MR

I notice the heavy flow(like Natalie's periods) of traffic, in the NFL thread, and I got around to thinking, there are just as many hockey fans here, if not more, than football fans. I count Behshad(Wings), Deb(Flames), Lynn(Penguins), JFB(Bruins), BlueJeanGirl(Blackhawks), 7 Wishes(Not Sure), RWF(Wings), TripleS(Flames), Stuie(Penguins),and myself(Canucks) as well as others. We need a dedicated thread to talk about about this season and the fast approaching playoffs.

A couple of starting points:

Vancouver is officially the best team in the NHL at this point- 53 points
Chicago is on pace to finish 11th in the Western conference
Calgary and Edmonton should join the WHL..(minor league)
Sidney Crosby is a stud and the best player in the National Fucking Hockey League
Detroit is once again, yawn, great
The Western Conference is clearly the better conference
The Devils are miserable
The HBO Series Caps/Pens 24/7 is award winning
Dallas is the most improved team
The Winter Classic was a tremendous success


I hope this thread gets some traffic...I love the NHL knowledge of this board.

I've been following the Bruins far too long to have any confidence in their ability to win anything. The teams they had in the late 80's were stacked and still couldn't win "The Cup", because that's when Edmonton had the greatest team ever assembled in the NHL. Claude Julien is too busy running Tim Thomas (who is almost 37) into the ground while Rask rots away on the bench. Julien will NEVER recover from that complete collapse against the Flyers last season in the playoffs and will be out of here by the start of next season. I guess we have to settle for the other three teams in Boston being championship contenders, because I simply can't drink the Bruins "Kool-Aid"!

Enigma869 wrote:I've been following the Bruins far too long to have any confidence in their ability to win anything. The teams they had in the late 80's were stacked and still couldn't win "The Cup", because that's when Edmonton had the greatest team ever assembled in the NHL. Claude Julien is too busy running Tim Thomas (who is almost 37) into the ground while Rask rots away on the bench. Julien will NEVER recover from that complete collapse against the Flyers last season in the playoffs and will be out of here by the start of next season. I guess we have to settle for the other three teams in Boston being championship contenders, because I simply can't drink the Bruins "Kool-Aid"!

2002 , First in conference....and got whitewashed by the 8th seeded Habs.....yeah, it is safe to say that this team likes to rub you from the outside - then when things start to look good - leaves you with a case of the blue balls.

I can possibly see a rubber-match between Pittsburgh/ Detroit. Looking at how the NHL is set up and looking how they play a best of series, I just don't see how any team can beat Pittsburgh 3-4 times in a 7 game series. The Penguins are so dominantly equipped and now with Jordan Staal back to compliment the high and soaring Crosby, the Pens are the team to beat in their Conference. Detroit can make a strong case in theirs as well.

Wait wait wait...Vancouver? The best? There are 3 other teams with 53 points...Flyers, Pens, Redwings...how do you figure that the Canucks are the best?

RossValoryRocks wrote:Wait wait wait...Vancouver? The best? There are 3 other teams with 53 points...Flyers, Pens, Redwings...how do you figure that the Canucks are the best?

Unit, Corps, God, Family

Springsteen, Canucks, Vikes, Beer

RossValoryRocks wrote:Wait wait wait...Vancouver? The best? There are 3 other teams with 53 points...Flyers, Pens, Redwings...how do you figure that the Canucks are the best?

Games played Stu. The Canucks are number 1 because they have the same amount of points with fewer games played...quite a few actually, plus, they haven't lost in 15 games or so.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?ty ... stn-league

Rockindeano wrote:

RossValoryRocks wrote:Wait wait wait...Vancouver? The best? There are 3 other teams with 53 points...Flyers, Pens, Redwings...how do you figure that the Canucks are the best?

Games played Stu. The Canucks are number 1 because they have the same amount of points with fewer games played...quite a few actually, plus, they haven't lost in 15 games or so.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?ty ... stn-league

Ok...that I can see...the same way the flyers are ahead of the Pens in the standings, because the Pens have played more games.

Rockindeano wrote:Calgary and Edmonton should join the WHL..(minor league)

(I voted for the Habs - they were my first NHL love before the Flames moved to Calgary)

Is patrick elias still playing???????

This is ridiculous.

Final fan voting. I love how it's all Pittsburgh guys up front...yet the Sedins are way down the list. That's ok, we'll show Pittsburgh what the fans got wrong in the Finals, if they make it.

