NHL Hockey
- Thread starter Rocket Surgeon
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Major Eaton
New member
Finn said:Since the Hawks have Marian Hossa in their roster, I'd call it a no-brainer and say Philly takes the cup.
That seemed to have turned out well.
Hossa's goal production was down(3 in 22 games - no surprise) but his point production was steady(15 in 22 games). More importantly, his compete level was sky high. I watched an iso camera of him at the NBC site during the finals and he worked pretty darn hard on every shift. I felt there was no way he would have been dogged this past year, especially the lineup the Hawks had. He'll never be worth that contract though. I have some good memories of him, Havlat, Chara, and the A-train(Anton Volchenkov) when Ottawa visited Dallas over the years. They are all now gone from the Sens, of course. On a side note, I wonder how the Hawks will fair without Big Buff, Ladder, Burish, etc. That Campbell contract is eating them alive. We signed Adam Burish though and they got Marty from us. It'll be interesting to see what happens this year.Finn said:
Did you really play croquet with Esa Tikkanen? Did he try to kiss you?
Kidding aside, I thought he was especially menacing for the Rangers in their 93' cup run. I got his autograph back in 95' when he visited with St. Louis. Loads of fun to watch and hate. He was cool in person though. Goonie said:
You touched it Goonie! I know you may not be a player or a member of the NHLPA, but I would never have touched it.
What do you think about Willie Mitchell signing with LA the other day? Anyway, I'm looking forward to camps getting underway across the league. I'll be at Dallas Stars camp as soon as they return back from Prince Edward Island, Canada. Can't wait. Cheers to anyone here who appreciates the greatest(and coolest) game on earth.
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
Just got back from Boston, caught the Bruins Ranger game last night. Love watching Avery get his ass handed to him! To bad the Bruins couldn't pull out the win.
$7.50 a beer...sheesh!
The TD Garden was pretty nice, not as impressive as The Green Dragon or Hennessey's!
Still wondering why Kovalchuk was benched...
$7.50 a beer...sheesh!
The TD Garden was pretty nice, not as impressive as The Green Dragon or Hennessey's!
Still wondering why Kovalchuk was benched...
Major Eaton
New member
Rocket Surgeon said:Just got back from Boston, caught the Bruins Ranger game last night. Love watching Avery get his ass handed to him! To bad the Bruins couldn't pull out the win.
$7.50 a beer...sheesh!
The TD Garden was pretty nice, not as impressive as The Green Dragon or Hennessey's!
Still wondering why Kovalchuk was benched...
Nice! Indeed, it is great watching Avery get owned out there at times. The beer prices at the AAC here in Dallas are right around that mark as well.
The Kovalchuk benching was short lived, as expected. I was very surprised to see that on Saturday. Mac sending a message, I'm sure.
Stoo
Well-known member
Stanley Cup Finals 2011
O.K. Things are getting WAY too tense! I really hope Vancouver wins tomorrow night on Boston's home ice. That would be a sweet victory.
Boston has been playing very strong and they will probably win but I'm trying to send good vibes to Vancouver. Bring The Cup home, Canucks, because it hasn't been here in 18 years since Montreal won it in 1993! DO IT!!!
For good spirit, here's their older logo & colours (I don't like the newer uniforms).
May the best team win.
O.K. Things are getting WAY too tense! I really hope Vancouver wins tomorrow night on Boston's home ice. That would be a sweet victory.
Boston has been playing very strong and they will probably win but I'm trying to send good vibes to Vancouver. Bring The Cup home, Canucks, because it hasn't been here in 18 years since Montreal won it in 1993!
DO IT!!! For good spirit, here's their older logo & colours (I don't like the newer uniforms).
May the best team win.
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Rocket Surgeon
Guest
Stoo said:O.K. Things are getting WAY too tense! I really hope Vancouver wins tomorrow night on Boston's home ice. That would be a sweet victory.
Boston has been playing very strong and they will probably win but I'm trying to send good vibes to Vancouver. Bring The Cup home, Canucks, because it hasn't been here in 18 years since Montreal won it in 1993!
For good spirit, here's their older logo & colours (I don't like the newer uniforms).
May the best team win.
