December Games and News Thread

[livinthedream]

Anyone else glad to put November behind us?

Post away.......

[SouthernHockeyChick]

OK, um, I'm all for cracking down on headshots but, Scottie Upshall just got a game misconduct for reasons I really can't quite fathom. He didn't hit from behind, I never saw a replay that included his feet so, can't comment on that. Artyukhin's head snapped into the glass but, Upshall didn't make contact with it. WTF?!?

[puck_it]

it was a little from behind, and because of that definitely deserving of a boarding call, only reason it went to a major penalty was the fact that Artyukhin had that stutter step haziness from that head contact. yeah he didnt hit his head, but if the ref sees the minor penalty and injury resulted, he's obligated to call the major.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Rule 42--Boarding

42.3 Major Penalty-- The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a major penalty, based on the degree of violence of the impact with the boards, to a player or goalkeeper guilty of boarding an opponent (see 42.5).

Doesn't sound like an obligation to me.

[puck_it]

its not black an white written, as it is in other rulebooks, (the whole rule is rather ambiguous intentionally), but the rule of thumb is penalty plus injury leads to a major (or double minor in the case of high sticking and a select group of others)

I do think there's an injury to the head/face stipulation somewhere in the rule book that explicitly says autiomatic major but i might be confusing the NHL and other rulebooks.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Elbowing, charging, clipping, hooking, slashing, spearing ALL explicitly state it is a major if the player is injured. Boarding and several others do not. To say it is implied when it is stated everywhere else is just ridiculous and unless you wrote the rules, I sincerely doubt that is accurate.

I'm sorry but, this one was up to the ref's discretion, per the rules, and I don't see how that hit warrants a game misconduct.

BTW, I can e-mail you a PDF of the rule book if you need it. ;)

[puck_it]

it was called a major and there was a head injury. game misconduct was automatic per the rules. (I've got a hard copy right next to my computer i can lend you)

however, if you're taking issue with the calling of the major, fine.

like i said, boarding is intentionally written ambiguously to give the referee latitude. that ref apparently felt injury warranted a major as other rules explicitly call for.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

however, if you're taking issue with the calling of the major, fine.


Um, yeah, that's what I'm arguing. You said the major was automatic because of the injury...that the ref is "obligated" to call the major....and that is NOT what the rule book says.


Other rules explicitly state it's an automatic major if there is an injury. Boarding does not. Seems pretty clear to me (and you, it seems, since you have cited the "latitude" the rule leaves the ref) that the rule book leaves it to the discretion of the ref, I am disagreeing with his discretion.

If you want to defend his decision by saying the hit was deserving of a major, that's one thing and that's fine. But you cannot defend his decision by saying he was following the letter of the rules because he is not. It does not state that an injury requires a major therefore, I can only assume he felt the hit deserved a major. I find that to be incongruent with decisions I see other refs make every night therefore, I call bullsh*t on that call.

[puck_it]

just saying, you were arguing semantics on my use of obligation (i meant it as a standard of play type obligation). i was arguing semantics on your disagreement with the explicitly written portion, even though i fully well know what you meant ("I don't see how that hit warrants a game misconduct").

it's a *****, isnt it?

[Alicia]

Y'all's heads must hurt from butting all the time. ;)

[puck_it]

its how i know shes alive.

[nccanes]

Y'all's heads must hurt from butting all the time. ;)

I'm thinking that's a misconduct....? ;)

[Alicia]

I'm thinking that's a misconduct....? ;)
Yes, I see no intent to injure. :lol:

[puck_it]

only if i make contact

[SouthernHockeyChick]

:laugh:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.....Florida just beat the Caps!! 5-3. WTH happened there?


Dammit, TB just tied it up. :mad:

[nccanes]

Tampa has tied it up in the 3rd with 4 mins to go.....on a goal by Steve Downie :lol:

I swear this is the first night I've actually watch an entire game on VS...I'm pretending I have CI. :beatup:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Penalty shot for Tampa. Stupid freaking Hartnell threw his glove.


Ok, didn't matter!!

[nccanes]

I LMAO when he threw it. :lol:

And I had just been instructed to "keep it down" after Downie scored. Oops.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

:D

Damn, I wish my hockey team looked like that on occasion.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Damn, Dallas is so happy to be rid of Avery they're already up 1-0! :lol:

[SoCalcaniac]

:lol: I'm laughing at SHC's Dallas comment and the head butting between her and puck_it. good lord you two.....:laugh:

Oh and WTH did Crusty the Clown, I mean Scott Hartnell think he was doing throwing the glove? :crazy: You know, I was actually rooting for TB on this game. The Flyers just make me mad that they're so good. (Especially Bobby Clarke's son and Jeff Carter- the shorty by #18- good friggin grief)

So i joined in late to Rogers Sportsnet West on the whole Avery thing- did they chime in?