Forwards
Sidney Crosby PIT 635509
Jonathan Toews CHI 407676 (Has has terrible year and is hurt )
Evgeni Malkin PIT 376887
Steven Stamkos TBL 308453
Patrick Kane CHI 282961 (You have to be joking? )
Michael Cammalleri MTL 264726
Alex Ovechkin WSH 245180
Mike Richards PHI 228828
Claude Giroux PHI 226739
Tomas Plekanec MTL 222117 (Good God)
Marian Hossa CHI 215040 (Pure Junk)
Pavel Datsyuk DET 213507
Danny Briere PHI 206196
Brian Gionta MTL 200485
Sean Avery NYR 172869 (LOL..Avery is in the top 100?)
Henrik Zetterberg DET 172266
Chad LaRose CAR 168567
Eric Staal CAR 142634
Johan Franzen DET 128773
Patrick Sharp CHI 124587
Jeff Carter PHI 116998
Nicklas Backstrom WSH 100923
Henrik Sedin VAN 84964 (The defending MVP, having a GREAT year, is 575K behind Sid)
Daniel Sedin VAN 84404 (I love how both these Twins are almost identical in voting. The best duo in the game, by far)
Alexander Semin WSH 82960
Martin St Louis TBL 78622
Anze Kopitar LAK 64142
Jody Shelley PHI 61149
Jeff Skinner CAR 60961
Marian Gaborik NYR 59730
Maxime Talbot PIT 55820 (Talbot sucks)
Phil Kessel TOR 50905 (Kessel is equally bad this year)
Joe Thornton SJS 50347
Paul Stastny COL 47715
Brad Richards DAL 45806
Rick Nash CBJ 44241
Patrice Bergeron BOS 43907
Teemu Selanne ANA 43873
Dany Heatley SJS 43296
Jarome Iginla CGY 41931
Chris Kunitz PIT 41898
Ryan Getzlaf ANA 38850
Patrick Marleau SJS 37925
Bobby Ryan ANA 37622
Milan Hejduk COL 35954
Corey Perry ANA 35269
TJ Oshie STL 33084
Brandon Dubinsky NYR 32275
Ryan Smyth LAK 31579
Vincent Lecavalier TBL 31464
David Krejci BOS 30991
Ryan Kesler VAN 28158 (The best Two way player in the game today)
Thomas Vanek BUF 24819
Derek Roy BUF 24774
Zach Parise NJD 24121
Jussi Jokinen CAR 23604
Brenden Morrow DAL 23495
RJ Umberger CBJ 22871
Chris Stewart COL 21151
Daniel Alfredsson OTT 20257
Ryan Callahan NYR 19825
Paul Bissonnette PHX 18784
Matt Duchene COL 18145
Milan Lucic BOS 17438
Ilya Kovalchuk NJD 17050
Mikko Koivu MIN 15947
John Tavares NYI 15320
Jason Spezza OTT 14647
Justin Williams LAK 14507
Shane Doan PHX 14371
Pascal Dupuis PIT 14262
Dustin Brown LAK 13193
Nathan Horton BOS 12912
Ales Hemsky EDM 12480
Loui Eriksson DAL 10433

It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Couldn't agree more. Flower is good, but Thomas is having a stellar year so far.

Rockindeano wrote:

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Couldn't agree more. Flower is good, but Thomas is having a stellar year so far.

And personally, I wouldn't vote for any other Bruin for the game, save for MAYBE Thornton, or Horton....

Don't be hating on the Penguins because they are popular.

You all know that the all-star fan voting is just a popularity contest and has nothing to do with how good a season a player is having...other than Sid...he is hands down the best all around player in the league.

Rockindeano wrote:I notice the heavy flow(like Natalie's periods) of traffic, in the NFL thread, and I got around to thinking, there are just as many hockey fans here, if not more, than football fans. I count Behshad(Wings), Deb(Flames), Lynn(Penguins), JFB(Bruins), BlueJeanGirl(Blackhawks), 7 Wishes(Not Sure), RWF(Wings), TripleS(Flames), Stuie(Penguins),and myself(Canucks) as well as others. We need a dedicated thread to talk about about this season and the fast approaching playoffs.

A couple of starting points:

Vancouver is officially the best team in the NHL at this point- 53 points
Calgary and Edmonton should join the WHL..(minor league)

Kiss my ass. Sutter is gone now, we'll come around......mark my words, especially for next season! LOL, but yes, Edmonton can go away. Saying that, if the Flames aren't in the Playoffs I have always gone with the Canucks as second choice, the cup's gotta come back to Western Canada!

RossValoryRocks wrote:Don't be hating on the Penguins because they are popular.

You all know that the all-star fan voting is just a popularity contest and has nothing to do with how good a season a player is having...other than Sid...he is hands down the best all around player in the league.

Letang and Flower should NOT be starters let alone in the All Star game. HBO made the Pens and Caps more popular than they need to be frankly.

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Um, a FAN vote IS a popularity contest....DUH

Rockindeano wrote:

RossValoryRocks wrote:Don't be hating on the Penguins because they are popular.

