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Great win by the Hawks tonight. Crawford made some great saves.

 

 

The Hawks definitely did a good job of taking advantage of the Blues on the second leg of the back to back. You could tell for those first 10 minutes or so that the Hawks had way fresher legs.

 

Elliot also let in two soft goals (I'm not going to complain about the penalty calls because both teams scored PP goals on questionable penalties). Of course if he hadn't come up big on those early odd man rushes the Hawks would have won in a blowout.

 

Crawford looked really good but he wasn't really challenged all that much. Most of the Blues shots weren't high quality. What he did extremely well was limit the rebound chances.

 

Still, if that game went 5 or 10 minutes longer the Blues were going to tie it. I'm not saying that just because of the last minute where the Blues almost scored with the goalie pulled. The Blues clearly out played the Hawks that last period and the Hawks only won because of the early jump they got on the tired legs of the Blues.

 

Once the Blues got their legs under them and got their heads in the game they stopped giving up all those odd man rushes and controlled the majority of the game. They just couldn't beat Crawford.

 

Chicago looks just like it did last season. They are an incredible quick strike team and are going to score a ton of goals on odd man rushes and shorthanded. However, they are going to struggle against teams that consistently get the puck deep and fore check well. Once the Blues actually started executing that game plan the Hawks didn't look very good at all.

 

Still, their skill and speed is going to let them take advantage of other teams mistakes (like last night) and they definitely could end up winning the West in the regular season. However, I don't think they will match up well enough with some of the teams that dump the puck deep and fore check like mad in the playoffs (LA, StL etc...) to win enough 7 game series to make it to the Finals.

Edited by bigbear.
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The Leafs looked very uninspired by the time the 3rd period rolled around last night, aside from being down 2-0. It seems they used all the drive and confidence distilled from last Saturday in Montreal in their PP pushes in the first, but Miller stood tall. There was one promising sign, and that's Nazem Kadri. He's scored the Leafs' opening goal in both games, and has a much more noticeable presence on the ice than last time we saw him suit up. The off-season seems to have been good to him playing for the AHL Toronto Marlies. We'll see if this trend continues into Pittsburgh Wednesday night.

 

Also, Toronto seemed to be shooting every but at the net during the Buffalo game, and the late goal was a fluke. The Maple Laughs didn't exactly have a ton to be motivated about by the time they actually got on the board in that game.

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3) We need to have our key guys play big the playoffs and not disapper as usual

 

 

*cough* Luongo *cough*

 

*cough* the Sedins *cough*

 

The Sedins have done alright the last few postseasons, playing near or at their normal regular season point per game production. However, they just don't play the type of game that tends to be successful in the playoffs.

 

Vancouver just seems like the type of team that, until major changes are made, will consistently kick ass in the regular season and fail in the playoffs.

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Alright, this is the year I will try to become a better hockey fan.

 

Starting out good, Carolina win 6-3 :)

 

 

Your hockey skills are weak young padawan. Let me train you in the ways of Puck-Fu!

 

Side Note: Tarasenko scores. Again. I love this kid. Its not so much that the rookie has 4 goals and 2 assists in 4 games...Its that he constantly seems to make the smartest play available to him when he has the puck and he always seems to be in the right place when he doesn't.

 

I know, I know. Its still early. Teams will figure him and shut him down. Blah, blah, blah. STFU! Tarasenko rules!

Edited by bigbear.
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Alright, this is the year I will try to become a better hockey fan.

 

Starting out good, Carolina win 6-3 :)

Good thing for you that Buffalo's back up netminder is looking completely out of form. Two losses in a row to fucking Carolina is inexcusable. At least it wasn't Buffalo's fault tonight. For whatever reason they couldn't solve Dan fucking Ellis, who played in the AHL in the offseason and was only one win over .500 there. I think it's time to oust Lindy Ruff.

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Good thing for you that Buffalo's back up netminder is looking completely out of form. Two losses in a row to fucking Carolina is inexcusable. At least it wasn't Buffalo's fault tonight. For whatever reason they couldn't solve Dan fucking Ellis, who played in the AHL in the offseason and was only one win over .500 there. I think it's time to oust Lindy Ruff.

 

My hockey skills are very weak. So I actually dont even know who is good, but I am assuming Carolina isnt the best? Somebody needs to give me a hockey 411 because I am trying to get really into hockey. I love watching it, I just dont know much about it.

