The Official NHL 2006-2007 Season Thread

[Neemo]

i dunno man

Lidstrom and Alfredson are both amazing players. and its not like those 2 teams never hit or anything, they are playing amazing hockey! as for the Det/Ana series...its far from over yet

[COMAMOTIVE]

Yeah, what the hell are you talking about?

I still think Anaheim beats them

[Mal Brossard]

Knowing the NHL, Pronger and/or Niedermayer will be suspended for the remainder of the playoffs, completely derailing the Ducks.  Side note: if Holmstrom would have had his helmet on correctly, there is far less severe of an injury, if any.  Helmets do no good if you have your chinstrap hanging down to the collar of your jersey.

[Loaded NightraiN]

Detroit vs. Ottawa.? Fucking unbelievable.

Goodbye NHL, you've lost this fan.

It's a shame. Really.

I honestly feel like someone has taken a friend away from me. I've admittedly become bitter and angry at those who took my friend away from me. I'm also frusterated with those who still follow this current product which, in my opinion, is a shadow of it's former self.

Hockey was my hobby. It was my pastime. It was almost my identity.

All my girlfriends used to joke that it was all work, hockey or sex with me. All other conversations need to be had with someone else.

As I mentioned in another thread - it was never about the fighting, for me.

Hockey was the last great sport. The last sport that had not been corrupted by greed and selfishness. Players were smart and thoughtful and respectful of both each other and their fans.

Hockey was played by men. Tough men who would do whatever it took to win a game. It was played with passion and emotion and was, of course, violent. The fights were driven by that will to win at all costs. Fisticuffs were simply a byproduct of the intensity shown on the ice.

Then came the "systems" and the over-coaching. The league took a turn for the worse when the coaches started dictating everything that happened on the ice - rather than letting the play being reactionary. The players own will to succeed was being replaced by a schedule of where they needed to be and when. Now, you make a mistake on the ice, the coach upstairs tells the coach on the bench, and next shift, if you even get to play on it, you don't make that mistake. Teams don't need 5 or 6 coaches and it shouldn't be allowed. You should be able to only have 1 head coach and 1 assistant on the bench. No contact to the guys upstairs during the game. Now, teams have monitors on the bench! That is fucking ridiculous. Coaches like Bowman, Lemaire, Hitchcock win, and it has ruined the game. In minor, junior, and youth hockey, they don't teach kids skill anymore: they teach them systems.

The final nail in the coffin of the NHL was the induction of these new rules which have all but officially removed any chance of diversion from the standards and practices of the new NHL.

This playoff year has shown like no other that the parity that once existed in the NHL is gone. It is now impossible for a less-skilled but harder-working team to triumph over a talented but delicate unit. Power plays and penalty killing rule the day. Teams will now be built around these two factors alone. We're one step closer to a 60 minute shootout.

Detroit should be embarrassed. No one stuck up for a teammate when they went after his head? In a 4-0 game?? Unbelievable.

What is really sad is that the Spurs-Suns NBA series has more passion and hatred between players than any of the NHL post season series of the last few seasons. I have been watching Spurs-Suns, and remembering back some time ago when the NHL had this kind of REAL post-season attitude to it.

David Stern is a genius for giving Gary Bettman to the NHL willingly. He has me, a lifelong NHL and Hockey fan watching NBA postseason over the NHL. NEVER in my life before this season would I even think of entertaining anything other than the NHL postseason. The "brains" of the new NHL have done a great job of showing me about other sports other than the NHL, about playing with real purpose and drive (not to forget passion). Other than the hope that the Ducks might do something, I really see no need to watch anymore of the NHL postseason.

Well then leave already.... Let us who still like the game enjoy it...

[Communist China]

I don't see the shame in having Alfredsson or Lidstrom hoist the cup (even though Alfredsson is a diving pussy).

AND... SABRES WON GAME 4!

[Loaded NightraiN]

AND... SABRES WON GAME 4!

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! 

