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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 19:49:04 GMT -5
They do, yes Wayne has part-owned the team for a while, but now he's coaching. He forced Hull into retirement by benching him ;D Ok, that isn't exactly how it happened.
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Post by anna on Nov 1, 2005 19:51:55 GMT -5
The Coyotes jerseys are really ugly, too.
At least the Sabres had decent uniforms. But, they're still wrong for ditching the blue and gold.
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 19:52:45 GMT -5
Nashville has the ugliest jersey's, I think.
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Post by anna on Nov 1, 2005 19:56:13 GMT -5
I have to concur with that.
Mixing silver and mustard yellow in a modern design... that just won't work!
Also, some consideration for the Bruins 3rd jersey. The bear on there is so huggable. You need a mean animal on there! Like the Buffalo EVIL WHITE GOAT~!!
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 20:03:28 GMT -5
lol @ huggable jersey's. Penguins aren't exactly intimidating either. That said, I sort of like their black Jersey's. I'm listening to the Penguins on the radio. No score yet Speaking of whom, the Pens are thinking of trading Marc Andre Fluery, who they selected first in the draft a couple of years ago to fill their need for a franchise goalie - and whom is developing just fine and would probably be nhl ready if not for the fact that the Pens have no D. If they do this
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Post by Brinyi on Nov 1, 2005 20:17:11 GMT -5
The New NHL is an improvement, but hockey still blows.
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 20:36:46 GMT -5
Quit peeing in the hockey thread ;D
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Post by RogiFan on Nov 1, 2005 20:50:32 GMT -5
Hey, hockey fans, guess where I was on Hallowe'en night??? Leafs game? Do you know my first hockey game, live or on TV was on Halloween night. So, Lee, how was your game? Our friends get tickets so we went w them altho the pairs were in different sections [GOLD vs. GREY!]. So we alternated every period. I was in the GOLD section first so, this being my first live hockey game at the ACC, it was all new to me. So much going on, fr lights flashing, to ads blinking, people milling about, eating, drinking, blabbing, wearing costumes, you know, that sort of thing. The ice sure looked good!! ;D Had to quickly check the Leafs and Panthers sites to find out who was on each team... duh! The only guy we recognized on the FLA team was Joe Nieuwendyk [sp?] but of course he was not playing last night! I loved the organist playing SCARY music for Hallowe'en w decorations all over the place. Then we stood for the anthem sung by I don't know who... some woman. Love the way they illuminate the respective flag for the anthem... ha ha, big applause for the Canadian flag. Wonder if there were any Floridians... or Panther fans [up here at this time of year?]. Anyway, I sure had to keep my eyes on the puck -- it's so fast and you have to crane your neck to follow it... but of course those wily Panthers had to score immediately, that Roberts guy... in 26 seconds!!! But fortunately, our guys came through, evening out the score 1-1 a few mins later -- Darcy Tucker [even I know who he is... ]. That was fun! I have to say the Panthers looked a lot sharper and more in control than the Leafs for most of the game... if I do say so myself, being the hockey expert... ahem. Second period I went up to the cheap seats [yeah, cheap at $82]... a lot hotter up there [more hot air too] and it wasn't as exciting as nothing really happened in that period. So back down to try and sit in some empty seats near our friends after hanging around watching the screen for about 10 mns. So we snuck in and spent the rest of the game in the GOLD. The goalies did a good job of deflecting those almost-goals, esp EDDIE EDDIE EDDIE Belfour! I believe he had about 30 saves! So glad that Alexei Ponikarovsky [never heard of him] got that lucky 2nd goal to prevent the O/T!! So all in all, it was good fun -- a great way to forget boring work [what work?] for awhile and get out of handing out candy to overgrown trick-or-treaters! Those concessions must make a fortune... interesting to see just who does go to hockey games. Are all the GOLD seats corporate tickets?? Or do people actually PAY that much for them for the season? I mean, $180 per ticket?? And I think tennis is expensive. I've yet to go to a soccer match altho I see similarities w hockey [in a v general sense] but I think hockey is far more exciting. No blood but at least we got a few fights, esp at the end. Some penalties... silly fun stuff like costume contest , Carlton the bear throwing out T-shirts... rousing music... junk like that.
Can you imagine all that for a tennis tourney???
[Maybe next time we'll get to see a Raptors game.]
