The NHL thread

[Youngblood]

Go Pens.

I've officially had the transition from angry year end to hopeful new season again and again Leaf fan...to the Pens.

Yea I know. Wesrman and likely a few others will call me a bandwagon jumper, but the truth is, the Leafs consistant bad management and bad trades and bad performance, in the richest market in Canada has sent me packing. I went shopping for a team, and that team largely due to Sidney Crosby and it's youthful influence and talent, is now the Pittsburg Penguins.

Sorry Leaf fans. I still hope you do okay, but when our teams line up...no longer will I cheer under of the veil of "Maybe this year." Been too many.

[CFH]

Go Pens.

I've officially had the transition from angry year end to hopeful new season again and again Leaf fan...to the Pens.

Yea I know. Wesrman and likely a few others will call me a bandwagon jumper, but the truth is, the Leafs consistant bad management and bad trades and bad performance, in the richest market in Canada has sent me packing. I went shopping for a team, and that team largely due to Sidney Crosby and it's youthful influence and talent, is now the Pittsburg Penguins.

Sorry Leaf fans. I still hope you do okay, but when our teams line up...no longer will I cheer under of the veil of "Maybe this year." Been too many.

Join the rest of us in hating the Leafs Youngblood. Join us.

[amat]

You're 14 Youngblood I think you can get away with it. A few years ago when the Warriors were absolutely unwatchable, with Baron and J Rich injured, when Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and Adonal Foyle were running the show , I went shopping for a team to root for aswell. Not that I became a non-Warriors fan, it's just that their brand of basketball was absolutely unwatchable. I loved them with all my heart but with not much time to dedicate to basketball I couldn't waste it on the garbage they yielded every night so I became a huge LeBron James fan. Not really a Cavs fan but a James fan. Still am, except for the past few years the Warriors have actually been fun to watch so I was able to actually get behind a team that would make it worth my effort. I can definitely see why someone would be drawn to Sidney Crosby and the Pens were great last year.

[CFH]

The Canucks just DOMINATED Calgary (fuck Calgary). 6-0, Luongo gets a shutout, great game. This team in noticable tougher than last year, noticably faster, and they're actually playing like a team. They out player, out hit Calgary, and just generally beat the shit out of them.

They had a tear-jerking tribute to Luc Bourdon before the game. If you don't know, he was one of their highly touted young prospects who was poised to make a big impact on the team this year, but he died in June in a motor-cycle accident (with his girlfriend watching ).

[amat]

Yeah FUCK CALGARY, and FUCK JAROME IGINLA. Now that Nolan is gone there is nothing pure in Calgary except that little kid imitator Kiprusoff has, that kid is the man.

[CFH]

Yeah FUCK CALGARY, and FUCK JAROME IGINLA. Now that Nolan is gone there is nothing pure in Calgary except that little kid imitator Kiprusoff has, that kid is the man.

That kid is awesome. The only thing I hate more in life than Calgary is Edmonton. I hope a giant black hole swallows up Alberta (and somehow transplants all that oil to B.C. in the process).

[CFH]

Here's the tribute to Bourdon. I'll be honest, I teared up watching. Tom Cochrane is the guy singing. The video was preceding by the presentation of Bourdan's last game worn jersey to his family. At the end of the last game of the year, the Canucks (and other teams) do the "shirts off our backs" night, the players give the jerseys they wore in the game to fans in the crowd, and the people who won Boudon's donated it back to his family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgprFmu0C6U

[CFH]

New York Ranger's prospect Alexei Cherepanov collapsed today during a game in Russia. He died a short time later. Cherepanov was 19 years old. R.I.P.

Ranger prospect Cherepanov collapses on bench

[amat]

Yeah FUCK CALGARY, and FUCK JAROME IGINLA. Now that Nolan is gone there is nothing pure in Calgary except that little kid imitator Kiprusoff has, that kid is the man.