[puck_it]

gotta have somethin to do :beatup:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

^ For real.


I mean c'mon people....were you not entertained?!?



I was.:lol:

[caneshockeychick]

I thought it was funny as s**t. Thanks:lol:

[SoCalcaniac]

Yes ya'll are completely entertaining- HOWEVER, not nearly as entertaining as the Sharks v Leafs and Wilson's return to SJ. With 1:37 left in the FIRST, it's 4-0 Sharks. :crazy: Joe Thornton has 3 points. The Laffs are shell shocked.

I must be out of my mind thinking it 'might be a good idea' and semi agreeing to go to NoCal when the Canes play SJ in FEB.

Oh- thanks for rubbing it in Randy Hahn- The Sharks are the best 1st period team in the NHL- they've scored 35 1st period goals. No bad starts for these dudes.

[puck_it]

Thornton actually has 4 points, 1g and 3a on those 4 goals.

[SoCalcaniac]

My bad- I didn't realize he had 4 points- does it even matter? lol. Interesting side bar on Jumbo- yesterday was the anniversary of the Trade that sent him to SJ. BOS will never live that trade down- -- EVER. What a dominating performance by the Sharkies.I thought they kinda put a lid on it so not to completely embarass the ex-coach. They're just on fire.

I stayed up to watch the whole dang game, and my morning workout was lame as a result, but they're so fun to watch. There have been several games that looked just like games we played in 05-06. This run they're on right now, feels and looks like the 2 nine game winning streaks we put together-- things are really rollin'--- I just wish to gosh they were in the eastern time zone- these late night games, holy smokes. :lol:

[livinthedream]

Jordan's wearing the 'A' this month in Pittsburgh:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08338/932309-61.stm

[puck_it]

he's certainly earned it. good for him

[caneshockeychick]

YIKES!!!:crazy:

Man falls from upper deck at Sens game

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28042008/

[caveman]

Since right now it looks like a 4-team race for the 8 spot in the East between the Canes, Buffalo, Florida, and Ottawa, maybe it isn't too early to cheer tonight for:

1. The Pens to stomp the Slugs (on Versus at 7:30)
2. No 3-point game between Florida and Ottawa

[nccanes]

YIKES!!!:crazy:

Man falls from upper deck at Sens game

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28042008/



I have mezz seats and usually step 'down' into them rather than making about 8 people get up so I can walk by. I've been rethinking that ever since you posted this!

[puck_it]

Darren Elliot is very Tripp Tracy like tonight. Not sure how I feel about that. Not sure how John feels about that, too.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

And, Buffalo just knocked us out of the 8 spot. :sick:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Since right now it looks like a 4-team race for the 8 spot in the East between the Canes, Buffalo, Florida, and Ottawa, maybe it isn't too early to cheer tonight for:

1. The Pens to stomp the Slugs (on Versus at 7:30)
2. No 3-point game between Florida and Ottawa

Kinda been a bad night for you, huh? And for the rest of us, too. :mad:

[SoCalcaniac]

Yeah, good job by the Pens to completely meltdown when they had the game- plus a zillion 5 on 3's.

You gotta 'love' the shots of the Slug fans in the crowd , crowing like they do. I really hate that team.:lol: and I'm sure Forslund thinks Daren Elliot is annoying like Tripp. I honestly think he's still in love with Lindy Ruff from 2006. He talks about him every damn second in a game.


On another note- AWard (he's injured) was on in between periods with the Bruins broadcasters on NESN- he was sporting his Canes SC ring; He was clearly showing it off to the camera as he held the microphone with that hand. :lol:

[caneshockeychick]

Unfortunately, it seems we can't rely on other teams to help us. Guess our Canes have to go out and attempt to help themselves. I know, it sucks. :sick:

[caveman]

And, Buffalo just knocked us out of the 8 spot. :sick:

And yay, they still have a game in hand...

Florida can tie us if they win their game in hand...

Ottawa is 4 points back with three games in hand...

Heck, Toronto is only 3 points back.

New Jersey is only 1 point in front of us, but they have four games in hand.

Philly? 3 points up, 2 games in hand.

I think we'd better focus on beating Philly on Thursday, and trying like hell to catch the Capitals.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Unfortunately, it seems we can't rely on other teams to help us. Guess our Canes have to go out and attempt to help themselves. I know, it sucks. :sick:

I'm afraid it's beyond all that. We need both. :(

[puck_it]

I'm afraid it's beyond all that. We need both. :(

least we'll have all the teams helping us in the Tavares

[nccanes]

What's that phrase, 'when the chickens come home to roost'? It seems like this must be the week. We've been in faux 8th place for awhile and now we're in the enormous logjam. And that logjam will exist between now and April with the exception of a few times I'd bet.

