On The Eve of the New Season: North of the Border Editio

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
….so I finally get to see a game on NBC last night. What in God's name has happened to the game over the last couple of years that I've been gone??? "Embelishment aka diving."

i don't remember diving being much of an issue before last night - that fall Emery took last night was totally over the top.

i thought last night's game was really good hockey, almost on par with game 1. definitely more appealing than the one-sided show that was game 2, or the ugliness that was game 3.

vansmack, can't say i partake of the embarrassment you prescribe to sens fans. personally i think it is the ducks fans that should hide after the bullying that went down in game three (yes, neal had a disgraceful hit too).

Originally posted by vansmack:
it was clear from the start of the series that the referees were going to call a penalty any time an Anaheim player so much as sneezed on a Sen (the exception being anytime Pronger cheap shots somebody, apparently), but to so blatantly take advantage of the situation the way the Sens did from the drop of the puck showed a real lack of integrity on their part.

hum, sounds like some baseless whining to me - but it would, 'cause i'm a sens fan, and of course you see injustice everywhere because of your allegiance. how exactly are the sens "taking advantage of the situation"?

Originally posted by sweetcell:
personally i think it is the ducks fans that should hide after the bullying that went down in game three (yes, neal had a disgraceful hit too).

That's hockey, or at least it used to be. That's what you get as a Ducks fan - a team that when stays disciplined is the best team in hockey. They take their lumps though, as witnessed by the second suspension of Pronger and a ridiculous number of unnecessary power play opportunities (compounded by the high number of power play goals for Ottawa). But again, that's hockey.

All Ottawa has gotten is a handful of discussions with referees after they come out of the locker room because the refs have reviewed the tapes and seen the "embellishment" - Emery fell over in games three and four, both times out of the crease and both times with a Duck trying to avoid him but going after a loose puck. Ridiculous. That's not hockey.

And how you don't count Neil's falling to the ice 30 seconds into the game yesterday as part of the embarrassement, I'm not sure. That's not hockey.

you two sound like you're watching the NBA finals, not the Stanley Cup!!!

Originally posted by vansmack:
That's hockey, or at least it used to be. That's what you get as a Ducks fan - a team that when stays disciplined is the best team in hockey.

oh, don't get me wrong, i'm entirely in favor of a good physical game. as the ducks showed in games 1 & 2, a good physical game-plan is a recipe for success. but they got down-right thuggish in game 3, in part (IMO) because of frustration. you're right, if the ducks stay disciplined there isn't a lot that opponents can so against them…

Originally posted by le sonick:
you two sound like you're watching the NBA finals, not the Stanley Cup!!!

In game 4, I certainly felt like it too.

Originally posted by vansmack:

Originally posted by le sonick:
you two sound like you're watching the NBA finals, not the Stanley Cup!!!

In game 4, I certainly felt like it too.

well, i only wish it was going to game 7, because i havent seen one second of the Finals yet and i was hoping to catch 3 games at the end. is it on NBC the rest of the way?

finally got to see a game. dont know about all the diving lately, but its ugly.

the highlight by far for me was don cherry on nbc. yeah baby! that was all i needed. and loved hearing ray ferraro agree with everything cherry was saying, about the state of affairs of hockey, and how sometimes a good brawl was needed, the stupid instigator calls, etc.

maybe cherry can be put in charge of hockey. we need some new blood. who cares about making hockey more watchable for 'more' americans. its arent getting viewership up.

speaking of hockey - avery's blonde girlfriend (forgot her name) was on conan last night. and she was talking about the fighting in hockey and doing a demo with conan. priceless.

Originally posted by le sonick:
is it on NBC the rest of the way?

Games 3-7 are NBC.

