NHL 2012-13 Season Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

Ovechkin whines about officiating. Here's a suggestion, Ovy -- if your team actually showed up to play, they may get some calls their way. The team that skates hard usually draws penalties from the team being outskated.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,And it wasn't as if game seven was a close game (5-0).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott,And it wasn't as if game seven was a close game (5-0).

Exactly. Ovy needs to explain why his team consistently fails in the post season every single year. Forget about taking any blame himself for failing to register a point in the final 5 games of the series, or his entire team (he's the captain) failing to show up for Game 7. Instead, he looks to blame someone else.. it's never his fault.

He reminds me of golf's Sergio Garcia, who has never hit a bad shot in his career that was his own fault.

 

[Carlo_M]

Quick looked good again tonight, and the Kings rode their trademark physical style of play to their first home-ice Game 1 win since...1991.

Kings still made plenty of mistakes, and Quick gave up some rebounds which didn't end up costing him, so there's still lots of room for improvement. But just like last year, it looks like the Kings are starting to play their best hockey at the end of the year.

 

[Sumnernor]

World Championship in Helsinki/Stockholm

Yesterday ended the 1st round of the Hockey WorldsStockkolm : Group 1. Suisse (underfeated!) 2. Canada 3 Schweden 4 Czech RepublicHelsink1: Group 1 Finnland 2 Russia 3 USA 4 Slovakia The 1/4 Finals knockout phase are on May 16Russ-USA 12:00 NYC 6:00 AMSui-Cze 14:45 NYC 8:45 AMFINN-Slov 17:30 NYC 11:45 AMCan-SWE 20:15 NYC 2:45 PMThe Semis on Sat, May 18CAN/SWE - FIN/SVK 15:00 NYC 9:00 AMRUS/USA - SUI/CZE 19:00 NYC 1:00 PM

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Whew, I think I can breathe now.

In the Leafs' defense, the Bruins looked like ass for 8.5 straight periods and then suddenly turned on the juice somehow. They were a completely different team for the last 15-20 minutes.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Whew, I think I can breathe now.

In the Leafs' defense, the Bruins looked like ass for 8.5 straight periods and then suddenly turned on the juice somehow. They were a completely different team for the last 15-20 minutes.

They've been like that all season. Though they've owned the Rags this year, I do not feel confident. Though if Milan Lucic can hoist them on his back again, they can beat anyone. That man is a fearsome beast, as intimidating and unstoppable as any power forward ever when he plays like he did on Monday. No Leaf wanted to come within 10 feet of him after his Memorial Cup reminiscent "I'm going to hit every MF'er on the ice!" shift the other night.

 

[Carlo_M]

So I hear there were some exciting finishes to last night's games?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Bruins thrive in grind it out, gritty games. It's no surprise that the Little Ball of Hate (apologies to Pat Verbeek) gets his groove on when things get a little chippy. My favorite quote from him about the OT goal was that he purposefully tried to take the D-man down by locking their blades together. Jeez Marshy, don't admit to the press that you were going to slewfoot him!!

My other favorite quote is how he explained bailing from the morning skate, doubled over in pain due to what is obviously an ongoing shoulder injury (he never coughs up pucks like he did in Toronto):

“I just wanted to get off the ice, Claude knows I hate morning skates. He used to yell at me when we won the Cup there because I wouldn’t even take a stride. I just wanted to get off early”

In the Ironman category, Chara has logged 35+ and 38+ minutes in the last two games. Those are Bourquean-like minutes.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Two off days between games 1 and 2 in the same city, and nothin' between games 6 and 7 in different countries. Oy vey!

Same thing again with Boston/NYR. NBC needs the big market for Sunday afternoon. .

 

[Ockeghem]

Okay, I think my love for Star Trek trivia is influencing me here somewhat.Without looking it up, can anyone name the year in which two original six teams last played for the Stanley Cup?

