hockey&beer

Sometimes I wonder if all the coaches in the league get together and make a pact to purposely mis-pronounce as many names on their respective teams as possible.

Surprised not to see it yet... But here's looking forward to Downey and Boll. Of course AD will have his hands full, but he is prob one of the best pugilists at using both hammers. Oh wait, I forgot NHL fans do not enjoy fighting

In my eyes, the East won all those cups because the winner always had an easier route to the finals. The west has, over that period of time, been a much more physical conference and therefore the "surviving" team was simply too battered to keep up with their opponent.

Just re-confirming, the wife and I will be there. The plan is to get there a bit early (which may be a good idea since the few times I have been it fills up pretty quickly). See ya'll there!

Just a bit of a side note...it will be damn near impossible to sign Leino. He is RFA next year and he'll probably catch more than a few good looks on the open market. Along the same lines, Leino maybe the fall back if KH can't sign Hossa. He would come MUCH cheaper also at probably around 2.5-3.5. Yes Hossa is proven and Leino has yet to play in the big time, but that is a gamble and the Wings seem to have decent "luck" with the chances they take.

Since I am new to these celebrations of fantastic hockey... do we wear red roses or something so we know who is in the know.

Pencil me in as well as Mrs. Hockey&beer. :beerbuddy:

HOLY LORD!!!! Did anyone happen to catch the interview that Bob Harwood did with the Av's self-proclaimed "Super Fan"?? Apparently this dude came from Slovakia and does so multiple times a season to watch the Av's play. He became obsessed with them simply because of thier uniforms. I was laughing so hard I nearly wet myself, not only because of his accent (not to make fun, but it almost seemed fake), but his undying love of the Av's and his ridiculous red hair. After the 3rd time watching I realized that I wasn't the only one finding it absurdly entertaining.... one of the broadcast crew was laughing so hard (for quite a while after the fact) he was squeeking. You could tell that the play by play guy was doing his best to keep it together, but was struggling to hold back his laughter. If I recall the interview took place in the 3rd. I tried for a youtube, but couldn't find anything. If anyone has this, cherish it and please post so that all can enjoy not only the interview itself but the timeless reaction by the broadcast crew.

hmmmm, I think I mentioned that I couldn't find video of it. If you would take the time to notice that I asked if anyone had video, maybe, just maybe, you would have not provided such a useless response.

Forgot about that guy. Although If I were him, I would have had a lot more to say given the situation. And to all that have a bug up their a$$ regarding this post.... it WAS the highlight of the game! The way the Wings were playing had made me so angry to that point that I almost changed the channel, which I always threaten but never have the heart to do.

Sounds to me Mats is either a Canuck or not playing this year. NYR has nowhere near the cap room to even make him an offer worth considering. By my calculations they only have aboot 1.3 left this season. There is plenty of room next season just because they only have 6 players signed.

Regardless of how perceivably horrible the officiating is, NHL officials are much better than there counterparts in the other major sports. Hockey is lightening fast compared to football or basketball and as many calls as they miss they can make fantastic ones as well. For example, Kronwall's holding call in the 3rd(?) when he grabbed the Yotes arm as they were both behind Ozzie with the puck laying in the crease. If the officials were as horrible as what people think that call would never have been made. If the same thing happened to Homer we would be calling for a penalty shot. Of course its true that the phantom holding and hooking calls are a tad ridiculous, but that is more the fault of Campbell than the officails themselves. Before the season, DoO released a video, which was posted on NHL.com, that highlighted the new rules in effect and also the "new" criteria for some penalties. If your stick is parallel to the ice and you touch another player, hooking. If your free hand touches another player, holding. When everything is all said and done, officiating would be better if the consistancy was there. Campbell's goal was to make calls easier by removing the grey areas. The problem is: when everything is called everyone complains, when some are called everyone complains, when few are called everyone complains. For the officials, this is a lose-lose-lose situation.

In my opinion, Lidstom has looked human because Rafalski has been barely average. Yes there have been a few obvious lapses in Nick's play but the oposition is putting the puck in the net because Brian is getting beat at the blue line and leaving Nick out to dry. Not to mention the defensive zone turnovers by pretty much anyone in The Wheel. It seems to me I heard Rafalski say that Babs told him to jump up more and he does seem to be doing that. Unfortunately that leaves Nick to play defensive defensemen, which he is perfectly capable as we all know. The problem occurs when Raf moves in and gets a shot blocked, then Nick is scrambling back to cover the rush where always seems to be a trailer coming before Raf gets back. In that scenario, the defensive breakdown will seem to be Nick's fault even though he may play it perfectly.

It's been well documented over the years that refs have a tendancy to make "make-up calls". If team A scores on the PP and the team B complains about the call afterwards, usually you'll see team A take a phantom penalty. A perfect example was the slashing call on Lilja last night shortly after Sourey tried to separate Homer of his left foot. Larry Murphy (who was between the benches) said that Sourey was in Furlatt's ear from the second he stepped out of the box and then all of a sudden... True Lils did knock the stick out of the Oilers hand, but that was far from a slash.