Why is it that fighting in hockey is frowned upon, but bench clearing in baseball makes the tv highlights? I know hockey players actually fight and baseball fights are a little homo-erotic, more like a gay orgy really, but the intent is the same. Getting rid of fighting in hockey to attract more fans has actually had the opposite effect imho. The educated hockey fan accepts that it's a part of the game. Nothing gets your team pumped up if they're playing flat like sending out your enforcer to drop the gloves with their enforcer. With the 80's Flyers excepted, it was always a fair fight, nobody picked a fight with someone who wasn't up for it. The uneducated hockey goer went only for the fights. Fighting also stopped a lot of the cheap shots because a player knew if he hit someone blind side he was going to get a plummeling before games end, now he gets a 2 minute time out like a child.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
Why is it that fighting in hockey is frowned upon, but bench clearing in baseball makes the tv highlights? I know hockey players actually fight and baseball fights are a little homo-erotic, more like a gay orgy really, but the intent is the same.

you just answered your own question… it's news-worthy because it's not expected from baseball teams. while "exciting", baseball fights are still frowned upon.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
Getting rid of fighting in hockey to attract more fans has actually had the opposite effect imho.

hehe, so you (partially) share don cherry's opinion. did you catch his second intermission commentary on monday? included among the outrageous things he said was that hockey clamped down on fighting in order to make the sport more pallateable to American audiences - and that it wasn't working. i'm not convinced about the "american" part, but otherwise i'm with him.

Anybody have photos of Lord Stanley's Cup arriving in Anaheim yet?

Originally posted by sweetcell:
you just answered your own question… it's news-worthy because it's not expected from baseball teams. while "exciting", baseball fights are still frowned upon.

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Why don't you just concede now if that's how you're going to come out and play the first period?

Yes ladies and gentlemen, that was quite the display by the two best teams in hockey in the second period.

Originally posted by vansmack:
I know coming from me it means absolutely nothing, but this is the Ducks year!

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Originally posted by vansmack:
Why don't you just concede now if that's how you're going to come out and play the first period?

yeah, really. the sens played even worse that the ducks did well, lucky to get out just two in the hole. did you catch the NBC commentary during the first intermission? "ottawa missed this", "sens lacking that"… when what's-his-name tried throwing a bone to the ducks, "shouldn't we be highlighting how well anaheim is playing?", the two others turned to him and said "it's easy to look good against an opponent that powerless". sheesh.

Originally posted by vansmack:
Yes ladies and gentlemen, that was quite the display by the two best teams in hockey in the second period.

too bad half of that equation couldn't keep it up. sens came back strong in the second, got my hopes back up… until they scored that own-goal. might as well have hung up the skates right there. and if lack of discipline is the potential undoing of anaheim, it was the destruction of ottawa: stupid penalties + lack of passion = ducks win.

niedermayer absolutely deserved the smythe (but like most pundits, i was expecting giggy to get it). as a sens fan, there are ducks that are easy to hate (read: pronger). but scottie is just pure class, you can't help but admire his play.

smakie, is that you in the picture? taken during your recent trip to toronto, i assume? nice.

and congrats.

damn was out last night and missed the game. i figured thatd happen. at least the maccabees were so entertaining that im sure i didnt miss much with the game.

guess the sens forgot to show up. seems a recurring problem with them.

go kings go! im all ready for next year :D

Originally posted by sweetcell:

smakie, is that you in the picture? taken during your recent trip to toronto, i assume? nice.

and congrats.

Indeed and thank you. Top of the world for me right now, even if nobody else in America gives a damn. Greatest trophy in sports, in my opinion.

Originally posted by vansmack:
even if nobody else in THE UNITED STATES OF America gives a damn.

i can assure you there are about 30 million NORTH americans who care, one way or another :)

I got all set for a great game last night, but after realizing the Sens bus was obviously stuck in traffic and the cheer leaders had to suit up for the first period I switched channels to make my wife happy….I had no argument about how good a game it was so just conceded and we watched something else.

Congrats to the Ducks….Ducks!!! It's a pretty sad affair when a team named after a Disney character wins the most coveted sports trophy in N. America