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2011-'12 NHL Thread


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ViaG, we don't agree on much....but on this we agree. Growing up in Hartford while they where there was great. I went to tons of games and they got kids who normally weren't into hockey interested in the game. It was really amazing to see how Hartford changed after they left. Yes we have great AHL team, but nothing will replace the Whalers.

 

 

Not trying to sound dumb but did not 1 year the city of Hartford held a parade for the Whalers for making the Eastern Conference Finals (Then called the Prince of Wales Division) in the early '90's?:eek:

 

The Wharlers are actually an old WHA (World Hockey Association)that started in Boston in the early 1970's as the New England Whalers. After the NHL merger in 1979 (Oilers, Quebec and the Winnipeg Jets also joined them) the team moved to Hartford at the then fairly new Hartford Civic Center. So some quick trivia for you sports/hockey fans.B)

 

 

Back to topic. The Biggest reason Hartford has IMO less than 1% chance of ever getting back a NHL team is this. It's too damn close to Boston and the NYC area clubs(Rangers, Isles and Devils)

 

 

Despite being the smallest city in US at time (I think even Green Bay & Jacksonville is bigger)to be home of a pro club in the '4' major leagues, Hartford was much more passionate for hockey than fans in the sunbelt mainly Miami/South Fla., Phoenix and even Carolina. The whalers gave Hartford national and even international attention.

 

So when the Whalers left in the late '90's for Carolina, their fan base was very similar to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Again if the NHL did return to CT. IMO it would be probably be in SW part of the state i.e New Haven, Bridgeport or even further east at the Native American Indian-owned resorts such as Mogehan Sun(where the Woman's NBA calls home)or Foxwoods.

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Anyone watch yesterday's Rangers/Flyers winter classic outdoor game from Citizens Bank Ballpark?:eek:

 

Henrik Lundqvist Penalty Shot Save : New York Rangers : 2012 NHL Winter Classic - YouTube

 

Not I... Was too busy working on some projects... :P I saw the highlights on NHL Network when I got after I watched the last part of the Avs/Kings game. Good game too. :cool:

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Not I... Was too busy working on some projects... :( I saw the highlights on NHL Network when I got after I watched the last part of the Avs/Kings game. Good game too. :cool:

 

I watched the beginning (up until end of 1st period)before i went to take a nap. By the way the NHL Winter classic's US ratings this time(Jan. 2012)was a 2.1 overnight tv rating. That down 9% from last year Caps-Pens New Years Night 2011 Prime Time game.

 

Still not a bad rating consdering the 'classic' went up head-head with the Rose Bowl Football game. Not to mention a 2.1 ratings is what a 1st round NHL (CUP) Playoff game normally receives on American TV.

 

So wondering to our NHL fans like VG8, Tokemon and others if the winter classic has lost it's 'buzz?":eek:

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My team wasn't in it. Therefore I don't care.

 

 

PS Tokkemon. Happy New Year. I saw "your cancuks' in person Sat. 12/31/11 for New Years eve Night visit to play the LA Kings in LA. Kings won 4-1 behind Mr. Quick a good and upcoming goalie for LA. Cancuks fans were in force maybe as much as 5,000 fans for the game.:(

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I watched the beginning (up until end of 1st period)before i went to take a nap. By the way the NHL Winter classic's US ratings this time(Jan. 2012)was a 2.1 overnight tv rating. That down 9% from last year Caps-Pens New Years Night 2011 Prime Time game.

 

Still not a bad rating consdering the 'classic' went up head-head with the Rose Bowl Football game. Not to mention a 2.1 ratings is what a 1st round NHL (CUP) Playoff game normally receives on American TV.