You all know that the all-star fan voting is just a popularity contest and has nothing to do with how good a season a player is having...other than Sid...he is hands down the best all around player in the league.

Letang and Flower should NOT be starters let alone in the All Star game. HBO made the Pens and Caps more popular than they need to be frankly.

Hey! It made you respect them a little more...don't go hating now!

StevePerryHair wrote:

Rockindeano wrote:

RossValoryRocks wrote:Don't be hating on the Penguins because they are popular.

You all know that the all-star fan voting is just a popularity contest and has nothing to do with how good a season a player is having...other than Sid...he is hands down the best all around player in the league.

Letang and Flower should NOT be starters let alone in the All Star game. HBO made the Pens and Caps more popular than they need to be frankly.

Hey! It made you respect them a little more...don't go hating now!

Hey, I dig the Pens, but they aren't nearly as good as Vancouver or Detroit. You have to remember, the Eastern conference is much weaker than the West.

Rockindeano wrote:This is ridiculous.

Final fan voting. I love how it's all Pittsburgh guys up front...yet the Sedins are way down the list. That's ok, we'll show Pittsburgh what the fans got wrong in the Finals, if they make it.

Forwards

Jarome Iginla CGY 41931

Iggy!!!

StevePerryHair wrote:

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Um, a FAN vote IS a popularity contest....DUH

That's why the voting shouldn't rest with the fans....it is an example of PR gone terribly wrong.

S2M wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Um, a FAN vote IS a popularity contest....DUH

That's why the voting shouldn't rest with the fans....it is an example of PR gone terribly wrong.

It's an all star game...not the Olympics...not for the cup...who cares! It's something for the fans, right?

StevePerryHair wrote:

S2M wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Um, a FAN vote IS a popularity contest....DUH

That's why the voting shouldn't rest with the fans....it is an example of PR gone terribly wrong.

It's an all star game...not the Olympics...not for the cup...who cares! It's something for the fans, right?

Then don't call it an All-Star game then....call it something else. Like - The popular players game, or The No Defense Game....

S2M wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

S2M wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

S2M wrote:It's a crock that Fleury is the top goalie vote getter....Thomas leads in goals against, and Save percentage....and is 2 off the lead for wins.

Let the popularity contest continue.....

Um, a FAN vote IS a popularity contest....DUH

That's why the voting shouldn't rest with the fans....it is an example of PR gone terribly wrong.

It's an all star game...not the Olympics...not for the cup...who cares! It's something for the fans, right?

Then don't call it an All-Star game then....call it something else. Like - The popular players game, or The No Defense Game....

Depends on how you define "stars". Don't we the people MAKE other people "stars"? Really though, to me it's just a game for fun for the fans. So it's cool to let the fans vote for their favorites. It's not like Pitt is the only one with fans, and it was voted unfairly. Everyone had an equal opportunity to vote. Quit being so grumpy

Kids, relax. From what I undersatnd, only the top six will get in on votes..and then the respective captains will choose their teams.

PS- I would like to know who the 4 other people who voted for the Canucks in the poll? I am impressed to all Hell. We go for 16 out of 17 tonight. Read it and weep Pittsburgh...and you thought you were last month?

I still say The Flyers, overall, are the class of the NHL this year....who knows what will happen. I just have a feeling about that team.

S2M wrote:I still say The Flyers, overall, are the class of the NHL this year....who knows what will happen. I just have a feeling about that team.

Vancouver just beat them 6-1 last week and it wasn't that close. Look, I am indeed biased, but there is no denying who the best team in the league is right now. No one is better offensively, defensively or as deep. The Nucks roll 4 lines at you and are so balanced it is scary.

The Nucks are to the NHL what the Pats are to the NFL.

There's a Sports Memorabilia store near my house that gets a lot of hockey/Baseball players for signings....Ovie is coming a week from this Saturday....and they got this list of prices(I get an email since i'm on the mailing list)...$125 for a puck/picture, $195 for a jersey(just for the SIG!)...I'm wondering who gets this money...Ovie certainly doesn't need it, or the business?

What happened to the days where players, who made jack shit compared to now, would just sign shit for free?

S2M wrote:There's a Sports Memorabilia store near my house that gets a lot of hockey/Baseball players for signings....Ovie is coming a week from this Saturday....and they got this list of prices(I get an email since i'm on the mailing list)...$125 for a puck/picture, $195 for a jersey(just for the SIG!)...I'm wondering who gets this money...Ovie certainly doesn't need it, or the business?

What happened to the days where players, who made jack shit compared to now, would just sign shit for free?

The store owner gets the money. Ovechkin gets a flat fee ... probably between 25-50k.