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 20:55:25 GMT -5
Glad you had a great time, RF! Crosby just scored for the Pens ;D
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Post by anna on Nov 1, 2005 20:56:47 GMT -5
lol @ huggable jersey's. Penguins aren't exactly intimidating either. That said, I sort of like their black Jersey's. I'm listening to the Penguins on the radio. No score yet Speaking of whom, the Pens are thinking of trading Marc Andre Fluery, who they selected first in the draft a couple of years ago to fill their need for a franchise goalie - and whom is developing just fine and would probably be nhl ready if not for the fact that the Pens have no D. If they do this Why do you like the Penguins now? Crosby? I haven't watched a game all year... so, I have no idea what's going on. I used to be a big hockey fan, though.
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 20:58:58 GMT -5
Why do you like the Penguins now? Crosby? And Lemieux. And Fluery - although Fluery is in the AHL for the time being, still developing. They're awful and I stuck with them so far, so I'm not just bandwagonning ;D They have a good prospect in the Russian Malkin, but he won't play NHL until next year. For now he's leading the Russian Superleague in points, I believe. That or he's second. Of course you used to be a big hockey fan. With the Sabres locally, what's not to love?
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Post by anna on Nov 1, 2005 21:03:14 GMT -5
I never liked the Sabres, though... only Hasek, because he was the best goalie ever for a few years there.
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 21:17:58 GMT -5
And he's good again this year! Too bad he's a Sen now.
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Post by anna on Nov 1, 2005 21:19:41 GMT -5
Meh... just a matter of time before he's injured again. Dominator ain't a spring chicken anymore... he was already quite old when he was in Buffalo... he has to be at least low 40's now.
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 21:32:30 GMT -5
I think that he turned 40 this year, but that's just off the top of my head. Toronto has Belfour, so I'm used to ancient goalies ;D
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 1, 2005 22:07:55 GMT -5
Pens blew a 2 goal lead in the third and finally won in overtime. Crosby's earlier goal was changed to an assist. They won though, so it's all good ;D I'd like to see Crosby score more, but that will come.
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Post by Lee on Nov 2, 2005 0:21:16 GMT -5
So, Lee, how was your game? That's my first ever hockey game. You can do a good guess. Most of the time, we had absolutely no idea where the puck was. We didn't know the icing rules and was really confused when the puck was stopped and moved all the way to the other side of the rink. We didn't know about penalty, power play or short handed. We were like total idiot there. The good thing was, we had the best seats in the arena (other than luxury boxes). About 10 rows above players benches. In other words, those seats were mostly owned by corporates which gave tickets to people who usually knew nothing about hockey ;D The only thing I knew was Flames won. That's the best season ever for Flames 1988-89 when they won Stanley Cup. The tickets were from hubby's boss. He had season tickets to CFL and NHL in Calgary. When he could not go, he gave tickets to his employees. Once, we were in a hockey game and there were about 10 people sitting behind us. They never paid any attention to the game but talked about business for 3 hours. I also sat in the cheapest seats like 1000 ft from the rink. Those are group seats and you had to buy 20 minimum but you could buy them before game day (other non-season ticket went on sale game day in first come first serve base) and they were only $8 but that's 17 years ago when Nieuwendyk was in his sophomore year and Theo Fluery a rookie. Why he's not playing? you know Nieuwendyk but not Roberts? For the cheap seats in Saddledome, Flames home, the atmosphere was a lot better than near the rink (yes a lot hotter too but that's Calgary, nobody cares) The problem was, all those cheering, the sound would not reach the rink I think it's cheaper if you buy the whole package.
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Post by Lee on Nov 2, 2005 0:24:20 GMT -5
And Rogifan, I can see you enjoy your first live NHL games. When I was working in Calgary, my company was a VAR (value added remarketer) of IBM. Whenever they had business in Toronto, if they hitched on the right salesman, they could get tickets to the Leafs game as IBM had many corporate tickets.
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Post by Lee on Nov 2, 2005 0:25:50 GMT -5
Flames bagel Wilds 2 goals for Iggy and shutout for Kiprusoff
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Post by Vera on Nov 2, 2005 1:43:36 GMT -5
Speaking of whom, the Pens are thinking of trading Marc Andre Fluery, Really? Hey, we can do with a new goalie, we just lost ours. With the newly improved NHL, comes the newly imposed stupid rule preventing the farm team players who got paid more than 75K to come to the big league , what rule is that . Anyway, so we are short a backup goalie now that our backup becomes #1. And we aren't allow to get our #1 goalie from our farm team to take up the empty space on the bench, what a load of crap that is. I still remember last season, that's a game that we ran short of goalie and our farm team was on the road that we didn't have enough time to get a backup from the minor league, a goalie from UBC team was invited to seat in a real game as a backup. The poor guy was probably scared to death the whole game worried that he might actually have to play. But it's worth his while since he was interviewed by everyone afterward. Anyway, back to topic, I think Fleury is pretty good. Maybe he will be better off going to some other team who will give him a chance to build some experience in the major, instead of keeping him in the minor.
