2008/2009 Hockey Thread v2.0

[Gabriel]

Penalizing teams for back to back icing calls under the Delay of Game penalty... what do you think? I brought this up a little while back, but there was no response.

How about that Junior game today? Slovakia beating the US was not something I saw happening, but the Americans were clearly demoralized following their loss to Canada the other night. The kids were getting chances, but not capitalizing, and they let their frustrations take over.

Slovakia won? Holy shit that IS a bit of a surprise. I haven't been paying much attention to the World Juniors outside of Team Canada highlights (sadly not getting TSN currently). So does this basically mean the States won't be getting a medal this year?

Penalizing teams for back to back icing calls under Delay of Game is an idea I could do without. I know it's an attempt to speed the game up but at times it almost seems like they're giving out penalties for everything now. Before you know it they'll give a penalty for knocking the net off it's moorings.

Yeah, it was a pretty exciting game. The States pounded Jaroslav Janus with shots, but he was outstanding, holding the Slovaks in the game right up to the end. I think they ended up with 20 shots on the US net, and about 45 heading the other way.

The United States will be playing for 5th place, so they will not be in contention for a medal at all. Slovakia will at least be playing for Bronze... maybe even Gold/Silver if they can get past Sweden tomorrow. The Swedes only beat them 3-1 in the Preliminary Round, so another upset isn't all that unlikely... however, Sweden has a very good team and Slovakia will likely be exhausted after today's effort.

The only reason I bring up Icing, is because teams use it to stop offensive pressure. You get caught tired in your zone and you ice the puck... no line change, but you could get caught again, and I've seen a lot of teams ice the puck a second time. Sometimes even a third time. The idea of penalizing that isn't really to speed up the game, it's really more about giving the offensive teams back that offensive opportunity that keeps getting cheaply taken away from them, and about providing offense.

I think they've done a lot of really good things with the rules, but Pierre McGuire was talking about how the punishment for icing the puck isn't as tough as he'd like, and I had to agree with him... which made me think about ways they could reward teams for good offensive zone pressure when they force their opponents to ice the puck to just catch a break.

[Clawson]

What a fucking game!!!

That's 2 epic clashes in a row for Canada.

[Gabriel]

What a fucking game!!!

That's 2 epic clashes in a row for Canada.

On the one hand, it was absolutely amazing to watch. I jumped out of my seat when Eberle scored with 5 seconds left.

On the other hand though, it was also incredibly frustrating to watch a team who, up to this point was doing most of the little things right... but for this game specifically, made every mistake in the book.

I'm a little bit scared that if they don't get their shit together before Monday night, that Sweden might be walking away with the Gold medal.

Granted, Sweden didn't look overly spectacular in a game where Slovakia took it to them (again... Slovakia is probably the highlight of this tournament, aside from the two grossly exciting Canadian games)... but near the end of the game, they were playing as a team and had eliminated all those little mistakes... Canada didn't have time to right the ship tonight, as they were too worried about just getting through tonight... and that's going to make the game against Sweden a very hard one.

[Toe]

Great night for me. Watching the Leafs win a game they didn't deserve to win, and then seeing Canada come from behind in the final 10 seconds to tie the game, then beat Russia in a shootout.

[Reddaye]

Ottawa can't seem to buy a goal. They had a wide open net at least two or three times and couldn't bury it. Mike Fisher seemed to be all over the ice the whole night and in the end had nothing to show for it. That's gotta be pretty frustrating; especially when realistically the Senators should have won the thing. How often were they on the power play last night? Nine times? Two or three of those were during two man advantages and they had one goal to show for it. Rough.

Happy to see Dominic Moore sink one. I really like this guy and his work ethic. He's not a top six forward by any stretch but he works his ass off and usually gets rewarded for it. His goal last night was the result of pure luck, but I doubt he'd complain.

Didn't get to see Russia vs. Canada but I'm pretty well convinced I need to get TSN to see the tournament next year. From what I've read/seen last night was a real nail biter.