My post in the coach thread showed the 25 game mark over the last 3 seasons and how this team has not started earning points at a faster clip from the 25 game mark to the end of the season, even in the Cup year. The odds do not look good. If Mo and Ronnie (or anyone had they had chosen) can get this team doing that, I will be stunned. That would be quite the accomplishment.

I agree that the Division is the best chance. Too many teams in the logjam for 8. Washington, despite how bad we've been, earned only 1 more point than us over the last 10 games.

[KaniacFever]

I thought possibly with Ottawa and Philly getting off to bad starts, that this could be the year 2 teams from the SouthEast get in. But Philly turned it on, Buffalo isn't all that bad, and Ottawa is starting to come around, I'm not so sure anymore. Its starting to look more like the division winner, and instead of just fighting Washington for that, looks like Florida wants in on it as they are 5-1 in their last 6. We honestly cannot slip anymore, no more of this win one, lose three crap. And what makes it worse, is I don't see us getting any worse than 3rd in the division, so that keeps us out of the Tavares sweeps.

Anyway, bad night overall for hockey, but atleast the Panthers gain sole possession of first after beating the Bucs last night.

[caveman]

Let's see... last night: the Caps rolled over Boston 4-1 and the Sabres beat Tampa 4-2. At least the Devils-Pens game wasn't a 3-pointer, and Chicago shut out the Sens.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Actually, the Caps only won 3-1, if that makes you feel any better. :beatup:

[puck_it]

not one but TWO hat tricks tonight for the Pens against the Islanders. Sykora and Dupuis with the hattys, sykora with another assist. Crosby with 3 A's. Staal, 2As...

only 5 guys on the pens didnt get a point.

[SoCalcaniac]

Why I'm watching hockey I have no freakin' clue- but I do have to chime in on this- the Rags & Devils are playing as we all know; It's in NJ. It cracks me up to no end, that it's as if the Rangers are at HOME. The chanting, the obnoxious NY/NJ behavior, all that- but in NJ's building.

I guess the Devils are just glad that they're getting all that Ranger money in their expensive seats. :lol:

Oh, the Devils just scored shorthanded. Heehee.

[nccanes]

We watched some of this game in the Leesville Taproom (as an aside, for you NRaleigh-ites that haven't been - it's very nice. It was BUSTLING tonight, but I was thrilled with the TV situation. Two sets of 4 side by side HD TVs (there could have been more, but that was the bar area) and 2 sets were on NHL games (NJ/NYR and Caps/Sens), 1 was on the UNC/WFU soccer nat'l semifinals, and the leftover was ESPN I think. Very nice.)

Anyway, the Devils/Rangers WERE literally beating themselves up. Ruff/Orr and Clarkson/Vorros. By my observation, Devils won both.

Here's to them letting it all go tonight and forgetting about our little team that could/couldn't. :lol:

[SoCalcaniac]

I caught the tail end of this story after flipping to NHL Network to watch Game 2 of the HNIC double header- Tampa lost (again) to OTT (Gerbs in net) scary stuff:


Tampa Bay star Martin St. Louis (http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8466378) left the game after being hit in the face by linesman Derek Amell's skate in the final minute of the third period. St. Louis was bleeding profusely while being escorted to the dressing room.

"He got a cut pretty hard on the eye," Tampa coach Rick Tocchet said. "They're stitching him up right now. Pretty good gash."


Cassie Campbell was outside of the treatment room trying to get word on how bad it was. She said he got 8 stitches down the nasal area.

In other news- my Sharkies just score a couple minutes ago................

[Alicia]

Per TSN:

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Phoenix Coyotes forward Brian McGrattan (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=2731) has voluntarily entered stage 1 of the NHL and NHL Players Association Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health program it was announced on Saturday.
The rugged right winger will receive his full salary and benefits under the terms of the program providing he complies with the prescribed treatment under Dr. Dave Lewis of the NHL and the NHLPA's Dr. Brian Shaw.

[puck_it]

saw that earlier. I know i'm not the only one who wouldnt have minded him here, hopefully he gets things straightened out and can get back to playing hockey

[Alicia]

At least it was a voluntary enter.

