General Hockey Thread v3.0

[Bronx33]

Something i found on goonblog.....

I would like to congratulate Gary Bettman for doing his very best for improving the NHL as we know it. Gary, you have done a marvelous job since you have been Commissioner of the NHL. You have been instrumental in 2 work stoppages, half of the 1994-95 season (468 games), and a complete loss of the 2004-05 season.

Gary, great job in bringing back half empty arenas, and for moving two great Canadian franchises in Quebec City and Winnipeg. Sure, we have a “new” team in Ottawa, but you’re right, Carolina, Nashville and Miami are much better hockey markets. Nothing says “Old Time Hockey” like those blue, silver, and bright yellow jerseys of the Nashville Predators. I can’t wait until Pittsburgh, Edmonton, or Calgary move since we all know Houston, Kansas City and Las Vegas are such hotbeds for hockey!

Thank you Gary for bringing us a schedule where we don’t need to see each team every year. In a place like Vancouver, they have hundreds of fans who would like to see the Leafs, Habs or Bruins play the Canucks every season, but once again, you’re right, playing Calgary, Minnesota and Edmonton 8 times a season is much more entertaining than seeing an original 6 team like New York, Detroit, or Toronto. Who cares if the Stanley Cup Champions play here? Who cares if Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin or Staal play here every 3 seasons? Gary, you’re right, we don’t need them.

Mr. Bettman, how do you do it? How did you get such a sweet deal on OLN? Yes, having the NHL on a channel Americans have to pay for is much better than ESPN. The numbers don’t lie; OLN’s numbers prove that. ESPN, NBC, CBS, yeah, we don’t need that. We have Pay Per View; how fortunate are we! What ever happened to that Fox Trax puck? I miss that.

Getting back to the schedule, I really like how some games are worth two points and others three. It’s also so exciting to see no battles in front of the net or body contact of any kind. Hockey is such a great game now. I couldn’t stand watching Todd Bertuzzi slamming Chris Chelios or freight training Barret Jackman. Those bodychecks were so violent! We don’t need that in OUR sport. No way! I prefer to see Henrik or Daniel Sedin, able to stand unimpeded in front of the crease so they can tap in a rebound! I’m so happy that fighting is almost gone from the game. Now I have more time to go get some popcorn or a drink instead of wondering if Brian McGratton would fight Wade Brookbank. Wait, the Canucks got rid of Brookbank because he was tough. Also, that fight would only happen every three years.

Gary, I’m thrilled that there are so many Europeans in the game. Having Europeans on the third and fourth line is fascinating. Watching them cycle the puck back and forth behind the net is so exciting. I’m glad to see guys such as PJ Stock, Gino Odjick and Tie Domi gone from the game. They didn’t bring anything to the game that a fourth liner from Europe couldn’t. I really hated to hear those chants of Gino, Gino, Gino we used to hear when he went after Marty McSorley or Tie Domi. Like I mentioned fighting was a despicable part of the game. I now have time to go to the washroom, beating those intermission crowds.

I really enjoy watching five on four, four on three, or five on three games nightly. There’s nothing more entertaining than seeing more goals. I love seeing the stars racking up the points like Gretzky and Lemieux used to. We don’t need those old records that were set before you became commissioner. Players like Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Phil Esposito or Bobby Orr aren’t important. They played in that era of fighting and limited power plays. These players had to battle nightly for space on the ice or in front of the net. I’m so glad to see that you don’t have to pay a price to score. What a chore that was. If Gretzky played in today’s game, he may have gotten 400 points, but let’s not get silly now.

And thank you for the two-referee system. Get some more people out there on the ice and call more penalties. Forty minor penalties per game is exciting and really gets the average Joe and Joan heading to the arena. In conclusion Mr.Bettman, I’d just like to say that the game, as you see it, could never be better & I hope you are thrilled with today’s product coming to a rink near you. By the way Gary, have you ever played the game, or even watched it?

Sincerely,

A WHL fan.

[24champ]

Kudos to that guy...someone needs to start a website called firebettmen.com. This game is going down and not up. It should be going up with all these young guns in the league but that is what ZERO marketing does.

[SoCalBronco]

Sopel with a goal for 24champbailey's Kings. Looked like it was deflected off a Ranger.

1-0 Kings over Finkle's Rags.

[alkemical]

Go Kings! I want the rangers to loose.

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by claviculasolomonis

Go Kings! I want the rangers to loose.

Yep, I'm hoping they beat the Rags too. But hopefully its a really physical game and the Kings get worn out for Wednesday night

[SoCalBronco]

Sopel with another goal. Puck skipped in through, Lundquist seemed to misjudge it.

2-0, Kings.

[alkemical]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

Yep, I'm hoping they beat the Rags too. But hopefully its a really physical game and the Kings get worn out for Wednesday night

I'd like the streak to keep going too. I'm more than pleased with how this team has looked this early. I'm hoping that they keep getting better and better.