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Post by Vera on Nov 2, 2005 1:49:14 GMT -5
Hey RF, glad you enjoy the game. Roberts was a leaf just last year, but I take that you don't know him. Sadly, I won't be watching any live hockey game this year, not the NHL one anyway. Yeah, Pens won their 2nd. Yeah, Wild lost another one, hope their losing streak continues .
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Post by Brinyi on Nov 3, 2005 12:12:58 GMT -5
Quit peeing in the hockey thread ;D On a positive note, it doesn't blow as hard as golf. ;D
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 3, 2005 23:00:32 GMT -5
Bing's first two goal game ;D Woot. He picks up an assist as well. Recent AHL call-ups Whitney and Christensen are doing some good stuff too. Pens win 5-1
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 3, 2005 23:01:39 GMT -5
Bing won the NHL's "rookie of the month" honours, btw. Fairly meaningless award, but nice none the less. There is quite the piss-fest going on over on the hockey boards that I read about this.
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Post by anna on Nov 3, 2005 23:47:32 GMT -5
The Pens have won 2 straight! Becky, it's probably time to find another young hockey team that you can be the first to love.
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 4, 2005 0:04:06 GMT -5
I'm only on the Pens wagon because they have Crosby and Fluery. I can't go elsewhere, I'm afraid
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Post by The Chloe on Nov 4, 2005 0:04:45 GMT -5
The Pens are actually pretty popular ... and unpopular... on the hockey boards because of Crosby.
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Post by Vera on Nov 5, 2005 14:50:38 GMT -5
League set record attendance for October
WASHINGTON -- The National Hockey League enjoyed record October attendances with an average 16,820 fans per game as crowds rose more than 4 percent from the 2003-04 season, commissioner Gary Bettman said on Friday.
While the league suffered a season-long work stoppage a year ago, 23 of the league's 30 clubs have matched or are ahead of their 2003-04 attendances, Bettman said.
"The cynics were predicting that by taking a year off, which obviously is something nobody wanted to do, we would have destroyed our following and our fans would never come back," Bettman told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
"But hockey fans tend to be the most passionate, most connected, most knowledgeable about the sport, and our fans were telling us they wanted it fixed and they were being supportive of us during the entire process. Not only were the prognosticators wrong that we were going to be damaged, we've actually come back even stronger, which is a testament to the game and a testament to our fans," he said.
Last month's attendance eclipsed the previous record of 16,397 set during October in the 1999-2000 campaign.
"Like all fans, we're thrilled that we're back and that the game is doing as well on the ice in terms of entertainment, excitement, speed and skill," Bettman said. "And that our fans have been receptive."
Following last year's labor strife, the league slashed payrolls, implemented a new revenue-sharing system and tinkered with the game's rules to allow more scoring.
An average of 6.4 goals are now being scored per game, up from five during the last NHL season.
Some teams' attendances have skyrocketed, like the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are enjoying a 28 percent increase over the 2003-04 season to an average of 20,615.
"We don't take anything for granted," Bettman said. "Nobody's patting themselves on the back. What it's doing is vindicating our belief in the strength of our game and the passion and loyalty of our great fans."
Other clubs, however, have stumbled at the gate. The Washington Capitals are averaging 12,313, down 11 percent.
"I think as we start to come out of the lockout and fans start to fall back in love with the new players, we'll capture that back," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis told Reuters. "My hope is within a few years we'll be right back to where we were.
"The league is in such better shape economically; it really put us in great shape too. Someone was joking last night when they said to me, 'Gee, you got beat pretty bad last night, 8-1, in Philadelphia.' I told them, 'Last year with a $50 million team, we got beat 8-2.' So our payroll is down way more than our ticket sales are. And now with revenue sharing, this is our best year ever financially," Leonsis said.
Bettman believes the new rules are only partially responsible for the overall attendance spike.
"It's the rule changes coupled with the new economic system which has given us better competitive balance," he said. "As you saw over the summer, there was a redistribution of talent so that now every team feels on any given night it has a chance.
"We are only about 20 percent through the season but we like what we're seeing," he said.
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Post by Vera on Nov 5, 2005 14:55:19 GMT -5
Hey, who would have thought lockout is really a blessing in disguise . On the opening night when all 30 teams played, they said 11 out of that 15 games are soldout, and several arena actually have overcapacity. I thought that was a good sign then. Long live NHL ;D.
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Post by anna on Nov 5, 2005 19:18:41 GMT -5
Isn't the NHL averaging like 3,000 in some arenas though? Plus, they're getting killed on TV now... since OLN isn't available on Dish.
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