I want to be a hockey fan...

[Angry Ewok]

Who should I cheer for if I want to be a hockey fan? The nearest team is Atlanta, but I've always wanted to go to a Redwings game, for some reason...

I need help.

[petemoss]

You should cheer for the Montreal Canadiens.
Because they are the most succesful franchise. And because their rags to riches ride this season is the feel good story of the year.
Plus they have the future in goaltending playing for them, carey price.

[ManNamedTruth]

Penguins! They have the most young talent and will be a great team for years to come.

[petemoss]

Penguins! They have the most young talent and will be a great team for years to come.

It's true, the penguins are really good. They have a strong core of young players and future superstars. I guess sucking so hard for all those years gave them some good draft picks.... ;)

[Jaimoe]

Who should I cheer for if I want to be a hockey fan? The nearest team is Atlanta, but I've always wanted to go to a Redwings game, for some reason...

I need help.

Screw cheering for the Wings. You are from the south, so why no cheer for the Predators? Of course if you like Atlanta, then the Preds are a rival, but Atlanta sucks and will probably lose their franchise, so go Nashville. It fun to cheer for the underdog.

I personally cheer for styles of hockey (and nationalities) as much as where a team is located. If you like hard-nosed hockey with talent, then Anaheim, Philly and Calgary are the teams for you in this playoffs. Jordan Tootoo of the Predators is the hardest hitting and toughest pound-for-pound S.O.B. in the league and the team was on deathrow last year and seem to be coming around with ownership and fan support, so go Nashville. Never, and I repeat never, cheer for the Rangers. The Pens are no cinch to win the conference since they beat a really disfunctional and injured Ottawa team.

I'm cheering for Calgary: Dionne Phaneuf at 23 is one of the best and most feared defensemen in the league and Jarome Iginla, well, he can do it all.

[Angry Ewok]

Thanks for all the responses, ya'll.

I don't get hockey - but I love watching the goalies (I was a catcher, so I kind of feel like we're brothers from another mother), and I love the fights... not the random sucker punches, so much, but I am struck with boyish glee when they toss the gloves and float in a circle with their arms extended in the old fashion duel stance...

See link for one of the awesomest Hockey fights ever, by the way...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGo3ANHxilI

I also love the sound that the buzzer makes when someone scores a goal.

At a quick glance, the closest teams to me are...

1. Thrashers (GA)
2. Predators (TN)
3. Lightning (FL)
4. Panthers (FL)
5. Blues (MO)
6. Hurricanes (NC)

Right now, I'm torn between Atlanta (where the remnants of my family remains) and Nashville (I'm constantly going out there, more often than Atlanta, even)... but if you think Atlanta is going to lose the franchise soon, why bother, right?

*sigh*

I guess I should watch the cup finals and pick favorites per-game at random.

[Jaimoe]

Atlanta Thrashers are a terrible franchise in a questionable sports city. Cheer for Nashville. Jordan Tootoo, Shea Weber, Jason Arnott, Dan Ellis, the injured heart-and-soul Stevie Sullivan, Alexander Radulov, Martin Erat, Ryan Suter (good young American defenseman), Dan Hamhuis and J.P. Dumont. They are young and hungry, plus they lost a bunch of great players due to the cap and are just as good or better than they were last year. I like Carolina and am astonished they didn't make the playoffs, although one of their best players got injured early in the second half of the season.

Tampa Bay is worth cheering for. They have won the Cup, have some of the best players in the league, Vinny Lecavalier, Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis, and will have the #1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, where they will pick Steve Stamkos. They had a rough year, but they will make the playoffs next year, mark my words.


Oh yeah, the best hockey fight I've ever seen is this one, between Stan Jonathan (my all-time favourite player) from Boston against Pierre Bouchard of Montreal in the 1978 playoffs, which I happened to watch on TV live:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqf6YEN0qDU

BTW, the fight ended Bouchard's career.

[petemoss]

Atlanta Thrashers are a terrible franchise in a questionable sports city. Cheer for Nashville. Jordan Tootoo, Shea Weber, Jason Arnott, Dan Ellis, the injured heart-and-soul Stevie Sullivan, Alexander Radulov, Martin Erat, Ryan Suter (good young American defenseman), Dan Hamhuis and J.P. Dumont. They are young and hungry, plus they lost a bunch of great players due to the cap and are just as good or better than they were last year. I like Carolina and am astonished they didn't make the playoffs, although one of their best players got injured early in the second half of the season.

Tampa Bay is worth cheering for. They have won the Cup, have some of the best players in the league, Vinny Lecavalier, Dan Boyle and Martin St. Louis, and will have the #1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, where they will pick Steve Stamkos. They had a rough year, but they will make the playoffs next year, mark my words.


Oh yeah, the best hockey fight I've ever seen is this one, between Stan Jonathan (my all-time favourite player) from Boston against Pierre Bouchard of Montreal in the 1978 playoffs, which I happened to watch on TV live:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqf6YEN0qDU

BTW, the fight ended Bouchard's career.

I am rooting for Nashiville to take down the Red Wings (i hate detroit).
But I don't know how anybody can like Tootoo. That guy doesn't deserve to play in the NHL with all the dirty crap he's pulled.

