Huge Day For Hockey
That ole Michigan - OSU game would be the most important sporting event in North America today...
....except for the game between the Oilers and Canadiens at Commonwealth stadium in Edmonton. 56,000 people are to witness the first regular season outdoor game in NHL history, not to mention...
Gretzky and the boys are suiting up this afternoon to take to it Guy the Flower and Larry Robinson in a real Legends Game.
And that won't be any orindary old-fart fest... there's some pride on the line there / in that environment. And most of the guys are in their 40s so it should be entertaining. Gretzky on the pond once more; I Love it!
For today anyway, "I AM Canadian". And to top it all off, Vancouver - Toronto at GM Place for a night-cap. Yah!
Pass the Molson, eh?
....except for the game between the Oilers and Canadiens at Commonwealth stadium in Edmonton. 56,000 people are to witness the first regular season outdoor game in NHL history, not to mention...
Gretzky and the boys are suiting up this afternoon to take to it Guy the Flower and Larry Robinson in a real Legends Game.
And that won't be any orindary old-fart fest... there's some pride on the line there / in that environment. And most of the guys are in their 40s so it should be entertaining. Gretzky on the pond once more; I Love it!
For today anyway, "I AM Canadian". And to top it all off, Vancouver - Toronto at GM Place for a night-cap. Yah!
Pass the Molson, eh?
Comments
The current state of the game has made it almost un-watchable for me this year and if things don't turn around after the CBA is re-negotiated...well then the NHL is in real trouble.
Anyways.......Hockey still rules and I have a lot of it to watch today.
Originally posted by InactionMan
I think the effort and skill on display in the Legends game will really show just crappy todays NHL is. No trap, no clutching and grabbing, no dirty stick work. Just good, fast, wide open hockey.
A lot has been made of the style of play today. Even Lafleur has been quoted as saying how he hates watching today because of all the clutching and grabbing.
True, BUT...
If you look at the skill level of today's players, I would argue players as a whole today, are better than those from the 70's and 80's (not withstanding the elite superstars). The passing, stick handling and play making is superior to yesteryear--of course, when no clutching is occuring.
I think much has to do with the influence of the European game over the last 10 years. It's been a bit of give and take. Both Canadian and American players are more skilled with the puck while European players are more physical (Foresberg comes to mind).
Furthermore, players in their 40's, today are still physically fit and agile.
Originally posted by InactionMan
I think the effort and skill on display in the Legends game will really show just crappy todays NHL is. No trap, no clutching and grabbing, no dirty stick work. Just good, fast, wide open hockey.
The current state of the game has made it almost un-watchable for me this year and if things don't turn around after the CBA is re-negotiated...well then the NHL is in real trouble.
Anyways.......Hockey still rules and I have a lot of it to watch today.
cough, adopt international sized rink, cough.
Too bad that's about 6 rows of seats or something.
Originally posted by Moogs
That ole Michigan - OSU game would be the most important sporting event in North America today...
....except for the game between the Oilers and Canadiens at Commonwealth stadium in Edmonton. 56,000 people are to witness the first regular season outdoor game in NHL history, not to mention...
Gretzky and the boys are suiting up this afternoon to take to it Guy the Flower and Larry Robinson in a real Legends Game.
And that won't be any orindary old-fart fest... there's some pride on the line there / in that environment. And most of the guys are in their 40s so it should be entertaining. Gretzky on the pond once more; I Love it!
For today anyway, "I AM Canadian". And to top it all off, Vancouver - Toronto at GM Place for a night-cap. Yah!
Pass the Molson, eh?
Beauty, eh?
Toques, too!
( should be team crests, not sponsor logo... authenticity )
Shinny Night in Canada.
Question: Is this being broadcast on U.S.TV?
Originally posted by Splinemodel
cough, adopt international sized rink, cough.
Too bad that's about 6 rows of seats or something.
Damn Straight! Make those bastards retrofit every rink in the NHL. At that very least, get rid of the red line. And playing the trap gets a two minute bench penalty.
There are a lot more talented players in the NHL today but the problem is there is also a lot more horrible players that get by on cheating. When the league said they were going to penalize all the cheap hook/slash/clutch crap, Tom Fitzgerald was quoted as saying that it was a bad thing for him if they did because he simply was not talented enough to play in the NHL and on a level playing field, he'd be out of the league in no time.
Back on topic....
Grant Fuhr could still be playing in the NHL. His glove hand hasn't lost anything.
I really like the outdoor concept. I hope that this becomes something that they export to other NHL cities for regular seasons games. I live right beside the football stadium in downtown Ottawa, and it would be great to see the Sens play there. I am sure that the stadium would be full.
...I guess that it would not work down in Florida though.
Anyway, if you go to 100' wide rinks, you'd lose the hitting, and the hitting (and fighting) are a big part of hockey's appeal to people. Getting rid of the red line is fine by me. Make hockey simpler, not more complex. For the same reason, you can't make zone defenses (aka, the trap) illegal. Why impair coaching and defense? Are offenses so hopeless against effective defense? They should simplify the rules, not make them more intricate. Imagine a would-be fan trying to make sense of penalties after that one. It was bad enough in the NBA with its "illegal defense" rule, and they finally learned that lesson. Neutral zone "interference" is a problem now as its ever been, the problem being it's just not a well-thought-out policy about hooking and clutching in general. Too much inconsistency, and it's not just the refs being fickle.
All of this is the least of the league's concerns with the inevitable lock-out and consequent fallout looming. The NHL could ignore all these "problems" and make sure there are still occasions to apply these rules to first. I have grave doubts.
