HOCKEY NIGHT in DSP 07-08

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:27 pm

Feanor wrote:I meant getting suspended. Laraque should have got at least a couple of games for what he did to Biron.

I agree. And he should get three or four for the hit on Downie. But at least Downie knows the feeling of a dirty hit, which hopefully will act as a deterrent.

Take care,
PK

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:43 pm

Anything that helps Downie from being dangerous to the other team and getting suspended again is a good thing in my book.

If Downie had deliberately shoved a Penguin into the boards last night, I think I would have stopped watching Flyers games this season. It just turns my stomach now to see those kind of hits knowing how quickly a career can be ended or ruined.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:48 pm

Agreed, man. Hits from behind on ANY player -- whether they're a previous punk or not -- must stop immediately. Those hits, and hits to the head, are the scourge of the game.

Sadly, it's going to take a severe injury to a marquee player such as Crosby or Ovechkin from one of these hits for Bettman and Colie Campbell to have the balls to mandate any change.

Take care,
PK

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 2:12 pm

I didn't really like the new Skills format, especially the new way they're doing fastest skater. I much prefer to see them doing full laps of the rink.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:18 pm

Feanor wrote:I didn't really like the new Skills format, especially the new way they're doing fastest skater. I much prefer to see them doing full laps of the rink.

I love hockey with lust, but the quicker the All-Star Weekend can end, the better. The Skills Competition is a snooze, and the All-Star Game isn't hockey with its high scoring and lack of contact.

Roll on Tuesday, so real hockey can resume.

Take care,
PK

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:11 pm

pk500 wrote:I love hockey with lust, but the quicker the All-Star Weekend can end, the better. The Skills Competition is a snooze, and the All-Star Game isn't hockey with its high scoring and lack of contact.

Roll on Tuesday, so real hockey can resume.

Take care,
PK

Agreed.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:00 pm

God, this game is a joke. Versus has a microphone and earpiece on DiPietro, who is talking while he's playing. He allowed the first goal to Nash about 15 seconds into the game while he was talking with Mike Emrick.

Ricky D also did play-by-play on Versus from the crease for the final 10 seconds of the first period, too.

Funny little touches, but how the hell is anyone supposed to treat this as more than shinny played by guys making seven and eight figures? Hell, I played shinny yesterday afternoon on the frozen Erie Canal with my brothers and some buddies. I don't need this damn game!

Take care,
PK

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:06 am

Wow, how sad is this? I didn't even know the All-Star game was this weekend until I heard the score on the radio this morning. I read a little about it, mostly just checking who was on the teams, if any Blue Jackets made it, but it didn't occur to me it was this weekend. Not even when I saw the Blue Jackets weren't playing this weekend, I didn't put two and two together.

The sad thing is I used to miss the NHL. I'm not sure I do anymore.

All thanks to Gary Bettman, who told a Cleveland audience a while back, that "television-wise, the NHL has never been more accessible."

And you guys think baseball has problems?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:45 am

lexbur wrote:And you guys think baseball has problems?

Yes, it's an exceedingly dull, pedestrian sport. A problem that hockey thankfully doesn't suffer, as the game never has been faster, more physical, more skilled or more exciting.

I think the NHL should scrap the All-Star Game completely unless it is played outdoors or under a different format. Maybe the defending Stanley Cup champs against the rest of the league, with money on the line.

Otherwise, the game serves almost no purpose. And Lex's post proves that no one outside of the hardcore puckheads who post in this thread regularly even know about the game, let alone give two sh*ts about it.

Hell, I worship hockey and could care less about the All-Star Game. Then again, I think All-Star Games in every league are stupid as hell, just manufactured hokum for which the players don't care, unless you're talking about the clause in their contracts that pays them a bonus if they earn an all-star spot.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:56 pm

This years' AS version and others for a matter of fact was nothing more than a quick pick up game of street Hockey among studs. It was rather dull, (J. Paddock can you smile a bit, it's a AS game). Sure they missed the likes of Crosby, Zetterberg, the two best goaltenders in the world etc, but it is the format that has to change.

It used to be the Russians vs NA, Europeans vs NA etc, but there's has to be some hitting for Pete's sake, the All Stars game is nothing but a commercialized outcome and a good mini vacation for all payers alike. Based on the success of the outdoor game this year, I suggested to move this event outdoors too, if these events are nothing more than a quick pick up of shinny, then make the appropiate environment. Fans would love that.

