NHL 2010-2011 Season

0-0 after 2, 3rd period should be a good juan.

Sorry Rob for the playoff exit. If the Flyers lose in the first round, I'll come to NY and we can cry together over some drinks, haha.

Originally Posted by ryoneo

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Sorry Rob for the playoff exit. If the Flyers lose in the first round, I'll come to NY and we can cry together over some drinks, haha.

lol, it was expected, so I'm ok. This BOS/MTL game is freakin' GREAT!

Wonder what the ref's reasoning was for no penalty shot on that play....Boston PP looked nervous. This OT period, both teams still looked fresh and fast, especially compared to the Rangers/Caps game 4.

Motherfucker.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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I'd much rather be a Rangers fan. The 90s were good and you won a Cup. The Bruins just have a long string of flame outs and disappointments and the Flyers were mostly irrelevant besides 1997 and last year.
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LOL...spoken like a true Montreal fan.

Nice win by Bruin's tonight. Would love to see them win it in 6. Montreal scare's Bruins fans.

2) The pain of the losses is greater than the joy of the wins. Ask most Red Sox fans and they will admit that the elation of the 2004 WS still falls short of the gut wrenching anguish of the Aaron Boone's walk off homer. Ask most coaches and they will remember more vividly bad losses than they will their great triumphs.[/quote]


Nope...... Not even close....'04 championship was monumental in Boston. Maybe in some towns but not for Boston fans that waited so long. Maybe you could argue their loss to the Mets but not in '03 when very few expected them to beat the Yankees.

Do you think in Green Bay they remember more vividly the blown loss in the '98 Super Bowl vs. their win the year before? They were heavy favorites and should have won SB that year until Favre blew it. Every WI person I know remembers the victory better than the upset loss. Didn't stop Packer fans from worshiping Favre - until he defected to the Vikings.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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The players are stupid and have no respect for one another.

I think Hamhuis going after Bolland's head in game 5 was a clear example of this, and the league reaction? Give Bolland a 2 minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for slamming his stick around. Again, I said it before, but the league is concerned about how they are perceived, not the safety of the players. Thats also why they won't take out the instigator.

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

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I think Hamhuis going after Bolland's head in game 5 was a clear example of this, and the league reaction? Give Bolland a 2 minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for slamming his stick around. Again, I said it before, but the league is concerned about how they are perceived, not the safety of the players. Thats also why they won't take out the instigator.
Since the beginning of the playoffs, which started a week or so ago, we've already seen: - Multiple dangerous hits to the head - A player stomp on another player with his skate - A player give the finger to the opposing crowd then claim his glove "malfunctioned". - A coach insult an opposing team's fans - A variety of players whine to the media about no calls/calls, etc. which would be worth at least a fine in any other sport. And meanwhile NHL fans truly are whistling bpast the graveyard. I mean, all pro sports leagues have their issues but I can't think of any sport at the moment that is a bigger gong show than the NHL. No respect between players, no internal control from the league, and the fans seemingly don't care.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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Since the beginning of the playoffs, which started a week or so ago, we've already seen:

- Multiple dangerous hits to the head
- A player stomp on another player with his skate
- A player give the finger to the opposing crowd then claim his glove "malfunctioned".
- A coach insult an opposing team's fans
- A variety of players whine to the media about no calls/calls, etc. which would be worth at least a fine in any other sport.

And meanwhile NHL fans truly are whistling bpast the graveyard. I mean, all pro sports leagues have their issues but I can't think of any sport at the moment that is a bigger gong show than the NHL. No respect between players, no internal control from the league, and the fans seemingly don't care.

I think with the last point I bolded, you have a generational thing. I just watched the Hotstove from last nights Habs/Bruins game and they were talking about the new TV deal. Glenn Healy said the stats showed that the NHL has the youngest, most affluent, most educated and tech savvy fan base of all the pro sports. This is a big difference between the fans who we grew up with being hockey fans. Blue collar folks, who relied on their team to get them up during the cold winter months. I don't know what its like in Canada, but I've seen the difference in New York, especially in the Garden. The blue seats (upper level) were my dad has had season tickets since the mid 70's has completely changed. Blue collar guys can't afford to come anymore and as Bruce B pointed out, the Garden is a much quieter place because of it, much to the detriment of the on ice product in my mind. The entire lower bowl is half empty midway through the first period because many of the seats are corporate, who have more important things to worry about than whether the Rangers win or lose. Go back 40 years to when the Bruins were literally fighting fans behind their bench. I think places like Long Island, Philly and Pittsburgh (though I can't speak of Pitt after the new arena was built) still hold some of the blue collar support by keeping prices relatively low, and having corporations buy luxury suites instead of seats close to the ice. The people that go to hockey games are the types (like I'm sure many on the forum are) who are abhorred by violence and fighting, where as 25 years ago, I remember seeing a Flyer fan pummeled by a group of Ranger fans near my dad's seats. The Flyer fan was thrown out unceremoniously, to the great joy of the Ranger fans sitting there (my pops included). That would never be tolerated by most of the people who are blue seat regulars today. This could help explain why the league still keeps the instigator rule.