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My hockey skills are very weak. So I actually dont even know who is good, but I am assuming Carolina isnt the best? Somebody needs to give me a hockey 411 because I am trying to get really into hockey. I love watching it, I just dont know much about it.

 

I'm going to demonstrate the dangers of predicting the lockout shortened season with some examples:

 

Here are CBSsports' current NHL power rankings:

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/story/21621145/nhl-power-rankings-blackhawks-meet-sharks-exceed-expectations

 

notice how the Hurricanes jumped up from 25 to 11 in one week.

 

 

Here is ESPN's preseason power rankings (not exactly my favorite list but meh):

 

http://espn.go.com/nhl/powerrankings/_/season/2013/week/1

 

They have Carolina starting at 13 (and Buffalo at 22).

 

 

Here are TSN's power rankings:

 

http://www.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/rankings/nhl/

 

 

 

Notice the extreme differences between all 3...

 

Honestly, this season is really tough to gauge for a lot of reasons. I mean, look at the Wild last season. After about 48 games I think they were among the league leaders in points. They ended up not even making the playoffs after 82 games. Different teams are going to have different advantages over a shortened season and they may not necessarily actually be the best teams in the league.

 

Strange things are going to happen this season. We can be pretty sure of the top 10 or so teams at the end but beyond that its going to be a incredibly close race for the last playoff spots in each conference.

 

I mean, we can probably count on a few teams (Columbus, maybe Florida) being terrible. But beyond that...There isn't all that much we can predict in a strange season like this.

 

A lot of whats going to determine how this season goes is how teams do on their second leg of back-to-backs and which teams take advantage of other teams that are on the 2nd leg.

 

So far just watching the Blues games I have formulated a few opinions about the opponents they have faced so far. However, its still an incredibly small sample size:

 

Detroit: With Lidstrom, Rafalski and Stuart all gone they are going to struggle being consistent on defense. The offense has a chance to make up for this but they are going to struggle big time against balanced teams. They looked horrible against the Blues but I've kept an eye on them since and they show signs of adapting in the post Lidstrom era.

 

Nashville: Going to be tough at home and whenever Rinne is in the net. However, they aren't as good as last season and will probably finish around 6th or 7th in the West. I'm not impressed with anyone they have on offense and losing Suter really hurt them. However, they still have Weber and they still have Rinne. I think that their results against the Blues have been very indicative of how their season will go: A 2-2 game at home they lost in a shootout and a 3-0 game they got dominated in on the road. Nashville will feast at home and struggle on the road.

 

Chicago: Really talented. Amazing on the counter attack. Good PP and solid PK (watch for them to be among the league leaders in SH goals again this year). They are going to put up a very large point total. However, I don't think their style of game is suited for the playoffs. I think they will be out after the 1st or 2nd round depending on match-ups. The Hawks took advantage of uncharacteristic mistakes by the Blues to get a lead. Then got absolutely dominated by the Blues when they executed their game plan (get the puck deep, hem them in with the fore-check). Chicago was lucky to hang on and win that game. If the Blues weren't on the second leg of a back-to-back the Hawks may not have ever gotten a lead.

 

Dallas: I saw them missing a few players (Jagr, etc.). They looked improved from last season but not particularly impressive. For some reason their coach played a rookie swedish goalie that didn't look all that impressive (and got hurt) instead of Lehtonen who has dominated the Blues over his career. It had nothing to do with back-to-back games either. That is shitty coaching. I don't care how much you like your new guy. Go with the guy that clearly has the other teams number and also happens to be one of the better goalies in the league...There were other moments where their coaching was noticeably bad in that game as well. That could drag them down in a shortened season.

 

Minnesota: I really liked what I saw out of the Wild. Honestly, the game was close more because of the Blues losing focusing and getting sloppy then because the Wild are on the same level. If the Blues weren't on the second leg of a back-to-back they might have crushed the Wild in that game. However, Parise looked awesome and he seems to have improved Heatley. Suter doesn't look as good without Shea Weber in the same lineup but I think he will improve as the season goes along. I don't think the Wild are a serious contender yet but they are definitely a team that will improve as the season goes along.

Edited by bigbear.
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I honestly don't all that much about the Eastern Conference so someone else would probably be best suited to answer that.

 

I saw that it would be the Florida Panthers because there has been more fights with them than any other team. But that just doesnt seem like a good reason to make them an official rival.

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I saw that it would be the Florida Panthers because there has been more fights with them than any other team. But that just doesnt seem like a good reason to make them an official rival.