[Bronx33]

Im posting this because (I NEVER WIN NOTHING!) but things changed when i checked my email today, i won 25 bucks! from a guess a game winner contest on kuklas korner http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.ph...he_kk_members/

A gift certificate to http://www.icejerseys.com/index.php

[Mtbrncofn]

That letter was great. I hope it somehow makes it way before Bettman's eyes someday.

[SoCalBronco]

I will be at Staples Center tonight wearing my Crosby jersey.

Prolly wont get much work done today just thinking about the game.


We better pull it out, as I don't want to have a Kopitar avatar for the next week.

You're going down 24champbailey.

[alkemical]

Sweet Socal!

I'm going to try to make it to a pens game at home this year. I might go to PHI though (cost reasons)

[Bronx33]

NEW YORK (Nov. 1, 2006)- NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprises (ICE), the digital arm of the National Hockey League (NHL), today announced a multi-year deal to provide NHL video content to Google Video. The NHL will provide in-season full-length games on delay to Google Video at http://video.google.com/nhl.html. Google also will receive select NHL classic games.
In addition to the game content, the NHL also will work with Google to allow certain NHL themed user-generated content on http://video.google.com/nhl.html. This is the first time Google Video has worked with a major professional sports league in such a manner.
To celebrate its 89th season and this increased access to video content, the NHL will be offering its content for free – without ads – for the first two weeks of November.
“When web users are searching for diverse video content, Google Video is the first place they go, just as NHL.com is the first place hockey fans go when they want NHL video,” said Keith Ritter, President of NHL ICE. “The combination of our content and Google’s massive reach is a terrific pairing, and we’re excited to add fan-generated content to the mix.”

[alkemical]

Wow very cool

[24champ]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

We better pull it out, as I don't want to have a Kopitar avatar for the next week.

You're going down 24champbailey.

We shall see!

[Breck Bronc]

The Avs played a solid game tonight against Columbus and Theodore had his second good game in a row after the Montreal debacle.

If you're an Avalanche fan you've got to love this forward corps. They've got 4 lines that can skate and all of them are capable of scoring. This season the fourth line had been quiet on the scoresheet (aside from Brad Richardson), but tonight they scored some big goals. All three guys on the fourth line are good penalty killers so any offense they generate is a bonus.

There are three forwards that are injured and I don't see any space for them. Pierre Turgeon and Brad May in the lineup would make the team worse, IMO, and I hope they never come back. Cody McCormick has always been a good fourth liner so maybe he will find a spot in the top-12, but who do you sit? I think Mark Rycroft proved his worth after being a healthy scratch last Wednesday vs. Washington for George Parros.

The defense still needs some work and I'm thinking a forward or two will be traded to shore the blueline up, even after Jordan Leopold comes back.

I'll be interested to see how Colorado plays against the elite teams in the league like Anaheim, Buffalo, and San Jose. I've been pleasantly surprised by how well they've played so far this year and would like to see them against a more talented team. The Avs have been in every game this season and should be better than their 6-4-2 mark.

[alkemical]

My pens are down vs. the kings right now

[Bronx33]

Hey i found this GIF you might want for your siggy..

http://www.sundin.de/hfboards/malkin.avi

[alkemical]

Thanks!

[SoCalBronco]

Just got back from the game....that was great.

Overall, we were kinda sloppy, and especially got it taken to us in the 2nd period but other than that, I thought we played pretty well. Alwasy good to get a win on the road. It was great to see Malkin and Crosby in person. I didn't see who it was, but someone went after Malkin but just bounced off of him onto the ice. It was a nice experience at the Staples Center, there were actually a good number of Pens fans there, too. Jordan Staal really impressed me, tonight. He looks like he is getting faster. In the preseason he was lumbering along but he is really developing well. Recchi had a good night too and Nils Ekman is finally showing up a little bit. I was impressed by the Kings hustle.

Fleury wasn't his best tonight, he gave up a bunch of bad rebounds, but he got better in the 3rd period.

Go Pens. 7-3 and first place in the Atlantic.
Man, Malkin is just on a huge tear, he has 11 points in 6 games now and Crosby had 3 assists tonight, he is closing in on the league lead.

[alkemical]

glad you were there for a win!

[24champ]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

Just got back from the game....that was great.

Overall, we were kinda sloppy, and especially got it taken to us in the 2nd period but other than that, I thought we played pretty well. Alwasy good to get a win on the road. It was great to see Malkin and Crosby in person. I didn't see who it was, but someone went after Malkin but just bounced off of him onto the ice. It was a nice experience at the Staples Center, there were actually a good number of Pens fans there, too. Jordan Staal really impressed me, tonight. He looks like he is getting faster. In the preseason he was lumbering along but he is really developing well. Recchi had a good night too and Nils Ekman is finally showing up a little bit. I was impressed by the Kings hustle.

Fleury wasn't his best tonight, he gave up a bunch of bad rebounds, but he got better in the 3rd period.

