The Official NHL 2006-2007 Season Thread

[Neemo]

i missed the game...was it worse than prongers hit on holmstrom? 2 times in 2 series? man i'm surprised they only gave him one game

[Malcolm]

Noit wasnt, just your normal elbow to the head...but it wasnt as bad IMO

[Communist China]

Alfredsson just shot the puck at a Duck's face with 2-3 seconds left. What a prick! How could he do something that stupid? I have lost all respect for him, he's proven in this post-season that he's a fucking bum and an embarrasment to European players everywhere. To see the cup touch his hands would be a travesty.

[tim_m]

Yeah that was absolutely pathetic and disgraceful. Thankfully Anaheim is up 3-1 i don't see Ottawa coming back.

[Skeba]

Alfredsson just shot the puck at a Duck's face with 2-3 seconds left. What a prick! How could he do something that stupid? I have lost all respect for him, he's proven in this post-season that he's a fucking bum and an embarrasment to European players everywhere. To see the cup touch his hands would be a travesty.

That was an idiotic move on his part.

But does he suddenly represent players from Europe? I mean he is from Europe but why should a Czech for example be embarrased of Alfredsson? I'm sorry to cling in to such a minor detail here, but I for one am from Europe but should I feel embarrased of him though I feel no connection to him what so ever. He may be an embarrasment to his team though... And after this maybe he is.

I second that Ottawa's not coming back from this one.

[Mal Brossard]

Alfredsson just shot the puck at a Duck's face with 2-3 seconds left. What a prick! How could he do something that stupid? I have lost all respect for him, he's proven in this post-season that he's a fucking bum and an embarrasment to European players everywhere. To see the cup touch his hands would be a travesty.

And that's why I NEVER want to see a Euro captain like him raise the cup.

[Neemo]

i thought it was pretty funny

i cant stand neidermeyer though...i never have liked him, woulda been a good fight though

Alfie vs Scotty

[CheapJon]

I'm swedish, i haven't seen that post a link?


i just need to tell you that calling alfredsson an embarrasnment to all european players is just fucking racist dude.. it's like saying the same about bertuzzi.. but in that case no one said.. omg those canadian fuckers are ugly bastards.. u know what i mean.. ?if someone in NHL deserves the cup it's Sundin a fellow swede who should have no conection to alfie if alfie did something stupid just because they are from the same country.

[Mal Brossard]

Forsberg's diving.  Alfredsson firing a puck at Niedermayer, his dirty hit in 2002 on Darcy Tucker, and a similar hit more recently to Henrik Tallinder.  Ulf Samuelsson's knee-to-knee hits.  And that's just the Swedes.  Want me to name the rest of Europe?

Perezhogin on Stafford in the AHL.  Ovechkin on Briere.  Kozlov on Foote in 1996.  Darius Kasparaitus anytime in the mid-90's.  I could go on and name a ton more small incidents but let's leave it here.

Yeah, for every cheap shot like this you can name a Canadian who has done it.  Know what the difference is?  The Euros are still a minority, so the percentage of cheap shots by them is higher.

Why fire a puck at Niedermayer?  If you want to try to spark him to take a penalty for retaliation, why not go at him and try to get him to fight?  Why not go and hit him?  Oh that's right, Euros can't fight and refuse to learn how to.  They'd rather have the North American game conform to what they want, rather than learning to do what the North American style of play demands.  Like Nick Kypreos said a few years back, "Guys like Magnus Arvedson have to be prepared to protect themselves in those kinds of situations. You can't always count on guys like Chris Neil or Andre Roy to be on the ice in those situations to protect you. You have to be prepared to stand up in those situations. All I'm saying is this: Protect and defend yourself."  And by the way, Kypreos said that after Alfredsson nearly went for a hatchet-job on Tie Domi's head.

Alfredsson in the Old Time Hockey NHL of the 70's and 80's would never be able to pull what he has in today's NHL. He would have been forced to throw his fists instead of turtle like players of his caliber often do. Yeah, he can run his mouth and hide behind Chris Neil. He can hit somebody from behind and duck to the bench. Back in the 70's he hit Tucker like that he would not have been able to score right away he would have been tackled and got beaten. In 86 a hit to Tallinder like that and Kevin Maguire would have gone on the bench and pulled him out to beat him. Alfie has been too untouchable for too long. I know a lot feel it was appaling when the Sabres put there goon line out in Feb. and to see Alfie turtle.  People ranted "Well he's not a fighter."

If you make the hits Alfie makes and take the blindsides that he takes at players you better be a fighter or else it just makes you a bush league pansy with no honor. Comments he has been known to make after this repeat cheapshots "I didn't hit him hard, he stayed down to embellish and draw a penalty" typical babble from a sissy who would expect a teammate to have his back but duck away when his goalie is fighting a forward. What a great example of a Captain.

There have been plenty of dirty Captains over the years-- Dale Hunter and Mike Peca come to mind-- but if they did something, they made no excuses and fully expected to get what was coming, whether it was being policed by players or the NHL itself.

Really now, how does an NHL all-star, one that has been in the most accurate shot competition, have a clear shot at center ice decide to fake and then fire it in the direction of a player (who just happens to be the captain of the opposing team) and then claim it was just an inaccurate shot and expect people to believe it?