People like calling the Canucks the villains of the finals, but we haven't seen any Todd Bertuzzi black magic have we?
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
Some big hits last night...Game 7 baby!
Canucks Hatred: 6-step guide to supporting your loathed team
By Greg Wyshynski
BOSTON ? A Vancouver Canucks fan who goes by the handle "Artem Chubarov" (no relation) wanted some advice over the weekend:
"As a New Jersey Devils fan, any pointers for how to deal with rooting for a reviled team? New to Canucks fans, many aren't handling it well."
As so many other readers point out on a daily basis, there are few subjects on which I can claim an expertise ? but consider rooting for a reviled team one of the few.
The Canucks may be the team of biters and divers and underachievers and whiners and cheap-shot artists and Max Lapierre.
Call me when their haters can claim they KILLED HOCKEY.
Which is what Devils fans had to deal with for roughly a decade.
Of course, that's the major difference: Hatred of the Devils was stylistic; hatred of the Canucks seems focused on the individual. Which isn't to say that the Devils didn't have their share of universally loathed creatures; did I mention Claude Lemieux(notes) was the guiding light to the 1995 Stanley Cup?
The Vancouver Canucks could win the Stanley Cup on Monday night in Game 6 against the Boston Bruins.
(That's why the media's assumption that Canadians would have a Pavlovian admiration for this Canucks team was always utter B.S. First, because Canadians only care about "reclaiming the Stanley Cup for Canada" when there is a Bettman expansion team on the other side of the bracket threatening to turn it into a spittoon; second, because if the Cup is going back to Canada, every fan wants his or her team to do it and not the other guys; and third, because most NHL fans in Canada generally loathe the Canucks, and can't swallow the bile to back them. )
Here's a handy guide for Canucks fans on how to deal with the haters, now and going forward.
1. Convince Yourself That Winning At All Costs Is Still Winning
I was speaking with another writer Sunday night at a Bostonian watering hole, and he brought up a salient point about the kind of champion the Chicago Blackhawks were ("honorable," in his estimation) and the kind of champion the Canucks would be (that would be "dishonorable").
Whether or not you agree with the premise, there is a notion of winning the "right" way or the "wrong" way. Is that a Canadian fan ethos? Perhaps, but only for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In international play, it's expected that Bobby Clarke is going to chop down Russians like a lumberjack, because international play is a war, and in a war there are casualties. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are seen as a war of attrition, but ultimately as a sporting competition, which means one in which sportsmanship is a cherished virtue.
As a fan of a "dishonorable" team, you simply have to get into the mindset that winning is ultimately the only concern, and that everything else is noise. Chris Pronger(notes) stealing a game puck isn't bush league, it's a tactic. Canucks players hitting the deck like 1950s schoolchildren during a nuke drill aren't cheap dives, they're attempts to draw a penalty by any means necessary.
It isn't easy to embrace "win at all costs"; lord knows I'd have rather watched a decade of firewagon hockey than Devils players clogging the neutral zone like hair in a drain. But your team is what it is, so suck it up and ?
2. Fight Back
You know how politicians have a collection of canned answers and ready-at-the-lip stats that they dip into during every debate? So did Devils fans during the Trap Years.
We had to. When you're maligned from every angle, you've gotta be ready to defend the system ("It produces a startling amount of offense!") or the personnel ("Scotty would injure anyone if they just kept their heads up!") or the management ("Mobbed up? Oh, c'mon, you've seen 'The Godfather' too many times ?").
So don't simply accept that your team is a collection of scurrilous villains ? explain why their behavior works.
3. That Said, Realize There Are No Redeeming Qualities for Your Villains
How many times has the Boston media written about Alex Burrows?
How many times has the Boston media written about Alex Burrows and mentioned Luc Bourdon?
Yeah, not many.
Partially, this is because Alex Burrows is seen as the type of player who is irredeemable. Partially, this is because mentioning that a player is more than the sum of his bites doesn't fit the narrative.
I saw the same thing with Claude Lemieux in 1995. He scored 13 goals in that Cup run, won the Conn Smythe, had stories written about his personal journey but still was seen as a gutless puke by half the hockey world.
