darrinb

i didnt even know atlanta thrashers was a hockey tem, i never knew the team existed, i guess i havent watched hockey in a while

RIP dan

jts1207

this year round hockey crap is for the birds:shakehd: :shakehd:


and the poor NFL only plays 16

tmk70

I grew up playing and LOVING hockey, but I totally agree with you. The hockey season is ENTIRELY too long. I think it should go from Mid October to March....it's ridiculous.

DHRJDMBA

hey TMK where did you play hockey?

tmk70

From the time I was 8 years old right up through High School...then I went to UMASS/Amherst...they didn't have a team then, they do now.

DHRJDMBA

I played growing up from 4 on up. Played at Newton N. and then played at Brandeis which was lame - and then played at Suffolk - now I just skate on a men's league team.

ItalianStallion

ever since going to the lightning home playoff games im gettin more into hockey. im pumped up for going to more home games this year.

rabs99

ummmm. GO DUCKS!!!!!!
hehe

jtothees

I am playing highschool hockey right now, im one of the top scorers, I live in Dallas and I can remember back when hockey was a unheard of sport down here.. but as soon as the Stars started performing... it exploded. oh yea......

GO WINGS

SpeedyV6

What kind of junk is the Ferrari made of that it would "split in two"? The results of the collision may not have been any different but a car "splitting in two" as a result of a collision points to a serious design/structural/or material flaw!

You have to wonder if this car was welded to gether from the front and rear halves of two wrecked cars?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?cnn=yes

Shawn S

Unlike a front engine car, all the weight in those things is in the BACK.

The engine is in the back.
The Tranny is in-between the seats.
There’s not much weight/structure in the front.
If you hit on the side she’s gonna snap like a twig.

Kind of like a FWD car in reverse. When a FWD car gets hit in a certain way the entire front clip lets go.

Shawn S

SpeedyV6

Even if it is a mid engine design and a convertible it's still a piece of sh!$

Shawn S

Yea..... OK then

SpeedyV6

According to BuffaloNews.com it was a 360 convertible. [Snyder was a passenger in Heatley's Ferrari 360 convertible when, according to Atlanta police, it crashed into a brick pillar and cast-iron fence at about 80 mph. ]

IMO: The monocoque chassis of an S2000 woud've held together under the same circumstance.

ItalianStallion

Oilers vs. Canadiens in Edmonton outside.

BRRRRR!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=231122006

this is really cool, i remember they did a UM-MSU hockey game at the Big House in Ann Arbor a while back, i think that was the largest crowd at any hockey game evar.

Bulldog01

And, my Habitants won!! Wohoo!!

I just can't follow hockey like I used to. It's tough since I haven't played in forever.

Plus, I hate the Bruins, so I really don't wanna watch that nonsense around here.

ju5tchi11in

I just saw that on Sports Center. Looks like it was fun... that is how cold it is all the time... in Upstate new york... damn waiting for the bus to school was cold and tramatic.

Bulldog01

Upstate is no f*ckin' picnic, fo sho. My Mom moved from Watertown, NY, to NC over thirteen years ago...she'll never go back to that again.

GOT PSI?

It was a great event! I hope these outdoors games will be done for the next NHL season.

Old Time hockey still lives.

A4NoMore

With all of our Canadian members on this site, I'm sure this will will bring back some happy memories and some painful ones too.

As a kid growing up in Connecticut I had the luxury of my parents owning a pond which froze over nicely every winter. I remember my brothers and I shoveling it off after a snow, playing hockey before school and after school every freakin' day. Good times.

Then the Whalers came to town in the WHA. Really good times. Then they merged into the NHL w/ Winnipeg, Quebec & Edmonton. Most excellent times.

Now the Whale moved down south to NASCAR country...WTF? Same thing w/ Winnipeg & Quebec moving out.

My question to our northern neighbors: How did you handle your teams moving south? Me, I'm an American and it crushed me. I can also ask Minnesota this, but you got a team back.

jcg878

Hockey talk! That's what I need to take my grieving mind away from football.

I think it's sad watching the old Canadian teams leave - damn those high salaries and exchange rate!

One thing I'll say about Carolina - they've got one loud ass building. That building is really cool - they were my home team for a year. Could always get tix though, which is disappointing in a way. I'd go with fellow Dukies who had free tix from their department, and they didn't know shit about hockey. But A4, there were always a few 'transplants' with old-school Whaler jerseys on... fyi.

