No Tyler Myers, I dread this game tonight. At least we have the tough guy Nathan Gerbe to stir up the Bruins.

Good win in a tough game tonight for the Sharks against the Blackhawks. Playing well. But as always with the Sharks,it comes down to postseason.

*Sabres have a big game Wednesday at home against the Bruins. The big rematch since Lucic decked Ryan Miller and no response.*

- well the Bruins are my team; Gaustad took on Lucic and got beat. IMO Lucic could have run Miller over like a bus if he wanted, but he tried not to. Miller had a hissy fit. Bruins are on a roll; 10 straight wins!

2/3 of the NHL general manegers said Lucic should of been suspended. Yes Gaustad took on Lucic. Give him credit. Gaustad is not a goon. Lucic is. And I have to give Chara credit. He finally quit being a pussy and actually fought. he was still pissed when Kaleta put him on his ass in Boston.

So, is Lucic supposed to leap over Miller? Teleport himself? Whatever.

Miller is a bigger goon for swinging his stick like a helicopter blade.

If the Sabres were so offended why did'nt anyone drop their mitts?

BTW...that "goon" Lucic is a 1st liner, 30 goal scorer and a Stanley Cup champion.

If the Sabres were offended they should have gone after him...but they all passed. Way to stick up for your goalie, Buffalo. If you dont want your precious goalie to get hit, he needs to stay in his crease.To be honest my biggest thing is Miller's lack of respect for the skater. He is basically saying no one can touch me so I am not even going to try to protect myself, and if you DARE touch me when I am halfway to the blueline I will try to hurt you with a potential career ending slash." Miller did to Lucic what Lucic did to Miller. Difference is Lucic didnt hit him as hard as he could. If Lucic really wanted to he could have run him over like a train. That SLASH, and it is a penalty to attempt a slash with an attempt to injure, is also a MATCH Penalty.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-24 22:49 by pinkfloydthebarber.

Great Winter Classic game today as the Rangers defeat the Flyers 3 - 2.

Danny Briere can't score on a penalty shot with a minute left.

After 30 years the Swedes finally beat the Russians in the World Junior Championship gold-medal game at Calgary, Alberta.

Sweden scored a breakaway goal 10 minutes into overtime on their 58th shot. They outshot the Russians 58 - 17 overall.





Team Sweden celebrates its overtime win against Russia in sudden-death overtime of the gold medal game, at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Thursday January 5, 2012.

Photograph by: Stuart Gradon, Calgary Herald



Russian goaltender Andrei Makarov, left, is hit by Sweden's Rickard Rakell during the third period of the gold medal game of the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship

Photograph by: Stuart Gradon, Calgary Herald

Congrats to Sweden then! Even though it's really a pyrrhic victory. Every talent in Sweden, Russia et al will be traded to NHL. For peanuts. The Swedish team was really good although they were lacking in efficiency. Effecient enough though to win the tournament for the first time since 1981!

Yeah, congrats to Sweden! I didn' know that it had been so long since teh last championship. That's rather odd since the Swedes have had strong player generations ever since (the ones of Forsberg, Sedins, etc.) and I think the winner team might not have exactly that kind of talents there now. But I might be wrong. But ice hockey is a team game, and in these kind of tournaments anything can happen within one game. Sweden seemed to have very mentally strong team.

Just like last yaer Finland lost the semifinals to the becoming winner. Last year in over-time, now in penalty shots... Here is a little gift to Stoneage and the rest fans of Swedish hockey; the missed penalty shot by our biggest hockey hope and authentic voice from the most well-known Finnish commentator... enjoy!





- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-06 17:26 by Doxa.

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Stoneage
Congrats to Sweden then! Even though it's really a pyrrhic victory. Every talent in Sweden, Russia et al will be traded to NHL. For peanuts. The Swedish team was really good although they were lacking in efficiency. Effecient enough though to win the tournament for the first time since 1981!

I does not matter how you win when your the champion.

"Just like last yaer Finland lost the semifinals to the becoming winner. Last year in over-time, now in penalty shots... Here is a little gift to Stoneage and the rest fans of Swedish hockey; the missed penalty shot by our biggest hockey hope and authentic voice from the most well-known Finnish commentator... enjoy!"

Thanks, Doxa. You have to be very confident though to decide to make such a risky penalty variant as Granlund did. The ice didn't look that good either. In hindsight - a bad decision!

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Stoneage
You have to be very confident though to decide to make such a risky penalty variant as Granlund did. The ice didn't look that good either. In hindsight - a bad decision!

He was too confident. Should not always try something stamp-like worthy wonders. I suppose it was good lesson for Granlund. Everything's been almost too perfect for him, and he had been treated like Messaih by the Finnish press (since the 'wonder goal'). A bit of immortality just wouldn't hurt anyone, even with superb talent... The truth is that Granlund didn't make any points in semi-final nor in the bronze game against Canada - when it was most needed.