I can easily see how each team in the league would have a player that statistically proves to be "better" than Mule. The question is, would those players be as good with the same amount of minutes he gets? And conversly, would the Mule have better stats if he played #1 minutes. In this case it is very difficult to compare the two. A perfect example of this is Hudler. Last season he had the best numbers with very little TOI, this season with more TOI his percentages have declined. That is a glaring fault with being human, there is nothing that is linear. Every aspect of the species has an optimum level, things can level off or drop off drastically after that.

I sure saw Rafalski get burned a couple times last night. There were 2 plays in particular in the third where Staal just pushed him out of his way.

I'm not too sure where that beer price at JLA came from. There is not a stand in the building nor a bar anywhere on the grounds that sells a 16oz beer for $6.00. A small (16 or 12 depending on brand) is over $7 (not exactly sure because I enjoy large) and the large (20 or 22 dep. on brand) is $8.50. Those prices have been in effect for the last two seasons. Previous to that it was $8 for large and I assume the small was priced similarly less. Not only that but a program is $7 and JLA parking is $20. So pavyaz19's prices being similar for dogs and LA price being close to average how is JLA below average.

Wilson has kept his job because for years in the NHL you NEVER saw a head coach that was not "proven". Meaning he had not spent numerous years as an assistant or worked his way through the lesser leagues. The past couple seasons there have been more "unproven" coaches brought into the league and most have succeeded. Wilson will end up going the way of the Quennvile... without a job. The interesting part is, McClellan has proven himself more than Wilson has. Todd has championships in 2 leagues as a head coach and another as an assistant in the big show. The only thing I see may be a problem for McClellan is the higher ups dictating some of his decisions and not allowing him to put the most effective squad on the ice.

The other day, I was actually thinking about how this next season could unfold. Of course there is the obvious "Cup hangover". This may be out in left field but I'm thinking that Babs can keep this under control. From what I have read, he is a good motivator and the players really respect him for his honesty and criticism. As some previous posters have mentioned, with the 3 offensive stars on the ice everyone's stats may decline a bit. I am leaning the other way. I think with the skill level that can be on the ice across all four lines there is going to be A LOT of goals scored this year. From the begininng of last season most everyone was questioning the Wings secondary scoring. By the end of the season the players who were supposed to score reached their perceived potential and some far exceeded that. I would venture to guess that with Hossa in the mix, that will help to put 2 solid PP and PK units on the ice and allow Z, in particular, to conserve energy and preserve his health. So basically I came to the conclusion that we'll probably see Z's numbers increase, Pav's goals to decrease but assists to sky rocket, and Hossa to be near his '03-'04 stats (36-46-82). Of course this is just a random theory, but I also called Wings and Pens before the season last year and Wings in 6 for the Cup so....

I was just wondering this afternoon how Mickey has been doing with his treatments. I haven't heard anything nor have been able to find anything through various searches. I have a few acquaintances that live "near" Mick and they haven't been able to dig anything up either. Has anyone heard anything... hopefully positive?!

This is fantastic!!!!!!! Bettman's "employers" are the oweras group. If he is successful at upsetting the owners he will be loking at a pink slip. Personally, I can see the owners rallying around MSG just to protect their own interests. This is gunna be good.

I can't believe I am saying this but, I'm kind of upset I'm not visiting my sister this weekend. Mind you, I have only been to her house 3 times in 6 years, but this would be sweet to attend. I am seriously contemplating hitting up Joe-vision, but I think this dealio would be a more intense atmosphere. Of course $4/gal is a little rough in a truck that gets 16 mpg for 225 miles but... anything is possible. Location is moot... GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

"He starts trouble then hides behind his big guys" I love that. Although it is rather true, neither Malkin or Mario couls ever be considered "small". They are just a little more fluffy than truely gritty. Does anyone else think that Sammy could be in the the top 5 in this category? Of course he has no where near the skill set of the others mentioned, but he sure seems to start more than a few scrums when either he has sizeable/capable back near him or the zebras are closing in fast.

I guess if on looks at what is called the "top 6" on the Wings than maybe CO has us beat. The problem with that is, if you count the "3rd line" they are superior to the Avs top 9. And I may be alone on this but isn't MN considered a low scoring, defensive-trap type of team. Do the "experts" actually think that the Wings offense is even close to the Wild's? I sure think that Theodore was "made" to look better than he is just because he faced the Wild. That's similar to the save percentages goalies get after they face the Wings and their 35-50 SOG. I REALLY don't think that this series is going to be as close as some are making out to be.

OH MY MF GD SOBin' Comcast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally got through "customer service", there is some mix up and "they are trying" to get the game on 901. I really don't think there is anyway for me to express my anger. After 45, yes 45, minutes of annoying hold queue as soon as I actually spoke with a rep the first thing out of her mouth was, "Is this about the hockey game?" Are you kidding me, of course this is about the hockey game. Why else would I have to wait on hold FOREVER at exactly 7:00 on a Saturday? And to add to the anger Comcasts "customer service" line hung up on me after that 45 minutes. I had to cheat my way in by claiming I was a commercial customer to even speak to someone. Oddly enough it only took 5 minutes on hold to speak to someone on the commercial side. If I could I would................ I need a beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, BTW if they finally get the feed to work properly it will join in progress.