I don't think Philly is in any danger of losing the Flyers, though they might get booed out if they don't pull it together. When they moved into their new building, they actually booted their AHL affiliate and formed a new one (the Phantoms), with the old building as their home base. Did Hartford ever get an AHL or IHL affiliate?? Minor league hockey games are fun - nobody ever leaves anything in the locker room since they're trying to impress the mother team's scouts. I used to go to Richmond Renegades games (IHL)- $10 for 3rd row from the ice.

Soze75

There's been some talk of Pittsburgh moving to Winnipeg. How funny does that sound?

I was sad to see our teams move. Even sadder thinking about those Quebec fans who missed the Stanley Cup by a year. Same goes for North Star fans. The big three (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal) will always be here, but I worry about Calgary and Edmonton. That upcoming CBA is going to be a war!

The NHL really screwed up by expanding so much, IMO. Players that before wouldn't make the NHL are now 1st liners on some shit teams. There's so many more guys now who are willing to do anything(clutch and grab) just to keep their jobs. This goes for the coaches as well, clogging the neutral zone with their traps and such.

I'm in paradise here in Vancouver. Crawford encourages offensive hockey, with defencemen joining the rush almost always. But still when The Wild or Devils come to town, the entertainment level drops and the chess match begins. BORING

All in all, I find it hard to watch on TV with all the commercial breaks and stuff. Now being at the rink...that's the shiznit!!!:P

A4NoMore

Yeah, Hartford now has the WolfPack, Rangers AHL farm team. And yeah, they are a blast to go to...and only $10....but still, the B's and the Habs don't come to town anymore :'( .

My job allows me to travel a few times a year and I always bring my inlines and if it's an NHL town, my Whaler's jersey. In Edmonton I saw them play the Avs and I couldn't believe all the people who chanted 'GO WHALERS' when they saw me.

dom

Who cares, Toronto's team is'nt going anywhere, we're the most profitable team in the NHL. So as long as there's a team in T.O who cares about the other canadian cities. T.O is the center of Canada, of the universe for that matter (At least our Western neigbours would like you to think we Torontonians think of ourseleves that way) Right Soze? :P

But seriously like Soze said, Edmonton and Calgary may very well lose their teams if the new CBA does'nt seriously help them, but T.O, Montreal and Vancouver are'nt going anywhere.

The NHL as a league is in big trrouble. After this season's TV contract runs out they will no have pratically 0 TV revenues. Leagues need TV revenue (See NFL, NBA) without it they will become a gate driven leaugue where its hard to make big profits.

What should they do?

- Cut 6 to 10 teams - Not only will this help the quality of the on ice product by getting rid of a heap of horrible hockey players but it also gets rid of the teams and cities that can't attract fans. (manly US cities)

- Go to an international size ice surface. - We all saw how great Olypic hockey was. The game is faster, has better flow, less trapping and more scroring. Increase the width from 85 to 100 feet. I currently play on an Olympic size and regular size rink on a weekly basis and I enjpy myself ten fold on the Olypic size rink, much more room to play and make plays.

- Downsize goalie equipment - Have you seen footage of goalies in the 70's and 80's? Obviously the NHL has done a horrible job of regulating this.

- Call the rules by the book - I don't care if there are initially 60 penalties a game. Start calling clutch and grabs. If someone hooks another player from behind with their stick (which happems about 100 times a game) thats a penalty. I know I can't watch anything but playoff hockey anymore because of that . You can't skate without being mauled, its freakin ridiculous.

- Get back to the "Oilers of the 80's Hockey" - Lets see some high flyin goal scoring games like we used to have. The NHL is full of some very talented players. Let them use that talent to make plays, not backcheck because the coach will bench them if they don't.

- Make the "Neutral Zone Trap" Illegal - Basketball introduced the zone and 3 sec in the key rule. Its time the NHL does'nt allow more than 2 players from a team in the neutral zone at any time. (Of course widening the ice may take care of this problem anyway.)

Those are my idea's, the NHL better do something soon or they are in big trouble. I can see only 20 teams in about 6 to 8 years if things remain the same.

fdl

Agreed. The league is diluted. Too many crappy players.

Definately agree but I dont think its realistic. If they were going to do it they had the chance to over the past several years when many teams got new stadiums. Now its too late because it would cost too much money.

Agreed. It doesnt need to be down to 1970s levels, but it needs to be regulated.

I dont think this is a good idea. The intentions are good, but I think it would do more harm than good. Its too unatural to me. Basketball has started allowing zone defence again as well. Plus neutral ice hockey is good, as long as there is enough room (as seen in the olympic hockey).