Its also going to trend further toward this in the future. Hockey is an expensive sport to play, and working class families are finding it harder and harder to get their kids in skates and suit them up. These new kids will more than likely come from affluent families who more resemble to people who fill the arenas today than resemble the people who filled the seats 30 years ago. I'm not saying one is worse than the other, but saying its a different game than what you or I probably grew up with. Bettman realizes this and runs the NHL accordingly. Doing otherwise would have the NHL fall even further behind the other major sports in America.

Now, one would think that this would lead to a safer, more gentle NHL, and in ways it has, on the surface. But I firmly believe that most people are cut throat in how they go about getting what they want and passive aggressive behavior will rise (as it has within society). So while you may see less out and out violence (fighting, mass brawls) you'll see a lot more of the stuff like the stomping on other players, cheap and dangerous hits (much like the "push" of players from behind into the boards and even players putting themselves (consciously or subconsciously) in dangerous positions to draw illegal hits from other players, players whining about non-calls, coaches calling for opponents to be suspended, and a lot of the behaviors we see now in the league. Guys like Matt Cooke and Jarkko Ruutu will become more and more prevalent in the NHL.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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Since the beginning of the playoffs, which started a week or so ago, we've already seen:

- Multiple dangerous hits to the head
- A player stomp on another player with his skate
- A player give the finger to the opposing crowd then claim his glove "malfunctioned".
- A coach insult an opposing team's fans
- A variety of players whine to the media about no calls/calls, etc. which would be worth at least a fine in any other sport.

And meanwhile NHL fans truly are whistling bpast the graveyard. I mean, all pro sports leagues have their issues but I can't think of any sport at the moment that is a bigger gong show than the NHL. No respect between players, no internal control from the league, and the fans seemingly don't care.

Add this to your list. Hab's Max Pacioretty tweeted last night "this game is longer than Marchand's nose". Ok, things are said on the ice in battle but tweeting that type of stuff is just stupid.

And I see that Ferrance only got fined 2500 for his finger flip. Pathetic. By all accounts, Ferrance is a quality guy and he certainly has been playing good hockey. But that excuse of his is BS. Would have respected him more if he just came out and said he got caught up in the moment and apologized. Fine should have been much larger.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

Click to expand...

Since the beginning of the playoffs, which started a week or so ago, we've already seen: - Multiple dangerous hits to the head - A player stomp on another player with his skate - A player give the finger to the opposing crowd then claim his glove "malfunctioned". - A coach insult an opposing team's fans - A variety of players whine to the media about no calls/calls, etc. which would be worth at least a fine in any other sport. And meanwhile NHL fans truly are whistling bpast the graveyard. I mean, all pro sports leagues have their issues but I can't think of any sport at the moment that is a bigger gong show than the NHL. No respect between players, no internal control from the league, and the fans seemingly don't care.
In the only sport outside MMA where you can give someone a beating and not get charged, its not surprising that this happens. We need a new organizational culture, yes - kick out Bettman and Campbell. Having some new stiffer fines and some rule changes would help with a new crew in charge. Start handing out season suspensions and putting sanctions on players who commit certain actions. I'm sure Cooke would think twice if 50% of his salary was being garnished and the Pens had to match his full salary and pay it to a player's fund. Sound extreme? Well ****, nobody wants their brains leaking out onto the ice either. That being said, all of this is just objectively punishable violence that can be dealt with in a straightforward manner; all of the issues that you bring forward are akin to a child getting an inch and wanting a mile. Boudreau's gonna lip and Ryan's gonna stomp because they can. I agree with you in the sense that the NHL is doing a poor job of dealing with it, but realistically speaking its a physical game and only the discipline needs to change. I would MUCH rather have this than deal with a bunch of massively over-inflated egomaniacs playing basketball. The infuriating amount of hubris and arrogance in that game is ******* disgusting. Then you look at the rampant drug abuse in baseball, the corruption in soccer, etc. Mere excessive physical contact has an easy solution. Chest-thumping ghetto products playing hoops with egos the size of the sun makes me want to ******* vomit; there's no cure for that kind of thing. Having a culture of drug use and canonizing athletes who set records while using PEDS? Even better. Corruption charges stemming from match-fixing and entire games and tournaments being ruined because of a luddite officiating culture (remember Eng/Ger in the world cup)? The best. You look at a kid like Reimer, humble as dirt, goes to church on Sundays - and he has the entire weight of the Canadian ******* nation on his back. Then you look at someone like Lebron James or Cristiano Ronaldo or Barry Bonds, all of whom probably would've crowned themselves king of the world by now if they were able. Sure, you have your dirty players and the odd loudmouth in hockey, but the point I'm trying to make is that hockey as a sport is in good shape. We have a good culture and passionate fans. The NHL as a league needs a swift kick ********** in regards to the discipline issue, but the nature of the game means the physicality aspect will always be the main draw. Whether that be fans beating eachother, players beating eachother, or star players getting concussed, this is the main issue - and its easy to deal with. Other pro sports have a MASSIVE shitload of ingrained issues into it - we should be thankful we have a one-dimensional problem.