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NHL 2008

#501
lousybassplayer said:
Ovechkin. Eh. Yeah I guess he's ok. Little bit of a showboat though huh? Now Thornton, thats a player a man can be proud to root for.

And no sense crying foul over the booing. Its not like most of these guys give much of a crap where they play anyway. Look to the AHL for proof of that. And yeah, any talent oges where the money is. Its pro sports. The fans don't need to feel any more loyalty toward individual players than the players have toward the individual teams.
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Hossa didn't leave for the money, he took less for what he felt was his best shot at the cup, and to play with Pavs and Z. Ironically, you can look at several players on the Wings roster who have taken a significant discount over what they could have made in free agency. Zetterberg could EASILY have gotten $9 million as a UFA. He took just over 6 mil/year to stay in Detroit. Stuart took less than market value to sign in Detroit. Lidstrom could have made more than his $7.45 mil/year as a UFA. For fans to be so hostile to a player who was only on the team as a rental player in the first place was a bit over the top. It wasn't like it was Jagr, who was quoted as "dying inside" while playing for Pittsburgh and had a very acrimonious departure. Yes, a player wearing a different jersey is the "enemy", but when it's only a rental player who never signed a contract with your team in the first place, it's a bit ridiculous, imho.

While the money grab is present in pro sports, there is far more loyalty among certain franchises in the NHL than in any other sport.

MJ - I think you're talking about Devin Setoguchi. He's burning it up this year, but my honest gut instinct is that he's going to be like Cheechoo - has a phenomenal year with Thornton centering him, but without the superstud center isn't nearly as good. (for similar players refer to Paul Ysebaert after not being centered by Yzerman or Rob Brown after signing a sweet free agent deal to be a huge bust after scoring 40+ goals on a seaon on Mario Lemieux's wing). Kserg as our resident sharks fan can give a better read since he's seen a lot more of him, but that's how I see it.
 
#502
I didn't mean him or money specifically in the general point I was making. He made his decision for his career from his standpoint and thats what they all do. Money, playoffs, championships, endorsements, whatever, they are all motivators for pro athletes career decisions in varying orders of precedence. Loyalty to a team is not that high on the list. If the fans don't like it that is there right, they are fans of a team for their personal reasons too. I don't blame either party for what they do (again, we are talking generally), but I thought trashing the fans for booing was as dumb as bashing him for leaving. If Chara heads to the Habs for some God awful reason, I will boo him, and enjoy it, but will I blame him for whatever his motivations are? No, at that point he is just a Hab to me.
 
#503
lousybassplayer said:
I didn't mean him or money specifically in the general point I was making. He made his decision for his career from his standpoint and thats what they all do. Money, playoffs, championships, endorsements, whatever, they are all motivators for pro athletes career decisions in varying orders of precedence. Loyalty to a team is not that high on the list. If the fans don't like it that is there right, they are fans of a team for their personal reasons too. I don't blame either party for what they do (again, we are talking generally), but I thought trashing the fans for booing was as dumb as bashing him for leaving. If Chara heads to the Habs for some God awful reason, I will boo him, and enjoy it, but will I blame him for whatever his motivations are? No, at that point he is just a Hab to me.
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Thanks for the clarification, but I just feel that the blanket statement doesn't really apply (as much) to (most) NHL players. They've always been more down-to-earth, imho, than other pro athletes.

As far as booing Chara for heading to the habs, I'd completely understand that - he's been a cornerstone of the franchise ever since he came over, and is a big part of the culture. But he definitely isn't, and never was, a rental player. Since you seem to be a Bruins fan, I'm curious regarding your thoughts of Ray Borque going to the Nordilanche for a cup. Personally, I'm fine with it, as he deserved a championship that he wasn't going to get in Boston, but I thought they had no right to retire his jersey - Ray is, always was, and ever shall be, in my eyes, a Boston Bruin.
 
#504
TheXym said:
They've always been more down-to-earth, imho, than other pro athletes.

QUOTE]

I agree on that statement 100%. You hear a lot less whining and crying from these guys. It's why I love hockey. They play the a hardest for the least money (again, generally) of all the big name pro sports and do it with a much more fan oriented attitude. However, this is all by comparison. I still say that even in the NHL fan/team loyalty isn't going to be that high on the priority list for career decisions. There are always exceptions to the rule, obviously. Frankly I have no problem with that. It's easy for fans to get all sour grapes over the amount of money and fame these guys have, but they worked hard as hell for all of it and after all, this is their bread and butter and they have earned the right to look at it from a job standpoint. If you worked for coke for 25 years and Pepsi offered you a job for 50K more a year, wouldn't you jump on it?

As far as Bourque, he was a phenominal talent and we were lucky enough to be able to claim him among our numbers I don't think thats unfair. Would I have preferred different, sure, but he is still Ray Bourque. More odd, his kid plays for Washington's AHL team and I like him too!
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#505
I just feel that the Nordilanche were cheap by doing it. Borque won his cup there, but he's always going to be remembered as a Bruin. Putting 77 in their rafters imho is taking away from the years where Borque was the face of the Bruins. That said, I'd have been more than OK with them "unofficially" retiring his number and not allowing anyone to wear it again (sort of like how Detroit has unofficially retired Vladimir Konstantinov's 16, or Larry Aurie, who's #6 has only been worn by his nephew Cummy Burton (as unfortunate a name as I've ever seen, :D) since his retirement in 1938, since Jack Adams, the Wings' manager deemed "It wouldn't seem right for anyone else to wear it")
 
#507
Bad Brains said:
Sean Avery is making his way up again, and it's about time.