[Malcolm]

Pronger got 1 game

[tim_m]

About time Buffalo showed up for a game. I still don't see them coming back in this series though.

[Neemo]

Pronger got 1 game

yeah...kinda sucks for them, but cool for me their hands were tied really

[Malcolm]

Lightning sign Holmqvist to 1-year deal

The Tampa Bay Lightning have locked up another potential free agent for next season, signing goaltender Johan Holmqvist to a one-year contract.

Holmqvist, 28, posted a 27-15-3 record with the Lightning this past season with a 2.85 goals-against-average and a .893 save percentage.

"As we said at the end of the season, Johan Holmqvist is one piece of the puzzle for us in net, and it was one of our top priorities this off-season to get him re-signed at a number that made sense for us," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said in a statement. "By signing a one-year deal, Johan has demonstrated that he intends to build on last year's performance and firmly establish himself - once and for all - as a legitimate No. 1 goalie in the NHL."

[Mal Brossard]

As one who despises Detroit and their Euro-priss ways, I liked yesterday. A lot. Game 3, the Vs. announcers actually said "Detroit is putting out Kirk Maltby in case things get a bit dicey." I'm hoping that was a tongue and cheek type remark, though sadly I doubt it. I swear I would cheer if someone killed him. Is that bad?

On a barely related note, does anyone remember when Peter Worrell was nailed for a DUI and he told the cops he was Andreas Lilja? I think Lilja's lovely display of passing yesterday in OT just before Selanne's goal may be the only time the two will ever be confused for one another.

[Loaded NightraiN]

On a barely related note, does anyone remember when Peter Worrell was nailed for a DUI and he told the cops he was Andreas Lilja? I think Lilja's lovely display of passing yesterday in OT just before Selanne's goal may be the only time the two will ever be confused for one another.

Now thats funny 

[redarmy76]

Ok, we've got an Ottawa vs. Anaheim final starting on Monday.  Personally, I'm pulling for Anaheim.  If Ottawa wins the cup, we'll never hear the end of it in Toronto

[Mal Brossard]

Obviously I'm pulling for Anaheim as well.  Ducks in 6!

[COMAMOTIVE]

I'll be pulling for the Quacks, but I have a feeling Ottawa is gonna win this one.

[Communist China]

Go Ducks!

[Skeba]

I thinks okay no matter which team wins. If it's Ottawa, it's nice to see a Canadian team take the cup, but if it's Anaheim, Selanne will get the reward he deserves.

[CheapJon]

I thinks okay no matter which team wins. If it's Ottawa, it's nice to see a Canadian team take the cup, but if it's Anaheim, Selanne will get the reward he deserves.

Alfie deserves it too

[Skeba]

Right... But he happened to born on the wrong side of the border so fuck him.

Like I said.. Don't really care which one wins. I hope the media here doesn't make it here another Finland vs. Sweden with Sel?nne and Alfredsson..

[Malcolm]

Leetch officially retires from NHL

BOSTON (CP) - Star defenceman Brian Leetch officially retired Thursday, ending an 18-year career that featured two Norris Trophy wins and 10 all-star selections.

The 39-year-old sat out the entire out 2006-07 season after spending 2005-06 with the Boston Bruins, when he recorded five goals and 27 assists in 61 games.

"I have been fortunate to be an NHL player since 1988," Leetch said in a statement. "I missed being in the NHL this past season, but believe it was the right time for me to stop playing."

Leetch was originally drafted by the New York Rangers ninth overall in the 1986 entry draft and spent parts of 16-plus seasons on Broadway.

In 1991-92, he became only the fifth defenceman in NHL history to reach the 100-point plateau and finished the year with 102 points (22-80).

 

He was moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade deadline deal in 2003-2004 and after the lockout spent his final season with the Bruins.

In 1,205 games, he scored 247 goals with 781 assists _ one of only seven NHL defenceman to record 1,000 points.

Leetch is also the only American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after helping the Rangers end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994.