Hockey

[Tricycle Rider]

Egads!

And I'll just quote: As forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel skated toward the Avalanche to take a group photo holding the Stanley Cup, he fell to the ice and dented it.

Well, I never!

 

[PeterB]

Snow avalanche roars over sandy beaches of the stormy Tampa Bay coast! Woohoo!

What a difference a few years can make! Back in 2016/17, after not qualifying for the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Avalanche finished the season dead last in the entire league winning only 48 points in 82 games (the second worst team that year, Vancouver Canucks, scored 69 points!).

Even worse, they lost in the draft lottery, pushing them down to pick #4 of the 2017 draft. But who did they still select as their highest pick that year? Cale Makar, awarded as the MVP of the playoffs and the best defenceman of the league this year...

That 2016/17 season marked a turnaround in their history and in just a few years, the Avalanche quickly became one of the teams favoured to win the Cup. Yet something was still missing in the playoffs - one year both goaltenders got injured, next year they unbelievably blew the 2-0 lead in the series against Vegas. But this year, they were finally not to be denied.

The Cup is in the hands of a deserving team and nothing against the Bolts, they are undoubtedly a great team, too, but it's only good that also players from another team and their fans get to experience this feeling of victory. Go Avalanche!

 

[jmdirt]

TB only took two shots on goal in the third period until the final frantic attempts in the final 1:30.

I'm a casual hockey fan, and by no means an expert, but I have always contended that you need to take at least 10 shots on goal per period to keep the D and goalie honest. Even a few slop slap shots aren't a bad thing just to keep the keeper on his blades. Many will argue that that is too many, but TB only had two (I'm not going to count the desperation at the end) in the third, that certainly isn't enough. For reference, in their wins TB had 29 and 33 shots on goal, Colorado had more than 30 every game...so maybe 10 per period isn't so crazy.

Congrats CO!

 

[joe_papp]

Pens looked terrible in their pre-season game against Detroit's B-team last night, losing 6-2 and manifesting a truly awful power play. I still think they're a pretty safe bet to make the playoffs lol, and are probably 2nd best team in the Metro after the Hurricanes, but yuk - what a gross game last night!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Pens looked terrible in their pre-season game against Detroit's B-team last night, losing 6-2 and manifesting a truly awful power play. I still think they're a pretty safe bet to make the playoffs lol, and are probably 2nd best team in the Metro after the Hurricanes, but yuk - what a gross game last night!

I see you are prepared to part with your money rather early this year?

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Early on in the season, my Bruins and the Golden Knights are looking revitalized with new coaches, and both look ready for a Stanley Cup run. Boston especially was a surprise, as McAvoy and Marchand were out for a bit and their core is on the older side.

 

[PeterB]

Past the first half of the season and the Bruins still in the league of their own. Golden Knights good but don't look like real SC contenders against the top teams from the East. In general the quality seems to be much more on the East this year, so winning the Eastern conference may prove more difficult than winning the Stanley Cup final.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Being a little slow on the uptake I only very recently found out Seattle has a new hockey team, for only their second season they've been doing pretty well in the Stanley Cup playoffs so far! Okay, they did lose to Dallas last night and the series is still young, but having beaten the Avs in the first round is nothing short of amazing!

I'm rooting for the Stars to win the Cup, but if Seattle advances I won't be mad.

Go Kraken! (Or Dallas)

 

[Forever The Best]

Anyone following the playoffs? Panthers and Bob on absolute fire.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Anyone following the playoffs? Panthers and Bob on absolute fire.

Kinda sorta keeping an eye on the scores, but with this year's legendary edition of the Giro( ) it's been hard!

Hope Dallas can get it done, first they have to get past Vegas, though.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Ouch, looks like both Dallas and Carolina have dug themselves into a hole, wonder if either of them (or both) will get the broom. If not I expect Dallas to drop out first, their 4-0 loss yesterday hasn't convinced me they are strong enough to beat Vegas.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Carolina has been swept and it looks like Dallas hasn't folded yet, but having to win 4 games in a row just to get past Vegas is quite the task. Hope I'm wrong, but I'm just not seeing it for them.

 

[jmdirt]

Th Idaho Steelheads beat the Toledo Walleye to advance to the ECHL/Kelly Cup Championships!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Tragic news in the world of ice hockey, it just reminds you that ice hockey can be a beautiful sport, but it can also be a pretty dangerous one.

