I didn't say I thought they WOULD win. I just like Toronto.

Who should I like? The Ducks (puke!)? The Islanders? (double puke!)??

 

Mind if I ask why the disdain for the Habs?

 

I am a Bruins fan, through and through.

The Canadiens ruined my enjoyment of the game too many times to count.

Enough said.

 

LOL, it's all good.

Tonights preseason game was actually pretty good to watch, can't wait to see the full roster in action though. You think Thomas will be able to maintain his insane numbers from last season, or do you think he will come back to earth?

 

I think he's always been that good, but he needed some kind of defense in front of him, which the B's have put together the last two years.

The problem is, he's no spring chicken. If he was 27 or 28 with 5 or 6 years experience and coming into his prime, that is one thing.

10 years older, the odds are, he MIGHT have 1 or at the most 2 more years he could come close to those numbers, if the defense holds up.

I'm more concerned about the offense, actually. If he DOESN'T hold the opposition to 2 goals or under a game, if you look at the regular season stats for the B's (not how on-again-off-again explosive they were in the play-offs), they could be a .500 team with a goalie or goalies who give up 3 goals a game.

 

And a team that is ranked 4th out of all of them to take the next Stanley Cup .

If the Peg can sustain a team with that small a market then good on them . I get that if they don't support them this time that they know the consequences and will do it because it's better to have a team then not .

 

It's gotta drive you nuts how the Habs can turn him into a sieve at times though.
One thing about Boston's acquisition of Pouliot, be prepared to watch him fall alot, kid has skills, but christ, he tends to wind up on his ass for no apparent reason all the time. Plus it seems he has confidence issues, hopefully Julien can pull his head outta his arse 'cause he was a first round pick but he definitely doesn't play like one.

One last thing, Chara's near decapitation of Pacioretty, clean hit or not? Put aside being a fan and look at it objectively. I'd like an honest opinion from the other side.

 

I talked about the Chara hit when it happened. My opinion: I do not like to see anybody hurt, but it was a clean hit, even under the new QUESTIONABLE rules. If the League is even going to investigate hits like that, they need to outlaw body contact completely. If even the most agile athlete in the world ON SKATES is expected to stop and change direction in less than a second because the opposition player slightly turns his body---and he can't do it, than 40 to 50% of checks would be penalties and suspensions would gut the league of players.

To continue, if players PLANNED on lining up opposition players to run them into the boards at crease points where there are reinforcement ribs, the team they were on would rarely win a game, because they would not be paying attention to the game itself.

Wayne Maki on Teddy Green was sick and avoidable. Chara on Pacioretty was an unfortunate 1/10th of a second hit that wasn't.

Accidents happen, unfortunately, but it is a tough game

 

Very true .......... these guy's are amped up and with adrenaline coursing through their veins , shit happens that they might not even be aware of "in the moment".

Then again some are just goons and are out to make a name by taking out a certain player , especially as these kids come into the league now a days that haven't learned restraint so well yet .

Just look at all the fighting so far in the pre-season .

 

Shanahan wields his big stick again ........ twice :

Blue Jackets defenceman James Wisniewski was suspended for the rest of the pre-season and the first eight regular-season games for a right-arm blow to the head of Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck after the horn sounded at the end of regulation in Friday's game, which Minnesota won 4-3 in overtime.


Wild forward Brad Staubitz was suspended the rest of the pre-season and the first three regular-season games for an illegal check from behind that sent Columbus' Cody Bass into the glass.


Wisniewski will also forfeit US$536,585.36 in salary, an amount determined because he is classified as a repeat offender. Wisniewski has now been suspended four times over the past three seasons, bringing his overall lost salary total to $912,643.78.




http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=590007


Shanahan has handed down five suspensions since Thursday totalling 17 exhibition games, 17 regular-season games and $619,385.28 in forfeited salary.

 

Aw, thanks JPT

Woo hoo! My Avs got TWO unhappy faces from you. And Detroit winning anything? I'd be thrilled if they never won again. Detroit or Boston.

 

Well, we're done.

