New England Hockey Talk

[bethandlouis]

Caps vs. Nucks

I was thoroughly impressed by the caps squad last night. (well aspects of it) It was really nice to see that they kept up with the Nucks after getting dominated in the 1st period. 2 PPG in the 2nd to tie it up. The phrase most heard during the game "Great save by Kolzig" Shots were blaringly uneven. At the end of the 1st period 16/1 (Nucks). End of the 2nd period 16/11 (Caps). In the third 15/2 (Nucks). 40 saves for Olie last night in regular play. The caps need to get good defense in place in front of him because he is the one that is keeping them in the game. Kolzig had 45 saves against the Avs on Wednesday vs 25 saves for Budaj. It hard to get good defenseman and the Caps are a very young team. One of the goals was a 6 on 5 (Luongo was pulled during a delayed penalty) so it's always harder when you have an extra attacker inside the offensive blue line. They need to get more aggressive and not allow them to pass the puck as freely as they have been, Caps also hit a milestone tonight they got their first major for fighting (Chris Clark vs Kevin Bieksa (which ended with a good uppercut from Bieksa)) There were two Caps "goals" one of which resulted in Goaltending interference minor Ovechkin plowed head first into Luongo. Chris Clark fell into him (as a result of a Naslund hold that wasn't called).

That's all for the Caps wrap up

(ordered Center Ice last night)

[faster,Tobias!]

Quote: Originally Posted by bethandlouis (original)

Fishing around and stumbled upon this link. Has the McSorely hit on Brashear and Dale Hunter "finishing his check". But the funniest one is the minor league baseball. Good fun.

Where's the link?
Re. Martin St. Louis - Calgary gave up on him because he was 'too small', and we got so little for him I can't remember who came the other way. He would certainly help the team now, anyway.

[bethandlouis]

Quote: Originally Posted by bethandlouis (original)

What can I say it was sort of late! http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1716141 Here it is.

Sorry that I didn't include it in my original post.

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by faster,Tobias! (original)

Where's the link?
Re. Martin St. Louis - Calgary gave up on him because he was 'too small', and we got so little for him I can't remember who came the other way. He would certainly help the team now, anyway.

So little that it was... nothing! Unrestricted free agent. Al Coates was a big fan of Marty, but when he was canned and Craig Button came in as GM of the Flames in the summer of 2000, St Louis didn't interest him so they didn't even bother with a qualifying offer, they let him walk. They could have made an offer of the league minimum and he would have been re-classified as a restricted free agent, would get them compensation if he signed elsewhere, but they didn't. Calgary's loss, Tampa's gain...

-Ricardo

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by bethandlouis (original)

(ordered Center Ice last night)

I knew you'd cave sooner or later!

Kolzig should get hazardous duty pay, he's the only reason that game made it to a shootout. Can't ask your goalie to make 42 saves a night, that's insane. Then your boy Ovechkin totally fools Luongo but hits the post, ugh. But hey, I like the retro Canucks unis, the league has been short on green and blue since the Whale swam down to Carolina...

-Ricardo

[faster,Tobias!]

Quote: Originally Posted by MGB Boy (original)

So little that it was... nothing! Unrestricted free agent. Al Coates was a big fan of Marty, but when he was canned and Craig Button came in as GM of the Flames in the summer of 2000, St Louis didn't interest him so they didn't even bother with a qualifying offer, they let him walk. They could have made an offer of the league minimum and he would have been re-classified as a restricted free agent, would get them compensation if he signed elsewhere, but they didn't. Calgary's loss, Tampa's gain...

-Ricardo

Oh right - there is that and a couple of other good reasons Button is no longer GM - J.S Giguere comes to mind. I don't think he had the acumen that the position requires, but in his defence he was a rookie GM, and he was the reason Iggy ended up here - he was the fella that had scouted him for the Stars.

[bethandlouis]

In hockey fashion news. Next year they will be going to a "streamlined" jersey (a la olympic style) and will be doing away with the 3rd jerseys. I think it's dumb.

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by bethandlouis (original)

In hockey fashion news. Next year they will be going to a "streamlined" jersey (a la olympic style) and will be doing away with the 3rd jerseys. I think it's dumb.