In terms of lack of proper TV exposure in your area Lex, what can I say? I do think that overall the general audience has improved in terms of people being more interested in a game based on the latest numbers from Versus but nevertheless, America needs ESPN back pronto.

I posted the starting players for the AS's game two weeks ago, PK mentioned the coverage schedule, so if any of you have any light interest in the game and find it missing in your local news, chances are that you'll find out more info here.

The game got some interest from me in the third period, two saves worth of mention, both from Nabokov taking on Kovalchuck and the MVP award should have gone to R. Nash IMO.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:07 am

A nice article on Sid, and special video of him visiting Children's hospital.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/feature/f ... dneycrosby

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:39 am

I just found out the AS was yesterday. Nice. I remember when 1)I couldn't wait to watch it and 2)I could find it on tv.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:23 am

10spro wrote:the MVP award should have gone to R. Nash IMO.

Yeah, I'm glad Nash had such a big night, at least from what I hear.

It's a shame the NHL couldn't build off that momentum they seemed to have gotten from that outdoor game on New Year's Day. Like a groundhog, they seemed to have crawled right back in their hole. Oh well.

BTW, I was flipping through the channels last night, and guess what I came across? The AHL All-Star Game! Beautiful.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:06 am

lexbur wrote:It's a shame the NHL couldn't build off that momentum they seemed to have gotten from that outdoor game on New Year's Day. Like a groundhog, they seemed to have crawled right back in their hole. Oh well.

It doesn't help when the star of the Winter Classic, Crosby, is on the shelf for six to eight weeks and can't play in the All-Star Game.

Plus the All-Star Game isn't going to build momentum because it's not hockey and the players don't care about the event. That lack of passion is evident even to non-hockey fans.

The only thing that will build consistent national momentum for the NHL is if either Pittsburgh or an American major market team advances to the Stanley Cup Final, and the Final is a seven-game classic.

That's what happened in 1994 when the Rangers ended their 54-year Cup drought in an epic, seven-game series against Vancouver. The NHL was at its peak in the American sports consciousness then, and, of course, it squandered that breakthrough chance with the lockout the next fall.

If Pittsburgh advances to the Finals with Crosby carrying the load, that helps hockey. If the Rangers, Blackhawks or Kings advance to the Finals, that helps hockey. Sadly, neither of those scenarios will happen this year.

One other thing that really helped in 1994: You had two megastars, Messier and Bure, going head to head. It was the NHL's version of Lebron vs. Kobe.

But the NHL even had one over Lebron and Kobe with Messier and Bure. They were very different characters.

Messier was The Captain, the guy who made bold predictions to the media and fulfilled them. He was a larger-than-life force on and off the ice, with his physical, skilled play and also relishing in Manhattan life, reportedly dating Madonna at the time. He was front-page and back-page material in the New York tabloids. A personality par excellence.

Bure was The Russian Rocket -- a great nickname, by the way, far catchier than "The Kid." Bure was all speed and flash. The guy had a burst through the neutral zone that few had seen before in the NHL. Plus he had a great shot. He was the kind of player who lifted you out of your seat every time he zipped through the neutral zone.

It was North American brawn and power vs. Eastern European skill. The American megaopolis vs. the Western Canadian team. Man, that was a great series.

Sadly, nothing in the NHL right now has that kind of marquee value. Team play always has been a characteristic of hockey, but that trait also has been ingrained into the personalities of the players. The league needs a bit more individuality, a bit more T.O., a bit more Ocho Cinco.

Right now, the only professional sport in North America with duller, more drone-like personalities than the NHL is NASCAR.

Take care,
PK

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:44 pm

Scotty Hartnell in OT!!! 3-2 Flyers over Kings. Sorry Pigpen

Great game...super exciting OT. I'm glad it didn't goto a shootout.

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:00 am

Not sure if it's a nationwide thing or not, but Time Warner Cable's got a free preview of NHL Center Ice going on this week.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:44 am

PK, can you phone up the Oil and tell them the break is over?

13 shots? Ouch! (or was it 19? either way... ouch!)

