The Official Jack's Place 2017 NHL Thread!

335clone said:
I think I've figured this out. The Penguins are currently the 'patriots' of the NHL, and Crosby is their 'Brady'.

I've been watching the playoffs from a fairly objective standpoint, and I have seen a hell of a lot of what one might consider cheap or overly aggressive play by players on every team. Certainly a lot of vicious hits in the Predators/Ducks series, and all I see from you guys is hate for Kessel and Crosby. LOL, I know it's hockey and fighting is part of the sport.

I may be rooting for the Penguins (mainly because my wife was born there) but if I were to choose a team it would be the Sharks.

I understand that there may be some bad blood due to some of the afore mentioned team actions, and I don't pretend to have the same league historical knowledge as the rest of you. Still, this is a lot like hating on the Raiders because you hated Al Davis. Has little to do with current events and players, really.

My main take-away from watching so far is the level of respect between the teams after fighting so hard. To go out like little leaguers and shake hands mere minutes after ending a violent battle shows true sportsmanship that you don't normally see between rivals. Too bad the fans don't show the same respect.
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No sir....that's not it at all.
Some of the teams have been around since, what? Like 1898 or something?

History. Respect.

Hockey really is the sport where the old addage of "Act like you've been there before" when you score holds true.

Respect. For the game. For the other team. For the other players. For the fans. For tradition.

The fans are passionate.
Hockey was never supposed to be a "rich man's game", like it pretty much is today.
Hockey was played on ponds, rinks, etc....in cold places, where their TV night was Hockey Night in Canada, which played a hockey game on TV.
Those kids' dads grew up in mines, as lumberjacks, shipbuilders, etc.......
It was tradition.

Their kids played, and the parents watched. It was a way for a kid to get out of Moose-Knuckle, town of 127, in some God-forsaken hole in northern Manitoba.

And everyone came over and watched.

And it was awesome!
 
This year's team has made me a Leaf's fan. I hadn't been one since the Doug Gilmour era really. Between then and now I was a Leafs loyalist.

When they made the trade for Kessel I thought it was a bad move. The GM at the time said "build through the draft" and promptly traded away every draft pick that he could.

That GM was Brian Burke who got a lot of credit for being involved in Anaheim's Championship team but really had little to do with that team. He was responsible for the Sedin twins in Vancouver, which was not a great move in my opinion at the time either - looking back, I still wouldn't have acquired them.

Prior to him in Toronto was John Ferguson Jr. This guy gave most everyone a big contract and a no trade clause.

It has been tough being a loyalist but it must have been tougher being a fan and watching all kinds of talent being let go over the years like Steve Sullivan who was a good player in Chicago for years and Steen who had been in St. Louis for years.

This new ownership group is hockey minded (and hockey minds) and making good decisions. Easy to be a fan again. It is much easier too when the opportunity had come along so quickly to acquire a generational talent like Auston Mathews. This guy is a super talent and I think people haven't recognized it because he is in Toronto.

For the most part, because the game had changed so much with free agency and business, I am more of a player oriented fan now so when a team wins, I can generally find a few reasons to feel good about it. Not if it is Montreal or Pittsburgh though.

I thoroughly enjoyed the modern era success of the Kings and the Blackhawks because I was a fan of many of the players on both of those teams but also, those two teams were my favourites in the '70s with Vachon & Dionne in L.A. and Esposito & Makita in Chicago. I was surprised that those two teams suffered so badly this year.

Cherry was right the other night about Kessel..."there must be something wrong with him because Boston got rid of him as a 37 goal scorer and Toronto got rid of him as a 40 goal scorer". I stated before that Pittsburgh is well rounded enough and deep enough to have a Kessel & have him not hurt them but it grinds me that a lazy guy like that gets to coast - that he got his name on the Cup last year is a hockey crime. Help us Obi Wan Predators, you're our only hope.
 
I agree wholeheartedly with what Coralkong posted. Hockey is a game of tradition(s), and for serious fans the tradition is an active, ongoing part of following. I grew up playing pond hockey and street hockey in New England -- of course I'm a diehard Bruins fan, and I freaking HATE the Canadiens. But I respect them, utterly, and look up to them as THE greatest hockey team of all time. And the few times I've visited Montreal, I tip my hat to the fans, and they rub in their superiority, but still, I know they respect the Bruins ....