 

Nah nah nah nah hey hey hey buh-bye


(And don't even get me started on the Sox)

 

There was a really nice tribute to honor the late Rick Rypien during the Vancouver Canuck/New York Rangers game last night that was very emotional and tears were flowing pretty good during the video tribute. Rick had a place in the hearts of many there and was a major contributor to the teams performance. I will include a link where it can be seen if you are interested.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/standings/
Mark Rypien, cousin of Rick Rypien (and Shane Churla) was also there with family. Some will remember Mark with the Washington Redskins (as well as 7 other teams) and is a fellow Calgarian whose career I followed closely. (Marks daughter plays for the Seattle Mist of The Lingerie Football League):excited:

You can really notice the impact that checking suspensions have had on the play and most are making a conscious effort to avoid dangerous checks in the corners. It has changed the way the puck is played on the boards and has resulted in some scoring/near scoring chances for the attacking team. It's a good change safety wise but the difference is really noticable in my opinion.

My Flyers are quick out of the gates this season and are playing some great hockey already and will only get better as the season progresses. Hmmm ......... might yet see the Cup in Philly this season.:excited:

Washington, Philly and Toronto are undefeated in the Eastern conference, while Detroit is the only undefeated team in the Western conference.

Dallas, Colorado and Anaheim are all on winning streaks (4, 5, 4 respectively).

The overall standings are in that link as well (listed above).

On a personal note, it was nice to see the standing ovation given to Anthony Calvillo for becoming the all time leading passer in pro football at the Montreal Canadiens hockey game yesterday.

 

It was good to see the Winnipeg Jets win their first game of the season and against Pittsburgh of all teams.

There are some good teams that have gotten off to a slow start this season, Bruins included and instead of rubbing it in I will let you see yourself.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/standings/

 

Pssshhttt.. all of this hate for the expansion teams? Didn't hate expansion teams when the Flyers beat the Soviets now did you?

If I were to go through all of the teams I've come to hate through my experience as a Flyer, it would probably piss off a lot of people from all kinds of cities so I'll just stick to the ones who are dirty and talk too much shit.

FUCK Chicago.

FUCK Pittsburgh.

FUCK the Habs for the shit they pulled in the playoffs in 2010 that people seem to forget.

FUCK everybody who looks down on the Flyers or their fans.

Think that about covers it. GO FLYERS!

 

That was a great game and remember watching it. I don't hate expansion teams any more then I hate Boston and Montreal but do believe that it should at least snow in the fucking city that has a team. Dallas is 5 and 1 and can't sell out to save their life and the arena was half empty the other night during a good game that they won.

Chances are that if I gave a shit about the Calgary Flames one way or the other, I would probably hate the Edmonton Oiler's as well since they are provincial rivals.

Speaking of Oiler's .......... what about Ryan Nugent Hopkins getting a hattrick in only his 3rd NHL game. Hopkins and Eberle are going to be a force on that line.

 

Amen. LETS GO BLUUUUUES!!!...even though Halak fucking sucks dick.

 

*correction to my last post: meant to say as a Flyer's fan, not as a Flyer :excited:

Yeah, hockey in places like Florida and California doesn't make too much sense does it? I can definitely understand the way they feel though, especially when there's people who think hockey is an American sport and that the league was started by Americans. That would piss me off too if I were Canadian. It's the same thing with how people here view the possibility of expansion of NFL or more MLB or more NBA teams to Canada, which is part of why I don't think Montreal will ever have a baseball team again or Vancouver a basketball team. I always had respect for the Expos though given their history and some of the seasons they had, and it's a shame the way Vancouver was never really given much of a chance and then was killed by the 98 lockout. Still, either way, the Flyers I don't think should be put into that same boat. The fans of this city have embraced hockey since the 1960s and are among the most loyal, passionate, and die-hard in the game.

That's pretty damn impressive. I haven't been paying enough attention to hockey outside of the Flyers since after high school probably so I won't pretend to know too much but when he was drafted I remember people saying he was going to be pretty damn good.

And yeah.. FUCK Bettman. Is there a worse commissioner in all of sports?

 

Nope ......... Bettman wins that title all by himself. He is a waste of space and oxygen.

Boston is almost back to 500 with the beating they gave Toronto tonight for their first loss of the season.

Andrew Ladd took a puck in the face for Winnipeg and looked like he stuck his face in a blender but still got back out there and played but Ottawa took it anyway. Winnipeg still with just one win so far and I will be surprised if they get 15 - 20 wins this season but at least they have a team right.

Footnote: the Flyers rule ......... GO FLYERS