If anyone forgot, The puck drops tonight!

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:52 pm

pk500 wrote:Just watched the last period and OT of the Sens-Habs game from last night over a late lunch, as I feel asleep after the second last night. No indictment of the game -- I was dog-tired and getting over a sinus infection!

Anyways, all I can say is HOLY F*CK after seeing Spezza's game-winner. Easily the goal of the year so far. That move, with Spezza alone on three Canadiens' defenders, and then the dipsy-doodle to fake Theodore, was ridiculous.

Spezza deked Sheldon Souray, a veteran defensive defensemen, out of his jock with the first move and then made former Vezina Trophy winner Theodore look silly.

WOW.

Take care,
PK

I agree, the goal was pure class. Also, it's a goal you weren't likely to see 2 years ago. Souray would have just stood Spezza up, and pushed him off the puck.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:54 pm

My only problem with hockey is the fact I spilled KFC sauce on my brand new Oilers jersey at work today.... ;(

Oh yea, that and the Oil better win tonight.... 7 losses in a row!!!!

fightingcamel · Post by **fightingcamel** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:44 am

Canes come from behind to win again! 8 goals for Carolina, hat trick for Staal in front of a standing-room-only arena!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:56 am

'Bout time that the Piedmont area is waking up to the 'Canes. That is one exciting hockey club!

What a Calder Trophy battle we'll have this year between Crosby and Ovechkin. Staal and Spezza are great young players, too.

Seems to me that the balance of speed has shifted to the East. Montreal, Ottawa and Carolina can fly, and Philly and Toronto are surprisingly fast for being such big teams.

Dallas looks like an old Eastern Conference team. Grinders, at least relatively in this new NHL. Nobody is as slow as they were two years ago, but Dallas appears to be the most "old school" of the teams I've seen this year.

Take care,
PK

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 10:02 pm

Gotta love those Pens. Up 3-1 with under 10 minutes to go in the game, they take three penalties and give up four straight goals to lose 5-3. Yet another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

Talamius · Post by **Talamius** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:24 am

Staal is a freak. 9 goals and 13 assists in October. 4 assists tonight!

Carolina in general is a scoring machine. It's a good thing too, maybe more people will start buying tickets and keep the team here

I was there for the home opener and I'm going to try to catch at least a couple more games.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:26 am

Wow. Got to see the sens trash the leafs 8-0 last night. My boss gave me box seats, so me and the wife headed down.

In the box right beside us, was a group of about 8 20-25 year old guys, 6 CRAZY (Jerseys, painted faces, helmets) sens fans, 2 leaf fans. Had my Sens jersey on too so we got talking to them right away. The wife and I pretty much ended up hanging out with them most of the game. Good fun. They got pretty drunk, 2 of them got thrown out by security cause one of them was an idiot and threw half a beer out of the box down onto the seats below (IDIOT)

At the end, turns out one the leafs fans we'd been hanging out with (and giving him free food from our box since our food was WAY better) can get access to the after-game area for friends and family, since he knows Jason Spezza. He took us all down, and we got to meet a bunch of Senators after the game. They didn't have much time cause their bus was leaving quickly, but I got my Sens jersey signed by

Brian McGratton
Mike Fischer
Jason Spezza
Wade Redden
Danny Heatley

Wicked night. Most of it was lost on my wife as she's not a big fan of hockey at all, but we had fun hanging with those younger guys and it was a good night out. She told me I looked like an 8 year old kid again sitting down there with the Sens players.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:05 am

Very cool, James!

McGratton's hit on Lindros behind the net early in the first, when he planted Lindros on the bench and then smiled at the Leafs' bench, sure set the tone for the night.

Take care,
PK

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:32 am

Yeah, that was sweet. Did you see him ice Domi in that fight? I like Tie Domi, great person, but man it was sweet seeing him (and therefore the leafs) taken down by McGratton.

I kind of wished it was a better game last night though. 8-0, with a horrendous defensive performance by the leafs, is not the most exciting hockey. Damn fun for a the Sens fan in me in some respects though. Fun to rip into the leafs fans after each and every goal.