[Jaimoe]

I am rooting for Nashiville to take down the Red Wings (i hate detroit).
But I don't know how anybody can like Tootoo. That guy doesn't deserve to play in the NHL with all the dirty crap he's pulled.

He's been cleaning up his act. He's no Steve Downey or that fucker Avery in New York, even though both of those idiots are good players. Tootoo hits hard and has been a big factor in this series. He's got skills, which are starting to show in this series. Players that are encouraged to play with an edge cross it, unfortunately. Tootoo was loved and encouraged to play the way he plays in Junior but now he's hated. He crosses the line, yes, but he also fights his own battles and doesn't cower behind a goon like  Ruutu does with Georges Laraque  in Pittsburgh.  

[ManNamedTruth]

He crosses the line, yes, but he also fights his own battles and doesn't cower behind a goon like  Ruutu does with Georges Laraque  in Pittsburgh.  

where DO you come up with this stuff? :-/

[Jaimoe]

He crosses the line, yes, but he also fights his own battles and doesn't cower behind a goon like  Ruutu does with Georges Laraque  in Pittsburgh.  

where DO you come up with this stuff? :-/

I love Georges, but Ruutu is a dirty pest that doesn't fight his own battles. Good thing for him that Georges is the toughest guy in the NHL.  

[ManNamedTruth]

He crosses the line, yes, but he also fights his own battles and doesn't cower behind a goon like  Ruutu does with Georges Laraque  in Pittsburgh.  

where DO you come up with this stuff? :-/

I love Georges, but Ruutu is a dirty pest that doesn't fight his own battles. Good thing for him that Georges is the toughest guy in the NHL.  

one of the best fights i've seen. "this is for all the folks in canada who think Ruutu doesn't fight" i guess you missed this game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRiLdkOI-KA

[Kimbos_Evil_Bread]

why no Bruins love on this thread?  They're doing well this year.

[Jaimoe]

He crosses the line, yes, but he also fights his own battles and doesn't cower behind a goon like  Ruutu does with Georges Laraque  in Pittsburgh.  

where DO you come up with this stuff? :-/

I love Georges, but Ruutu is a dirty pest that doesn't fight his own battles. Good thing for him that Georges is the toughest guy in the NHL.  

one of the best fights i've seen. "this is for all the folks in canada who think Ruutu doesn't fight" i guess you missed this game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRiLdkOI-KA

I know he fights - I've followed his career - but he picks his spots, i.e., fights small guys like Tucker whom he thinks he can beat and outweighs him by at least 30 pounds. He won't take on any guys his own size. Show me that video and I'll be impressed. I don't hate Ruutu either. I know what his role is.

[petemoss]

He crosses the line, yes, but he also fights his own battles and doesn't cower behind a goon like  Ruutu does with Georges Laraque  in Pittsburgh.  

where DO you come up with this stuff? :-/

I love Georges, but Ruutu is a dirty pest that doesn't fight his own battles. Good thing for him that Georges is the toughest guy in the NHL.  

one of the best fights i've seen. "this is for all the folks in canada who think Ruutu doesn't fight" i guess you missed this game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRiLdkOI-KA

I know he fights - I've followed his career - but he picks his spots, i.e., fights small guys like Tucker whom he thinks he can beat and outweighs him by at least 30 pounds. He won't take on any guys his own size. Show me that video and I'll be impressed. I don't hate Ruutu either. I know what his role is.

I could not agree with you more on Ruutu! Together we can teach "those folks up in the states" about hockey, jaimoe!
If tootoo has cleaned up his act that is good, i admit i dont see too many nashville games, or most teams in the west actually these days.

[.Walt]

Why not cheer for the team from the "State of Hockey" the Minnesota Wild? High school hockey is crazy here. I can't tell you how many times a fan went onto the away teams bus, and tried to fight them all. I'm loving all the hockey talk. I personally think that hockey is making a comeback. But actually i'm a Maple Leafs fan first.

[ycartrob]

But I don't know how anybody can like Tootoo. That guy doesn't deserve to play in the NHL with all the dirty crap he's pulled.

Jordin Tootoo is a hockey player. He's hard nosed, gritty, old school hockey. He got a bunch of shit for knocking out the Stars golden boy Mike madano AND Stephane Robidas within 10 seconds of each other. I think he is great. He brings amazing energy to the ice.

It's hockey. Watch Tootoo bang up a bunch of crybabies:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upeLPWApt6w

[Jaimoe]

Why not cheer for the team from the "State of Hockey" the Minnesota Wild? High school hockey is crazy here. I can't tell you how many times a fan went onto the away teams bus, and tried to fight them all. I'm loving all the hockey talk. I personally think that hockey is making a comeback. But actually i'm a Maple Leafs fan first.

Hockey has made a big comeback this year. The NBA may have the huge TV contract, but their attendance figures ain't anywhere near as good as the NHL this year.

[red]

I've got no idea how it happened, but I've been a Capitals fan since I first fell for the game as a young one.  I'm also a Flames fan, as Iggy's my favourite player in the league.  

No better game, especially come playoff time.

[Jaimoe]

The Philly-Caps game has been wild tonight. Briere is on fire. Go Flyers!