Post #121,451
10/16/03 12:26:01 PM
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Another hockey season has started...
...and it's status quo for the Leafs. The old guys are getting hurt. The team is taking stupid penalties. (Would someone PLEASE waive Belak!!!! Or at least have him warming a press box seat.) The offence isn't clicking and the defence doesn't seem to know how to play it. The only bright spots have been the two rookies, Stajan and the Russian defenceman Ksomethingorother. When you look at this team on paper, other than the shakey defence, it's looks as good as any of the top teams. When healthy they should be popping goals like nobody's business.
I'm getting the sense of another mid-round playoff spot where they're going to get another tough team like the Flyers last year, various bodies are going to be aching and it'll be another first round exit.
At least the promise of most Leaf home games in HD will keep me interested...
lister
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Post #121,464
10/16/03 1:58:19 PM
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Re: Another hockey season has started...
Yep, and I could hardly wait!
My favorite player, Mario Lemieux has been re-building the Pittsburgh Penguins, and although they lost their first game, they tied the Philadelphia Flyers, no less, on their second! They play tonight, their third, and I can't wait!
However, my second favorite newly adopted team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, well, they aren't doing as well... I was so hoping they weren't a flash in the pan last season, but I guess we'll see.
Not sure how the Blues are doing yet, haven't heard a lot of hype on it so far.
Enjoy your Leaf games, Lister!
Nightowl >8#
"I learned to be the door, instead of the mat!" "illegitimi nil carborundum"
Comment by Nightowl
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Post #121,494
10/16/03 3:49:59 PM
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Oh geez, pick two teams that aren't going anywhere...
With Pittsburgh you're watching an AHL team. This is one of the teams that desperately needs a hard $30-$40M salary cap. Mario is done this season too. You're not going to have much to cheer about for the foreseeable future...
Anaheim...I just don't know. Yeah they've replaced Kariya with Federov but Kariya still has more upside now than Federov. Plus it all depends on Deguerre if he pulls a Jose Theodore this year and disappears. A repeat berth into the Cup final this year? Doubt it. I've never understood Disney's thinking behind having this team. They have all the money in the world and yet don't really use it. They got the team largely for marketing purposes but if you won't pony up the cash ala the Wings or Avs to win a Cup, what's the point of having the team? I just don't know.
lister
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Post #121,502
10/16/03 4:20:48 PM
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Re: Oh geez, pick two teams that aren't going anywhere...
With Pittsburgh you're watching an AHL team. This is one of the teams that desperately needs a hard $30-$40M salary cap. Mario is done this season too. You're not going to have much to cheer about for the foreseeable future... Hehehe, well that's ok. I've admired and followed Mario for a LONG time, since the 80's, and I don't mind as long as I get to see him play sometimes. Don't get to often, cause I don't have cable, but sometimes we go to this local bar and they give me a TV. :) I listen on the internet though. And our new goalie is REALLY hot, he was amazing in his first game, even though we lost. Anaheim...I just don't know. Yeah they've replaced Kariya with Federov but Kariya still has more upside now than Federov. Plus it all depends on Deguerre if he pulls a Jose Theodore this year and disappears. A repeat berth into the Cup final this year? Doubt it. I've never understood Disney's thinking behind having this team. They have all the money in the world and yet don't really use it. They got the team largely for marketing purposes but if you won't pony up the cash ala the Wings or Avs to win a Cup, what's the point of having the team? I just don't know. I don't get it either, Disney has lots of money right? They could build a great team. And Giguerre is pretty good, I don't think he'll disappear, but I guess we'll see. I'm still waiting to see if the Blues have improved any. hehee They are my fourth favorite team, believe it or not. My third is the San Jose Sharks. ;) Nightowl >8# "I learned to be the door, instead of the mat!" "illegitimi nil carborundum"
Comment by Nightowl
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Post #121,468
10/16/03 2:16:12 PM
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Mats wasn't skating at the Joe.
During the pre-season game I took my kids to. It was a great game as I posted earlier. You're beginning to sound like Barry on ESPN. The year they went to the Conference Finals w/Cujo I remember Barry saying "The Leafs are not a play-off team" at the beginning of the season. During the playoffs he was on an online chat. I must have typed, "Hey Barry, I thought the Leafs weren't a playoff team. What say you now?" about 100 times. Never got a response.
They'll bang through. Eddie looks very good in goal. You and I both know we really need another Kaberle or two, but I'd still say we can make it to the dance with the ones that brung us. ;-)
bcnu,
Mikem
The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.
- Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
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Post #121,477
10/16/03 2:36:32 PM
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Re: Mats wasn't skating at the Joe.
They'll bang through. Eddie looks very good in goal. You and I both know we really need another Kaberle or two, but I'd still say we can make it to the dance with the ones that brung us. ;-) Eddie? Do you mean Eddie Belfour? Is he on the Leafs now? He's an AWESOME goalie! I watched him play for the Blackhawks a long time. Nightowl >8# "I learned to be the door, instead of the mat!" "illegitimi nil carborundum"
Comment by Nightowl
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Post #121,496
10/16/03 4:04:49 PM
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Eddie The Eagle
Yep. The Leafs signed him and letting Joseph walk to Detroit last year.