[Toe]

Ottawa can't seem to buy a goal. They had a wide open net at least two or three times and couldn't bury it. Mike Fisher seemed to be all over the ice the whole night and in the end had nothing to show for it. That's gotta be pretty frustrating; especially when realistically the Senators should have won the thing. How often were they on the power play last night? Nine times? Two or three of those were during two man advantages and they had one goal to show for it. Rough.

Happy to see Dominic Moore sink one. I really like this guy and his work ethic. He's not a top six forward by any stretch but he works his ass off and usually gets rewarded for it. His goal last night was the result of pure luck, but I doubt he'd complain.

Didn't get to see Russia vs. Canada but I'm pretty well convinced I need to get TSN to see the tournament next year. From what I've read/seen last night was a real nail biter.

Twice Jason Spezza had a wide open net with the puck on his stick. Both times he waited and waited and waited too long and lost the open net. Ottawa outplayed the Leafs. It was hard to watch as a Leafs fan. Toskala was almost never in good position. It was just one of those nights where your team sucks, yet you get one or two lucky bounces and that gives you the win.

[Reddaye]

Twice Jason Spezza had a wide open net with the puck on his stick. Both times he waited and waited and waited too long and lost the open net. Ottawa outplayed the Leafs. It was hard to watch as a Leafs fan. Toskala was almost never in good position. It was just one of those nights where your team sucks, yet you get one or two lucky bounces and that gives you the win.

Agreed. Especially about Toskala and his horrible positioning. Everyone I've heard has gone on and on about how great a game he had. His game was good, but far from great. Two times that I can remember he slid WAY out challenge the shooter and basically left himself vulnerable. Both times may have actually been the chances that Spezza SHOULD have buried (I only remember one shot Spezza passed up). Any other team would have totally steamrolled us last night, but like I said: Ottawa can't even seem to buy a goal. When you get two 5 on 3 power plays you NEED to fucking score. I haven't watched Ottawa play much this season but I'm understanding why they're struggling.

All in all it was a pretty exciting game to watch IMO. Very physical, maybe too much so. How about Ruutu's face when Frogren had him by the neck? He looked like he was going to shit himself.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Don't give a shit whether the Leafs deserved to win, but they did. So I'm happy. Fuck, Jason Spezza shouldn't even have been in the game. Regardless of the force he put into that spear, he should have got booted. Either way, it was still a fun game to watch. It's the fucking 08/09 Leafs, we shouldn't be complaining how the wins come.

Frogren's death clutch around Ruutu's neck was amazing.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Enter Blue Guy

[Clawson]

Then Ruutu decided to hook his legs around Frogger's hips while lying flat on his back.

I stopped watching after that truthfully.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Ha, yeah. It worked for him, though, that's when Jonas decided it was best to slowly back away.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Well that was a strange game against Florida. Spot them a 2-0 lead, then go up 4-2 then tied 5-5 then it's All Markov, All The Time.

Win is a win. When half your team is from the fucking AHL, who gives a shit how it comes. We're missing an entire forward line to injury. Koivu, Tanguay and Higgins. Not to mention Dandenault who does play well as a checking forward, Laraque who's been injury plagued this season and Jesus Price Superstar, who when he comes back will try to pick up from where he left off with I believe a 12 or 13 game streak without losing in regulation.

[The Sultan of Swank]

Man, I hate that bitch of a Swedish goalie. Maybe if he spent more time stopping the puck and less time throwing tantrumS they might have had a chance at winning

[Toe]

Man, I hate that bitch of a Swedish goalie. Maybe if he spent more time stopping the puck and less time throwing tantrumS they might have had a chance at winning

His helmet seemed to fly off very easily.

I was hoping the game would be as competitive as the previous two for Canada. It wasn't, but it was still great to see Canada win the gold again. I wonder if they will be able to win 6?