- Doxa

An interesting story about Brian Burke the GM of the Maple Leafs saying that the decline in fighting in the NHL is a bad thing.
[espn.go.com]

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sweetcharmedlife
An interesting story about Brian Burke the GM of the Maple Leafs saying that the decline in fighting in the NHL is a bad thing.
[espn.go.com]

I agree. Too many cheap-shots being taken now that guys know there's no retribution.

Those fights aren't for real. It's entertainment, and the audience demands their value for money. Personally I think it's degrading and quite laughable. And from a strict legal point of view the players should be sued for it - it's battery. Not really a good example for young kids watching the game.

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Stoneage
Those fights aren't for real. It's entertainment, and the audience demands their value for money. Personally I think it's degrading and quite laughable. And from a strict legal point of view the players should be sued for it - it's battery. Not really a good example for young kids watching the game.

Not for real??? I've seen guys bloodied and knocked out. This is not wrestling. These punches are for real. What are you watching? Rob Ray in Buffalo has had some of the best fights I've ever seen, many with Toronto's Tie Domi.

If the loser smiles on his way to the bench afterwards it's not for real. Basically, Tie Domi is (was?) paid for acting in those make-believe fights. That was his mission on ice. Reminds me of American Wrestling.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-10 14:49 by Stoneage.

The Bruins , Canadians and Flyers were often involved in these in the '60's and '70's





You Know I'm Smiling Baby

Marchand deserved a suspension but 5 games seems a bit much.

From just a few days ago:

That one was for real!

Anyone that thinks fighting in the NHL is equivalent to "professional wrestling" is an idiot. There's nothing fake about fighting in the NHL - or any other hockey league.

It's part of the game (in Northamerica). The audience expects it. That's why the referees allows it. Could you imagine a referee in football allowing two players to have a fistfight? And please, for your own good: Stay away from name calling - it isn't allowed on this forum.

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Stoneage
It's part of the game (in Northamerica). The audience expects it. That's why the referees allows it. Could you imagine a referee in football allowing two players to have a fistfight? And please, for your own good: Stay away from name calling - it isn't allowed on this forum.

Who's name calling?

The fights are definitely not fake. Of course you have every right to think there's no place for them, but you're disdain for the NHL is coloring you're responses here once again, Stoneage. Or you're trying to get a rise out of people. Congratulations on Sweden's well-deserved junior victory, by the way.

As for the fighting, I feel pretty ambivalent about it and I'd much rather see a great, clean open-ice hit like we were taught to do in Pee-Wee. The strongest argument for removing it from the game would have to be the tragic deaths over the summer of three "enforcers" (Rypien, Boogard and Belak). I guess the mental and physical wear and brain damage from those "fake" fights took its toll.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-01-10 20:33 by andrewm.

Thanks, andrewm. I hope I'm not discouraging you from writing here. You are right, I can be critical towards the NHL. Basically I think it has grown a bit to big and dominates world hockey to much. To the disdain for us Europeans, and Russia, since the NHL drains us of our young talents. But don't worry, most Swedes are very much pro NHL even though it's quite impossible to follow the NHL-Swedes overthere due to time difference.

To the subject: Of course, most of the fights aren't fake but some of them are staged and it looks like every team has a "goon" whose speciality is fighting. This is a part of NHL tradition, like bad organ playing, and the referees don't intervene. We have adopted it here in Sweden too, to a smaller extent, even though it isn't part of European hockey tradition. You can state that this is great or you can find it a bit silly. I'm in the latter category.

The deaths of those three hockey players can not be directly tied to fighting. That's hogwash. Brain injury, maybe, but that does not 100% mean from fighting. I don't buy that. Not at all. There are so many ex-players that are alive that fought. Yeah, all hockey players die eventually, just like all people, all of which die from the same thing - heart failure.

I agree the NHL has grown too big, meaning too many teams. Intense rivalries and familiarity has been watered down with Warm weather teams in towns that have never seen ice. But I am thrilled with the Blackhawks turning the franchise around since Bill Wirtz passed away.

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doubledoor
I agree the NHL has grown too big, meaning too many teams. Intense rivalries and familiarity has been watered down with Warm weather teams in towns that have never seen ice. But I am thrilled with the Blackhawks turning the franchise around since Bill Wirtz passed away.

The NHL is fast becoming the new MLB: irrelevant. Too many teams, too many games with a regular season that takes FOREVER to play; playoffs that go into the middle of June when it should all be over before the middle of May. The one exception to how the NHL is not like MLB is that no out of shape lard asses play hockey.

I agree, Blues, that you can't pin those deaths on the fact that all three were fighters. I do think, though, that if you're predisposed to depression and other mental health issues, as at the very least Rypien was, being an enforcer in the NHL isn't going to help your state of mind much. On the other hand, they were making a decent living playing a game they presumably loved.