Your players could nurse sick kittens back to health on their off-days and it won't matter. The die is cast.
4. Realize There Is No "Like" Button
Everyone is familiar with the "LIKE" button on Facebook. It doesn't matter if you actually "like" something or not; if you want others to read it, then you're going to "LIKE" it on Facebook.
There is no "LIKE" button for the Canucks. There's always going to be a caveat, a counterbalance; "Oh, I can respect how well Kesler played against Nashville but that's because the Sedins [expletive] disappeared those Swedish chokers!"
See?
So at best, people are going to hit the "BEGRUDGING RESPECT" or "SWALLOW THE BILE FOR A MOMENT OF BRIEF PRAISE" button. You're just going to have to accept that accolades won't be forthcoming from the haters.
And by "you" I mean "Roberto."
5. Prepare For The Heel Turn
One of the hidden benefits of cheering for a reviled team is that once that collection of players has worn out its welcome, you can have the freeing catharsis of flipping sides, joining the majority and decrying the behavior of these dastardly miscreants.
"I never liked ________ anyway! Enjoy your UFA riches, *****es."
6. Finally, Understand Where All The Hate Is Coming From
Jealousy. Resentment. A feeling that no matter how much they've earned it, your team is unworthy of their achievements.
None of that takes their names off the Cup.
None of that brings down a banner from the rafters.
Reputations change. History doesn't.
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Stoo
Well-known member
Final game in Vancouver!!! This situation is extemely tense. In these finals, each time Vancouver has won on home ice, it's only been by a 1 point lead. The Canucks have to win or shame on them!Rocket Surgeon said:Some big hits last night...Game 7 baby!
Rocket, the 'article/blog' that you posted is tripe & a cheap masquerade at journalism. (Note: My opinion has nothing to do with the subject matter, the thing is just poorly written.)
May the best team win.
michael
Well-known member
I'm a Bruins fan, and I have to say that if the Canucks win tonight, it just wouldn't seem "fair".
Games Vancouver have won could have gone EITHER way. Games 1 & 3 were 1-0 nail biters. They won game 2 in OT because of an absolute silly play by Thomas.
On Bruins territory the Canucks have just been absolutely thrashed. The 3 games in Boston were decisive all the way.
I think Boston will get lady luck on her side tonight in Vancouver, they are capable of winning a game in Vancouver, Canucks might as well have forfeited every game in Boston and stayed in Canada.
I hate to say a team doesn't deserve to win, but I feel it will be that way if the Canucks win. But I only say that because I truly think they've been totally outplayed. Plus Luongo can just be absolutely atrocious some nights, Thomas is NOT like that.
Game 7 = throw everything out the window as to what you know.
*Loved those Canucks jerseys/logo growing up. Always used to use them in NHLPA '93 for Sega. Rocking teams with Bure, Linden and Courtnall, ahhh good times. Wanted them to win the cup back in '94 sooooo bad. What a series that was!
Games Vancouver have won could have gone EITHER way. Games 1 & 3 were 1-0 nail biters. They won game 2 in OT because of an absolute silly play by Thomas.
On Bruins territory the Canucks have just been absolutely thrashed. The 3 games in Boston were decisive all the way.
I think Boston will get lady luck on her side tonight in Vancouver, they are capable of winning a game in Vancouver, Canucks might as well have forfeited every game in Boston and stayed in Canada.
I hate to say a team doesn't deserve to win, but I feel it will be that way if the Canucks win. But I only say that because I truly think they've been totally outplayed. Plus Luongo can just be absolutely atrocious some nights, Thomas is NOT like that.
Game 7 = throw everything out the window as to what you know.
*Loved those Canucks jerseys/logo growing up. Always used to use them in NHLPA '93 for Sega. Rocking teams with Bure, Linden and Courtnall, ahhh good times. Wanted them to win the cup back in '94 sooooo bad. What a series that was!
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
It's not meant to appeal to the heardcore fan...if anything it's meant to get the attention of the fence sitters and those who have nothing invested, drum up some intrest/viewers.Stoo said:Final game in Vancouver!!! This situation is extemely tense. In these finals, each time Vancouver has won on home ice, it's only been by a 1 point lead. The Canucks have to win or shame on them!
