to see it. Then I think they play again on Thursday, which just happens to be a bowling night for me, so I won't be home for that. It'll be a while before I get to watch my favorite team play. *sigh*
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Jason Blake has announced he has a rare form of cancer...
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=220161&hubname= He says it shouldn't affect his ability to play and is treatable/manageable in the long-term, which is certainly good news. |
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you wont even recognize them. its a pretty different style of play so far. |
i stand by my "San Jose Dolphins" comment in the off-season thread, and see bucci has agreed:
2. Jeremy and those jerseys Upon further review, the San Jose Sharks are wearing arguably the ugliest uniforms in any team sport in the history of team sports. When Art Howe was wearing a polyester Houston Astros uniform in the Astrodome circa 1981, maybe that was the worst; but that is hotly debatable because Howe was so hot in '81. When I see these Sharks uniforms on television, I think I'm watching a skit from "Full House" in which Joey Gladstone goes five-hole on a stumbling Uncle Jesse. These Sharks are so 1991, so "Yo! MTV Raps." "Everybody dance now!" These things need to be put into a dumpster, set on fire and rolled down a mountain as soon as possible. Then again, maybe that's why Jeremy Roenick is off to a good start. He thinks it's actually 1991. |
well, that explains it. I love the rainbow Astro unis.
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So far, so good as the Canes rock Toronto 7-1. Nice bounceback from the blanking at Washington Saturday. Kinda wish I'd have been able to see it, but family obligations kept me out of the house and away from the TV. Hope they can keep this ball rolling as they head over to Ottawa. |
At least JFJ has built a consistent club
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The Toronto fans are turning on this team very fast. Booed them through most of the third period, even Toskala who actually was great (which is scary when you look at the score).
Highlight was McCabe picking up the puck in his own end, getting booed, skating behind the net at full speed and tripping it over it, wiping himself out as he sent a perfect centering pass to a Cane. Toskala bailed him out or else the Leaf fans would have stormed the ice and eaten his heart. |
Wednesday night, 11 days after they started the season, in their sixth game and first within two time zones of home, the Ducks will finally raise their 2006-07 Stanley Cup Champion banner.
I'm looking forward to it. |
I agree with ML...Toskala has been great.Without him the score could have been in double didgits last night,and to tell the truth it was'nt even cause the Canes played that well....it was more so because the Leafs played so bad.
I can't figure out why all the pundits say the Leafs are deep on the blueline.I actually think this is the biggest weakness on the team.They have a bunch of 4-6 defencman on the team.IMHO the Leafs need to pick up a stablizing defensive guy. |
First meeting of the season between the Oilers and the Wild. The Oilers, in an "attempt" to add some toughness to the lineup recall J.F. Jacques and insert him in the lineup for Marc Pouliot.
Call it a hunch, but I'm guessing Hemsky is still going to have a little chat with Nilsson, Cogliano and Gagner and warn them that when the lights suddenly go out that it's not a power outage, so don't look around, that it's time to duck and cover because Boogaard is *right* behind you. For those keeping track at home, here's the projected matchup(s): Boogaard (6'7, 258) vs Jacques (6'4, 225) or Greene (6'3, 233) or Souray (6'4, 233) or Staios (6'1, 200)/Torres (6'0, 215) Yeah, the tag team approach didn't work well last year either. Best bet is to score 2 or 3 in the first and force them to try and play catchup to limit Boogaard's ice time. Even then, boys are going to have to have their heads on a swivel or the injury streak may continue. |
Well, it was emotional and thrilling, as you would expect a banner raising to be. The cheers were huge and the ceremony well done. We had a last long look at the Cup. And when Teemu and Scotty were introduced, the arena rocked to "One more year!" as the two of them kinda grinned sheepishly. Come on, guys, rush out to the mike and say "We're coming back!" lol
We also did something I thought I was really cool, although obviously imitated from those Canadian folks. The crowd sang the second verse of the anthem, a tradition they are trying to get going here. Not as loud as the Canadians in Edmonton or Calgary perhaps, but give it time. Then we had a nice 2-1 comeback win, in which one of our playoff heroes Sammy Pahlsson came back from hernia surgery to be a key player tonight. All in all, a tremendous evening for the franchise, and solid step toward trying to win a new one. |
Dirty hit by Boulirice tonight... he'll be missing some time. Flyers look good otherwise, beating Vancouver 8-2.
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Damn, 8-2! Was Luongo in? Or did Toronto lend the Nucks Toskala? |
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