 

So wondering to our NHL fans like VG8, Tokemon and others if the winter classic has lost it's 'buzz?":eek:

 

To be honest, I'm not big on watching the Flyers and Rangers. I used to back in the day, but it's become boring of late, maybe because the media hypes it up too much. I rarely watch the Rangers simply because there are better games on. Right now I have the Jets vs the Habs on. Rangers are playing better this year, but still. They need to have it in Toronto or Montréal or some place like that. I like to see the Canadian teams play (more fast paced) and NBC shows the same friggin' teams. :mad::mad: There are other teams in the NHL besides the Rangers, Capitals, Penguins, Blackhawks and Red Wings, but you wouldn't know it. That's why it's boring.

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To be honest, I'm not big on watching the Flyers and Rangers. I used to back in the day, but it's become boring of late, maybe because the media hypes it up too much. I rarely watch the Rangers simply because there are better games on. Right now I have the Jets vs the Habs on. Rangers are playing better this year, but still. They need to have it in Toronto or Montréal or some place like that. I like to see the Canadian teams play (more fast paced) and NBC shows the same friggin' teams. :mad::mad: There are other teams in the NHL besides the Rangers, Capitals, Penguins, Blackhawks and Red Wings, but you wouldn't know it. That's why it's boring.

 

The Canadian teams already have their 'outdoor' game it's called the hertiage classic. It been played in Edomoton and Calagry. I agree with you VG8 but i am stating what the clueless exces at NBC are thinking that no one in the US would watch the Leafs, Habs, Flames, etc. unless Ken Dyrden, Mark Messier, and of course old'e (9)(9) makes a comeback.:eek:

 

 

Also NBC is screwing mid and smaller market US clubs as well. The Minnesota Wild this year most improved team has yet to be on national tv on NBC or the new NBC sports net (formerly Versus).

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The Canadian teams already have their 'outdoor' game it's called the hertiage classic. It been played in Edomoton and Calagry. I agree with you VG8 but i am stating what the clueless exces at NBC are thinking that no one in the US would watch the Leafs, Habs, Flames, etc. unless Ken Dyrden, Mark Messier, and of course old'e (9)(9) makes a comeback.:eek:

 

 

Also NBC is screwing mid and smaller market US clubs as well. The Minnesota Wild this year most improved team has yet to be on national tv on NBC or the new NBC sports net (formerly Versus).

 

Yeah, I know they have their outdoor games, but here's the thing though. I watched the outdoor game with the Habs and the Flames and it was great. The problem is it got very little coverage outside of the Canadian market and cable here in the US. Meanwhile the outdoor classic held this year was followed by NBC and CBC as well.

 

And yes the Wild get little coverage on NBC. However, they have been played on Versus a few times. If anything, the teams that are shafted the most are the teams out west. Rarely do you see 22:30 games on Versus (now NBC Sports Network). It's always a 19:00 or 20:00 game and if you see the Western team play they're playing on the road unless they're showing Colorado. I kind of wished the NHL games were still shown on ESPN 2. They had some good games on then, but ESPN is more interested in ratings, so everything is the NBA and college football. :(

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- ehh, I saw bits & pieces of that flyers/rangers matchup.... but I gotta say, I can't stand when they have NHL (and NBA) games outdoors.... looks gotdamn stupid to me; almost like you're watchin some exhibition event.... if anything is overhyped, it's that.... don't care how rare/out-of-the-ordinary it is either.....

 

- As far as rivalries... I can't think of any good rivalries in the 4 major sports anymore; and I'll go as far as to include NCAA football & basketball also... I'm not talkin about what the media sensationalizes either... I'm talkin about actual good performances put up each time two supposed rivals play each other - to the point where me, the viewer, can sense the "hatred".....

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- ehh, I saw bits & pieces of that flyers/rangers matchup.... but I gotta say, I can't stand when they have NHL (and NBA) games outdoors.... looks gotdamn stupid to me; almost like you're watchin some exhibition event.... if anything is overhyped, it's that.... don't care how rare/out-of-the-ordinary it is either.....

 

- As far as rivalries... I can't think of any good rivalries in the 4 major sports anymore; and I'll go as far as to include NCAA football & basketball also... I'm not talkin about what the media sensationalizes either... I'm talkin about actual good performances put up each time two supposed rivals play each other - to the point where me, the viewer, can sense the "hatred".....