RIP Adam Johnson

Former NHL star Adam Johnson, 29, dies after 'freak accident' during U.K. hockey game

Adam Johnson had played for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins for two seasons and was playing with the Elite Ice Hockey League's Nottingham Panthers Saturday.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Tragic news in the world of ice hockey, it just reminds you that ice hockey can be a beautiful sport, but it can also be a pretty dangerous one.

RIP Adam Johnson

Former NHL star Adam Johnson, 29, dies after 'freak accident' during U.K. hockey game

Adam Johnson had played for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins for two seasons and was playing with the Elite Ice Hockey League's Nottingham Panthers Saturday.

www.nbcnews.com

It's truly remarkable that this is such a rare occurrence when you think about it. Neck guards have been around a while, but they are almost non-existent at the highest levels, or at least have been. In the aftermath of it, the Penguins (those being his former team from when he briefly reached the NHL) made wearing them compulsory for their AHL and ECHL affiliates, but the NHLPA has to agree to introduce them at the NHL level.

A lot of these Euro leagues, especially the smaller ones (i.e. not the NLA, SHL, KHL or Liiga), have a mixed level due to the nature of hockey as a fringe sport in a lot of those countries (Germany, Austria and Czech Republic also have some decently strong hockey tradition but their leagues are smaller than the above) and so you've got everything from ex-NHLers like Johnson down to ham-and-egg semi-pros with vastly different skating levels on the same lineup. I've seen a lot of criticism of the league for its medical provisions in the aftermath of this - but also others saying that he'd lost so much blood he was virtually unsaveable within just a few seconds, and it is worth noting that Sheffield and Nottingham are two of the best resourced and best-run UK hockey teams; I've also seen plenty of people throwing some awful accusations towards Petgrave as a result. I feel confident it's entirely accidental; he intended to throw a hit but either caught an edge or was thrown off balance by another and made a bad decision, but either way I'd be surprised if he ever plays much hockey again just from guilt or PTSD without adding in potential abuse from the crowd or opponents.

At the end of the day, unfortunately it is a full-contact and violent sport, and also one where every competitor takes to the ice armed with razor sharp slivers of metal attached to their feet. Something like this is always the worst case scenario, but it always seems so unlikely to happen until it does.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

It's truly remarkable that this is such a rare occurrence when you think about it. Neck guards have been around a while, but they are almost non-existent at the highest levels, or at least have been. In the aftermath of it, the Penguins (those being his former team from when he briefly reached the NHL) made wearing them compulsory for their AHL and ECHL affiliates, but the NHLPA has to agree to introduce them at the NHL level.

A lot of these Euro leagues, especially the smaller ones (i.e. not the NLA, SHL, KHL or Liiga), have a mixed level due to the nature of hockey as a fringe sport in a lot of those countries (Germany, Austria and Czech Republic also have some decently strong hockey tradition but their leagues are smaller than the above) and so you've got everything from ex-NHLers like Johnson down to ham-and-egg semi-pros with vastly different skating levels on the same lineup. I've seen a lot of criticism of the league for its medical provisions in the aftermath of this - but also others saying that he'd lost so much blood he was virtually unsaveable within just a few seconds, and it is worth noting that Sheffield and Nottingham are two of the best resourced and best-run UK hockey teams; I've also seen plenty of people throwing some awful accusations towards Petgrave as a result. I feel confident it's entirely accidental; he intended to throw a hit but either caught an edge or was thrown off balance by another and made a bad decision, but either way I'd be surprised if he ever plays much hockey again just from guilt or PTSD without adding in potential abuse from the crowd or opponents.

At the end of the day, unfortunately it is a full-contact and violent sport, and also one where every competitor takes to the ice armed with razor sharp slivers of metal attached to their feet. Something like this is always the worst case scenario, but it always seems so unlikely to happen until it does.

Hopefully I'm not totally misremembering things but even after the gruesome Bryan Berard eye incident it took the players quite a while to start wearing visors. (Prior to the Berard incident Jagr was one of the few who actually did.) Nowadays they practically all wear visors.

I understand if players are resistant to adding on yet more gear, but in the rare case their throats make contact with a blade or even a puck or hockey stick wearing a neck guard would only make sense and could potentially make a big difference.