[KaniacFever]

Alittle feel good story. Just had this sent to me in email from a buddy:

In the middle of a grueling six game road trip where a very young hockey team is away from home, the third game of the trip ends late on a cold Canadian Saturday night. This is the only break on the trip and the three days between games allow them the only break to get back home in their own beds for a couple of days before going back on the road. A scheduled commercial flight waits for them at Toronto 's International Airport for the short flight home; they could be home by midnight. This plane departs on schedule, but without a single member of the hockey team. Back in the locker room a vote is taken after the game was complete, and a unanimous decision is made by this young
team to skip this flight and stay one more day. They make arrangements to check back in the hotel and on a frozen Sunday morning charter two buses that have no heat and begin a journey two hours straight north into a sparsely inhabited Canada , but where hockey is its passion. They arrive at their destination to the surprise of the teams general manager who is there attending his fathers wake.

After a few emotional hours, this team boards the buses and heads back for a two-hour trip back to Toronto . On the way they ask the drivers to stop in a tiny Canadian town because they are hungry. To the shock of the patrons and workers at this small hockey town McDonald's, a professional team walks out of two rickety buses and into the restaurant, which just happens to have pictures of two members of this team on its wall. The patrons know every single one of these players by sight being Fanatic fans of hockey in these parts. One can only imagine their amazement of the locals seeing and the entire professional hockey team sit down and have a meal in their tiny little town
in the middle of a hockey season. After a while they board the buses and catch their same flight 24 hours later, giving one day to their general manager.

Have I made this up, is this an excerpt from some fictional book? No.

This a true story of the Blackhawks last Saturday night and they decided to attend Dale Tallon's fathers funeral. It's amazing that such a good story can be found nowhere on the internet, and not even mentioned in the Chicago papers. Had one of the Blackhawks got into a fight and punched some drunken loser in a Toronto bar it would be plastered all over papers and the television. This being said, its hard to imagine any professional football, basketball or baseball team doing this, but the members of the Blackhawks claim any "hockey" team would have done this. This is one reason I continue to be a big hockey fan, and another reason I am excited about this Chicago team. I thought I would share as this story appears to have gone unnoticed.

[Alicia]

Fantastic story!!

[puck_it]

yep, saw that a few days ago... some creative license was took, like with "buses no heat", but the black hawks acknowledged that it was true.

[toastmasterbone]

It's a great story, noted on Countdown with Olbermann on 11 Dec:

<iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/28184496#28184496" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Thanks for posting that story (and the clip).



Reason #333 I'm glad I bought Center Ice: the Christmas themed Enzyte commercial on Versus. :sick: One more double entendre and I think I might hurl.

[puck_it]

Reason #333 I'm glad I bought Center Ice: the Christmas themed Enzyte commercial on Versus. :sick: One more double entendre and I think I might hurl.

Too much to handle?


:beatup:

[puck_it]

Edzo laughing at that slovakian guy is cracking me up :lol::lol::lol:

[apolinar]

Alittle feel good story. Just had this sent to me in email from a buddy:
That's the type of chemistry that wins Stanley Cups.

[SoCalcaniac]

Edzo laughing at that slovakian guy is cracking me up :lol::lol::lol:

Ok, that was hilarious. and you could tell Forslund was trying to keep from cracking up himself.

Oh, in other news, My West Coast Team, The Sharkies, won AGAIN. Just when I thought the Kings had them 2-0 in the first, they win. They've only lost 3 friggin games in regulation. Still time for them to implode, but my gawd they are so worth staying up late for.

[Jay]

That's the type of chemistry that wins Stanley Cups.

Chicago is my favorite WC team... I have a friend in that area, so I see a lot of them.

Damn, that's a good team. They could really be dangerous in the playoffs if the Sharks and/or the Wings get hurt or cold.

[VandyCane]

Peter King also talked about the Chicago team in his Monday Morning Quarterback column. My favorite part is about Mrs. Tallon's crush on Patrick Kane.

The Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks set off on a six-game, 12-day road trip on Nov. 18 -- to, in order, Phoenix, Dallas, Toronto, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. (Who thinks of these itineraries? Magellan?) In between a Saturday night date with the Maple Leafs and a Tuesday noon flight to San Jose, the players were going to have their one day off on the trip, a Sunday, back home with family in Chicago.

But the day before they played Toronto, the players learned that Stan Tallon, the father of Chicago general manager Dale Tallon, had died after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease in a rural Ontario town, Gravenhurst, two hours north of Toronto. The director of team services, Tony Ommen, told the captains that he could try to arrange a team trip to the Sunday night wake in Gravenhurst if they wanted to go. But if they did, of course, they'd be giving up their only day off on a grueling trip in a two-week period. It was a day most of the players had plans to do something, if only to watch football on TV, sleep all day, Christmas-shop, hang with family.
"Guys like their time off, that's for sure,'' Patrick Sharp, an assistant captain, said via cell phone. "But this was something, when we got together, we felt we had to do. Dale's a part of us.''