 

They're trying to do that in the NHL with the realignment scheduled next year, but I'm concerned that there maybe too many of the same teams playing each other too often. They tried some nonsense similar to this a few years ago and it was awful. You would have one team playing another 3 - 4 times in a two week span, which is just way too much. They changed that out quickly though. The new set up will have each team playing each other at least twice for the season (once at home and once on the road) which is good.

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- ehh, I saw bits & pieces of that flyers/rangers matchup.... but I gotta say, I can't stand when they have NHL (and NBA) games outdoors.... looks gotdamn stupid to me; almost like you're watchin some exhibition event.... if anything is overhyped, it's that.... don't care how rare/out-of-the-ordinary it is either.....

 

- As far as rivalries... I can't think of any good rivalries in the 4 major sports anymore; and I'll go as far as to include NCAA football & basketball also... I'm not talkin about what the media sensationalizes either... I'm talkin about actual good performances put up each time two supposed rivals play each other - to the point where me, the viewer, can sense the "hatred".....

 

 

 

Bro(B35)great point. The main reason why there no 'hatred' in rivalry games is simple $$$$. Whether it's Crosby, Lebron, etc. they are franchise players for an entire league and worth tens of millions or even hundred of millions. That why the leagues are getting tough on head injuries especially in contact sports like hockey and the NFL.

 

And on VG8 point, Bettman took the most money in renewing the NBC tv contract. On NBC Sports Net(old Versus)the NHL is the headline sports league on their cable channel. On ESPN2 they would be at best #5 after the NBA, NFL, MLB and college football in the peak order.

 

IMO the NHL could have signed with both NBC-TV/NBC sports Net and ESPN for their 10 year deal. ESPN's sportscenter provides a priceless commerical plug for any sports league these days and ESPN did offer to show all of the conference finals and couple of games of the Cup Finals on the main ESPN channel.

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Bro(B35)great point. The main reason why there no 'hatred' in rivalry games is simple $$$$. Whether it's Crosby, Lebron, etc. they are franchise players for an entire league and worth tens of millions or even hundred of millions. That why the leagues are getting tough on head injuries especially in contact sports like hockey and the NFL.

 

And on VG8 point, Bettman took the most money in renewing the NBC tv contract. On NBC Sports Net(old Versus)the NHL is the headline sports league on their cable channel. On ESPN2 they would be at best #5 after the NBA, NFL, MLB and college football in the peak order.

 

IMO the NHL could have signed with both NBC-TV/NBC sports Net and ESPN for their 10 year deal. ESPN's sportscenter provides a priceless commerical plug for any sports league these days and ESPN did offer to show all of the conference finals and couple of games of the Cup Finals on the main ESPN channel.

 

I think Bettman wanted more games shown and more airtime overall. The goal of the NHL is to become a main sport, particularly here in the U.S. They want to be on par with the NFL or the NBA or at least in that realm. They don't have to worry about Canada because the sport is the country's national pastime, much like the MLB here.

 

They need to be more liberal with that salary cap though. That's one reason why rivalries have died. If you look back say 10 years ago you had some real good teams that would match up against each other in the playoffs, but now it's hard to keep the good teams good for very long. Chicago had a really good team and had to dump players because of salary cap restrictions after they won the cup.

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I have no respect for Bettman after what he implied about fans of other sports.... back when they made that deal w/ versus, dude was like (and I'm paraphrasing here) - Hockey fans are more technologically advanced, since the majority of hockey fans watch their games online moreso than fans of the other 3 major sports.... he gave a percentage when he made that statement in a radio interview w/ lard ass (talkin about Mike Francesa), but I don't remember it...

 

All these changes that hockey is engaging in, is tryna gain back the fans that was lost after the strike (which in the general sense, there's nothin wrong with).... the rule changes to make the game more offensive was a good start.... young talents like crosby, ovechkin, stamkos, kane, toews, etc. comin out at the right time, helped a lot... But when you start messing with scheduling & who plays who more or less, that can backfire real quick (MLB is a good example of that)....