There are just certain players I can't stand. He's one of them. Chelios, Marchment and Claude Lemieux are some others.
lister
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Post #121,503
10/16/03 4:21:36 PM
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Re: Eddie The Eagle
Yep. The Leafs signed him and letting Joseph walk to Detroit last year. There are just certain players I can't stand. He's one of them. Chelios, Marchment and Claude Lemieux are some others. I relate, there are people I know who can't stand those players also. Eddie was good though, or at least used to be. But I understand there are people who can't stand him. Nightowl >8# "I learned to be the door, instead of the mat!" "illegitimi nil carborundum"
Comment by Nightowl
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Post #121,495
10/16/03 4:03:08 PM
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Hey now, careful with the slurs!
Geez, Barry Melrose, ouch, that hurts...
We need more than a Kaberle on defence. We need another solid defensive defenceman and a stud defenceman like Rob Blake. With regards to Kaberle we need him to play like he used to and to start SHOOTING THE PUCK MORE!!
I'm torn on Belfour. I've always hated him. I don't like his style, his demeanour or his wandering habits. He's also yet another year older. With a suspect defence I have a hard time believing he'll hold up over the season. The future may be good if Telquist pans out but that's still a mighty big if.
I really hate the thought of playing a defensive system to try to be more successful. I want an 80% return to the old run 'n gun hockey of the '80s Oilers. It was great to have the Leafs win back during the early '90s but most of those games under Burns were painful to sit through.
I do think the Buds will get into the playoffs but what shape will they be in by then? Tired and hurt. This would be an awesome team to watch if the older guys were in the prime of their careers again.
lister
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Post #121,616
10/17/03 6:20:41 AM
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zat Mikael Tellquist you're on about? Relax; he WILL pan out
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Post #121,670
10/17/03 11:39:11 AM
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Yep that's him...
...and it remains to be seen if he'll pan out. Much like defencemen goalies usually take longer to develop. Plus he's been having some fun adjusting to the North American game. It's good he's going to get work in the NHL while Trevor Kidd heals up. I do hope he does pan out. The Leafs haven't exactly developed very many goalies over the past 20 years. Felix Potvin was the last and while he's had his moments, he's no Roy, Brodeur, Joseph or *grumble*Hasek*grumble*.
lister
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Post #121,526
10/16/03 7:17:07 PM
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What's this BS with the unis? Dark at home? Huh???
-drl
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Post #121,555
10/16/03 9:07:06 PM
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Just to be a pain in the ass methinks
No, actually it's so the home team can wear their third jersey, thus spurring more jersey sales and so that the visiting team only needs to bring one jersey with them. It's going to take a bit of time to get used to.
lister
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Post #121,556
10/16/03 9:12:51 PM
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Sports is like Chopin
If you ruin the continuity, you ruin the music.
Hockey teams have been wearing home white since the Ice Age. To change it for whatever reason is just pointless and destructive of tradition.
Who MAKES these idiotic decisions?
-drl
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Post #121,560
10/16/03 10:05:37 PM
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Re: Sports is like Chopin
Bettman and the owners made the decision.
Actually while it has been home white, visitor darks for quite a while, it was apparently the reverse like now at the start for a long time until the switch to home whites. Don't know the reason for the switch.
CFL teams up here have darks for home games and I've never gotten used to it. I doubt I'll do the same for quite some time with hockey. Hard to shake something you've been used to all your life... :-)
lister
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Post #121,562
10/16/03 10:11:35 PM
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Hmm, musta changed in the 50s
If you image-google "Rocket Richard" he's mostly in red. If you image-google "Bernie Geoffrion" he's about half red and half white :)
My sort of bad. My film vault from the 50s is sketchy :)
-drl
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Post #121,565
10/16/03 10:15:43 PM
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nope - search sez 70-71 season
(..trying to imagine Bobby Orr's flying goal..guess he was in black..memory's fading, fading, fading..I was put into existence in 1959 and I'd like to sing you a song..Daisy, Daisy..)
-drl
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Post #121,579
10/16/03 11:35:14 PM
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As I said...
...been home whites my whole life. :-)
Wish I could have seen the magic of Bobby Orr but at least I was around for Gretzky and Lemieux, not to mention the high flying Oiler days.
lister
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Post #121,581
10/16/03 11:52:44 PM
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I missed almost all of Gretzky
When the Flames departed Atlanta in 1980, hockey coverage dropped to trace levels.
Then I moved to Denver in 1989, where there was little interest in NHL hockey (but a thriving fan base for the DU Pioneers) - and games on cable or network were rare.
So, from 1980 to 1996, I was essentially hockeyless, missing the entire Gretzky era :(
In the early 70s, NBC had a regular Saturday afternoon game, and that's where I got my first taste of hockey - so I do actually remember Bobby Orr playing. When we got the Flames in 1972, I was already a fan.
-drl
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Post #121,584
10/17/03 12:24:00 AM
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Re: As I said...
Wish I could have seen the magic of Bobby Orr but at least I was around for Gretzky and Lemieux, not to mention the high flying Oiler days. I followed Lemieux from about 1988 onward, and I thought he was just awesome. I followed him through all his comebacks, injuries, and retirement, and back to the team again as owner and then player, and I have 2 completely full 3 inch 3-ring notebooks on him. I wasn't big on Gretzky, don't know why, but I wasn't. And I still believe that had Mario kept playing all this time and at healthy strength, he would have beaten all of Wayne's records. :) Nightowl >8# "I learned to be the door, instead of the mat!" "illegitimi nil carborundum"
Comment by Nightowl
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Post #121,564
10/16/03 10:15:11 PM
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ICLRPD (new thread)
Created as new thread #121563 titled [link|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=121563|ICLRPD]
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