Neowin's NHL Discussion Thread

[CatnipOligarchy]

What happened with Heatley? I didn't follow that.

i dont see how you could have missed it.

basically during the preseason, he was driving his ferrari 80mph in a 35 mph zone, teammate dan snyder was in the car. heatley suffered many injuries, snyder went into a coma and died a week later. I made a thread about snyders death here on neowin. read it here for more detail.

[Boffa Jones Veteran]

Nice, Washington beat atlanta tonight..... Lets hope they dont get dominated like that again.

[CatnipOligarchy]

Nice, Washington beat atlanta tonight..... Lets hope they dont get dominated like that again.

that friggen sucked. we havent scored since last friday night in pittsburgh. lost 4-0 to the isles and 5-0 to the caps.. kovalchuk, savard, mceachern, kozlov, and stefan have all gone cold at once, ilya isnt even getting any good looks at the net. hes fanning on powerplay shots, or missing wide of the net.. the defensemen arent contributing.. weve got new jersey on thursday, thatll be a good test for this team

[cyclingplatypus]

GO RED WINGS!

Who'dve thought they'd be leading the league in goals when they were supposed to be one of the deepest defensive teams? And the amount of goals they have, too -- 104! Man! That's sweet :woot:

That game was awesome last night, especially since it was basically Grand Rapids playing and not Detroit. :laugh:

:D Agreed! The Wings could bring the cup back home this season. And now that they've called CuJo back the fun is about to begin.

[LRoling]

All I want to see is:

Avs vs. Flyers - CUP FINAL

FLYERS CRUSH LEAFS!!! PLEASE SHUT TORONTO UP!

[CatnipOligarchy]

:D Agreed! The Wings could bring the cup back home this season. And now that they've called CuJo back the fun is about to begin.

nice wallpaper, if i was a redwings fan i'd be all over that

[Boffa Jones Veteran]

Just looking at torontos next 6 games i would say they are looking pretty healthy for now, unless washington pulls some crazy ****, and possibly the islanders?

[Stokkolm]

All I want to see is:

Avs vs. Flyers - CUP FINAL

FLYERS CRUSH LEAFS!!! PLEASE SHUT TORONTO UP!

With of course the Flyers coming out on top! :D

[CatnipOligarchy]

Just looking at torontos next 6 games i would say they are looking pretty healthy for now, unless washington pulls some crazy ****, and possibly the islanders?

washington looks like a totally different team under their new coach Glen Hanlon. They are 2-1 so far.. i wouldnt be surprised if they were able to upset toronto

[blackcoffee]

Man; I can't believe how good Pavel Datsyuk is doing. I mean I knew he had potential for Detroit since coming into this league; but wow I'm so amazed. Him and Zetterburg are like gonna be mad dominating together for the next decade and more.

[BMac]

washington looks like a totally different team under their new coach Glen Hanlon. They are 2-1 so far.. i wouldnt be surprised if they were able to upset toronto

Washington would be a good team if they were able to rid themselves of the disease known as Jagr. As a Leaf fan I hope they can beat the Caps but Washington always tends to be a hard one.

To blackcoffee; Datsyuk and Zetterberg are incredible. I really like seeing Datsyuk along side Hull which is good for Pavol's maturing. He will be a star and Zetterberg will be right up there with him in a year or so.

As to CatnipOligarthy Atlanta is lucky as all hell that Snyder's family did not press charges. Heatley is the future not only of the Thrashers but of the NHL, aswell. Kovalchuk is good but Heatley is better. At the rate Atlanta's going with all their great draft picks they will be the next dynasty. That is only if they are willing to put money into a sport that the city really doesn't care about. Stars like those belong in a city that understands their true skill. Somewhere like... um I don't know... Toronto! :D

[CatnipOligarchy]

That is only if they are willing to put money into a sport that the city really doesn't care about. Stars like those belong in a city that understands their true skill. Somewhere like... um I don't know... Toronto! :D

you'd be surprised. ive been to 3 thrashers games so far this year, and people are definitely taking notice of hockey in atlanta. everyone ive been sitting near seems to really know whats going on, and those that dont are willing to learn. ive taken some people to games that didnt like hockey, but once they see a game live, they have become big fans. at the falcons games also, people are starting to follow the team. ive been a fan since the day they announced the team's existance, and its nice to see that we are finally building a good fan base. The atlanta newspaper has been giving the thrashers a lot of attnetion too, way more than the hawks - a lost cause. Heatley and Kovalchuk could really make or break this franchise.

