the hockey thread

[ManNamedTruth]

Have we started a hockey thread yet this season? My Penguins are in first place of the Atlantic Division and this team has such a great promising future loaded with talent. Its only gonna get better. Cosby Malkin and Staal will all be NHL superstars. The only downside is the new arena that they need wich has been a huge ordeal around here. If theres no arena than they will have to eventually move the team, and that would be a shame.

[rugbird]

I'm very jealous of your young penguins.  

I was lookiing forward to the Blackhawks this year, it seems the league might not have it out for us for once.  Last year was completely unwatchable, by the time I tuned in we were either two goals or two men down.  20 of our first 30 games on the road.  Hated the new "interpretations" of the rules.  We always get that up the ass.  

But this year started great with Havlat, Handzuis and Vrbata showing some world class skills and a 4-2 start.   Friday we blew two late leads in Dallas and lost 5-4 and I didn't even care cuz it was a fun game.  Alas the news sat. morning:  Havlat broken ankle (out 3 weeks), Handzuis torn ACL (out for year) and Khabibulin broken finger.  WTF?  Come on God, are you in on it too?  Loss 4-3 to shitty blues and last night 5-0 to Vancouver.  

At least I still have the Bears.

[Jellyfish]

Flyers and Hurricanes fan here.

[Jaimoe]

  Alas the news sat. morning:  Havlat broken ankle (out 3 weeks), Handzuis torn ACL (out for year) and Khabibulin broken finger.  WTF?  Come on God, are you in on it too?  Loss 4-3 to shitty blues and last night 5-0 to Vancouver.  

At least I still have the Bears.

Vrbata will never be a star. He's already getting long in the tooth for a young player. Get used to Havlat going down with injuries. He's one of the softest players in the league and is a gutless coward (although extremely gifted offensively). You can have him regardless. Handzus is just past his mediocre prime - he's a decent role player and nothing more, at least at this point of his career. Too bad Daze's back ruined his promising career. I don't know if we'll ever see the real Tuomo Ruutu. He seems snakebitten with injuries, much like the Leafs defenseman prospect Carlo Colaiacovo (do a search for Carlo and you'll be shocked at his string of bad luck - worst I've ever seen in the NHL).

The Hawks have some excellent young players. Cam Barker and Brent Seabrook are phenominal talents and will be stars in the league for many years to come, although Barker will need a year of seasoning before he starts paying off. These two defensemen were superstars in the Western Hockey League (Junior A under 20's) and were key members of Canada's gold medal 2006 World Junior Championship team - the same team that thrashed Evengi Malkin's Russian team in the final last winter.  

Prospect Jonathan Toews, the first Hawks pick in the 2006 draft, will be a star in a few years. He's too damned talented not to be.

[Jaimoe]

Oh yeah, I was raised a Bruin's fan, but now cheer for the Leafs, Flames, Oilers and any team with a ton of Canadians on them, including the Hurricanes, Lightening, Panthers and Sharks.  I still like the Bruins too.

I hate hate hate hate the Ottawa Senators and Avalanche, and can't stand Vancouver or Atlanta.

[red]

Capitals baby!

Best sport in the world.

[joey_rogo]

Capitals baby!

Best sport in the world.

I'll agree with the second statement. . . but it's all about the rangers ;)

[Jaimoe]

I'll agree with the second statement. . . but it's all about the rangers ;)

Shanahan has made that club a playoff threat. He'll make those sweetheart Czechs play hard.

[brkndwnbus]

penguin fan here.

[Elizanne33]

Ok so I am not really a fan of any particular NHL team, however I do live in Sharks territory so I occasionaly go to some of their games. I have season tickets for a minor league hockey team and tonight is the home opener. I'm going to be there in a couple hours, woo hoo! I am excited to check out the new players and to see all the action out on the ice again. The team sucked pretty hard last season, so I'm hoping for a better outcome this time.

[Jaimoe]

The team sucked pretty hard last season, so I'm hoping for a better outcome this time.

You must  mean the Fresno Falcons of the East Coast Hockey League. They are the Sharks lowest minor league affiliate. The ECHL is one notch lower than the American Hockey League - where the Sharks affiliate, the Worcester Sharks play. Teams in the ECHL (and AHL) can be good one year and bad the next. It all depends on how strong or weak their NHL team is from year to year. The San Jose Sharks are a young and talented team, no doubt loaded with players from Worcester - thus, Worcester calls up players from Fresno, weakening that team.

As for San Jose, I love Joe Thornton (2006 NHL MVP) and Jonathan Cheechoo (from the tiny Northern Ontario native dominated town of Moose Factory). Marleau is pretty damned good too. San Jose and Anaheim are the favourites to make it to the finals from the west.

[Elizanne33]

You must  mean the Fresno Falcons of the East Coast Hockey League.

Actually it's the Stockton Thunder. They are an ECHL team too. They were a new team in the league last season. Their NHL affiliate is the Oilers this season. They won tonight, and it was an exciting game. Hopefully they will be a strong team this season. I like the minor league games because you can get pretty close to the action and they're not as expenxive as NHL. I always have to get to at least one Sharks game though, gotta check out the big guys.

[Jaimoe]

The Oilers have a really talented and young team - and play tough and exciting up-tempo hockey. I doubt that there's going to be a lot of player movement this year from the Thunder to the Oliers. The Oil line-up is hard to crack.

[brkndwnbus]

man, the penguins are complete opposites of last year.....at least the start of the season.

[Jaimoe]

man, the penguins are complete opposites of last year.....at least the start of the season.

I'm glad the Pens didn't send Staal back to the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League (I've always hated the Petes, even though they've produced some great players like Steve Yzerman, Chris Pronger, Eric Staal, Bob Gainey and oh yeah, Wayne Gretzky). Jordan Staal deserves to be playing with the big boys, even though he just turned 18. Crosby is a baby, but a damned talented one. I'm not in love with Malkin like all the media seems to be. He's gotta hit someone before I start respecting his game.

[brkndwnbus]

Good points there Jaimoe....even if Malkin hasn't hit anyone yet, I'll take his 7 goals in 6 games. I got to find time to make it to Pitts. and catch some games this season.

[rugbird]

Re:Blackhawks, thanks Jaimoe for some encouragement.  However, our great young D. is sucking so far this year.  I dont care if Havlat wears peppermint panties, we went from 4-2 to 4-8 without him, while scoring I think 5 goals in those six games.  I've had it with character forwards, all ours do is get thrown in the p.box anyway.

Tuomo scored his first game back so theres some hope.  Our backup goalie Boucher blows, now come the Wings.  Shit.

[Jaimoe]

Re:Blackhawks, thanks Jaimoe for some encouragement.  However, our great young D. is sucking so far this year.  I

That's the thing with young D-men. They often take years of nurturing. Chelios was a role player when he was a young Hab before he starred in Chicago. It took Pronger years to develop into the best defenseman in the world.

I'm not really talking about character guys per say - Ruutu has lots of character and can score when healthy. I'm talking about guys that are cancers lacking any kind of character. Havlat is that player.

[red]

I was at the Bruins/Sabres game tonight - what a game!!!  The Sabres can't be stopped.

[Jaimoe]

I was at the Bruins/Sabres game tonight - what a game!!!  The Sabres can't be stopped.

Too bad one of the league's bright young lights may never recover from his current concussion problems. Buffalo's Tim Connelly is a likable and one of the best young American-born players. Too bad the lad can't keep his head up when he crosses the blue-line.