stanley cup finals

The NHL is in trouble, big trouble.

Unless you are from Detroit or Pittsburgh nobody gave a rats arse about the final series…..The two most hated teams amongst neutrals are the Redwings and the Penguins. I watched game 7 tonight and really found it hard to stay awake after a couple of glasses of wine even though I LOVE hockey. How many times will it be fun to see the Redwings play the final unless your from 8 mile or see the Penguins and not don a mullet, fat arse and fupa?

I would have been more intrigued had it been the Stars v Ducks or Lightning v Blue Jackets. (I omit the Caps for obvious reasons being my team)

The NHL needs to do something to attract more neutral fans….Detroit, Pittsburg and once every blue moon Montreal or Toronto isn't enough to make it a mainstream sport…………..BUT THEY NEED THE ADVERTIZING REVENUE.

next time its stars vs ducks in the finals, i'm sure it will be riveting  ::)

There was a lot of great hockey this playoff season.  The only reason a 'neutral fan' would not be into the later series was because of sours grapes that his team was not in.  My team went out in the first round but I continued to watch and appreciate several great games.  The game is just fine, well except they need to get rid of that lame ass shoot out.

Yeah, a Ducks Stars finals would be amazing, especially since they play in the same conference.

I bet people said the same thing in the 80s, I hate watching edmonton in the finals every year, give the jets and the whalers a chance.

And where the hell have you been?

Frank wrote:
I watched game 7 tonight and really found it hard to stay awake after a couple of glasses of wine even though I LOVE hockey.

Go fuck yourself, jerkoff.

Thousand wrote:

Frank wrote:
I watched game 7 tonight and really found it hard to stay awake after a couple of glasses of wine even though I LOVE hockey.

Go fuck yourself, jerkoff.

See, we still love you around here…

Meh, I watched the last 2 periods. I didn't want the Pens to win. Whatever, it's lose lose. Sour grapes indeed.

I watched the whole series.  Thrilling finish.  Pens just outworked them most of the game.  Wings came out hard like the first 10 minutes or so and then didn't wake back up til it was desperation time.  Pens did what they needed to do to win esp considering Crosby only had like 10 mins of ice time.  Fleury came up with a great game when he had to.  I thought detroit was going to lock it up on that last shot.  Fleury just threw himself out there.  Amazing finish.

Hats off to the pens but i'm still bitter.  But I'm proud my team took the Stanley Cup champs to 7 games in the playoffs, all of them very competetive except one.  The pens just peaked at the right time.  Freaking Pittsburgh.  Steelers and the Pens.  Don't like either of them.

Thousand wrote:

Frank wrote:
I watched game 7 tonight and really found it hard to stay awake after a couple of glasses of wine even though I LOVE hockey.

Go fuck yourself, jerkoff.

Smackie - and you wonder where I've been? I see this 'bored' is still full of ignorant pricks for the most part. I would love to meet arseholes like this in person and see if they're as brave face to face.


BTW, I just watched Mall Cop and the main character reminded me of Venerable with his "little known facts!" You knew what I meant so don't be such a Marty McSmartypants!!!

As for the Pens, at least Gonchar got a winners medal. I still like the guy after all he did for the Caps.

walkonby wrote:

Frank wrote:

Thousand wrote:

Frank wrote:
I watched game 7 tonight and really found it hard to stay awake after a couple of glasses of wine even though I LOVE hockey.

Go fuck yourself, jerkoff.

Smackie - and you wonder where I've been? I see this 'bored' is still full of ignorant pricks for the most part. I would love to meet arseholes like this in person and see if they're as brave face to face.

:D :D :D :D

i for one would love to meet mank in real life and hear about my mullet, fat arse and fupa (whatever that is). i'm sure we could agree to toast gonchar's "winners medal" and pine for a finals match up between two teams from the same conference.

What's this conference bullshit anyway? Talk about same shit year in year out.

They should scrap the conference system come playoff time. The top four seeds from each conference go in one pot and the bottom four in another then they just pick the teams at random. That way you have a better chance of the two best teams from the NHL actually meeting in the final……If they're concerned about the travel times then the first three games are played at the lower seeded teams home ice and the remaining four at the higher seeded teams home ice.


Just one mans opinion but I'm sure Venerable will come up with some 'little known fact' as to why this can't happen, Smackie the legal issues and that other douche some random juvenile insult.

They should also have a system were you get promoted from one division to another (think premier league etc.) that way there's actually something to play for during the season other than finishing at least 8th in the conference!!!!

no american sport is going to have promotion/relegation ever

besides, the tv ratings disagree with your premise of no one caring

even more evidence the whole thing was fixed….