That kid is awesome. The only thing I hate more in life than Calgary is Edmonton. I hope a giant black hole swallows up Alberta (and somehow transplants all that oil to B.C. in the process).

I feel the same way about LA. Take Hollywood to San Diego or Bakersfield or something and just give us all the boxing. The Dodgers can go away and the Angels will just have to ditch the LA from their name.

Good stuff on that Bourdon tribute, very sad. Motorcycles are no good.

[CFH]

Yeah FUCK CALGARY, and FUCK JAROME IGINLA. Now that Nolan is gone there is nothing pure in Calgary except that little kid imitator Kiprusoff has, that kid is the man.

That kid is awesome. The only thing I hate more in life than Calgary is Edmonton. I hope a giant black hole swallows up Alberta (and somehow transplants all that oil to B.C. in the process).

I feel the same way about LA. Take Hollywood to San Diego or Bakersfield or something and just give us all the boxing. The Dodgers can go away and the Angels will just have to ditch the LA from their name.

Good stuff on that Bourdon tribute, very sad. Motorcycles are no good.

Yeah, I posted a better version of the entire tribute, not just the song/video. I don't know if you saw it or the 1st one I had up.

As for the accident, he'd gotten a crotch-rocket 2 weeks before his death and was out riding it in highish winds (40-50 km/h gusts) and he was going around a corner (with his girlfriend driving a car behind him) when a gust hit him and forced him head on into an oncoming Semi.

[CGM]

After 20+ years in Toronto, I still haven't managed to form any kind of allegience to the Maple Leafs, thank God. Canucks are still my team.

I don't follow the sport too closely, but I like it when the playoffs get rockin. The best hockey often comes in the first round of the playoffs, when you get the rivalries. Calgary v Edmonton used to have some great series in the 80s.

Best playoff run I ever saw? Edmonton a year or two after trading Gretzky, Messier was still with them. They were down 3-1 to Winnipeg in the first round, and playing like absolute shit. Then they somehow managed to find their old form and blew everyone away, not losing a single game the rest of the way.

Best Team I ever saw? Canadiens of the 70s, who one year went an entire season and only lost 8 games.

[wesrman]

Go Pens.

I've officially had the transition from angry year end to hopeful new season again and again Leaf fan...to the Pens.

Yea I know. Wesrman and likely a few others will call me a bandwagon jumper, but the truth is, the Leafs consistant bad management and bad trades and bad performance, in the richest market in Canada has sent me packing.

LOL we made the playoffs 9 years in a row, then we have 4 bad years and everyone wants to jump ship. Just be thankfull you werent around for the 80s.

BTW how did i miss this thread

[CFH]

Go Pens.

I've officially had the transition from angry year end to hopeful new season again and again Leaf fan...to the Pens.

Yea I know. Wesrman and likely a few others will call me a bandwagon jumper, but the truth is, the Leafs consistant bad management and bad trades and bad performance, in the richest market in Canada has sent me packing.

LOL we made the playoffs 9 years in a row, then we have 4 bad years and everyone wants to jump ship. Just be thankfull you werent around for the 80s.

BTW how did i miss this thread

1967.

St. Louis made the playoffs something like 20 years in a row, but they never won anything. I'm not trying to pick on you or the Leafs, I'm just saying that making the playoffs is not the only thing a team should strive for. Vancouver consistently made the playoffs under Burke, but they never had a chance to get beyond mid-rounds and, despite the propaganda we were fed, they were never a team that could contend for the cup.

However, as a Canucks fan I can't really talk shit about other teams histories and failures, even the Leafs.

At least Toronto is doing what needs to be done, a full-scale rebuild. Schenn is going to be great one day, and Toskala is as well. I hate Wilson though, he's terrible at developing young players and his hiring sure looks suspicious considering all the Burke rumours (they're best buddies). I hope for your sake wesrman that the Leafs don't hire Burke and that they go in a different direction. He's an incredibly overrated GM. The state he left Vancouver in in regards to the future of the team speaks to his short-sighted approach.