|
Post by Zundar on May 17, 2008 19:41:41 GMT -5
Wow, at least Turco finally got a win in Detroit.
Looked like Detroit was off their game today. Let's see how the respond in Dallas.
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on May 22, 2008 11:42:13 GMT -5
Pittsburgh or Detroit? Make your choice!
My heart is with the Penguins, but my reason tells me that it will be the Red Wings...
|
|
|
Post by NightHunter on May 22, 2008 12:57:04 GMT -5
I'm going to say Pittburgs because they are in the east conference but I'm pretty sure like you, the cup going in Michigan this year.
|
|
|
Post by Simey on May 22, 2008 15:57:40 GMT -5
Very, very tough. I really want to support one team over the other, because it's much more interesting to watch the matches when you do (and Channel Five is showing every single match of the Stanley Cup Final Series live!!!! Woo! and indeed Hoo!!). It sounds like you Montréalers are reckoning Pittsburgh to be the underdogs, so I suppose I'll have to side with them. I've seen more Penguins games anyway - only seen one Red Wings match (plus a bunch of highlights with them generally müllering everyone in sight). If you play the Which-Netminder-Has-The-Cooler-Name? game then Pittsburgh comes out on top again with Marc André Fleury, so that's another reason to side with them!
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on May 23, 2008 22:03:42 GMT -5
If you play the Which-Netminder-Has-The-Cooler-Name? game then Pittsburgh comes out on top again with Marc André Fleury, so that's another reason to side with them! That's a cool name for you? Meh, the last name of Fleury is common around here, not to mention that Marc-André is an even more common first name. No, for me, the really cool name is Chris Osgood (Wizard of Oz Good. You also need only to switch two letters to make So Good). Oh, and Detroit fans will be forbidden to throw the traditional octopus on the ice, something that dates back to 1952. The commissionner says is to avoid player to injure themselves by skating on frozen octopus' gunk....
|
|
|
Post by Simey on May 27, 2008 17:14:23 GMT -5
That's a cool name for you? Meh, the last name of Fleury is common around here, not to mention that Marc-André is an even more common first name. No, for me, the really cool name is Chris Osgood (Wizard of Oz Good. You also need only to switch two letters to make So Good). What can say? I'm British! Chris is a pretty common name round here; Marc-André much less so! ;D And it's double-barrelled, which may be pretentious, but is cooler than just....Chris. I'm not having a go at the name Chris, by the way! Okay, to show how much of a newbie I am at NHL fandom: what is the whole thing with the octopus!? Anyway, two games in and I'm quite surprised that Pittsburgh have chosen not to play Crosby or Malkin. Oh, wait a minute....they have been playing them? Who'da noticed? I really thought this series would be pretty tight (and I suppose it still might be....just maybe), but boy have Detroit ever done their homework - they've shut down Pittsburgh completely! It's looked like a complete mismatch, not like two of the very best NHL teams taking each other on! I tell you what, change just this one thing about both teams: swap their excellent goalies for average goalies, and the match scores would've been something like 10-0 or 15-0 to Detroit! Chris Osgood has had hardly anything to do, 'cause the whole team has defended brilliantly and not given the Pittsburgh forwards any chances at half-decent shots. Monsieur Fleury, on the other hand, seems to be the only player to be shining on the Penguins side, because he's had to make dozens of saves! It's men against boys - big time! Pittsburgh has the stars to make a great future, but Detroit is a team that's done it all before and seems to be able to nullify anything that the Penguins can throw at them. I wish the first two matches had been more competitive, of course, but I have to say it is still well worth watching just to see the masterclass in team hockey that Detroit is putting on. It's a bit of a shame that Montréal suddenly struggled in the play-offs, because I actually think that they might have been a better match for Detroit. I'm not saying they're better than Pittsburgh necessarily, but just in terms of a match-up specifically with Detroit, I think their speed and less star-focused team might have given Detroit more to think about. But what do I know? Not a lot! ;D Here's hoping that home ice gives the Penguins a boost - I want more than two more matches before the ice-hockey-free zone that is the summer!
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on May 28, 2008 11:32:37 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Simey on May 28, 2008 18:32:49 GMT -5
Octopus etiquette ;D Cheers for that! Sheer madness! Some fun notes on the first two matches: www.coventryblaze.co.uk/news_features.php?id=55www.coventryblaze.co.uk/news_features.php?id=56Is is just in the U.S. that the first two matches aren't available on national TV, or in Canada too? I can't believe that here in the U.K. I can have watched these two matches on a free channel that everyone can get when this is not true in the country in which the matches are actually taking place! More sheer madness!
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on May 29, 2008 13:18:51 GMT -5
Don't worry: the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is always showing the final and the semifinals. For the first and second rounds, they normaly go with the Canadian teams.