I think that since its going to be hard to make the rinks bigger, then maybe move the nets back a bit. This will create more open space and eliminiate some of the puck cycling along the boards that has become very popular. It would also keep goalies in their net more often.

dom

Drastic times call fro drastic measures. I agree that making the trap illegal would be unatural, not to mention almost impossible to officiate or control, but something must be done.

Making the ice surface wider is something I don't think they can avoid doing. Yes it may cost millions, but how can you possibly create space without creating more ice surface. Moving the net back is only part of the equation. Remove the first two rows of seating at every arena which will easily gve you the nessesary room to go to 100 feet.

The results I think will more than justify the intial costs. If I as a born and raised Canadian who plays the game cannot stand to watch hockey, no can't stand to watch the NHL expect people in Columbus and Carolina to watch a game they know pratically nothing about. Bring back the excitement at any cost.

A4NoMore

I like that idea of 200x100. What do you think about removing the red line?

dom

I don't like the idea of removing the redline. Its another unatural change as fdl put it. The only pupose that serves, I think is to avoid offsides for two line passes, right? I don't think it will change the game all that much.

I hate the idea of 4 on 4 as well. The only reason the game has changed is because coaches have become too smart in their schemes and styles. Countering that with only 4 players and removing lines etc, is too drastic IMO. Besides we know that a larger ice surface is proven to give us better hockey. The 200x100 ice size is used in Europe and for international hockey, its not as drastic as some might think.

And what the hell is stoping them from implementing automatic icing? Where are the negatives? You miss out on those one or two races down the ice which hardly ever result in a scoring chance? Instead you have an immediate stopage so you don't have to watch the guy skate down the ice, follwed by another faceoff within 35 seconds or so. I mean thats where the NHL confuses me. A change that takes nothing to implement yet has nothing but postive results is not implemeted. And again, its already proven to improve the flow of the game. I'm left scratching my head.

fdl

Its debatable. It could make things worse as defenceman stop pinching in for fear of breakaway passes.

How about this ... force the teams to rip out seats and make the rinks bigger. Any team that cant afford to do it must fold. Kill 2 birds will one stone

fdl

Its all betmans fault. He needs to go.

dom

By ripping out two rows the teams would be losing revenues in the last two rows ofthe building, not the first two. Remember your not moving anything further back, the ice is still there. So those $225 or whatever platiums at the ACC will still be $225, there would be no reason to charge less.

Teams that should be killed in no particular order.

-Pittsburgh
-Carolina
-Nashville
-Washington
-Tampa Bay
-Anaheim
-San Jose
-Phoenix
-Atlanta

Or any team that continuously loses money.

Whatchamacallit

Funny you mentioned that. Was watching a hockey game the other day on ESPN and one of the broadcasters mentioned that NHL wouldn't want to bring a hockey team back to Winnipeg because it's so freaking cold that the American's wouldn't want to play there. Then the other anouncer (maybe Peng or Melrose) commented "it's so cold, even us Canadians don't want to play there".

And yes, the trap is killing hockey. I see more teams playing the trap because "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". Trapping may be legal but if NHL doesn't do anything soon, it's gonna be pretty hard telling apart hockey scores from soccer scores.

KC 2004 TSX

I love hockey. I think a 1-0 win for the Red Wings is just as exciting as a 6-5 shoot-out. I do however think there is always room for improvement. I'd like to see the international size rink adapted. I think the goalies equipment is way too big. Removing the red line would work too but if you expand the ice surface the red line bocomes less of an issue. If the referees would just follow the rule book the game would be perfect.


What a fan she is...

Soze75

Toronto Maple Leafs

well said domn. The Canucks won't win a thing until all Van fans all shout in unison "The Leafs are better and Toronto is the center of the universe!!" Then, just maybe, instead of hitting the post in the dying minutes of a Stanley Cup game 7, the puck will go in and then we'll proceed to lose in overtime

A point I'd like to make to all Leaf fans. You all say we'll be nothing until we win the Cup. Since our birth into the NHL, who has been the better team? Your Stanley came before our existence so it doesn't count. You won it when we were busy cutting down forests and thus had no time for hockey.

Here's to a Leaf/Canuck final so we can settle this thing

2001CL

http://penguinsmail.pittsburghpenguins.com/signup2.asp

Berner

good looking

HyDrOpOnIkToKa

it should always be free to see DALLAS kick the penguins ass

dustbuster4

Too bad that they really suck!


















I AM a Penguins fan.

Sdog2012

you know your team sucks when you have to give tickets away yet im sure they wont fill the seats at this game

Berner

they do suck, real bad. but a free hockey game is a free hockey game