Official 13-14 NHL Regular Season Thread

[philou21]

Hey Batdad and Primis your talk goes here not in the off-season thread!

As far as I'm concerned about what happened during the Leafs/Sabres game it was pointless. Especially Clarkson, what a dumbass, you know you will be suspended by doing that but you're still doing it. Self control anyone?!?

Kessel reaction when Scott tried to grab him was hilarious IMO.

[Primis]

Hey Batdad and Primis your talk goes here not in the off-season thread!

Nawwww. There won't be room for it once Nuckie fans really realize they have a complete lunatic for a head coach.

[CeeBee]

Hey Batdad and Primis your talk goes here not in the off-season thread!

Nawwww. There won't be room for it once Nuckie fans really realize they have a complete lunatic for a head coach.

Do I detect a hint of jealousy... Time will tell. Thats why they play a gazillion games, that and to give hockey fans something to talk about in the long cold winter

[Manimal]

This guy is so funny!
http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2013/09/ph ... nsion.html

[batdad]

Down goes Brown cracks me up.

Primis--Canucks fans have always had a nut ball for a head coach. AV was the only normal guy they have ever had...so having Torts will just be a return to the norm of the past. Harry Neale, Marc Crawford, the PhD guy (Pride Hustle Desire), Tom Renney (and ROger Neilson)--the superhockeynerd, Phil Maloney....all absolutely insane in their own ways. So this...will be nothing new for them...just a return to the reality of being Canuck fans.

And no...that discussion with PRimis and I is exactly where it belongs Philou. The season has not started yet, so the offseason is still the correct place to post. As all young men are...you were a bit premature.

[philou21]

Well it's more pre-season so it's closer to the regular season than the off-season. Off means that nothing is happening.

[philou21]

Andrew Ference as been named captain of the Oilers. Let me express myself about that, hahahahahahahahahahahahaha best joke of the day! Good to know the Oilers don't trust any of their young guns for that.

[Danny]

Huh ? Perfect fit, good call by the Oil. Great leader on and off the ice, ultimate teammate. Nothing to do with lack of trust in their young players, a veteran with tons of experience and a key role in a Cup run is better captain material than any young player in the league, even someone like Hall has a lot to learn and Ference is a great character guy to look up to, and he won't have any problem handing over the captaincy to somebody else once one of the younger guys is ready for it. 99% of Bruins fans regret losing him way more than losing Seguin.

[philou21]

The only thing I remember from Ference is doing middle fingers at the crowd in MTL. Sure, great exemple. With the tendency of the league to give the captain title to their young up-coming super star I still think it proves that the young guys in Edmonton, despite their great skills, are still immature and maybe that's why the Oilers don't do anything good with that line-up. Sure they don't have a good goalie and their defense is average but thay can compensate by scoring goals, which they haven't done last season that much.

Landeskog nomination at Denver could also be a good example. They've done that too quickly IMO.

[Danny]

Don't see what his "glove malfunction" has to do with it, he's a great leader on a team that seemed to lack structure, appears to be a logical choice to give him the C... if anything giving Habs fans the finger speaks in his favour
Some teams gave their young stars the C too early yeah, Ovi being another example, which is why this move is understandable from the Oilers point of view, I don't see this as a lack of trust in Hall or Eberle. The Oilers haven't really been a good team lately and I don't see that changing next season either, but that's a different story.

[philou21]

Surprise, surprise Drouin has been sent back to the Mooseheads! Wasn't expecting that. I'm curious to see his stats at the end of the season.

[Primis]

Surprise, surprise Drouin has been sent back to the Mooseheads! Wasn't expecting that. I'm curious to see his stats at the end of the season.

That means Yzerman and TB didn't like something they saw IMHO. Maybe they're readying themselves for a trade. Saaaaay... Detroit has too many forwards...

It also means they are more-excited about their farmies coming up, TBH. TB's going to be an interesting team to watch. It'll be very difficult for them to make the playoffs in the Flortheast Division, but they have an interesting assortment of players at all positions. They are going to have a lot riding on Panik and Filppula for more scoring though and... I have serious doubts on Filppula. If he couldn't score more in DET, I don't see how he can or will in TB.

[philou21]

They probably wanna take their time with the kid. They can't send him to the AHL so they can't keep him in the NHL because of that. Drouin isn't a big guy so that probably didn't helped him. He will probably work alot on his shape in the next year.

[Primis]

Well, Tatar has stayed in DET. Because he has to, otherwise he has to be waived.

So instead, Gustav Nyquist gets sent down *facepalm*. You know, the guy that was awesome in the playoffs and was the AHL's leading scorer for most of last seasons until he got called up. Because yeah, that's so much better than Tatar and makes so much more sense.

But boy DET had to have Dan Cleary.

[CJ]

They are going to have a lot riding on Panik and Filppula for more scoring though and... I have serious doubts on Filppula. If he couldn't score more in DET, I don't see how he can or will in TB.

As a Finn (I follow Finnish players alot), I think Filppula was at his best in DET (because of his teammates), he won't do as good in TB. He'd fit better in a third line IMO.