But yes, in USA, hockey struggles a lot on TV. NBC was given the games by the NHL (that means, they didn't had to pay for it) during the regular season, although they only showed games that were on Sunday afternoon during the last quarter of the season. For the playoffs, they only showed a few games in the first three rounds and after that, two games of the final.
|
|
|
Post by Simey on May 29, 2008 19:39:36 GMT -5
Don't worry: the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is always showing the final and the semifinals. For the first and second rounds, they normaly go with the Canadian teams. But yes, in USA, hockey struggles a lot on TV. NBC was given the games by the NHL (that means, they didn't had to pay for it) during the regular season, although they only showed games that were on Sunday afternoon during the last quarter of the season. For the playoffs, they only showed a few games in the first three rounds and after that, two games of the final. Again, how come in a country where (ice) hockey is such a minority sport can I watch the entire Stanley Cup Final series free on a nationwide broadcaster when this is not true in the U.S!?!! Anyway, awesome match last night! Just what the doctor ordered after the quite alarming way Detroit shut down Pittsburgh in the first two. It was the sort of match I expected in the first place between these two teams. Here's hoping the Penguins can produce some more magic on Saturday and make this a seriously competitive series. I want seven games! ;D
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on May 30, 2008 11:41:23 GMT -5
Again, how come in a country where (ice) hockey is such a minority sport can I watch the entire Stanley Cup Final series free on a nationwide broadcaster when this is not true in the U.S!?!! Because they already have the MLB, NFL, NBA and NASCAR to compete against, plus the college sports and the Arena Football League, Major League Soccer, and the National Lacrosse League. All these sports can be played everywhere in the US by anybody who has the right equipment. For hockey, just try to make an outside skating rink in Tampa Bay or San Diego: it's impossible. On other news: sad thing yesterday as we learned the death of a young hockey player that a lot of experts saw as very promising. Luc Bourdon was a player for the Vancouver Canucks and was killed when smashed into a truck after losing control of his motorcycle (that he had bought three days before). He was 21. Pittsburgh's defenseman Kris Letang played with him in their junior stage and is in shock.
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on Jun 6, 2008 15:38:18 GMT -5
Well, the season is over, Sarra's Red Wings won the Cup (as I've predicted) and we now look at who will win the other trophies. I've made 8 out of 15 good predictions for this year's playoffs, which is not as good as my 14 out of 15 from last year. In other news: they want to get rid of Hockey Night in Canada's anthem?!? Woah! ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=cp-nhl_hockey_night_theme&prov=cp&type=lgns
|
|
|
Post by Simey on Jun 10, 2008 17:16:21 GMT -5
Yeah - that is such big news that it even made it on to an overnight radio broadcast over here! I hope they hold on to the theme - even though I have no idea what it is (the reporter on the radio from Canada would only sing a few notes of it for fear of being sued!).
My first Stanley Cup Final was terrific overall. The Red Wings were better throughout, but Marc-André Fleury worked some serious magic to keep Pittsburgh in it much longer than looked likely early on. Game 5 was an absolute classic! Kudos to Channel Five for their excellent five hours of coverage with only one short commercial break!
If only the puck had been about five inches further into Detroit's goal when the buzzer went at the end of Game 6 - I couldn't believe how excrutiatingly close that match was to going to overtime!
Fleury would be my player of the series. To repeat my earlier point, if both teams just had average goalies, I reckon Detroit would've won in four straight games, probably outscoring Pittsburgh by at least 5 to 1 - Fleury was by far the main reason that the series was actually somewhat competitive.
Detroit deserved the Cup overall though. And the first European captain to win it in Lidstrom - very cool.
Next year it's the Canadiens', n'est ce pas?
|
|
|
Post by Black Cat on Jun 11, 2008 11:34:41 GMT -5
Yeah - that is such big news that it even made it on to an overnight radio broadcast over here! I hope they hold on to the theme - even though I have no idea what it is (the reporter on the radio from Canada would only sing a few notes of it for fear of being sued!). uk.youtube.com/watch?v=N1phmG26brUAs of June 9th, CBC lost the rights to use this music for Hockey Night in Canada... However, another national network, CTV, bought the rights! CTV owns The Sports Network (TSN) and its French counterpart, RDS (the only network in the NHL that broadcasts ALL the 82 games of a single team, the Canadiens), so both networks will use the theme for certains games next year. The theme is saved! Zundar will be happy to learn this. Next year it's the Canadiens', n'est ce pas? They are better to win, or else... ;D Well, next step is the awards ceremony tonight, then the draft in a few days, and then July 1st, the day when free agents become, well, free to sign with any team of their choice. Vinny Lecavalier with the Habs? I hope so. ;D
|
|
|
Post by Simey on Jun 12, 2008 6:04:32 GMT -5
All this drafting stuff and free agents is something I still really don't understand, but I hope Montréal benefit from it.
|
|