The team meeting was brief and to the point, and there was no objection from a single player: The players would stay over in Toronto, surrender the day off, and bus up to the wake in mid-afternoon on country roads with a fresh blanket of snow. Ommen arranged two buses, one for the coaches and staff, and one for the 23 players on the trip. In all, about 50 members of the Blackhawk traveling party made it to the W.J. Cavill Funeral Home in Gravenhurst, and when they walked quietly through the side door of the place, Dale Tallon couldn't believe his eyes. He tried to say something.
"I couldn't talk,'' he said. "I just started bawling.''

The players and staff all filed past the open casket and paid their respects to the family, including Tallon's 80-year-old mom, whose mood brightened tremendously. She knew the players from watching the games on satellite TV. Now here they were, her heroes! She had a little crush on the big star, Patrick Kane, whom her son had drafted first overall last year. "Patrick Kane!'' she said, and hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Tallon,'' Sharp said.
"Ooooh,'' she said. "I enjoy watching you play.''

And then the players sat respectfully among the townspeople for a while, and then they went into a side room to look at the photo display of Stan Tallon's family, which could have been any hockey family in Canada, with shots of Dale as a tyke and moving up through the years 'til he thrilled the family by making the NHL. Before the players left, Dale Tallon told them how touched the family was that they'd make this trip for him.

Last week, Dale Tallon tried to explain why this happened. "I think hockey's unique,'' he said. "In every Canadian town, the hockey rink seems to be the center of the community. Families do so much for their kids and sacrifice for them so they can play. You rise up through different levels, but you never forget how you got there. With these kids on our team, I scouted, recruited and drafted so many of them. Watching them walk through that door made me feel so good about the type of people -- not just the kind of players -- we drafted. I hear so many people talking negatively about the youth of today, but don't underestimate these kids. They're good kids. My mother is there. Her husband of 59 years is laying in a casket next to her. And these kids walked in and she was just on Cloud Nine ...'' And then Dale Tallon got a little misty over the phone.

"I've played for different teams in juniors and the pros,'' said the 26-year-old Sharp, from the Ontario hockey hotbed of Thunder Bay. "And you walk into every locker room and you become brothers. Maybe it's rare in pro sports, but it's not rare in hockey, I don't think. We're all in this together. It goes back to growing up in hockey. My older brother played, I played, and my parents made huge sacrifices to drive us everywhere we had to go. Everyone in this game knows how much family means.''
Said Ommen: "The culture of hockey revolves around family.''
The team boarded the buses to return to Toronto and the charter flight home. But on the way out of town, as happens with two dozen premier athletes who have not eaten in some time, the players saw a McDonald's. They got the buses to stop. Inside, as the Chicago Blackhawks walked en masse into a sleepy McDonald's in rural Canada long after the dinner crowd was gone, a teenage kid behind the register figured out who he was looking at. "Coooooool!'' he said.

"So on the wall there's this big billboard,'' Sharp said. "I guess McDonald's in Canada has hockey cards, and we're looking at this, and there's [teammates] Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, looking at this. They had cards in this McDonald's series. We all had no idea. So a few of the guys bought the Happy Meals, or whatever, trying to get their cards.''
A couple of weeks have passed. The Blackhawks lost all three games on the last leg of the trip, but no one was blaming the Gravenhurst detour. I asked Sharp if the team had any regrets about attending the wake.
"None,'' he said. "No complaints. We were where we should have been. We'd do it again, 100 times.''
And that's my good news story of the week. Be proud, Canada. You've raised some nice boys.

[puck_it]

Man, the Hawks are just WALKING all over the Oilers. 7-1, only 4 hawks dont have a point. One of them is Toews, so that can change at any moment.

Kane is just flat out damn impressive, every time i see him play... right place, right time, right play. He's incredible.

[SoCalcaniac]

Chicago is my other West Conf. Team. I'd been rooting for them during the days of Tuomo Ruutu and then last year it seemed like with Kane coming in, things were starting to come together- and this year, they seem legit. They're fun to watch, and 21,000+ in the United Center every night, it's awesome- plus all their games are on TV. Who knew the death of their owner would change so many things?

That game last night though, brutual for the Oil. I watched most of it and the TSN broadcast was just dumbfounded by what was happening with the Oilers. I felt the Oiler fans pain, they were booing and hissing out there.

Andrew Ladd is just growing by leaps and bounds with CHI- I'm happy for him; and I'm like Dale Talon's mama- I too, have a crush on Patrick Kane. Have had it since I saw him drafted in Columbus and he was bouncing around the Crowne Plaza in Columbus with all this nervous energy on the night before draft day, wearing shorts and playing mini stick hockey with his small family memembers (maybe 5 or 6 years old) in the lobby of the hotel. I said to hub, surely he knows he's getting picked first- he looks so anxious. :lol:

We play them in CHI in March I believe. I wish they were coming here!