[Primis]

They are going to have a lot riding on Panik and Filppula for more scoring though and... I have serious doubts on Filppula. If he couldn't score more in DET, I don't see how he can or will in TB.

As a Finn (I follow Finnish players alot), I think Filppula was at his best in DET (because of his teammates), he won't do as good in TB. He'd fit better in a third line IMO.

I agree with you, he's more of a really good 3rd liner, not a 2nd liner. He's a pretty good checker/shadow, and while he can handle the puck really well he unfortunately does not have a scorer's mindset and I doubt he ever will. Even in TB they already are saying he doesn't shoot enough. Not a good sign, not even out of preseason yet.

He, unfortunately, believes otherwise. Which is a shame. Truthfully I wish he'd embraced a 3rd line C role with DET and stayed. With Darren Helm out now (and if we're being honest.... I don't think he ever plays again, which is a shame), DET could use Filppula at 3rd C and maybe wouldn't have thought they needed Cleary for no reason whatsoever.

[CJ]

So Buffalo Sabres will use Thomas Vanek as captain in home games and Steve Ott at away games. Pretty unusual.

[philou21]

So there's apparently a new rule that when starting a fight players can't removed their OWN helmet, the other player needs to do it, if he wants to....what the hell? Moen just fought with Fraser. Fraser had a visor so both of them were looking at each other like....are we removing our own helmet or removing the one of the opponent? That was hilarious. Fraser clearly asked Moen to remove his helmet to start fighting but they ended up doing it by themselves so their got 2 minutes each for unsportsmanlike conduct....

[Animal31]

Not sure where to put this
BUT Lindros YEAH ABBOTSFORD HEAT BANNER BITCHES

[philou21]

Well after the badluck of Parros during his fight with Orr yesterday everyone here is freaking out about hockey fights. There even someone that wrote in the newpapers as a title, "we are waiting for the first death", talking about when they're going to ban fights. It was a freaking accident. How many people are getting concussions from hit from behind compare to fights? The ratio is probably 10 to 1.

[batdad]

GLenn Healy is a moron. He went on and on about someone dying on the broadcast. Plus he ripped the goalie. #Healy trended to #9 on twitter during the game because of that and his ripping of Carey Price. Dude is unreal.

Patrick Roy---Wahoo......so going to be fun to watch that egomaniac every night.

As for fighting...accidents happen. But they are happening more often in my opinion than in the past. Guys should be allowed to fight, but if they go they should be ejected from the game. I know I advocate toughness...as it is a part of hockey and it is needed. But the staged fights are useless. Should be solely based on emotion. IE something breaking out after a scrum and guys get pissedd at each other. Or someone smokes a star player with a dirty hit....like Kassian or Weise in Edmonton. Should have to stand up and take note....

But....this Orr vs Parros type of scrap needs to stop. Injuries like Parros has (And Orr two years ago in a similar situation vs Parros as well) are completely avoidable...by not putting those two on the ice, and by ejecting. After these types of scraps---the guys should be ejected...and then after a few of them they should be suspended. Say 3 or 5.

Emotional fights--Caused by play...no suspension, but ejection should still happen. And they should be able to have it so the emotional fights DO NOT affect the # needed for staged fights to cause suspension. It is pretty obvious when they are staged (ie off a whistle) than when emotional.

[Primis]

But....this Orr vs Parros type of scrap needs to stop. Injuries like Parros has (And Orr two years ago in a similar situation vs Parros as well) are completely avoidable...by not putting those two on the ice, and by ejecting. After these types of scraps---the guys should be ejected...and then after a few of them they should be suspended. Say 3 or 5.

Emotional fights--Caused by play...no suspension, but ejection should still happen. And they should be able to have it so the emotional fights DO NOT affect the # needed for staged fights to cause suspension. It is pretty obvious when they are staged (ie off a whistle) than when emotional.

This a million times over. I'm pro-fights, anti-enforcers. I don't know about the ejection part because then you can get guys egging stars into "fights" (because as we've seen before a player can be forced into a fight, and even though they don't drop the gloves stilll get 5 for it, the refs often get this wrong). But it needs to be somehow still allowed in the natural flow and ebb of the game. Truthfully, most non-enforcer-types fighting each other aren't going to be capable of doing much damage to each other even.

Does everyone remember how the first Wings/Avs brawl actually started? Igor freaking Larionov of all people got sick of Peter Forsberg and went after him. That stuff *happens*, and it should still be allowed to happen. Nobody is going to sit here saying Larionov and Forsberg were gooning it up. Couple of years ago Pavel Datsyuk fought Corey Perry. This stuff happens with every player at some point.

I still think though that the only way they'll ever stop it is to eliminate a roster spot. I think that's the only way it will ever cost enough to get teams to stop dressing their pure enforcers who bring nothing else to the table. The PA will fight it tooth and nail, but I think there's a chasm already growing internally of the real players starting to get sick of the goons.

Or... maybe each fight should eat up a tiny amount of a team's cap space. 1 or 2 won't matter, but as they start to pile up...