 

Well that game was heartbreaking.

 

The thing about the 'Canes is that any kind of rivalries they could have had were interrupted by the move from Hartford (I'm assuming you know they used to be the Hartford Whalers). Back when they were in Hartford I think they used to have decent rivalries with the Bruins, Islanders and some of the other NE teams.

 

However, after the move to Carolina they missed the playoffs 3 out of their first 4 seasons and the only truly close teams geographically were recent expansion teams in the Lightening, Panthers and Thrashers (until they moved to Winnipeg and become the 2nd Jets franchise).

 

So they don't have that natural multi-sport, geographic rivalry that say Pittsburgh and Philly or St. Louis and Chicago have. And they don't really have a competitive rivalry like say the one building between St. Louis and Nashville (which has been truly awesome the last few years) or with St. Louis and Detroit (truly awesome since the early '90s).

 

 

As far as last nights game...I was watching NHL Live on the NHL Network before the game and was thinking about sticking around to watch it. I decided playing ACIII sounded more interesting :p Don't be to upset. The Bruins are still one of the top teams in the league. You can expect to lose like that to teams like Boston once in awhile even if you're a pretty solid team.

 

With the Staal brothers and Semin forming a nice nucleus the 'Canes could be pretty good, pretty quickly if they make some smart moves in filling the lineup around those guys.

Edited by bigbear.
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The thing about the 'Canes is that any kind of rivalries they could have had were interrupted by the move from Hartford (I'm assuming you know they used to be the Hartford Whalers). Back when they were in Hartford I think they used to have decent rivalries with the Bruins, Islanders and some of the other NE teams.

 

However, after the move to Carolina they missed the playoffs 3 out of their first 4 seasons and the only truly close teams geographically were recent expansion teams in the Lightening, Panthers and Thrashers (until they moved to Winnipeg and become the 2nd Jets franchise).

 

So they don't have that natural multi-sport, geographic rivalry that say Pittsburgh and Philly or St. Louis and Chicago have. And they don't really have a competitive rivalry like say the one building between St. Louis and Nashville (which has been truly awesome the last few years) or with St. Louis and Detroit (truly awesome since the early '90s).

 

 

As far as last nights game...I was watching NHL Live on the NHL Network before the game and was thinking about sticking around to watch it. I decided playing ACIII sounded more interesting :p Don't be to upset. The Bruins are still one of the top teams in the league. You can expect to lose like that to teams like Boston once in awhile even if you're a pretty solid team.

 

With the Staal brothers and Semin forming a nice nucleus the 'Canes could be pretty good, pretty quickly if they make some smart moves in filling the lineup around those guys.

 

 

Yeah I was pretty into last night game lol. I knew the Bruins are known for being good, so I was expecting a loss. But it was 3-3 with about 2 minutes left and they scored and we couldn't come back to win, and then they scored again on the open goal. Great game though, fun one to watch, disappointing loss t the end though. According to the schedule though, now the Canes wont play again till the end of February..seems like pretty big gap and I do not like that...:mad:

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Yeah I was pretty into last night game lol. I knew the Bruins are known for being good, so I was expecting a loss. But it was 3-3 with about 2 minutes left and they scored and we couldn't come back to win, and then they scored again on the open goal. Great game though, fun one to watch, disappointing loss t the end though. According to the schedule though, now the Canes wont play again till the end of February..seems like pretty big gap and I do not like that...:mad:

 

Ummm...I think you are reading the schedule wrong unless you meant to say the beginning of Feb. and not the end. With the condensed schedules you are pretty much guaranteed 3 games a week and often 4.

 

Canes are my dark horse out of the east. So much talent on that roster.

 

I don't know...I'm not overly impressed with the defense or their goalies. Also, I feel like they don't have much depth beyond the first two lines. All of those could be huge factors in the condensed schedule.

 

Part of the Blues success so far is that their 3rd and 4th liners are getting massive amount of ice time (10+ mins) and there is no drop-off in production when they are on the ice. Not only that but they've been able to rotate 2 or 3 guys in and out of the lineup with no drop-off. That allows the top to lines to rest more keeping them fresher for the grind this season is going to be.

Edited by bigbear.
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Ummm...I think you are reading the schedule wrong unless you meant to say the beginning of Feb. and not the end. With the condensed schedules you are pretty much guaranteed 3 games a week and often 4.