I'm standing by my belief: if a Euro captain (especially one like Alfredsson, Yashin, or Jagr) ever wins a Cup, I'm done with this league.

[Communist China]

I mention European because their toughness and sportsmanship are often questioned, as is whether or not they belong in the NHL. People talk about it all the time. People talked about how Alfy would be the first Euro to hoist the cup as captain, so when he pulls cheap shit, he will mentioned as a Euro player and a symbol of European hockey. That's just being consistent. Plus, with the assumption of Euros being softer than North Americans (mainly Canadians) which many share, a cheap slapshot at a man's face brings up those same old "racist", as you say, comments.

Not to mention how ugly a fucker Alfredsson is.

[Mal Brossard]

Looks like Alfredfuck is going to get off with no suspension.

Hope Pronger or Parros fucks him up nicely.

[Skeba]

How could they give him a suspension for that? If you think about it... It was never going to happen.

Anywho. Anaheim leading 2-0 after the first. Don' t think they're worrying too much about what happened at last game.

[jarmo]

Finally!

Teemu Sel?nne wins something!

 



/jarmo

[tim_m]

Finally!

Teemu Sel?nne wins something!

 



/jarmo

Haha i didn't think of that. They didn't mention him that i heard. All they kept talking about was Niedemayer. Maybe his last game etc.

[Mal Brossard]

I doubt it's Niedermayer's last game.  He's still an elite defenseman.  But I would have given the Conn Smythe to either Getzlaf, McDonald, or Giguere.

They talked about Selanne a ton, at least on NBC.

[Mal Brossard]

How could they give him a suspension for that?

Of course they can't.  Bettman creams his pants over the thought of European superstars dominating the league, so how could he ever suspend one?

Anyways, the right team won this time around, and hopefully this sends a message to the rest of the NHL that tough, North American hockey is not only still alive, but is THE way to go.

[Malcolm]

I dont care what anyone says, Alfredsson should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy, 2 goals in the final game, lead the playoffs with most points, he was dominant, Im not an Alfredsson fan by any means, but he should have won it, only reason he didnt was because they wanted to give it to someone who won the cup

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I dont care what anyone says, Alfredsson should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy, 2 goals in the final game, lead the playoffs with most points, he was dominant, Im not an Alfredsson fan by any means, but he should have won it, only reason he didnt was because they wanted to give it to someone who won the cup

I know it's happened before, (Giguere) but giving the Conn Smythe to a player on the losing team doesn't sit well with the public.

[tim_m]

Yeah giving it to a player on the losing team just does not happen often. I don't even remember it happening in my life.

[Malcolm]

Canucks sign Pyatt to 2-year, $3M deal

VANCOUVER (CP) - Taylor Pyatt knows with a big NHL contract comes increased expectations.The Vancouver Canucks rewarded Pyatt for his best NHL season with a two-year, US$3-million contract. Now the Thunder Bay, Ont., native has to make good on the promise he showed last season."I think there's going to be a little bit more pressure coming into this season," Pyatt said Monday during a conference call. "I think I can improve. I want to try to be a little more consistent throughout the season."Pyatt, 25, had a career-high 23 goals and 14 assists in 76 games for the Canucks last season. He played mostly on a line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin plus saw time on the power playoff. During the playoffs Pyatt had two goals and four assists in 12 games.

Islanders buy out Yashin's contract

NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Islanders are buying out the remaining four years on Alexei Yashin's 10-year contract in the first step of an off-season overhaul they hope will include re-signing Jason Blake and Ryan Smyth.
"It's going to make the team have a different look," coach Ted Nolan said of Yashin's departure in a conference call Wednesday. "Hopefully, we can work something out with (Blake and Smyth). We're trying to assemble a cohesive group here." Yashin finished with 119 goals and 171 assists in 346 games with the Islanders, but struggled the past two seasons. He had 18 goals and 32 assists this season, when he missed 24 games with a sprained right knee. He was scoreless in the Islanders' five-game first-round playoff loss to the Buffalo Sabres. "Unfortunately he got hurt and couldn't get back to where he was before. .. He couldn't get it going," Nolan said. "It'll be a nice fresh start for him and now we have to find someone to replace him." General manager Garth Snow and Nolan wouldn't disclose the team's off-season strategy, but acknowledged that re-signing Blake, their leading scorer, and Smyth would be priorities.

Leafs sign Antropov to two-year contract

The Toronto Maple Leafs and forward Nik Antropov have agreed to terms on a two-year contract worth over $4 million US. "Nik has continually progressed and evolved into a power forward who contributes offensively and provides size amongst our top six forwards," said general manager John Ferguson Jr. in a statement.

Leafs sign D Kronwall to one-way deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs have locked up their second player in as many days, signing defenceman Staffan Kronwall to a two-year contract.The one-way deal pays him $475,000 next season and $500,000 in 2008-09. 

Wild sign Backstrom to multi-year deal

It looks like the Minnesota Wild might enter another NHL season with two top goalies.
The Wild announced Thursday that they had signed Niklas Backstrom to a US$6.2-million, two-year contract, but that doesn't mean Manny Fernandez is going anywhere.General manager Doug Risebrough plans to keep both goalies around even though Fernandez expressed a desire to be traded a little over a week ago.