 

 

The main reason why there no 'hatred' in rivalry games is simple $$$$.

Hit the nail on the coffin.... it's all about the almighty dollar....

From the star player on whatever team, on down to the franchise owners & television networks....

Who cares about intangibles anymore, outside of the fans/fanatics......

 

ex. You think carmelo anthony & amare stoudemire care about the old Knick/Heat rivalry back in the 90's.... even worse than that, there is no heat/knick rivalry now - it's 100% D-E-A-D....

 

The one thing I'll say about hockey is that the young players are cognisant of the past rivalries... on top of that, a hell of a lot less ego driven; IMO anyway... then again, they aint near as money hungry as your average NBA (especially) player either..... The gall that a Bum like Mehmet Okur makes 10 mil a year.....

 

Toews & Kane on the same team, would be like, well, LeBron & Wade on the same team - with the both of them makin less than 5 mil a year.... Now you know that aint happenin !!

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I have no respect for Bettman after what he implied about fans of other sports.... back when they made that deal w/ versus, dude was like (and I'm paraphrasing here) - Hockey fans are more technologically advanced, since the majority of hockey fans watch their games online moreso than fans of the other 3 major sports.... he gave a percentage when he made that statement in a radio interview w/ lard ass (talkin about Mike Francesa), but I don't remember it...

 

I can see how that can be taken out of context, but in a way he's right. I would imagine that he brought stats up because he analyzed them to come to that conclusion amongst other things. I mean think about it. Most of the NFL games of any importance can be seen on regular TV. The same with some of the NBA games and if not then you can see most of them on cable. That's not the case really with NHL games. Before I purchased NHL Center Ice this year with my FiOS subscription, I watched many of the big NHL games online, streaming them on my laptop and to watch them without them breaking up and stopping, you need a high speed connection and good laptop or desktop. Now when I'm not at home, I stream the games on my Thunderbolt because I still have my NHL Game Center subscription as well. It should be noted that you can't stream the games on any device. It can only be certain devices. For example, when using a cell phone, it can only be streamed on Android or iPhone devices, which many would say are more sophisticated and technologically advanced than your average cell phone. Also, hockey for what it's worth is an expensive sport and the fact of the matter is you need money to play it and to watch it because it's just not as accessible. That's true even in Canada where it's the national pastime. We also have a large following in Europe and Europe is known to be technologically savvy, especially the Scandinavian countries (Sweden and Finland in particular since those are two countries that follow the NHL). The cell phones over there for years were far more advanced than our cell phones here in the States, and to a degree still are. So in that sense he is right. The point is hockey fans have to be technologically savvy if they really want to follow the game because the game isn't as accessible, where as NBA, NFL and MLB fans may also be technologically savvy, but they don't have to be because the game is more accessible for them on TV; be it cable or regular TV. That's what he was getting at. It's difficult for something to be popular when it's less accessible and more expensive. That's usually the case with most things.

 

It's easy to pick up a soccer ball, a basketball or a football, or even a baseball and a stick and a glove (though not necessary if you're playing say stick ball) and find an open field and play. Less so with hockey. Ice hockey requires money for ice time, which is expensive and tedious because there are only but so many rinks (again lack of accessibility) unless you have open space and can create a mini-rink outside, but it has to be cold enough outside to do that (i.e. like up in Canada or Northern cities here in the States). You can play roller hockey, but even then you need money for sticks, gloves, pads, skates and then you've got to find a place with smooth asphalt and empty garbage cans to play in, which can be challenging depending on where you live. I used to play in Homecrest Park not too far from where I lived or skate over to Ave Z. and Nostrand and play with some of my buddies from Gerritsen Beach. They would bring nets over to Sheepshead Bay from Gerritsen Beach and we'd have goalies and such. Most of them were older than me, but I was big enough to play with them even though I was a teenager and some of them were grown men, though my buddies were teenagers like me. The ground there was okay, but we worked with it. Another spot for me was on Ave Y and East 18th before they re-did it since it was an open spot with nice smooth concrete. We'd set up garbage cans or even shopping carts taken from Shop & Stop and shoot in those for practice. lol

 

Here and there I would skate over to Brighton Beach and play pick up games as well w/the Russians. The other big spot before they re-did it was on Bedford and Avenue X. Sucks what they did with that park. :mad:

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People take this crap way too seriously.

