Have you noticed anything that warrants comment on during this NHL season in regards to positive/negative points, weird occurances and so on
a chance to vent..........

for starters back up goalies are getting alot of work
more penalties = more time on the PK = more shots on the goalies = more pressure

goalies are being platooned, pulled, rested call it whatever you want, but your starter is seeing less time as he normally would

unless your in minnesota, but they've got that inbred #1 goalie thing going on

There are PLENTY of things to comment on. Shit...since when does a major sport get this kind of overhaul? I'm just not used to having anyone on this board to discuss those things with. If you haven't noticed, before you came on board I was pretty much on an island with myself.

I get to see the goaltending thing first hand here in Detroit. It's been a bummer too because Manny has been playing his ass off when he's been healthy.....and after watching Osgood get shelled last night by the Stars (a team we usually dominate), I had to wonder a bit about your comments regarding Detroit getting another goaltender. My first response was to disagree..but now I just don't know.

As far as other stuff is concerned....well where do you even start? (I guess right here, eh?) The officiating is about the worst shit I have ever seen. It's extraordinarily inconsistent....not to mention that the players just don't seem to be "getting used to it" like everyone originally suggested.

Actually, I'm trying really hard to enjoy all of the good things about the new season. I like the shoot out (obviously), I like the transition to smaller, faster players. I like the absence of the clutching and grabbing (at least somewhat). I also really don't miss that 2 line pass horse shit.

Maybe this thread should be broken into 2 threads. a pro and a con thread.

Call me a purist, but I still think a shootout is a bad idea.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I can enjoy a 0-0 or 1-1 game where both goalies stand on their head - and I think its a shame that one of them is going to lose because we need to have a winner or else.

Oh yeah, if we are going to have shootouts - get rid of the loser's point for overtime. The whole point of the extra point was to ensure people played for the win - well you have to play for a win now. If ties were too confusing for the casual fan, then the point system must boggle their mind.

The Shootout is a gimmick pure and simple
a bone tossed to the fans for having missed an entire season
It was an attraction during international competition, emphasis on international not NHL

that being said its being recieved well by the general public and that NYR shootout with malik finishing it is the definition of what buttman was looking for.

the 2 line pass should have been taken out a long time ago its just a minor rule but it adds alot to the game

the goaltenders not being able to play the puck is a farce and it will be gone in a matter of years

and dont get me started on this wild reffing...its a joke i've taken to calling it basketball on ice for 40 minutes out of a 60 minute game the teams are on the PP/PK which means you take the puck down set up in your formation with 1 D with the big shot at the top 1 D man off to the side on the half boards, 1 winger at the other side boards, C down in the corner for the cycle, 1 W in front of the net holmstromming it
workit around set up picks and take your shot before the PP (shot clock) expires......penalty, repeat, penalty, repeat....

The two line pass...or lack thereof...is long overdue and the #1 thing I wanted to see changed. I also want the icing rules changed as well becuase sooner or later someone is gonna get REALLY hurt. I love the urgency of trying to negate the icing call, but is it really worth someone losing their career over?

I'm on the fence about the goaltenders playing the puck. I still think that if the goaltender is bold enough to go that far out of the crease...he should be fair game. I don't think it's right for Broduer to change the outcome of the game because he is untouchable even outside of the crease. Don't get me wrong....what he does while out playing the puck is pure art, but I still think it's unfair.

The shootout, on the other hand, is pretty good so far. Sure, it's certainly a concession for the fans. The sport will need more fans to flourish and no-one in The States likes to watch any sporting event end in a tie. Good or not, the bottom line is that the fans go absolutely crazy for it...and I have to admit that it's been pretty fun to watch. C'mon....purist or not: you have to admit that it's pretty exciting.

Honestly im on the fence either way
I like hockey with it, I like hockey without it

things i would change though would be
1)count goals scored by players in a shoot out on their totals
they count shoot out goals towards team totals but not individual, doesnt make sense

2) take away the point for a shootout loss, yes it keeps the standings tight but its artificial......a compromise for that would be to give half points for a shootout loss but that would confuse the shit out of your fringe fan

also they dropped the ball on fighting......Fighting more so than a shootout brings fans to their feet and gets them going
take the damn instigator rule out of the game you pansy ass morons
the instigator rule prevents people from policing themselves...did gretzky ever get cross checked slashed hacked whacked or smashed.......NO because semenko and later mcsorely would pound the living poop out of anybody who took a run at him

and whats this crap about a supsension for fighting in the last 5 minutes??? I just dont see the logic behind these changes

C'mon....purist or not: you have to admit that it's pretty exciting.