[Jay]

I felt the Oiler fans pain, they were booing and hissing out there.

Personally, I loved the mock cheers for goals 8 and 9.

Hawks are legit. Team is amazingly fun to watch :).

[puck_it]

Chicago is my other West Conf. Team.

No, I'm putting my foot down. You can have your Sharks, but I want the Hawks. :lol:

[Jay]

No, I'm putting my foot down. You can have your Sharks, but I want the Hawks. :lol:

Just a reminder to everyone, I called dibs a few posts ago.

[puck_it]

i had that **** last year, buddy.

[Jay]

Pfft :) I've been watching the 'Hawks play on CI since I've been a fan for the most part.

I have a friend in Chicago, and we have a deal. I watch Hawks on Canes off nights, and vice versa, so then we can talk about the games.

[puck_it]

i will fight you, ok.

[Sparky]

Um, sorry to say this but I've had Calgary and Chicago as my WC teams since I lived in CGY and went to college in CHI. If we're fighting on either one please let me know the time/location so I can drive down for it. I head back to Africa on 2 January, so it'll have to be in the next couple of weeks, or postponed until the game in Raleigh in March. Do I need to bring anything for the battle? Fencing foil? Tin foil? Gloves to drop? A hedgehog?


:)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

[KaniacFever]

I will end this fight right here, right now.

My SO is from Chicago. Chicago is my 2nd home. We go visit Chicago atleast twice a year. Therefore, Chicago is mine





I actually don't care, just wanted to get in on the Chicago clique ;)
The Sharks and Avs are my two WC teams.

[DSCanesfan]

Well as far as I'm concerned, if their sweater does not have the sightless eye or the triangle storm warning flag on it. I don't give a rat's *** about them. But thats just me.


Doug

[SouthernHockeyChick]

i will fight you, ok.

Well then, guess it's all yours Jay!! :lol:



;):kiss:

[SoCalcaniac]

Well as far as I'm concerned, if their sweater does not have the sightless eye or the triangle storm warning flag on it. I don't give a rat's *** about them. But thats just me.


Doug

That's great for you, but many of us are hard core Canes fans, but hockey is in our blood and we can appreciate other teams and are hockey fans. To each his/her own. There are too many great players in this league to not at least appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the game, regardless of the sweater worn. (Unless it's BUF or TO, lol) JMHO.

Ya'll fightin' over the 'Hawks is killing me. and LMAO SHC- you're right, Jay wins the Hawks in a fight with p_it ;)

So I'm all happy-happy that our Canes won tonight, but not a happy camper that My Sharkies tanked in DET tonight. 6-0? have the Sharks even had 6 goals scored on them all year? or even in a string of 3 games? First the OT loss last night in CLB, and now this. They're skiddin'. :laugh: I guess they better get it out of the way now, so they can have the adversity everyone is yapping about, out of the way. So whoever they play next better watch the heck out.

Anyone see what happened to Semin in that game vs the Blues? I saw half of a clip on NHLN when we came in, but they were going to the next game. Looked like Backes swung a stick?

[puck_it]

I'm scrappy. give me some credit. I move quick and ****, too.

[livinthedream]

I know y'all have been waiting on pins and needles for this one.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=398892&navid=DL|NHL|home

One night after saying goodbye to Trevor Linden (http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8448825), the Vancouver Canucks (http://canucks.nhl.com/) said hello to Mats Sundin (http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8451774). Vancouver General Manager Mike Gillis announced Thursday that Sundin has signed a one-year contract with the team.


Not finding the salary terms yet, looks like somewhere in $9m range (?)......

[Sparky]

Anyone see what happened to Semin in that game vs the Blues? I saw half of a clip on NHLN when we came in, but they were going to the next game. Looked like Backes swung a stick?

Got tripped then, after getting up, a good cross-check to the back/side, just above the top of the protective pads. Went down in a heap. Some said his knee was hurt, but no one touched that and Boudreau talked about the back. Not sure.

Shoulda seen Ovechkin come barreling in after Semin went down and take on 4 St. Louis players at once. Game got real, real chippy after that.

[nccanes]

I know y'all have been waiting on pins and needles for this one.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=398892&navid=DL|NHL|home



Not finding the salary terms yet, looks like somewhere in $9m range (?)......

Wait. I thought "Sundin to Rangers" was an e5!

[caneshockeychick]

Giguere's father dies. :(

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=260109&lid=sublink012&lpos=headlines_nhl

I'm guessing that's why he left the team for a time earlier this season.

[livinthedream]

Penguins signed Maxime Talbot to a two-year extension today.