Every leaf fan there was basically riding the same line "Sens win in the regular season, playoffs are a different story." Based on the past I have to agree there, but I think this year is different. A coach that let's them play the way they can, a healthy Hasek, and McGratton, Neal keeping some intimidation factor, along with calling the actual rules so the skilled guys can play their game, and I think the Sens are good to go in the playoffs. Of course it is too early to say though.

laurenskye · Post by **laurenskye** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:48 am

And the Wings are ranked #1 on ESPN's power rankings

.
11-1, best start in franchise history.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:18 am

laurenskye wrote:And the Wings are ranked #1 on ESPN's power rankings .
11-1, best start in franchise history.

They have done it the hard way. I was not real crazy with the way the NHL has set these games up. It's hard to beat the same team back to back. But the Wings have done it , beating the Blues and the Blue Jackets back to back and now the Blackhawks. Let's hope they can clip the Hawks again in number 3 Tuesday.

Osgood looked sharp last night. He made some great saves. He might be a strong backup.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:07 pm

laurenskye wrote:And the Wings are ranked #1 on ESPN's power rankings .
11-1, best start in franchise history.

They are on a roll but the #1 team for me is Ottawa at the moment. That win was impressive, not only for the 8 goals but they just man-handled the Leafs. Being in the west coast we have to say it: "Leafs Suck"!

Besides that classic fight with former DET B. Probert, I never saw Domi beaten as bad as yesterday. More disturbing for Leafs' fan is that no one else seemed to pick up the pace, a fight usually wakes up a team and Domi did his part.

I am concerned about tha brutal crash in the net causing D. Cloutier leave the game early between AVS-Canucks last night, suspected concussion is the word, the game was a thriller, as usual when these 2 teams meet.

Watched a bit of the Habs-NY game, hey those Rangers are fun to watch, and Jagr is on a roll.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:30 pm

I agree. I've seen Ottawa three or four times this season, seen Detroit once or twice.

Detroit is damn good, but Ottawa is the class of the league right now. No weaknesses and fast as hell.

Take care,
PK

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:05 pm

Flyers and Sens tonight, at 7pm EST. Let's go Flyers!

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:05 pm

Sully wrote:Flyers and Sens tonight, at 7pm EST. Let's go Flyers!

Woot! BIG GAME!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:16 pm

JackDog wrote:They have done it the hard way. I was not real crazy with the way the NHL has set these games up. It's hard to beat the same team back to back. But the Wings have done it , beating the Blues and the Blue Jackets back to back and now the Blackhawks. Let's hope they can clip the Hawks again in number 3 Tuesday.

You've got to be kidding me. I understand what you mean that the second win against a team is harder than the first, but do you really believe 'the hard way' is playing the worst teams in the league over and over again?

Ottawa on the other hand has yet to play a single team with a losing record, which certainly makes their similar record look a whole lot better to me. Detroit might turn out to be the best team in the league, but it's going to take a lot more more than beating up on the cellar dwellers in October to prove it.

My Flyers are playing in Ottawa tonight, and while I think they can match their level of play, unless they start getting some goaltending, it's tough to see them coming out with any points.

laurenskye · Post by **laurenskye** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:51 am

1 Red Wings 9-1-0 Oh so quietly, the Red Wings reign. They lead the league in offense (42 goals) and have a goalie that can go the distance.
2 Predators 7-0-0 They are the only undefeated team left in the NHL. But the Preds fall short of the top spot because we haven't seen them against a team like Detroit, or Vancouver. Still, all hail Tomas Vokoun.
3 Senators 6-1-0 Is Dominik Hasek for real?! Only time will tell, but he's lookin' good so far. This team is so fun to watch; they've got speed, they've got defense and they've got Jason Spezza (4G, 8A in 7 games).

ESPN thinks they are 3rd

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:50 am

James_E wrote:Yeah, that was sweet. Did you see him ice Domi in that fight? I like Tie Domi, great person, but man it was sweet seeing him (and therefore the leafs) taken down by McGratton.