Honestly, nope.

I don't find it exciting - even when my team is in one. I hate it so much that whenever I see a game where they go to a shootout, I am so bugged about it that I don't enjoy it at all. I believes it wrecks a perfectly good game - 2 teams play for 65 minutes and then settle a game with undeserved penalty shots? To me - what was the point of playing the game in the first place?

It would be like football solving a tie game by throwing footballs through tires.

It would be like basketball solving a tie through free-throws or a 3 point challenge.

It would be like baseball solving a tie through a home run derby.

Those examples probably sound silly, and thats what the NHL has done.

And that brings me to another pet peeve - When they do a shootout, the skater should be forced to start their skate inside the blue line. Even more, they should start their run from a faceoff stance at centre ice. Some of these guys are starting at the top of the circles in their own zone! If the goalie has to start in his crease, then the player should be in the centre faceoff circle at least.

also they dropped the ball on fighting......Fighting more so than a shootout brings fans to their feet and gets them going
take the damn instigator rule out of the game you pansy ass morons
the instigator rule prevents people from policing themselves...did gretzky ever get cross checked slashed hacked whacked or smashed.......NO because semenko and later mcsorely would pound the living poop out of anybody who took a run at him

and whats this crap about a supsension for fighting in the last 5 minutes??? I just dont see the logic behind these changes

My name is devilmaster, and I approve this quote. ;) :D

My name is devilmaster, and I approve this quote. ;) :D

Thank you for your support, when I become Commissioner of the NHL i'll remember you fondly.

Regards,

Fraserburn, Commissioner

I can deal with the shootouts in the regular season, but are they going to be inplace for the playoffs too?? If so, that's bullshit. There's nothing quite like a 3 OT thriller in the Stanley Cup Finals.

As far as I know, there will be no shoot outs in the post season. That would be total bullshit.

Thats affirmative
no shoot out in playoffs

I like all the rule changes, but with fighting was part of the game still.



Art

The fighting was great....and certaily a way for the players to police themselves. However....we're forgetting one important thing: The game continues to get more and more Americanized. This is a land where the idea of a "rolemodel" is forced upon each and every athlete....weather they like it or not. Violence is bad. Fighting is a naughty, naughty thing that parents don't want to encourage their kids to do.

Do I actually beleive in this philosophy? No. But it is how it is.

I'd rather see a role model who stuck up for himself and his teammates with his fists man to man than with his stick to the wrist or knee or head
or to hit a guy from behind with a cheap shot

that would be somebody i could tell my kids (in the eventuality) to look up to

I agree....but you're fogetting about the airtight "family values" that we have here in The States. You're statement is way too logical to be considered. Please revise your thinking immediately or we will be forced to reprogram you with an unnecessary marketing campaign of some sort. Either that or we'll have all of our actors and actresses in Hollywood tell you all about the foriegn affairs and other various politics that they think they know nothing about while living in a mansion surrounded by armed guards and an immpassable gate.

You've been warned.

aww my friend but you forget that I am Canadian and i live in the land of true FREEDOM to do whatever the hell i want......you sit through your airtight family value backwards traditional overyly right wing conservative country's abuse of the word freedom

you're only free to do what they tell you is right
and apparantly fighting is hockey isnt right so you must suffer
i will sit up here and laugh all the way to a rink filled with toothless warriors

No, I know that you're Canadian. That's why this should even be more funny to you. Actually, I was thinking about a new sitcom with you and devilmaster. A wacky sitcom about one Yankee and two Canucks that get into all kinds of wacky trouble. I'm just trying to come up with a name.....

I realize how f'ed up the Americanization of hockey has become....yet I'm wondering one small thing:

How come most of the guys that get in trouble for cheap hits are Canadian? This is puzzling.

simple mathematics

64% of the league is Canadian Players
thats 3/5ths of the league

so thats a pretty good chance of whoever it is doing the hitting its probably going to be a canadian

bertuzzi 2 years ago
godard this week

of course one of the worst cheap shots i've ever seen was Pavel Bure on shane churla with that flying elbow

Wow....this should have a "dirtiest hit" thread...or a "dirtiest players of all time thread"


Regardless...Pavel Bure or Shane Churla was pretty bad. I would almost say that it was the dirtiest hit by a European/ Russian....however the Ulf Samuelsson hit on Can Neeley has to also be up there. It didn't appear to be as bloodthirsty considering the rivalry...but it essentially endy Neely's career....as well as Boston's chance at a cup.