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=399067

$1.05m x 2 years per TSN.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=260204&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_nhl

No post about Maxime is complete without this gem. :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOrvdvczpEA

[Caniac4life]

No help from the Kings tonight. Slugs up 3-0 after 2.

[Canesluver]

O.K... so.. I just turned on the NHL channel. They've got the Toronto @ Pitt game, and nice to see a 6-2 score for the Leafs! But... I digress..... what's with the powder blue Pittsburgh uni? Those suckers are butt ugly! :sick: I mean-- it's nice to see some creativity away from the requisite black a lot of teams choose for their 3rds... but... geez.... that color makes them look like a bunch of wussies!! :laugh:

[livinthedream]

CL, the color is actually a throwback to the jerseys that the Pens wore in the late sixties/early seventies before all the teams in Pittsburgh decided to sport black and gold, and they wore them last year for the Winter Classic and adopted them this year for their third. Mr. LTD has a similar one, it's powder blue with the words "Pittsburgh" diagonally down the front, circa 1967/68. They are huge sellers, and I think they look quite awesome myself! :D

Oh, and Orpik just took a stick to the face - too bad so sad.

[Canesluver]

I don't care what their history is.... they'll still fugly!

[livinthedream]

I LOVE the third jerseys! I want to marry them! :p

Oh, and not hockey news, but shout out to the Penn State Nittany Lions women's volleyball team for beating Stanford to become the NCAA 2008 undefeated national champions! WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo

[Canesluver]

It's the shade of blue... it's too close to UNC!! blech!!!! :hurl:

[SoCalcaniac]

CL apparently missed the Winter Classic/Outdoor Game last year..... :lol: That uniform has been everywhere, heehee.

Boohoo, the Neckbreaker got highsticked and oozed blood from his mouth..... Too bad I didn't care.

LTD, I'm right there with ya- I'm a fan of the Jim Rutherford era Powder Blue Pens jersey. Must be my close ties to all things Western PA :laugh: & since I have no allegience and can't get caught up and do don't care about the whole UNC thing -- I take it to look closer to my alma matter, UCLA Bruins blue, heehee.

and YEAH Penn State Women's VB! As a Pac-10 alum, anytime a team can beat up on the hated Stanford Cardinals, they're good peeps.

Uh, back to hockey......Pens have some issues, getting blown out at home by the Laffs, ewww. Watchin' my other favorite West Coast team the 'Hawks v VAN- Curtis Sanford just got plowed. and please CBC, no more yappin' about Mats Sundin----- please?

Ooh- time to flip over to my Sharkies.............

[puckin_A]

ouch!

http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=399276

[puckin_A]

GO UNC!!!

GO UCLA!!

:p

[puck_it]

It's the shade of blue... it's too close to UNC!! blech!!!! :hurl:

And that's what pains me the most about them. but, they're a deeper blue, unlike the sissier carolina blue.

however, if you hate the color, you can take solace in the fact that Crosby has to wear it.

that said, i like em.

[puck_it]

anyone see the Montreal Slugs game last night? How they ruled Lang bumped the net off the marsh pegs, but really, the Slugs player did?

I thought we were going to get to see an awarded goal, since the net wass dislodged on an obvious shot on goal. Never seen it called or heard of it being called, but the War Room thought differently, i guess.

[Mona2006]

I thought this was a good article on Sundin.

Mats Sundin: Bad business for the Canucks


19/12/2008 2:03:00 PM

Merry Christmas to the Vancouver Canucks, whose gift this year is Mats Sundin.

The same Sundin who took his sweet time (a) deciding he still wanted to play hockey, and (b) that Vancouver's $10 million pro-rated salary would suffice.


From a hockey perspective, this is a great addition for the Canucks. Mats Sundin is a first-class guy and a wonderful player. He'll provide leadership and help the Canucks' power play immensely. Canucks' fans should be excited. The 2008-09 season just got a heck of a lot more interesting on the West Coast.


But...


Given the current economic crisis gripping the entire world, and given the fact the NHL is not insulated from the economic downturn, it needs to be said that Sundin's pro-rated salary of $10 million this season is complete madness. It's utter lunacy. Quite frankly, it defies all conventional logic.


It has been reported that the Canucks' outbid their competition by $4 million for Sundin's services. That's two-thirds more than the New York Rangers' were willing to pay for Sundin. Suppose for a moment you bid on a home and later discovered that your offer was 67 per cent higher than the next highest bid. You would first go ballistic on the real estate agent who allowed you to make that bid and then report said agent to his professional governing body.


I'm not suggesting that Canucks' GM Mike Gillis – a former player agent – acted unethically when he offered Sundin such ridiculous money. Rather, I'm suggesting he made a bad business decision.


