Official NHL thread?

Whaaaaa?!?

No hockey?!?

It's a great time of the year! Hockey playoffs are unreal!

Who are you cheering for?

I was amazed at last nights game where Luongo had a save percentage of like 98%. Anaheim peppered him. He saw more rubber last night than a Nevada brothel. asn't good enough for the win though.

I was praying for years that Edmonton would trade for him. He was the best goalie that nobody knew about. Now everybody knows of him (he almost singlehandedly beat Dallas this playoff year).

I am cheering for Buffalo this year.

To me, they are the New England Patriots of the NHL. They don't spend a grip of money on star players with attitudes. They only have high quality players and have no glaring team weaknesses. They have no dominating 1st line... just 4 consistent lines anyone of which can hurt you.

My prediction is a Buffalo-Anaheim final.

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Originally Posted by Spank_Me_Hard

To me, they are the New England Patriots of the NHL. They don't spend a grip of money on star players with attitudes.

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Of course, the Pats signed Tom Brady to a huge contract, and just gave Randy Moss a pretty big one, too, so the times, they're a changin'.

Sorry, but I couldn't help threadjacking back to football on the first post. :D

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Originally Posted by monroeski

Of course, the Pats signed Tom Brady to a huge contract, and just gave Randy Moss a pretty big one, too, so the times, they're a changin'.

Sorry, but I couldn't help threadjacking back to football on the first post. :D

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LOL!

No prob... I actually made the first football reference in my initial post.

I guess I should have said the NE Patriots circa 2002.

Cheering for the Sharks, but after the their second 2-0 blown game in the series I'm getting a little worried :(

I am a Flyers die-hard.

I am therefore cheering for draft day!:D

Actually i really like watching the Sharks, who remind me of Philly from a few years ago--a strong blend of skill and toughness. They need to put Detroit away and move on.

Out east, it's hard to pick a chosen team because I hate them all.:p But I hate Buffalo a bit less than NY, NJ or Ottawa.


Cheers Spanky, for starting a hockey thread. I actually like hockey even more than football, but always thought me and Freddy_K were the only fans. I am 100% in favor of lengthy hockey discussion.

btw,

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To me, they are the New England Patriots of the NHL. They don't spend a grip of money on star players with attitudes.

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Not after this year. These guys are all going to get PAID, starting this off-season with Drury and Briere. That's two top-line centermen that they have to figure out how to resign.

Wow, that's 2 already for the Sharks. I myself am a die-hard Wings fan, so I've gotta throw my 2 cents in.

Been some great games so far, pretty close everytime. Great hockey to watch for sure. I'll give the Sharks some credit though, they're much cleaner and more sportsman-like than the Flames. Man that was ugly....

The Flames seemed forced to play that way almost; Detroit looked much more skilled.

im in buffalo right now, but im rooting for the rangers. Good game tonight, (**** you Afinaganov - yes, thats not spelt right)

If I had to say then I guess I root for the wings, my g/f likes them a lot and I used to back in the day with proby,stu grimson, and dino lol. Hockey just aint the same. I do like holmstrom though.

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Originally Posted by r'aggro

The Flames seemed forced to play that way almost; Detroit looked much more skilled.

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That was crazy... funny thing is that the backup goalie for Calgary was a childhood friend of one of my friends. He grew up with him playing hockey, getting drunk, and hitting on the hoochies. So in a way, I sorta feel like I know the guy.

The I see him on the tele giving the guy the douible handed battle axe to the stomach.

Shades of Ron Hextall or Billy Smith from back in the days.

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Originally Posted by r'aggro

Cheers Spanky, for starting a hockey thread. I actually like hockey even more than football, but always thought me and Freddy_K were the only fans. I am 100% in favor of lengthy hockey discussion.

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Yea... I thought that something was missing from the sports threads.

And I have seen people here discuss hockey if only briefly... so I knew that there was at least some support for the game here.

I'm pure NHL and NFL... I can't say which one I like more.

Being a Canadian and liking hockey is a given... but here in the US, I think it's the best game that nobody knows about. People who have never seen it before, and have gone to see it live are usually really impressed.

Man... when you get a high intensity hockey game (aka the playoffs) it's a hard sport to beat for excitement.

Even the 1-0 games that we have seen in the Vancouver-Dallas or the Vancouver-Anaheim series are a spectacle to behold... in goaltending brilliance. The goalie play was worth the price for admission.

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Not after this year. These guys are all going to get PAID, starting this off-season with Drury and Briere. That's two top-line centermen that they have to figure out how to resign.

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Ohh most definitely.

But I think that the Sabres have been masters of getting high quality players thst nobody seemed to know about (i.e. the under rated types) and building a team with them. Now of course since everyone has seen them... they will command a higher salary come free agency. And I expect the Sabres to reload with yet again more players that people don't know about.

Two guys on the Sabres in fact I think haven't even hit their prime yet. Afinogenov and Connolly. Afinogenov was having a spectacular year until he got injured. Check his points per game though for a better indication. Conolly has been out almost the entire year with concusion problems. But he is young, and if he can stay away from getting more concusions... we'll see just how good that he can get.

As for Briere... I remember a long time ago being impressed with him. Right in the middle of the neutral zone trap days, he was a 34 goal scorer. I always thought that if you got rid of the clutching and grabbing (which it looks like they have) that his skills would REALLY shine through. And I think that we are seeing that now. And not just his 34 goals one season during the trap... but he is only like 165lbs... so you know that he's not doing good by overpowering anybody... so toadys style of play is a natural fit for him.

I think the casual US fan only notices two things about the NHL-- a buttload of scoring, and the fights.

The fact that Americans seem to prefer sports with more scoring led to the rule changes we have now, and the emergence of a new breed of dominant player like you mentioned. Briere is a choice example. Breathe on some guys wrong, and a powerplay results; which of course leads to more scoring. I see so many games where 30 or even 40 minutes out of the game seem to be played while one of the teams is killing a penalty.

Less players on the ice at once means things open up for the flashy offensive guys like Crosby or Naslund. I like watching this type of player, but I don't want a league full of them. Gimme the tough, checking forwards and bruising defenseman (the ones who actually play defense) to go along with the undersized speedsters, and you have a nicely balanced product.

I just don't want the game to get wimpy for the sake of more scoring.

What is up with SJ?? I'd swear they are the better team than the wings, but they keep giving up the early lead.:confused:

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And I expect the Sabres to reload with yet again more players that people don't know about.

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That's how they've built a winner to this point, but some of the guys that put that team together have moved on. Being a small market team, Buffalo had to rely on scouting to find these gems. However the Sabres have supposedly chopped a bunch of scouting from the budget, so it may go down hill for them a bit. Don Luce went to work for Philly, for one.

surprise, surprise sharks play flat after a lead.

i can't believe the rangers gave up that goal with about 8 seconds left to push ot