I watched that right hand nail Domi in slo-mo last night on the DVR, as it was hard to see in regular speed because McGrattan's sweater arm hid most of it.

Man, he nailed Domi flush. Like you said, I haven't seen Domi ruined like that in a long time.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:58 am

laurenskye wrote:1 Red Wings 9-1-0 Oh so quietly, the Red Wings reign. They lead the league in offense (42 goals) and have a goalie that can go the distance.
2 Predators 7-0-0 They are the only undefeated team left in the NHL. But the Preds fall short of the top spot because we haven't seen them against a team like Detroit, or Vancouver. Still, all hail Tomas Vokoun.
3 Senators 6-1-0 Is Dominik Hasek for real?! Only time will tell, but he's lookin' good so far. This team is so fun to watch; they've got speed, they've got defense and they've got Jason Spezza (4G, 8A in 7 games).

ESPN thinks they are 3rd

That's dated. There's no way Nashville is the second-best team in the NHL. In fact, Nashville has lost two of its last three since that rating.

Realize that the Preds won something like two or three games in shootouts in the first two or three weeks of the season. Those wins gave people the impression that Nashville is really good -- it's not. I wouldn't even put Nashville in the top five in the NHL right now.

My top five:

1. Ottawa
2. Montreal
3. Detroit
4. Vancouver
5. Philadelphia

I can't give Detroit or Nashville that much respect because their division is so bad. Three of the five teams in their division, the Central, have less than 10 points.

Conversely, every team in Montreal and Ottawa's division, the Northeast, has at least 12 points. When Toronto is the worst team in your division, you know you've got a tough game damn near every night when you play in the Northeast.

Montreal isn't getting much attention because Ottawa is in its division. But the Habs are one damn good team, and with Theodore between the pipes, they have the most important position covered.

I keep wondering if L.A. is for real, but the Kings are playing pretty damn good hockey right now. The Pacific is a pretty rugged division, with four of the five teams with at least 13 points and Phoenix last with 11 points. But Phoenix has played 14 games, so those 11 points are deceiving.

Take care,
PK

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:12 am

McGrattan and Hatcher almost dropped the gloves last night. Then, McGrattan was bold enough to challenge Brashear...too bad Donnie was still sitting on the bench.

I would have loved to see those two dance.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:23 am

The three fights I'd love to see this season:

McGrattan-Brashear
McGrattan-Shelley
Shelley-Brashear

Sully, did you notice that Jersey cut Kristof Oliwa last week? The first goon casualty of the new rules. Not surprising, though, as Oliwa could do nothing but fight.

At least McGrattan and Brashear have some skills. I'm still wondering how long Columbus will keep Jody Shelley dressed, though. He's closer to Oliwa than a fighter with skills.

Take care,
PK

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:32 am

pk500 wrote:The three fights I'd love to see this season:

McGrattan-Brashear
McGrattan-Shelley
Shelley-Brashear

Sully, did you notice that Jersey cut Kristof Oliwa last week? The first goon casualty of the new rules. Not surprising, though, as Oliwa could do nothing but fight.

At least McGrattan and Brashear have some skills. I'm still wondering how long Columbus will keep Jody Shelley dressed, though. He's closer to Oliwa than a fighter with skills.

Take care,
PK

One of the main reasons the Flyers traded away Todd Fedoruk. With the new rules, it's a liability to have even one "goon" on your roster.
Brashear has great hands for a big man, but it's frustrating watching opposing forwards skate circles around him.

Montreal was the team that impressed me the most, out of all of the Flyers' opponents. They can fly, and made Rathje, Hatcher, and Brashear look like statues on the ice. Watching the Ottawa game last night, I expected a faster team. Maybe it's because they played the night before?

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:33 am

Double post.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:37 am

Don't forget about the Boogie Man, Derek Boogaard of the Wild!

He's kicked a few *sses already this season and can skate well enough to have the team send Nazarov through waivers. He definitely gets the crowd fired up.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:42 am

Peter Worrell, where's he been? I thought he was with the Avs, but I don't think he's played a game this year. That guy can fight...but that's about it.