 

[Ockeghem]

I am really hoping for a Bruins series victory against the Rangers. I don't know how many people (maybe Jeff G.?) remember the Bruins' Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972, but both times they had to defeat the Rangers to do it (once en route and once in the final). I recall fearing those series a lot more than I ever feared the Blackhawks - Bruins back then, although those series had some great moments (especially with Orr and Magnuson). Those Bruins - Rangers series were intense, even if they didn't go the distance in games.I wrote to an HTF friend of mine today, letting him know that I upgraded our DirecTV package this week. I just had to after learning that CNBC and MSNBC, both of which carried some of the NHL playoff games, were not going to be carrying nearly as many games from the second round onward. Besides, I haven't had one of these channels (the one that corresponds to channel 220) for over a year, and I have really missed it.

I am really gearing up for the Detroit - Chicago game tonight. I hope Detroit win this series (I picked the Red Wings in this round -- silly me for thinking the Ducks would defeat the Red Wings). Game three should really be exciting -- and probably brutal to some extent. One of the keys for Detroit is to come out fast and hopefully score first, as the Blackhawks are IMO going to be fast and furious in that first period. Another key is for the Red Wings to control the third period, something they haven't done very well thus far in the playoffs (with at least one or two notable exceptions).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Okay, I think my love for Star Trek trivia is influencing me here somewhat.Without looking it up, can anyone name the year in which two original six teams last played for the Stanley Cup?

If you mean playing in the Finals, it was probably Montreal vs. Boston in '79. Since then, Detroit, Chicago, Boston and New York have won Cups, but I do not recall any of them beating an Original Six opponent in the Finals.

 

[Ockeghem]

If you mean playing in the Finals, it was probably Montreal vs. Boston in '79. Since then, Detroit, Chicago, Boston and New York have won Cups, but I do not recall any of them beating an Original Six opponent in the Finals.

Scott,Yes, I meant the Finals. I should have worded it better. But you're right, 1979 is the correct answer, although it was the Canadiens against the Rangers. But the Bruins played the Canadiens in the finals the two previous years (1977 and 1978). Scotty Bowman!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Thanks, Scott. I always get the Habs Finals opponents in those four straight Cups mixed up. I can remember them sweeping the two-time defending champion Flyers in '76, but always get the years of the Bruins and Rangers Finals mixed up for some reason.

Those were incredible teams during that four year Cup run. The team set regular season records for fewest losses in a season and most points that still have not been touched (without the help of the loser points the league now awards), and they once went two playoff seasons losing a total of 3 playoff games... all to the young Islanders!

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,

Those Canadiens teams were amazing (I'm too young to remember the Toe Blake-coached teams that won five consecutive Cups between 1956-1960). The team that you and I recall eventually wins four Cups in a row, only to be succeeded by four consecutive Cups won by the Islanders.

Here's an easy way to remember the Canadiens - Bruins Stanley Cup Finals in the 1970s. The Bruins won all of them, if I am allowed to employ a modicum of revisionist history.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I do not remember the Toe Blake teams, either. My earliest happy Habs memory is them beating the Blackhawks to win the Cup in '71 -- to be followed up by another win over Chicago in '73. The '76 - '79 teams, though, were the most dominant I've seen -- even more than the Islanders and Edmonton teams that followed them.

 

[Ockeghem]

Scott,

Those were great teams. It's always fun for me to think what would have happened if great teams from one era had been able to play great teams from another era. I actually play this game with several sports.

As a long-time Bruins fan, care to guess which Montreal Canadien I despised with all of my being (because he was so darn good) while he was playing? It seemed like if he were to score forty goals in a season, forty-one of them would have been against the Bruins.

Spoiler

Yvan Cournoyer Grrrr.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I guessed Guy Lafleur, but see it was actually one of my all-time favorite Canadiens -- "The Roadrunner". Watching Cournoyer streak down the ice is something I'll never forget.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Patrick Roy for me, but I'm just a whippersnapper next to you old-timers.

I'll get off yer lawn now. . .