 

Hmm yeah you are right, looking at it on my phone, the THN Canes app, Next game is the Penguins on Feb. 28th. But I looked on there website. It is February first against the Senators. I guess that app's Calender is wrong. Well that cheers me up a little bit. I have a LONG ways to go if I wanna become as big of a Hockey fan as I am a football fan LOL. :p

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Hmm yeah you are right, looking at it on my phone, the THN Canes app, Next game is the Penguins on Feb. 28th. But I looked on there website. It is February first against the Senators. I guess that app's Calender is wrong. Well that cheers me up a little bit. I have a LONG ways to go if I wanna become as big of a Hockey fan as I am a football fan LOL. :p

 

 

In a lot of ways football is easier to follow then hockey (or baseball). The week long break between games, the shorter schedule, the massive overload of media coverage...They all help keep people constantly up-to-date with whats going on in the NFL.

 

Keeping up with hockey and baseball can be a little bit of a grind and when your team isn't doing well its easy to stop paying attention for a little while.

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In a lot of ways football is easier to follow then hockey (or baseball). The week long break between games, the shorter schedule, the massive overload of media coverage...They all help keep people constantly up-to-date with whats going on in the NFL.

 

Keeping up with hockey and baseball can be a little bit of a grind and when your team isn't doing well its easy to stop paying attention for a little while.

 

Well I do really enjoy watching the sport. To be honest, I dont even know all of the rules, and the only player I know is Jeff Skinner. Me and a buddy of mine who go to Panthers games together, are planning on investing in some tickets for a bunch of games next year if we stay interested this year (He is also pretty new to hockey). Not season tickets or anything crazy, I mean I live in Charlotte and the Canes are in Raleigh, but probably just to a few games we will wanna see. And the NFL is WAY easier to follow, I mean games are played Sundays, everybody has played the same amount of games, etc. Hockey is kinda all over the place. Still a great sport though.

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Well I do really enjoy watching the sport. To be honest, I dont even know all of the rules, and the only player I know is Jeff Skinner. Me and a buddy of mine who go to Panthers games together, are planning on investing in some tickets for a bunch of games next year if we stay interested this year (He is also pretty new to hockey). Not season tickets or anything crazy, I mean I live in Charlotte and the Canes are in Raleigh, but probably just to a few games we will wanna see. And the NFL is WAY easier to follow, I mean games are played Sundays, everybody has played the same amount of games, etc. Hockey is kinda all over the place. Still a great sport though.

 

If you haven't seen a game in person yet you are in for a treat. It is so different and so much better in person.

 

The more you watch the more you will pick up on the rules. Its like football in that there are just some blatantly illegal things and then some more subtle things (interference) that can be a little hard to grasp for the uninitiated.

 

My team is the worst in the NHL We lost 1-7 last game and know we are losing 1-4...

 

Florida fan? Yeah, them and Columbus are a couple of the teams that I just don't think have a chance this season.

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If you haven't seen a game in person yet you are in for a treat. It is so different and so much better in person.

 

 

I went to a few games in 2006 with my dad. Hardly remember it though, but that was the year that Carolina won the Stanley Cup. Only watched a couple of games since then just casually. And I have been to a few Charlotte Checkers games a long time ago. But for the most part, it'll be practically my first one where I actually know whats going on (Well, kinda :p). I get really into games though (You should see me at Panthers games, I am hardly ever sitting, and always screaming :p. Plus I sit in an awesome section.) so I expect itll be fun, especially with my friend Cory.

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I went to a few games in 2006 with my dad. Hardly remember it though, but that was the year that Carolina won the Stanley Cup. Only watched a couple of games since then just casually. And I have been to a few Charlotte Checkers games a long time ago. But for the most part, it'll be practically my first one where I actually know whats going on (Well, kinda :p). I get really into games though (You should see me at Panthers games, I am hardly ever sitting, and always screaming :p. Plus I sit in an awesome section.) so I expect itll be fun, especially with my friend Cory.

 

 

Standing up isn't exactly great etiquette at hockey games (except on goals and other special situations). Of course that might just be in St. Louis. It wasn't all that long ago here that people used to go to games in suit and tie. Like back in the day when going to baseball games was a dress up affair.

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Standing up isn't exactly great etiquette at hockey games (except on goals and other special situations). Of course that might just be in St. Louis. It wasn't all that long ago here that people used to go to games in suit and tie. Like back in the day when going to baseball games was a dress up affair.

 

Well that doesnt sound fun! How can I be into a game and be sitting at the same time? I hardly even do that at home, unless the game sucks, but I guess thats for football.

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