Back on topic:
Damn you canucks and your national broadcast of these games! I'll have to wait for SportsCenter tonight, not a satisfying experience by a long shot. Enjoy, ya bunch o' popsicles!
[edit] Oh, for God's sakes, no wonder it's wide open. The old timers not only risk breaking a hip, they're wearing wool caps! They can't lift the puck off the ice for fear of that? last? concussion?
Originally posted by Chinney
Good game by the old guys. I agree about Fuhr, too - he could still be playing. I wish that it had gone on longer, but I just hit the big 4-0 myself, so I know that the legs start to go a bit.
I really like the outdoor concept. I hope that this becomes something that they export to other NHL cities for regular seasons games. I live right beside the football stadium in downtown Ottawa, and I it would be great to see the Sens play there. I am sure that the stadium would be full.
...I guess that it would not work down in Florida though.
How wide is the Rideau Canal? I want a Leafs/Sens game on the Rideau! And only put boards up on the ends. Leave the concrete on the side so Tucker can exact his revenge on Danny Alferdson!
Seriously though, not many fans could watch but that would be damn cool.
Originally posted by InactionMan
How wide is the Rideau Canal? I want a Leafs/Sens game on the Rideau! And only put boards up on the ends. Leave the concrete on the side so Tucker can exact his revenge on Danny Alferdson!
Seriously though, not many fans could watch but that would be damn cool.
Interesting idea. The Canal is wide enough in a few spots. Actually, right near me, where 5th Avenue intersects with the Canal, they sometimes put boards up during Winterlude (the winter festival) and play some organized games. Othewise though, they are pretty stict about hockey playing on the Canal - too many stray pucks that could knock out the recreational skaters. You see a few guys with sticks and pucks late at night though.
As for an NHL game on the Canal, another issue - in addition to limited stands - would be ice quality. I don't think that they could have artificial ice and the natural ice can be a bit rough. Playing at Landsdowne Park (i.e., in the football stadium) is probably a more realistic alternative.
I do love skating on the Canal though. I live very close to it, and skate there quite often. It is especially nice to do it in a middle of the night when there are only a few other people on it.
I am not sure what the solution is. You can't really squeeze in a extra stands in between without interfering with the view from the main stands. Perhaps you could move the ice close up to one set of stands and put in temporary bleachers on the other side. You'd have smaller attendance on one side, but I think that you'd still have more than enough attendance in total to make it worthwhile.
Just don't try this at Giants Stadium for the Devils unless the Rangers are the opponent.
yeah, i know i'm over-simplifying, but i think everyone agrees that something monumental needs to happen to save the sport.
p.s. i don't like hockey... i'm a football/basketball man, myself, but having lived in toronto for five years, you eventually just cannot ignore hockey in a hockey town.
The Mega Stars game was pretty fun to watch. Only a couple complaints: the game was only two periods, and they were both shortened. I wanted more! Just when they were getting rolling, they stopped the game. Bummer.
The best seats for that game were about mid-way up the first deck or front row on the upper deck... unless you watched on TV, in which case you got a glimpse of that awesome, glass cam thing. What a great idea! Once they shrink the size of the camera / housing a bit, they could use that for NHL games. MUCH better for following the play than the "look down" cameras common to all rinks / telecasts.
Someone help me with something: I thought a "toque" was the thin "head sock" thing that a lot of players had over their ears but under their helmets, not the Jose Theordore knit cap. Which I thought was a bold move on his part, considering he had been quoted earlier in the week as saying he wasn't in favor of playing outdoors because of the cold.
The big game was pretty great, but not as much hitting as I had hoped for. I wonder if the refs told them to ease back because of the cold / possibility of shattering the glass on big hits?
As for the quality of the game today, because the NHL is so strapped for cash with the current CBA, you will never see a larger rink unless some serious new arrangements are made that would enable the teams to lose (probably) 400-600 seats per arena, and still maintain a good balance sheet. That of course would require a cap as well as revenue sharing probably.
I think in the short term, it would help to have a zero-tolerance obstruction rule. That alone would open up the game. Every obstruction call should be a double minor... two for the specific act (hooking, tripping, etc.), two for the intent to obstruct progress towards the goal / puck. Secondarily they ought to move the goal line back about a foot and move the blue lines closer together by a foot or two in every arena, making the offensive zone a bit larger and the NZ smaller.
Lastly, they ought to bag the two line pass rule and make it a three line pass rule since the red and blue lines will then be closer together. All of these things would make it a lot harder to trap / make big, poor skating teams take another look at their philosophy.
PS - NHL Center Ice is the only way to watch good hockey telecasts in the US. ESPN has gone so far down hill the last couple years I can't even describe it. Every year, more basketball, less hockey and less intelligent commentary during and after games. They're really a bad hockey outfit these days. Even TSN makes them look bad.
CBC is good except that they're so pro-Leafs it's not even subtle at times. Personally I like the guys from Rogers Sports West, and for the Fox counterparts, the guys from Dallas, Phoenix and Buffalo are all great... and Mike Lange in Pittsburgh is also fun, when he has something to cheer about, that is. "Buy that man a beer and one for his dog Skippy, too!"
And feel bad that BuonoR could not see it live. Could not tune in CBC where you are?8)
I'm by no means a diehard hockey fan...very rarely watch it to be honest.
But when I do I love it. It's a sport i wish I had time to watch and follow and enjoy.
It was an awesome idea and from the photos i saw looked really cool too.
Now I want to see the first Major League game at a sandlot
well...at least the rangers won today.