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:19 am

'Nucks' slump continue and to make things worse, injuries keep piling up. I can't recall the defense (considered at the beginning of the season among one of the stronger ones) having all top six dressed up yet in a game. Now it's Mitchell out with a back injury that is week to week.

Last night it was C. Sanford that left a couple of softies in, as the depleted D tried their best, but the difference was M. Turco for DAL. He always seems to play very well agaisnt VAN.

This is how tough the western conference is. Who would have imagined in Vancity that the team is in seventh spot just a point ahead of Wayne's boys after leading the division for most of the season? And if Louie doesn't pick up his game a notch, things can get very interesting.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:11 pm

Gangrel wrote:PK, can you phone up the Oil and tell them the break is over?

13 shots? Ouch! (or was it 19? either way... ouch!)

That's what happens when you have only one player on your team who is a sniper who can create space and back up the defense, Hemsky. Opposing defenses really don't need to respect anyone else on the Oilers when they cross the blue line.

Maybe Horcoff, who is the Oilers' leading scorer. But not like Hemsky. Horc gets most of his points through sheer work rate, not wizardry like Hemmer.

The Oilers rely on generating offense through the cycle quite a bit, which leads to low shot totals. But that's what MacT must do when he looks at an offense with one star, one borderline star who works his ass off every shift and then a group of hard-working plumbers.

Hemsky is the only player on the Oilers who strikes fear into any opponent. Plus the Oilers only have one strong line, Hemsky-Horcoff-Penner. The rest do little but check and cycle.

Last night's shot total was pathetic, but Souray's shoulder is hurt again. The loss of that cannon from the point on the power play removes three to five shots from the Oil's shot total. Only the most fearless guys in the league stay in the line of fire to block one of Souray's missiles.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:01 am

Funny parody of the NHL's "Is this the year?" TV ad campaign:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMs6gcUA ... p?t=471009

Take care,
PK

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:37 am

pk500 wrote:Funny parody of the NHL's "Is this the year?" TV ad campaign:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMs6gcUA ... p?t=471009

Take care,
PK

LOL.

My faves were 'is this the year someone dies on the ice,' or 'is this the year Chelios retires.'

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:03 pm

pk500 wrote:Funny parody of the NHL's "Is this the year?" TV ad campaign

That was absolutely hilarious. I think my favourite was Gretzky's voice. Close runners up were, "Is this the year parents can't afford ice-time?" and somebody dying on the ice.

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:13 pm

I think just about everybody in our locker room Sunday night agreed that the NHL All Star game was a complete joke, and the skills competition was horribly ill-conceived and executed.

At a party on Saturday night we were watching the Super Duper Breakaway Contest and it was pathetic. The reason it works so well in the NBA is that there's a 95% chance of the shot actually going in. With a goalie, it makes things just a tad more difficult.

Add in the events where the players are doing things that don't even happen in a game, such as trying to shoot over a board and into a little net (what is this, a McDonald's commercial - although those were entertaining) and you've got events that are completely irrelevent and utterly boring to anybody who likes hockey and everybody else who doesn't, which doesn't help when the latter is growing increasingly large.

And let's not forget that humdinger of an idea, whereby goalies shoot from one end of the ice and hope to hit the net on the other. I think watching those intermission contests where fans try to hit the net from centre ice is about 86% more entertaining. Just because when a goalie actually does score during a game it's fairly eventful and will make a lot of highlight shows, doesn't make it entertaining to watch on TV or even in person when you've got to wait like 5 seconds to see the results of the shot.

All Star weekend was meant to celebrate the game and bring in more fans, not solidify its status as a second-tier sport that barely competes for ratings when ESPN 2's broadcasting a pumpkin carving contest.

Oh, and the Leafs still suck. I'm in hockey hell.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:46 pm

A few things , it wasnt as bad as your saying.

The breakaway.
The fact that 50% of my 12yr old kids team can do the michigan or throw a glove first to distract goalie and then make a move or one of several other funny things on a breakaway drill just showed me how un imaginitive the players were, and Nabakov coming out to the top of the circles to stop any move the shhooter was even attempting didnt help stupid idiot.

The goalie shot was fine me and my son enjoyed it and showed that it isnt easy.

All in all it is what it is i dont think it hurts the game.

Edit : The Kings suck worse.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:03 pm

Flyers vs. Rangers tonight! 7pm. Bring it Jagr!