Canada v USA

[OumaFan]

Well, I disliked the Steelers before I ever disliked the Penguins. I don't hate the Steelers necessarily, but I'm not a fan. The Pirates are kind of not worth talking about.

Neither of those teams are a finalist.

[OumaFan]

Hmm. 3-3 going into overtime and the announcer says well at least the Canucks will get a point out of this. So you get a point just for going to overtime? Do you get a full three if you win in overtime? Odd rule.

[CFH]

Hmm. 3-3 going into overtime and the announcer says well at least the Canucks will get a point out of this. So you get a point just for going to overtime? Do you get a full three if you win in overtime? Odd rule.

That is yet another of the retarded rules initiated by Gary Bettman and his crew. I hope he doesn't get renewed. In the NHL, some games are worth 2 points and some are worth 3. If a game is decided in regulation the winner gets 2 points, the loser 0. However, if it goes to overtime/shootout the winner gets 2 points and the loser gets 0. Now, most sane people think if they're going to hand out three points in overtime, than a regulation win should be worth 3 points to the winner. Unfortunately, Bettman and the idiots who run the show think that would be too confusing for the casual American fan they so desperately covet (yet so ineffectively target), so we are left with the stupid fucking system we have now.

When hockey had ties, each team got a point when the game ended tied and if it ended in overtime it was the same as in regulation (2 points for the winner, 0 for the loser). That changed after the lockout when the shootout was brought in to create artificial parity in the league, meaning more teams would be in the playoff hunt as a result of the extra point in overtime. It was also justified because it was felt that teams used to play for the tie in order to get one guaranteed point, so it was thought that by awarding an extra point while still giving the "loser point" teams would play a more exciting style in overtime.

[OumaFan]

I'd like to have a feeling that winning is possible. I don't want to necessarily be a fan of an awful team run by a bunch of clowns. Vancouver at least looks like their going to the playoffs.

Honestly I may be leaning towards Vancouver. Strangely enough I find that some of these Central and Eastern time zone teams play too early. Regular 6 Central time starts is a bunch of shit. 9 o clock starts actually probably fit my schedule a bit better. 8 would be perfect, get it done people.

So they have decent start times.
They're good but not that good
I can ask CFH who sucks and is good.
I like Kesler and Demitra.
I don't dislike any of their players yet.

Cons
I don't know who any of their defenders are.
That Molson commercial is going to get annoying.

I was just thinking last night I'm sure Gary Bettman is thrilled with somebody like me, I watch the Olympics and then actually start watching the league. And then I realized I was watching a stream.

[CFH]

I'd like to have a feeling that winning is possible. I don't want to necessarily be a fan of an awful team run by a bunch of clowns. Vancouver at least looks like their going to the playoffs.

Honestly I may be leaning towards Vancouver. Strangely enough I find that some of these Central and Eastern time zone teams play too early. Regular 6 Central time starts is a bunch of shit. 9 o clock starts actually probably fit my schedule a bit better. 8 would be perfect, get it done people.

So they have decent start times.
They're good but not that good
I can ask CFH who sucks and is good.
I like Kesler and Demitra.
I don't dislike any of their players yet.

Cons
I don't know who any of their defenders are.
That Molson commercial is going to get annoying.

I was just thinking last night I'm sure Gary Bettman is thrilled with somebody like me, I watch the Olympics and then actually start watching the league. And then I realized I was watching a stream.

Olympic Demitra and NHL Demitra are two very different players in my experience. Hopefully he keeps up his play.

As for the defense, they're a decent if unspectacular group. Before last year some delusional fans were proclaiming them to be among the best in the league, which has since been proven false. The one knock on them is that they're injury prone. Here they are:

Willie Mitchell - A defensive defenseman who's very sound positionally. Might be out for the rest of the season with a concussion after Evgeni Malkin hit him from behind (just another reason to hate the Penguins)

Christian Erhoff - Aquired from San Jose in the off-season. The most pleasant surprise on the team this year. Solid defensively and above-average offensively, he's been the teams best defender this year. Played for Germany at the Olympics.

Kevin Beiksa - A somewhat undersized offensive defenseman with a bit of a mean-streak. Dumb as nails when is comes to hockey sense. He's about to return from an injury where he had his ankle tendons sliced with a skate (the second time that has happened in the last 3 seasons). I usually can't stand him because of his boneheaded mistakes and I'd love to see him traded for something decent.

Sami Salo - Arguably the Canucks best all around defenseman, but he's always injured. It's like he's made of glass. He has a deadly point shot though, it clocks in at over 100 MPH. He once hurt himself taking a slap-shot. That is not a joke. Played for Finland at the Olympics.

Shane O'Brien - Used to be dumb as shit, used to take a ton of penalties. He's been decent this year even though he doesn't fight anymore.

Alexander Edler - SHould have played for Sweden at the Olympics. Having an off-year but a very young, very promising defenseman.

They just traded for Andrew Alberts from Carolina. Apparent he is big and mean. I like that.

There you go, now you know our defense.

[OumaFan]

Yeah now that I think about it I'd heard of Salo. Well at least their winning so far tonight. Burrows seems to be pretty good.

[CFH]

Yeah now that I think about it I'd heard of Salo. Well at least their winning so far tonight. Burrows seems to be pretty good.

Goddamnit, I didn't want to know how the game was going. I'm watching the replay at 7.

Anyways, Burrows is great. He's dynamite with the Sedins on the top line. He's got something like 17 goals in the last 22 games, including back to back hattricks Without them he's just a very good 3rd liner though.

He has an amazing story too, he went undrafted and somehow came to be regarded as the world's best ball-hockey player. The Manitoba Moose (the Canucks farm team) signed him and he played there and eventually got a chance to play with the Canucks after some injuries because he was such a hard worker. After being told he was in danger of being cut the following training camp, he proved his worth as a 3 liner and a penalty-killer. He rarely scored for the Moose or the Canucks, but his work-ethic and ability to agitate the opposition became legendary. He developed great chemistry with Ryan Kesler, played on the second line some of last year, and when the Canucks went through a 13 (I think) game losing streak last year he and Kesler were broken up (at the time they were the only guys playing well) and he was put on the top line, where he immediately began to score. He has been there ever since. Last season, he signed a 4 year contract for 2M/year, which was a MASSIVE discount. I love Burrows