The NHL is all about "expansion", and this guy is a ratings machine just waiting to happen. What to they do? Suspend him, and then his team won't let him play. Smart move guys.....
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Two Things;

Respectfully to Bad Brains;

Avery is a liability to any team he plays for. He attracts negative attention to the league.

Yup smart move Dallas.

Can you cite how Avery is good for ratings? No opinions, show me actual data that NHL ratings increased when he was playing.

2nd

I hate it when I have to work when the Flyers play

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5 to 1 win over basement dwellers, but Gagne's penalty shot was.....

SICK!!!!

Hopefully they can put together another win against the NY Rags.

Also news on the goaltender controversy. After a poor outing against Ottawa....Niittymaki now has the "flu" and sat out this game so Biron was in.

Biron made some good saves (judging by the highlights). Hopefully he pulls his head out of his *** and gets on top of his game.
 
#508
warwick.hoy said:
Two Things;

Respectfully to Bad Brains;

Avery is a liability to any team he plays for. He attracts negative attention to the league.

Yup smart move Dallas.

Can you cite how Avery is good for ratings? No opinions, show me actual data that NHL ratings increased when he was playing.
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The league attacts enough negative attention due to the fact that Gary Bettman runs the league. Any negative attention brought on by Avery is minor in comparison.

I didn't say Avery increased rating, I say he had the potential to. The game after his "sloppy seconds" comment Dallas played Edmonton. That game should have been prime time, Avery would have been the #1 target. That would have been a great game to watch. The beat-down would have been great. But instead, they suspend him and no one cared about the game.
 
#510
Not this bullcrap again...

Anyone who dives is bad for the game - end of story.


Now move alone BB and go watch your Jerry Springer as it seems that you care about "drama" far more then game itself.

:rollno:

Let us now return to actually hockey talk.
 
#512
warwick.hoy said:
I hate it when I have to work when the Flyers play

Link Removed

5 to 1 win over basement dwellers, but Gagne's penalty shot was.....

SICK!!!!

Hopefully they can put together another win against the NY Rags.

Also news on the goaltender controversy. After a poor outing against Ottawa....Niittymaki now has the "flu" and sat out this game so Biron was in.

Biron made some good saves (judging by the highlights). Hopefully he pulls his head out of his *** and gets on top of his game.
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I saw the game. Flyers started out real strong & scored the first two goals. Isles looked good in the 2nd period but couldn't get anything past Biron. Flyers blew it open in the 3rd.

I think Niitty probably does have the flu. He didn't look good at all against Ottawa. I think the Isles announcer said that the flu really hit Niitty mid-game against Ottawa. So many Flyers had the flu that it's only logical he would get it too.

You're right. Big game tomorrow against the Rangers. Flyers could really use some more points.
 
#513
Jeff K said:
I saw the game. Flyers started out real strong & scored the first two goals. Isles looked good in the 2nd period but couldn't get anything past Biron. Flyers blew it open in the 3rd.

I think Niitty probably does have the flu. He didn't look good at all against Ottawa. I think the Isles announcer said that the flu really hit Niitty mid-game against Ottawa. So many Flyers had the flu that it's only logical he would get it too.

You're right. Big game tomorrow against the Rangers. Flyers could really use some more points.
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I wish I could have seen it.

Nitty looked terrible against Ottawa, but it is also hard to blame just the goalie on some. I know the flu bug hit the Flyers locker room hard (this is only the 3rd game I've missed this year) so I'm sure he has it. Sometimes my skeptical side gets the better of me.

Tomorrow should be a fun physical game as it always is against the Rangers. I'm going to enjoy it because it will be on a 9:30 here. Just about the time I've made my second bodum of coffee. :D

EDIT: I just looked at the game summary and a couple things are standing out. Rookie Claude Giroux gets his 2nd. Kind of sucks because I really like him and would like to see him score more often. If course he scores when I'm not watching.

Also good to see them score all five gaols at even strength. It's hard for me to believe that a team that is 4th in the conference can have such a low +/- at even strength.

Lastly; 2 goals from the 4th line. This is good to see. Philly needs to be skating 4 lines and getting some production out of all them.
 
#518
kserg said:
Which part? Me saying that Avery is a diver and crappy player and only reason anyone knows about him is because he is an ***hole? Or fact that BB is in love with the guy, won't stop talking about him and wants to be on Jerry Springer with Avery to talk about their relationship?


Oh look at him, he is sooo good for the game:

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Wait a second, isn't CLAUDE LEMIEUX tying to make a come back on your team? If you want to talk about people who aren't good for the game, you might want to start there. You should be outraged.
 
#520
I was just instigating :) Its good for the sport of forum posting! Lemieux and Avery can both take a hike as far as I am concerned. BB might be right though, in that like I said, gimmicks like the publicity around Avery might increase ratings and popularity of hockey. Good for the game itself? HELL NO, and I don't think I would like the class of hockey "fans" that kind of gimmickery woud attract, but from the leagues financial standpoint, more people watching hockey is a good thing.
 

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