.... and part of that respect is the decades of hockey and hockey people involved. Milt Schmidt (of the famed "Kraut Line") died not too long ago. Boston sports fans knew who he was; that's hockey.

A sport occupies a different place in the hearts and minds of people when everyone grows up playing it. New England may as well be the bastard ugly cousin of Canada, hockey is (was?) so ubuiquitous. We ALL played, much more than baseball, football, basketball.

Why hate the Penguins? Here's a short list:
- They straight up ripped off the Bruins' uniforms. You can do your own Google search; most folks who are long time hockey fans still find it kind of funny / sad / weird. At the time, they had tons of choices, and did that.
- Several eras of Penguins teams have featured the sort of 'bad apple,' career-ending cheap-shot artists that MOST teams get rid of. This is most understandable for serious hockey fans - there is definitely a 'Code of Enforcers," and Ulf Samuelsson and Matt Cooke are way over the line. The culture around the team has been to relish this, and many long time hockey fans find that detestable. This is NOT a "Pittsburgh thing," as I adore the Pirates and tip my hat to Steelers who are NFL royalty. It's a "douchenozzle franchise" thing.
- The Pens have a long, long history of financial shenanigans.
- Sid Crosby is NOT the greatest hockey player. There is no single greatest these days; this is not a LeBron situation. However, he IS a little bitch who violates hockey codes left and right. Example: cross-checking someone from behind, after the whistle, then skating away to his bench.

In it's purer forms, I believe that hockey is the most incredible and exciting spectator sport. There is nothing like a great hockey game for pace and excitement.

When I see things that threaten to undo that I get sad, and dislike those things. The two things I see that currently threaten to water down hockey are shit sportsmanship (Penguins but they're hardly alone) and the incredible emphasis on trapping defenses that have taken away a lot of the beauty of some of the finesse players in the game (such as, cough, Sid Crosby).

Anyhow, Kessel reminds me of those fat old guys in rec basketball leagues who know how to use their bodies to get off their shot. They never run or jump, and still pour the points in.

Go Predators.
 
The odd part here is that the good news is the same as the bad news:

Nashville outplayed them.

The good part is that maybe they can continue to do that and have it translate into 4 wins.
The bad part is that they outplayed them but still lost and have to keep from accumulating 3 more losses.
 
I wouldn't say Nashville outplayed them. The Pens went nearly 30 minutes without a shot on goal, and Nashville made up 2 points on them. Then they wen't back into catch-up mode and failed to pull it out. While they both played sloppily, the Predators were a bit sloppier. If you want to blame anyone, blame that guy who came in off the bench and had a goal shot off of him and into the net within 5 seconds. FFS.
 
That was 37 minutes...not "nearly 30 minutes". I blame the refs for calling back a Nashville goal for offside. Inconclusive therefor the call should stand. Rinne fell asleep with no work...lesson is that the D has to let the Pens have a few shots from the outside to keep him awake.
 
smorgdonkey said:
That was 37 minutes...not "nearly 30 minutes". I blame the refs for calling back a Nashville goal for offside. Inconclusive therefor the call should stand. Rinne fell asleep with no work...lesson is that the D has to let the Pens have a few shots from the outside to keep him awake.
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I have a feeling the Pens will happily make that happen tonight. They seem to be on one day and off the next.
 
I foresee the Pens shellacking the Preds in game 2; they had a truly mediocre Game 1 and emerged with a W. That's a hallmark of championship teams, e.g., "finding ways to win." The refs sure helped them, but the Predators also had poor shot selection and some sloppy defensive play.
 
I can't argue with that but my Lord, it was disappointing to see the Pens win last year it would be the deepest disappointment to see them repeat. Come on...Fat Phil with his name on the Cup twice?!?!
 
Somewhere out there in the great beyond, in the spirit world, the drunken ecstatic ghost of tompetty is dancing rapturously, spitting like a torrential rainstorm, and vomiting metaphorical hot dogs on us all.
 
Predators better remember how to make a couple of passes in succession, or this is going to be a short series.

If you can't make 3 passes in a row, you're not going to win any games.....
 
smorgdonkey said:
As far as I can see he is doing nothing meaningful.

Probably kicking the F out of some hotdogs though.
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I had to leave early for work last night, only got to watch the first period.

That's the bad thing about the NHL, and the NBA, playoffs when you work 3rd shift. They start the games so late you don't get to watch the whole thing :(
 
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