Go Pens. 7-3 and first place in the Atlantic.
Man, Malkin is just on a huge tear, he has 11 points in 6 games now and Crosby had 3 assists tonight, he is closing in on the league lead.

Yeah refereeing was terrific too.

Kopitar was virtually prison raped out there and got NO CALLS. Malkin skates into Matty's stick and gets a gift call for OVERTIME! I happen to agree with Marc Crawford who thought the calls were quote "*****ING BS", Im suprised he didn't start throwing sticks on the ice. Horrible game. So bring on that ****ing Malkin avatar Socal.

[Bronx33]

(Dave King malkins former coach with Metallurg Magnitogorsk)



Wayne Gretzky couldn't do it. Neither did Mario Lemieux. Not Pavel Bure or Brett Hull or Gordie Howe either.

Ever since the National Hockey League formed in 1917, no player began his career by scoring a goal in six consecutive games, a feat that Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin achieved in Wednesday night's date with the Los Angeles Kings.

Malkin skated into the record books at precisely 8:29 of the opening period on a play that began when Penguins forward Colby Armstrong bumped Kings defenceman Aaron Miller off the puck. Sidney Crosby swooped in to scoop up the loose puck and centred it in front to Malkin, who caught goaltender Dan Cloutier moving the wrong way and scored with a wrist shot, glove side, from about 10 feet out.

The goal, which gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead, enabled Malkin to exceed the previous high of goals in five consecutive games to start a career established by a Boston Bruins rookie named Dmitri Kvartalnov (nicknamed Special K) back in the 1992-93 season.


Kvartalnov turned out to be not-so-special after all, playing just 112 NHL games over two seasons, before finishing his journeyman career with stops in Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Germany and Russia.

Malkin, it would appear, is destined for far greater things.

One person watching Malkin carefully these days is Dave King, his former coach with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Russia last season. Of Malkin's rapid adjustment to life in the NHL, King said: "I'm not surprised at all. I knew he was ready, almost a year ago.

"The one thing about Malkin is, he wasn't a guy who would get five points in one game and then go four or five games with nothing. He scored consistently almost every game. He was really consistent in terms of the effort he delivers — and when you're consistent with your effort, quite often you're more consistent with your statistics, too. They're related.

"I've watched him on TV and they haven't used him much to kill penalties — and that's the other side of the coin. I'm sure they will in time. I understand Michel (Therrien, the Penguins coach) is trying to spread the workload around the whole roster. But if they ever start to use this guy to kill penalties, they will become particularly dangerous, playing a man short — because he is excellent.

"So the results don't surprise me. He's a very consistent guy, who loves to play."

Malkin entered the game with five goals and seven assists (and a plus-7 rating), a primary factor in the Penguins' quick start to the new season. Pittsburgh produced only 10 wins on the road all of last season, tied with Chicago for the second lowest total in the league. This year, they were off to a 3-0 start on the road and were one of only two NHL teams that entered Wednesday's play with a spotless record away from home.

Thus far, Malkin and Crosby have been a dynamic combination, even though they're only half-a-dozen games into their partnership. It's almost as if they've been playing together a long time.

"When you get good players together, the one thing that happens is they're usually one play ahead of everyone else," analyzed King. "They're hard to defend because they're constantly in motion. They recognize, 'if I give it to him, I'm going to get it back.' With the new rules now that take away the ability to tackle, they're just terrific to watch."

Malkin celebrated his record-setting goal with a smile and a leap into the arms of his teammates that is rapidly becoming his trademark early in his NHL career. Both Malkin and Crosby play the game with so much passion and joy that their enthusiasm spills over into the rest of the lineup.

"I was so fortunate because last year, at every practice, Malks could just pick you up — you and the team," said King. "He was just forever upbeat. He only had one stretch when he didn't score consistently, but he was still able to keep the smile on. He's a terrific guy and he's got such flair.

"Flair is such a nice thing, but sometimes it's of no value to a player; it can get in the way. This guy's got a natural flair for the game, for playing the game at a high-tempo style. He'll challenge you one on one. In practice, he'd get that puck and wind up and his eyes would light up, if he were attacking someone like Dmitri Yushkevich, because he was an ex-NHL player."

King said both Yushkevich and Igor Korolev, two ex-Leafs, were important to Malkin's development last season, Korolev because he spent time with Malkin working on face-off technique; Yushkevich because on every drill, he would get in Malkin's face and crowd him and give him a taste of the physical play he could expect upon arriving in the NHL.

"Watching these two guys with Malkin, it was as if they knew this guy was going to be great — and they were going to help him be greater."

It worked, apparently, since no one else in NHL history ever started his career so well. The only mystery now is to see what Malkin might do for an encore.

[Clockwork Orange]

Clodd Bertuzzi has back surgery, out 6-8 weeks.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2647141

[Bronx33]

A little something i tripped on today.......

Hockey Babe Wallpapers

http://www.thehockeyboard.com/index.php/?page_id=9

[Bronx33]

I thought this was a pretty sweet picture of one of malkins goals last night.