Rocket, the 'article/blog' that you posted is tripe & a cheap masquerade at journalism. (Note: My opinion has nothing to do with the subject matter, the thing is just poorly written.)
May the best team win.
If the Canucks win it would mean the Bruins had every chance. Home ice is a bit player for the Canucks, (though it kept them in the series) and a HUGE factor for the Bruins, (so it would seem). The best chance for an exciting game is up north. Who cares about a blowout?michael said:
If home ice means ANYTHING, tonight will be a GREAT game!
michael
Well-known member
Rocket Surgeon said:
No what I'm saying is that the Bruins were ALIVE up until the sound of the siren in EVERY game in Vancouver. Canucks layed down and were a dead fish by the third in the games in Boston.
The Canucks DESERVE every win they've got so far in Vancouver, no doubt....but do they deserve to win it all? I don't think so, and I think it will be proven that the deserving team, Boston, will prevail.
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
michael said:
I'm a Devils fan, and this is the first time since they won their first cup they didn't make the playoffs...so I'm just interested in a game worth watching.
No matter who wins, I think its going to be a good game...
Deserve? You have to close. A. B. C. Allways be closing. The team that closes deserves! We're going to find out who wants it more!
michael
Well-known member
Rocket Surgeon said:Deserve? You have to close. A. B. C. Allways be closing. The team that closes deserves! We're going to find out who wants it more!
Completely agree. Game 7's of playoff hockey are AMAZING.
I hate to be that guy, but I'm gonna go with the "fate" aspect of it.
Bruins road to a Cup is a great story, just look at the teams they've played.
Round 1: HATED RIVAL, the Canadiens, come back 2-0 in series to win in game 7.
Round 2: LAST YEARS NEMESIS, the Flyers: Sweep them after what they did to them last year in the playoffs, they were motivated as all hell.
Round 3: THE TEAM WITH ALL THE TALENT, the Lightning: Take them to game 7 and play BRUINS style of hockey.
FINALS: THE PRESIDENT'S TROPHY TEAM, the Canucks: Canucks don't go down without a fight, but you take them to game 7 and you........
well, we will have to find out later, I guess.
Stoo
Well-known member
Ain't that the truth. Game 3 was a massacre. 8-1? Yikes!michael said:
You may be right, Michael. I honestly feel that Boston will win but am still rooting for the Canucks. (Hey, Michael, are you from Boston? If so, cool city. Been there twice and yes, the long-standing Bruins/Canadiens rivalry is infamous.)michael said:
Game 7 always is. Excitement is hardly the word!Rocket Surgeon said:
B.C. must be wild right now, Goonie. Less than 1.5 hours until the puck drops!Goonie said:
Rocket Surgeon
Guest
"We have a small number of hooligans on the streets of Vancouver causing problems," Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said.
Women rampaged through the main floor makeup department, tossing each other products and squealing in delight.
NBA star Steve Nash, from nearby Victoria and the brother-in-law of Canucks forward Manny Malhotra, sent a Twitter message imploring the fans to stop the violence.
I thought weed was legal up north...
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tHsNYu6jB6Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Women rampaged through the main floor makeup department, tossing each other products and squealing in delight.
NBA star Steve Nash, from nearby Victoria and the brother-in-law of Canucks forward Manny Malhotra, sent a Twitter message imploring the fans to stop the violence.
I thought weed was legal up north...
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tHsNYu6jB6Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Stoo
Well-known member
I stayed up until 5:30 AM just to watch Vancouver get slaughtered on home ice. There should be an NHL regulation about goalies being the same size as the net. Thomas is basically a WHALE on skates! No wonder the Canucks couldn't score.
Nonetheless, the Bruins totally deserved the win. Strong team and their last cup victory was in '72! Congratulations, Boston.
Enjoy the moment while it lasts because Montreal will cream the Bruins next season.
There should be an NHL regulation about goalies being the same size as the net. Thomas is basically a WHALE on skates! No wonder the Canucks couldn't score.Nonetheless, the Bruins totally deserved the win. Strong team and their last cup victory was in '72!
Congratulations, Boston. Enjoy the moment while it lasts because Montreal will cream the Bruins next season.