[Danny]

GLenn Healy is a moron. He went on and on about someone dying on the broadcast. Plus he ripped the goalie. #Healy trended to #9 on twitter during the game because of that and his ripping of Carey Price. Dude is unreal.

Patrick Roy---Wahoo......so going to be fun to watch that egomaniac every night.

As for fighting...accidents happen. But they are happening more often in my opinion than in the past. Guys should be allowed to fight, but if they go they should be ejected from the game. I know I advocate toughness...as it is a part of hockey and it is needed. But the staged fights are useless. Should be solely based on emotion. IE something breaking out after a scrum and guys get pissedd at each other. Or someone smokes a star player with a dirty hit....like Kassian or Weise in Edmonton. Should have to stand up and take note....

But....this Orr vs Parros type of scrap needs to stop. Injuries like Parros has (And Orr two years ago in a similar situation vs Parros as well) are completely avoidable...by not putting those two on the ice, and by ejecting. After these types of scraps---the guys should be ejected...and then after a few of them they should be suspended. Say 3 or 5.

Emotional fights--Caused by play...no suspension, but ejection should still happen. And they should be able to have it so the emotional fights DO NOT affect the # needed for staged fights to cause suspension. It is pretty obvious when they are staged (ie off a whistle) than when emotional.

God I despise Healy. Worst person in the hockey media IMO.

How do you want to separate "staged" fights from the "real" ones in the rulebook ? Not that I disagree with the principle, but IMO it's remove it completely or keep both and live with it. You don't get too many Scott/MacIntyre types in the game anymore anyway, they will be phased out of the game organically but it might take 5 more years, with the salary cap and the parity you will at least have to be able to play 10-12 mins a night as a fighter like all the Thornton/Neil/Konopka type of guys, and IMO there should always be a place in the game for players like that.
Don't think players should be ejected for any kind of fight, that would harm the "emotional" fight more so than the staged one, a legit 15-18 min per night player would think twice about getting into a fight after one of his teammates has been the victim of an illegal hit. Putting aside that often you can't judge whether a hit was clean or not in the heat of the moment, you can't expect players to wait for the replays.
I don't agree that there are more accidents now than there used to be in the past. Every single move is way more scrutinized and looked at through a magnifying glass these days, even the most minor of things gets all the morons on twitter going crazy, I really think this comes down to perception. Batdad you've been a fan way longer than me, hasn't the debate always been "violence in hockey is getting out of hand, there are more incidents than ever before, we need to do something about it ASAP", even in the 60s and 70s ? IMO the game is cleaner now than it was at that time, mind you, I've not experienced the NHL in the 70s and 80s, but hearing and reading stories it seems there was some kind of incident every week that would end in lengthy suspensions and maybe even criminal prosecution these days.

[Danny]

I still think though that the only way they'll ever stop it is to eliminate a roster spot. I think that's the only way it will ever cost enough to get teams to stop dressing their pure enforcers who bring nothing else to the table. The PA will fight it tooth and nail, but I think there's a chasm already growing internally of the real players starting to get sick of the goons.

Or... maybe each fight should eat up a tiny amount of a team's cap space. 1 or 2 won't matter, but as they start to pile up...

Terrible ideas. There are more teams these days that don't dress a goon than those who do have such player. And why punish teams who can play and also like to mix it up ?

One thing is for sure, if you eliminate fighting the game will change, and probably not for the better. Something will have to fill that void.
If you're coming at the "issue" of fighting from a player's safety point of view, well, newsflash, hockey is a fast paced contact sport, it is dangerous, it's supposed to be, you're a hypocrite (not directed at you per se) if you advocate for removing fighting but not making hitting, shot blocking or slap shots illegal, those are more dangerous and cause more injuries than fights. If you're coming at it from a "fights are simply boring" point of view, well, it's usually a minute or two per game at most, go grab a beer or go to the toilet during a fight. Physical intimidation and the threat of a fight at any given time has been a part of hockey for decades and I personally like it and feel it's an integral part of the game. And yeah, I do find many of the so called staged fights to be boring. But according to the players they serve a purpose and when the PA had that poll about fighting an overwhelming majority of the players voted anonymously (!) that fighting has a place in the game. Yes I'm aware you didn't advocate for removing it completely from the game, I'm just referring to the debate in general right now.

[philou21]

I don't know about the ejection part because then you can get guys egging stars into "fights" (because as we've seen before a player can be forced into a fight, and even though they don't drop the gloves stilll get 5 for it, the refs often get this wrong).

In the third period Fraser jumped on Prust because he touched Reimer with his leg. Prust wasn't interested in fighting, probably thinking there already had too much and he only protected himself, never landed a single punch and got 5 min. What the hell.


And Batdad, you know, until you mentionned it I never thought about "Staged fights". Though where you mention "This Orr vs Parros thing needs to end." I might disagree a little bit with you. The game was really tense and it almost looked like a playoffs game. The first fight was after the whistle when a couple of players started to tease each other then Parros kicked Orr's ass. Orr being what he is only tried to get a revenge on the second fight. I don't know if this is what you meant by "staged fights" but it was looking normal to me.