[BMac]

My question to you is how many sellouts does the Thrasher's have per year. Not half as many as the Leafs. The Leafs sellout every game and it's nearly impossible to get tickets. Our town is hockey crazy. I guess it's a Canadian thing. For example. here in Canada we even broadcast the World Juniors. Half of the American's don't even know what that is. I vomit at the idea of the Leafs being the only Canadian team left down the line. Hockey is our game and I'm sick of rich American's like Ted Turner robbing us of it when Americans don't even care.

[CatnipOligarchy]

im not saying were anywhere close to having the following that the teams in canada do. however, from a business standpoint, the USA is a huge market. and hockey is an exciting sport. the canadian teams are going to be supported no matter what. To get people in the doors in places like atlanta, nashville, tampa, carolina, and etc., its going to take time, publicity, and winning. hockey is and always will be Canada's sport. no argument there. but its spreading, and as it spreads, youth hockey will spread as well, which will increase the talent pool, and in the long run, the quality of play in the NHL will be a lot higher than it is today.

[BMac]

Well here's to the hope you're right.

[Boffa Jones Veteran]

Just wondering, do you boys think that Heatly will be affected because of the accident. Like do you thijnk it will **** up his game at all?

[BMac]

I thought about that but I think he'll be ok physically. His jaw is fine and his leg is healing. Mentally he may never be the same again. He killed his friend and I don't know if he'll ever get over that. For the sake of the NHL I hope he'll be back to his old self again.

[CatnipOligarchy]

I think he'll be fine physically. His emotional struggle will determine whether or not he ever becomes the player he was and could still become. It could either ruin him, or it could inspire him to play even better than he did before.

[LRoling]

ROFL! Toronto obviously sells out every game for a number of reasons...

1.) It's the Hockeytown of Canada, and ****ing Detroit is not Hockeytown, wtf.

2.) The fans live and breathe the Maple Leafs

3.) It's a freaking legendary team, one of the Original Six

4.) WTF else are the damn Toronto people gonna be fanatical about, the freakin Blue Jays? No way!

[BMac]

ROFL! Toronto obviously sells out every game for a number of reasons...

1.) It's the Hockeytown of Canada, and ****ing Detroit is not Hockeytown, wtf.

2.) The fans live and breathe the Maple Leafs

3.) It's a freaking legendary team, one of the Original Six

4.) WTF else are the damn Toronto people gonna be fanatical about, the freakin Blue Jays? No way!

My thoughts exactly. Well said man. (Y)

[bayrider]

sorry but montreal is hockey town... Montreal, Colorado and NY Rangers sell out just about every game too. Montreal also has the largest hockey arena in the world. In Canada, the Montreal Canadians viewership tops every team in Canada, even over the Maple Laughs. Weird considering Toronto has the most coverage also.

and to compare an expansion team in the southern United States to any of the original 6 is just wrong. Apples & oranges.

[LRoling]

I will agree that Montreal is definitely A hockey town, and Toronto as well, but what makes the Canadian cities uniquie is that even when the damn team blows it in the playoffs, they are like Chicago Cub fans, they stick with the damn team no matter what.

And I agree, comparing an expansion team to a freakin Original Six team is ridiculous, unless we are talking about my second favorite team, only cuz my Dad had season tickets for my entire young childhood, even though I'm a die hard Avs fan, the Chicago Blackhawks.

[thuggers]

I love my oilers, Edmonton is a fairly small city compared to the big teams in the league, But we do Sell out alot herewhich is pretty good for a city of almost 1 million.

Everyone seems to put up with the excuse that we've been rebuilding the team for 15 years now ;)

[Ayepecks]

ROFL! Toronto obviously sells out every game for a number of reasons...

1.) It's the Hockeytown of Canada, and ****ing Detroit is not Hockeytown, wtf.

2.) The fans live and breathe the Maple Leafs

3.) It's a freaking legendary team, one of the Original Six

4.) WTF else are the damn Toronto people gonna be fanatical about, the freakin Blue Jays? No way!

I'm assuming you've never been to a Red Wings game in Detroit ;)

(Obviously you're not a fan, from your avatar...)

[BMac]

Everyone here has fallen off their rocker. Toronto is Hockeytown. As an example of how nuts we are about hockey, we actually go to the damn practices. Not only during the playoffs, not only during the season but in the off season too. Now who the hell in the league does that? No one! I had to buy 4 tickets to take my family to the team skills comp. Granted they were cheaper but come on, nowhere else do people get that pumped to go to see a hockey team. Finally, I'm sure you guys have all been to a playoff game but I haven't because it's $300 CDN for the last row. And we still sell up even if we put a bunch chimpanzees on the ice wearing Leaf sweaters. Come on guys stop kidding yourselves. Toronto is THE hockey mecca of the world.