[SeanDMan]

Meaning that, in any given season, there is no guarantee that the best player in the draft will go to the team that needs him most. Meaning that there is nothing to stop the best team getting the best player, or maybe the best two or three if they have multiple picks. Meaning that that is a very stupid idea.

It forces teams to draft more intelligently and try to do the best they can during the season.

No, a day late, it's just a very stupid idea. I'd be open to expanding the lottery, but to every team? Could you imagine the cries foul if Sidney Crosby had wound up on the New York Rangers? If Alexander Ovechkin had drafted first overall by the New Jersey Devils? Dumb idea. The draft is meant to be one of the ways to create parity. The bad teams get the best players, the best teams have to wait and take what's left. It's a formula that works for the most part. If you eastern Canadian teams would stop tanking we wouldn't have such a problem.

[IAceI]

Oh come on.

Esposito takes out their goalie, no penalty - then he scores seconds later.

Then an elbowing penalty called, as they take the goalie off for the extra attacker he's just mown down in open ice. But that'd surely mean a 5 on 3 right? So that can't happen - penalty for roughing on the goalie... erm...

I mean - I wanted Canada to win nearly as much as you Canadians but... come on... some of that was just bull.

[SeanDMan]

Home field advantage, sadly.

[IAceI]

Well yeah, I pretty much had it down to that. Canada are the better team anyways, but I guess it doesn't help the other teams cause when there are 20,000 angry Canadians screaming and shouting. The referee's aren't going to rock the boat too much in that environment.

[SeanDMan]

It's not nesscessarily just that, though that doesn't help. You're looking at for the most part Canadian junior born and bred officials. Whereas if you watch a World Championship or Spengler Cup game, it's mostly reffed to a standard more in line with SEL or SM-Liiga games, the refs at the world juniors call things that are penalties only in the world juniors. Clean hits are called boarding and charging all the time because the guy made too much noise hitting the boards. Similar bullshit occurs with a lot of frequency. It also tends to follow the certain prejudice that all Canadian/American atheletes are paragons of manliness and testosterone and that if a European takes one down, it had to be a cheapshot, but if a Canadian player hits some poor Austrian with a forearm shiver that would give Scott Stevens a raging and erupting erection, he was just finishing his check. The reffing standards for international hockey are bad all over the place, but, in my opinion, nowhere are they worse than the world juniors.

[Toe]

....but if a Canadian player hits some poor Austrian with a forearm shiver that would give Scott Stevens a raging and erupting erection, he was just finishing his check.

Mmmm. Scott Stevens.

Tonight, Toronto takes on Florida. This will be Luke Schenn's first game back from injury, and Bryan McCabe's first game in the ACC since being traded. I thought Toskala had poor game and got really lucky that Ottawa could not finish. Let's see if he can bounce back.

[Gabriel]

Sean, for reference... I'm from Alberta, having spent most of my life in BC. Born and bred Flames fan. I enjoy the Leafs, because they've been an entertaining team to watch, but they're not my team.

Like I said, I had an idea, tossed it out, and it was responded to unfavorably with reasoning that convinced me it was a shit idea. I just see some things that could become issues, and I start thinking about how to fix it. Obviously that wouldn't fix the potential issue, but it sparked discussion.

With the Juniors... if you watch the replay, Markstrom, as much as I love the guy as a goaltender, clearly gets his arms up for a bodycheck on Della Rovere. Neither guy made any attempt at getting out of the way, and that's why they were both penalized. I don't think that's bad officiating at all.

In regard to the penalties, calling things that aren't usually calls and such... the North American players have to adjust just as much as the Europeans do. How many interference or cross checking calls did we see during the tournament, on Canada, where in Major Junior, play would have just continued? A lot.

Story of the tournament though has got to be Slovakia... so much fun to watch them play, and the Canadian fans damn near adopted them. It was great to see.

What's the deal with Brian Burke? When he started, he said he was going to start wheeling and dealing as soon as the Roster Freeze ended. Here we are now, into January, and all I've heard is that he's talked to Kaberle, and that the Blue Jackets might be interested in a couple of players.