:P

if the nhl can really pull off a successful conspiracy, why dont they conspire to get on a better network

Frank wrote:They should scrap the conference system come playoff time. The top four seeds from each conference go in one pot and the bottom four in another then they just pick the teams at random. That way you have a better chance of the two best teams from the NHL actually meeting in the final……If they're concerned about the travel times then the first three games are played at the lower seeded teams home ice and the remaining four at the higher seeded teams home ice.

Sort of the wrong year to argue this.  Many people, myself included were arguing that the best teams were in the west and that the de facto finals was happening in the conference semis.  Turns out the two best teams did play in the finals this year….

Frank wrote:
They should also have a system were you get promoted from one division to another (think premier league etc.) that way there's actually something to play for during the season other than finishing at least 8th in the conference!!!!

We discussed this the footie thread of all places.  American sports and their ownership models of franchise and minor league teams do not lend itself to this.  I'd love to see it, but it's highly unlikely.

Frank wrote:
Smackie - and you wonder where I've been? I see this 'bored' is still full of ignorant pricks for the most part. I would love to meet arseholes like this in person and see if they're as brave face to face.

I'll say it again: Go fuck yourself, jerkoff. You're just another wanna-be, bandwagon-hopping asshole who clames to "LOVE" hockey because he became a Caps fan in the last two years, but in the same post proves he doesn't have a fucking clue what he's talking about. Both the games on Versus and NBC had record ratings (http://www.freep.com/article/20090608/SPORTS05/90608096/1048/SPORTS/Game+4+ratings+highest+for+Stanley+Cup+finals+since+2002) (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4228726) (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=424850). Traditionally drawing 1/4 to 1/3 of competing NBA playoff games, Game 4 had almost half of the NBA Finals (http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/stanley-cup-game-7-trounces-competition-in-us-tv-viewership/).

And in the same fucking breath, you claim to "love hockey," but then bitch about finding it hard to stay awake during Game fucking Seven? You don't love hockey. Game fucking Seven of the Finals is the pinnacle of professional hockey. It is the most tense 60 minutes in the sport. It is the agony and the ecstasy, both tradition in the handshake and the presentation of the Cup and Conn Smythe on the ice (the sport that started both tradition amongst the three other sports), and the most gut wrenching 60 minutes of action any fan watches the whole year. And yet, it was boring the fuck out of you. Some fan who "loves hockey" you are. Next time, try not to drink too much wine before Game 7.

It gets even better. Bitching about Detroit vs. Pittsburgh, two of the most traditional, die-hard hockey markets in the country and enough storylines to keep the fucktards who write The Reliable Source column in the Post busy, you yearn for…wait for it…TAMPA/COLUMBUS?!??!?!?!?! Are you fucking kidding?  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) How to know a pompous asshole who claims to "love hockey" is just a poser who doesn't have a fucking clue: He bitches about ratings and then, in the same breath, clamors for Tampa/Columbus. And then the same conference matchup in the Finals. Bwahahaha.

More evidence you don't "love hockey," as you claim. True hockey fans couldn't give a shit if the sport goes "mainstream." In fact, I wish it was less mainstream so bandwagon hopping fucktards like yourself wouldn't take up all the tickets when the local team gets hot. I'd go if the team was .500, unless most of the "fans" in this fucking city. As long as I have Versus on cable, I have the Caps on CSN, the NHL Network for Hockey Night in Canada, the Wednesday TSN games, and the college hockey broadcasts on both the NHL Network and the Fox College Sports channels, and I'll probably go to five games a year. I'm perfectly fine with the sports maintaining "niche" status. In case you haven't heard, except in Phoenix and the other sun belt cities, NHL teams are doing just fine at the box office. That's niche enough for me.

Finally, true fans who "love" hockey, especially if they are male, aren't drinking wine before or during the game.

godsshoeshine wrote:
if the nhl can really pull off a successful conspiracy, why dont they conspire to get on a better network

not that i actually think it IS a conspiracy.

but if it was, a conspiracy within its own league (aka, fixing the games) would be far easier than conspiring with an outside source (TV networks). Secondly, they are locked in their Vs. contract for , i think, 2 more seasons so they would have to conspire to break their contract AND get another. game fixing could be done completely within the NHL.

  What i will say is that its nice to see the old "last place team gets first pick next year" rule really end up working like it should! Cause if you're not a big market team like Detroit, man, you gotta suck pretty bad for a bit to get a guy like Crosby or Ovechkin.

Detroit fans should take this as the silver lining, as the Lions should probably get the first 3 picks this year for the epic season they fumbled together last fall!