 

Agreed. The crap of those soccer 'riots' in Europe and to small degree Latin America is starting to occur here. The Multi Millionarie players don't even take the games so serious. While I am a sports fan myself there more important things in my life not to do this.:mad::tdown:

Hope the morons who did this, rots in the slammer for a long while.

 

Sadly one of the guys beaten is a Iraq/Afgan War Vet. The other a Police Officer from Woodbridge, NJ.

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There's no good rivalries anymore?! Are you guys serious?

 

Just taking hockey alone, I can name these:

 

Canucks - Blackhawks

Rangers - Islanders

Maple Leafs - Canadiens

Oilers - Flames

Canucks - Flames

Wild - Red Wings

Canucks - Red Wings

Devils - Flyers

Penguins - Flyers

Bruins - Canadiens

Etc. etc. etc.

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No Bro(Tokkemon). What (B35) and I were saying is that the 'rivalries' between the players in the NHL does not have the hatred or passion as it did say in the 1970's and 80's. That along with the WWE-type fighting brawls you saw 25-30 years ago. Here the proof.

 

1)NY Rangers-LA Kings brawl-1981 1st Round Stanley Cup playoff series.

 

 

 

 

2)Flyers-Habs 1987 Eastern Conference (Prince of Wales)Final Pre game

CBC's French language broadcast.

 

 

 

 

3)Recent Broad Street Bullies HBO documentary on the controversial 1970's Flyers Stanley Cup Championship teams.

 

 

 

There's no good rivalries anymore?! Are you guys serious?

 

Just taking hockey alone, I can name these:

 

Canucks - Blackhawks

Rangers - Islanders

Maple Leafs - Canadiens

Oilers - Flames

Canucks - Flames

Wild - Red Wings

Canucks - Red Wings

Devils - Flyers

Penguins - Flyers

Bruins - Canadiens

Etc. etc. etc.

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There's no good rivalries anymore?! Are you guys serious?

 

Just taking hockey alone, I can name these:

 

Canucks - Blackhawks

Rangers - Islanders

Maple Leafs - Canadiens

Oilers - Flames

Canucks - Flames

Wild - Red Wings

Canucks - Red Wings

Devils - Flyers

Penguins - Flyers

Bruins - Canadiens

Etc. etc. etc.

 

 

Sorry but like Shortline said, the rivalries just aren't as good as they used to be. I'm an Avs fan and when we won the cup in '96 and then again in '01, I HATED the Red Wings with a passion. :mad: If it wasn't for them we could've won at least a few more cups with Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Foote and all of the other greats we had. :cool:

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Oops. Forgot that one. Canucks - Avalanche.

 

That one was okay... I loved when back in the day the Avs would go into Vancouver and take those games. :cool:

 

P.S. When is Vancouver going to stop choking?? Those Sedin twins are useless in the playoffs, as is Luongo. Luongo looks like he's going to sh*t in his pants as he gets deeper into the playoffs. Can't handle the pressure.The only one with true heart on that team is Kessler.

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P.S. When is Vancouver going to stop choking?? Those Sedin twins are useless in the playoffs, as is Luongo. Luongo looks like he's going to sh*t in his pants as he gets deeper into the playoffs. Can't handle the pressure.The only one with true heart on that team is Kessler.

 

Um... they just won the President's Trophy last year and got to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I would hardly call that "choking". So far this season, it looks like they're having a repeat performance of win after win after win.

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