2008/09 NHL Thread

[Beef03]

Leafs game against the Sabres in on Sportsnet tonight. Ontario only.

And in the Really Bad News Department, Penguins have lost Gonchar indefinitely.

http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2008/09/penguins-take-another-hit-on-d.html

See I thought the really bad news was that Leafs preseason hockey was on TV -- the good news being that it's only in ontario . . .

 

[Beef03]

And TSN Sportscentre starts off their show with a four minute preview of their EXHIBITION game. And people wonder why westerners lose patience with TSN.

 

[JR]

And TSN Sportscentre starts off their show with a four minute preview of their EXHIBITION game. And people wonder why westerners lose patience with TSN.

Come early April you won't have to worry about watching the Leafs.

Stop your whining.

 

[Claws for Concern]

And TSN Sportscentre starts off their show with a four minute preview of their EXHIBITION game. And people wonder why westerners lose patience with TSN.

Come early April you won't have to worry about watching the Leafs.

Stop your whining.

Makes me wonder if seeing a Leafs-Sabres game is truly the way to start 2009. ;D

 

[JR]

And TSN Sportscentre starts off their show with a four minute preview of their EXHIBITION game. And people wonder why westerners lose patience with TSN.

Come early April you won't have to worry about watching the Leafs.

Stop your whining.

Makes me wonder if seeing a Leafs-Sabres game is truly the way to start 2009. ;D

Last night's exhibition game between the Leafs/Buffalo was pretty entertaining for a pre-season game.

lots of hitting, some high tempo skating.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Just kidding. I just hope the Leafs-Sabres game I attend on Jan. 1 (college football be damned!) is a good one.

 

[GB-Hack]

Some thoughts from tonight's Lightning-Rangers game.

1. I'm buying into Mike Smith as the Lightning's goaltender. Made some excellent saves tonight, as the Bolts won 3-2 despite being outshot 40-18.

2. Steven Stamkos is going to be ok, but there's going to be a learning curve as with everyone that isn't named Wayne Gretzky. Saw his first real goal in a Lightning uni, a sweet power play wrister to the high short side at my end of the ice. He does appear to need to be more assertive in the defensive end.

3. As has been mentioned in the local media, Melrose has completely ditched the Tortorella 'Safe is death' mantra for the defensemen. As a result, there were far fewer odd-man rushes on Smith, and a greater feeling of stability in the defensive end for the Bolts.

4. Marty St. Louis just goes full speed no matter the circumstance. Zherdev started trying to pick a fight with him right before a faceoff, and I thought St. Louis was going to go after him before a linesman got inbetween them.

5. The Rangers, who were playing mostly a back-up lineup, had far more energy than the Lightning, and did a good job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone on ineffective Lightning clearances. You could tell there were some players fighting for a place on the team, as opposed to the Lightning, who put out what was close to a first team lineup minus Lecavalier and Ranger.

I DVR'd the Sabres-Canadiens game from Roberval that was on the NHL Network tonight, watching it right now. God, that is so cool.

 

[JR]

Attn Canuckistan: We can ALL watch the Leafs/Penguins game tonight on TSN.

No "Ontario Only" Sportsnet crap.

Toronto Maple Leafs--A mari usque ad mare, baby.

 

[ondeadline]

I see that the Canes-Flyers exhibition on Saturday at 1 p.m. on NHL Network will be the "last NHL game at the Spectrum." The arena is host for a Phantoms game against the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday night.

 

[ondeadline]

Video from the Caps-Canes game is streaming live on the Canes' Web site.

 

[Flash]

JR, my sweet ... I can't watch Toronto during the stretch to the playoffs. What in hell makes you think I can watch them in pre-season?

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Hey Canuckleheads,

Is it still permissible to call the Montreal Canadiens dollar coins they're printing "loonies", or is that specific to the coins with the bird on them? Or will the Canadien coin have the bird too?

 

[JR]

JR, my sweet ... I can't watch Toronto during the stretch to the playoffs. What in hell makes you think I can watch them in pre-season?

Because you know, deep in your heart, that you'd rather be living in Toronto than in Cowtown.

Right?

 

[JR]

Hey Canuckleheads,

Is it still permissible to call the Montreal Canadiens dollar coins they're printing "loonies", or is that specific to the coins with the bird on them? Or will the Canadien coin have the bird too?

A loonie is a loonie but in the case of Les Habitants, I guess it will be called Le Loonie.

I suspect it will have the venerable bird on one side and an image of that stinking frog gutless hockey club on the other.

 

[Beef03]

JR, my sweet ... I can't watch Toronto during the stretch to the playoffs. What in hell makes you think I can watch them in pre-season?

Because you know, deep in your heart, that you'd rather be living in Toronto than in Cowtown.

Right?

I hate Calgary, but even I would prefer to live in Cowtown over Hogtown.

 

[Flash]

I'm trying my damnedest to get to a conference to find out if Hogtown is a destination of choice.

 

[Double J]

I don't want to start a new thread for this, but technically I could since Bobby Orr wasn't actually an NHLer prior to 1966....

Oshawa Generals to retire Bobby Orr's No. 2 jersey

About damn time if you ask me. Orr played for them between 1962 and 1966, scoring 278 points in 194 games, and was the captain when they won the Ontario and Eastern Canadian championships in 1966. They lost to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Memorial Cup final, back when you actually had to beat the entire country round by round before you could call yourself a national champion.

Perhaps the two most remarkable aspects of Orr's junior career:

• He was a 14-year-old Junior A rookie and playing a regular shift. It had never happened before, it hasn't happened since, and it'll never happen again.
  
• His parents initially would not allow him to move to Oshawa, and he actually COMMUTED to the games - a 150-mile one-way trip from Parry Sound!
  

Simply the greatest hockey player who ever laced 'em up, bar none. Congrats, Bobby!

 

[hockeybeat]

I don't want to start a new thread for this, but technically I could since Bobby Orr wasn't actually an NHLer prior to 1966....

Oshawa Generals to retire Bobby Orr's No. 2 jersey

About damn time if you ask me. Orr played for them between 1962 and 1966, scoring 278 points in 194 games, and was the captain when they won the Ontario and Eastern Canadian championships in 1966. They lost to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Memorial Cup final, back when you actually had to beat the entire country round by round before you could call yourself a national champion.

Perhaps the two most remarkable aspects of Orr's junior career:

• He was a 14-year-old Junior A rookie and playing a regular shift. It had never happened before, it hasn't happened since, and it'll never happen again.
  
• His parents initially would not allow him to move to Oshawa, and he actually COMMUTED to the games - a 150-mile one-way trip from Parry Sound!
  

Simply the greatest hockey player who ever laced 'em up, bar none. Congrats, Bobby!

Very cool.

 

[lisa_simpson]

Mathieu Schneider has officially flown the coop .... to Atlanta?

http://thrashers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=383559

I say this as a Thrashers fan, but it's still kinda sad when you trade for a 39-year-old d-man and he's STILL an upgrade over most of your top four.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Going to Las Vegas on Saturday to catch the Kings-Avs preseason game at the MGM Grand Arena. Any SportsJournalists.com hockey fans in Vegas? Anyone else going?