Rbk have been pushing for a re-design of the standard NHL jersey ever since they bought CCM/The Hockey Company. There have been all sorts of rumors out there, and as the general reaction from hockey types has been very negative to each of the rumors, Rbk has scaled back and scaled back and scaled back just how "revolutionary" the changes would be. Originally, Rbk was pushing for a tucked in jersey, all sweaters to be tucked into the pants, bye-bye hemline stripes. When they showed it to the GMs, it was overwhelmingly negative, and I gather that has now been ditched. There have also been rumors that teams are being pushed toward a generic template (like you often seen in World Cup soccer and NCAA basketball), everyone in the same design, just change the colors and the logo on the front. That has also been poorly received by people who love hockey, so hopefully that too will be killed.

My own poorly-informed guess is that when all is said and done, it will end up being a somewhat streamlined jersey (like the Nike "Swift" jersey from the Olympics), but most teams will keep their current designs. Rbk is trying hard to make a big splash and make the NHL their own, but hopefully some of the dopes who run the sport will realize the depth of feeling they are messing with when they start screwing around with something as fundamental to the sport as the sweater. I'm sick of watching the sport continually trying to prostitute itself in order to gain five more fans. If you ask me, the eventual prevalence of HDTV will do more to garner new fans for hockey then dopey jerseys and oversized goalnets ever could. No sport benefits from HDTV more than hockey, no doubt about it.

I happen to wear Vaughn gear because I've used a lot of different brands and have come to the opinion that Vaughn are the best. On my last acquisition, I was very tempted by a set of Brians Beast pads, but ended up back with Vaughn, and I'm now loving the new pads. But I have to admit, crap like this stuff with the jerseys just cements my feelings that there's no way I'd wear Rbk pads. Not getting my money. Show some respect for the traditions of the game, then we can talk. But man oh man, when Rbk bought The Hockey Company and started rebranding Koho and CCM pads as Rbk (which is why your boy Olie's CCMs have become Rbks) you should have seen all the fanboys go nuts over on the goalie forums that I frequent. You'd think Rbk just reinvented the goal pad or something, the kids were tripping over themselves to get them. Too many dopes who just have to have the latest thing, and think a shiny new pair of Rbk Premier Series One pads will turn them into Marc Andre Fleury. Which, of course, sparked a backlash from grumpy folk like me who know that a shiny new pair of Rbk Premier Series One pads will not turn you into Marc Andre Fleury, but a shiny new pair of Vaughn Velocity 2 pads will turn you into Miikka Kiprusoff or Kari Lehtonen!

And despite the media reports to the contrary, I'd still be surprised if 3rd jerseys were ditched, simply because they make too much money for teams (that's the only reason 3rd jerseys exist in any sport, after all). Wouldn't be surprised if some teams changed their 3rd jersey to follow the cut/style of the new sweater, but I'd be surprised if they gave it up altogether. After a decade of the ugly "pooh bear" jersey, my Bruins finally have a 3rd jersey I like (the '66-'67 throwback). They better not get rid of it!

-Ricardo

[snid]

Which game should I be watching right now?

Bruins / Sens or Leafs / Habs?

[yellowmininy]

Just saw this on Yahoo news
Key to Hockey Goalie Success Discovered - Yahoo! News

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by snid (original)

Which game should I be watching right now?

Bruins / Sens or Leafs / Habs?

Hopefully you watched the Bruins (because they actually won, so it was a special occasion)...

-Ricardo

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by yellowmininy (original)

Just saw this on Yahoo news
Key to Hockey Goalie Success Discovered - Yahoo! News

Ohhh, the puck! That's what I've been doing wrong! Instead of watching the puck, I've been too busy checking out my reflection in the plexiglass to see how cool I look. But I'll give this puck thing a try at my game tonight!



-Ricardo

PS the Buffaslug dynasty is over, they lost!

[yellowmininy]

Yep, seems a bit rudimentary, doesn't it? All that nifty eye-tracking software, and the best they can come up with is 'watch the puck'?

[MGB Boy]

Hey, that "look at the puck" thing works pretty well! I played well and we won tonight (second in a row, oooh we're en fuego). I'll have to try this more often...

-Ricardo

[faster,Tobias!]

Glad it worked for you! Defencemen can't take the same advice - I was racing for the puck last Monday, vaguely aware of the incoming forward but fixated by the puck and determined to get there first. We collided ( ) at full steam, his leg on my knee. Now I'm nursing a torn MCL - second game of the season. A little later in the season and I would be skating easier, not having to drop my head.