Almost as bad was the Claude Lemieux hit on Kris Draper. Claude was the biggest dickbag ever to put on a pair of skates. That was actually one of many cheap shots to come from that guy....too bad he won so many frickin' cups. Wow...justthinking about him still pisses me off. It might, however, have something to do with my loyalty to the Red Wings. He did cost us 2 Stanley Cups and all.

What about Scott Stevens when he "light out'ed" that pussy Eric Lindros several years back?

Not a dirty shot, but quite enjoyable.

Welcome to the hockey board, Mr. Denny!

Anyways....Lindros never quite learned to skate with his head up. Anytime Lindros got smacked it was more than enjoyable.

lindros is a shell of a man right now about 1/3 the player he used to be
probably due to the fact he has 1/3 the brain now

another dirty hit would be whoever the hell it was that cross checked paul kariya in the mouth after he scored a goal.....who was that pile of dog feces......damn thats goin to bother me all night

How about dirty goalie hits.

Wasn't Ron Hextall the king of that?

no way arturs irbe ruined some guys face for life with his blocker cut him up for 30-40 stiches a few years back in Carolina

Eddie Belfor is also "Captain Crotch Shot" with his stick....but then again, the Red Wings are partly responsible for giving that guy the pshche of a serial killer.

why did Probert sell Cocaine Eddie some crack?

Well we've roughly reached the halfway point in the NHL season
is anything suprising you? are teams where you expected? are players fading into the sunset or on the rise?

One more thing for me to bitch about...

how do we go about getting more life and interest in this part of the forum
we need more hockey fans

Well...this was primarily started as a basketball forum and I was recently charged with moderating a straight up hockey section. The first version of this site actually lumped hockey in with other sports. Now hockey has been broken off into it's own space. I've been trying to get a few of my friends on board, but it's been tough. Most of the hockey fans I know don't usually post on any site.

Hopefully patience will ultimately prevail. I'm currently researching other hocket boards to try and find new posters. It's a slow process.

Yeah i knew that going in (primarily basketball) and you can really see where the activity lies. especially now that football is almost wrapping up i imagine even that part of the boar will slow down and MLB pick up

I'll keep an eye open for some real hockey posters as my friends dont post either....

Ahhhhh....hockey: The Blue Collar Sport.

Shug

have you ever been on this site before?

www.hfboards.com

probably the best hockey message board i've ever seen
you could probably find a few Detroiters that would come here as well

Nope....but I will now.

Looks like a cool board. At least it's focused on hockey and not basketball. I'm registered and will be checking about. Is your username the same on this site?

yeah it is
i havent posted yet
i've just been browsing around at the trade rumours and prospects stuff

Great, we just lost Shug.

(j/k)

(I hope)

You guys are doing a nice job here. I have a feeling that more people are reading here than posting.

Understandable
I am an intimidating figure of hockey knowledge

Your powers are clearly beyond my comprehension for sure...I'm sure it has something to do with you being Canadian, but you still haven't replied to my curling post, so I'm not too sure.

Oh, and Glenn...you have no chance of losing me. It would be a major dissapointment to watch the hockey board flourish without me....and it will flourish.

And yes, I'm sure more people are reading than posting, but I think it's sorta like watching television in Spain....lot's of nice stuff to look at, but not really too sure what's actually going on. Who knows, maybe it's just fear. Hockey is the greatest sport in all the land that NOBODY is watching.

Maybe another reason is that there is no direct link from college to the pros so it's hard for people to get involved in the evolution of how teams get players. (Please note that this is irresponsible speculation at best).

the new nhl needs a new tv station. do a deal with back end incentatives based on ratings.

Thats the most interesting part of hockey

where do the players and prospects come from......simple answer is they can come from anywhere

its not like shooting a fish in a barrell like it is for football and basketball
they arent all funneled into one system and all the scouts have to do is watch that one system

i'll give you a brief rundown of the various ways to get to the nhl......keep in mind this is brief and also the canadian way....its different in the US

as a child you start playing minor hockey in your own town
if you ahve talent(or money long story) you will get scouted and get offers for triple A training camps or Major Junior training camps leves A, B, C or D A being the best and so on down

this is where it splits you can either choose to play junior (CHL) or go to the NCAA

from then on you can either jump straight to the NHL
or go to one of the various sub levels
AHL is directly under the NHL and thats where most quality prospects go after they get drafted
ECHL is a level below the AHL and mediocre players/ undrafted players go there and hone their skills in an attempt to climb the ranks

i believe there are 6 ECHL players who have played in the NHL this year making a giant leap including Michael Garnett (G) for ATL


anyway thats all very confusing to most non-hockey people

it gets even worse if you include the various european super leagues
and other places you can snag players from....