Gillis has maintained the generous offer was meant to get Sundin's attention and keep it throughout the bidding process, as though Sundin would never dream of playing in Vancouver for anything less than the moon and the stars.


There was, however, a more responsible option available to Gillis.


He should have made it clear to Sundin that he would beat any offer, armed with the knowledge that no other team would bid $10 million. He could have leveraged the Canucks' salary cap position and sold Sundin on the fact that the Canucks could sign him and still have room to add an impact player or two. If money was never a factor, as Sundin as always maintained, then why on earth did Gillis not believe him?


In a statement released by the Canucks, Sundin said: "I am truly excited to be joining the Canucks. Once I made the decision to return to play a few weeks ago, the Vancouver opportunity was simply the best overall fit. I want to thank Mike Gillis and the entire Canucks organization for their professionalism throughout this entire process."


Sub-text: I would like to thank Mike Gillis for making me the most overpaid player in the NHL and for basically embarrassing to the point where I had no other option. :lol:


There are some people calling Sundin greedy today, or even a hypocrite. That simply isn't the case. Any right thinking person would have taken the Canucks' offer. If you or I were between jobs and had two offers to choose from, and one offer was two-thirds than the other, which one would we chose? It's called human nature. Sure, Vancouver is a little out of the way, but it's not exactly Siberia folks.


Good of Sundin to follow the money. And shame on the Canucks for leaving him no choice.

[hyena]

lolz. Stars over the Leafs by a touchdown. :laugh:

[SoCalcaniac]

Maybe this is the turning point for the Stars. Lord knows after all they've been through that this could turn the season around.

and the Laffs come back down to earth after beating the Pens on HNIC on Saturday night. Brutal.

and the Pens should be even more embarassed, the Lightning beat them tonight in their own building. The Lightning who have 1 game in the last 18? Hel-lo.

[SoCalcaniac]

This is from the neat news dept. Darryl Sutter, called up his son and Brandon's cousin Brett Sutter up to the big club, he scored his first NHL goal tonight against Anaheim.

[puck_it]

I saw his name on the score sheet, was wondering if it was another of the 2nd Sutter generation. :)

[puck_it]

to add to this story... His gear didnt make it to Calgary in time, so he used some old gear in Dad's garage from his red deer rebel days... gloves, skates, you name it :lol:

[SoCalcaniac]

Ok, is anyone watching my other Western Conf team that isn't the Sharks, the Hawks v Flyers? CHI is rollin. Philly looks ordinary right now and it's 5-1. They're killin' them. There is no post Christmas issue with that bunch.

Dang that team is fun to watch; just so enjoyable.

In other news--- did anyone else catch Forslund on the afternoon show? They were talking about the Cole for Pitkanen thing, and who "won" and JF talked about how #26 is struggling mightily, and he said word is that EDM may be looking to trade. and he wouldn't be surprised if #26 got traded by the deadline. :crazy: Crazier things have happened I suppose.

[nccanes]

I've heard about the Cole thing too. I'm not surprised they'd want to trade him given the (lack of) success he's had. But it would have to be a team that thought they could get the "old" Cole back again...and that's a pretty big risk for a team headed into the playoffs. Guess he could go to a bubble team, hoping he'd bring something they need to get over the hump. I hope he rented that house in EDM.

Caps over the Sabres. Bolts over Panthers (they have 2 game win streak!), but needed OT.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Jeebus, Kalinin just had the softest freaking giveaway in NHL history to Sillinger for a NYI goal.

[SoCalcaniac]

I've flipped away from the Juniors - my Sharkies are playing the Stars in a few minutes, but we decided to look at the FLA/MTL game and it's in French, which always makes me chuckle. :lol:

[caneshockeychick]

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

This is just too funny!!!

My favorites are the ones about Jim Balsillie.

http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/the-morning-skate-2009-nhl-year-in-review/

[nccanes]

OMG - I am SO busy and kept going back to read that sucker. TOO FUNNY!!!

[caneshockeychick]

OMG - I am SO busy and kept going back to read that sucker. TOO FUNNY!!!

I finally just printed the damn thing out. :lol:

[KaniacFever]

That was funny. The whole Balsillie thing was killing me :lol:

[SoCalcaniac]

Is anyone else watching? I'm on the CHI/DET game, my little guy Patrick Kane left in the first after a hit from Dan Cleary- a leg injury they're saying in studio in CHI- please let my little dude be ok.... did anyone see it?

[Captain Slack]

Canucks place Curtis Sanford on IR:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=261446&lid=sublink04&lpos=topRelated_nhl

And acquire Jason LaBarbara from the Kings for a 7th round pick:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=261400&lid=sublink05&lpos=topRelated_nhl