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Official 2011-2012 NHL Regular Season Thread; Puck Drop

#81
Kunitz quietly got himself a two year extension. When he first came to Pitt, I really did not like him. Since then, I have come to be a fan. Also, Crosby has been cleared for practice contact.

All of these moving activities have really cut into my NHL viewing time. However, I plan on blocking out my schedule at 4PM this afternoon to watch Caps/Pens at CONSOL.

-Mike
 
#82
Great. Just great. Philly fans have finally gotten past booing Santa and cheering injured players! Now we're booing fight cancer promotions on the arenavision!!!

During last night's game apparently they popped an ad up on the jumbotron featuring Toews, Miller, and.. yep, Crosby. So they booed. So now the hockey media is picking up on it:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#84
mkandolf said:
Great. Just great. Philly fans have finally gotten past booing Santa and cheering injured players! Now we're booing fight cancer promotions on the arenavision!!!

During last night's game apparently they popped an ad up on the jumbotron featuring Toews, Miller, and.. yep, Crosby. So they booed. So now the hockey media is picking up on it:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Anything for a story,...

When it comes to the media (sports or current affairs),....I can't be bothered.
 
#85
Hey,....anyone here pick up a Jersey from the Sports Fan?

I'm looking to get and Reebok EDGE Authentic Giroux Jersey. I have a Reebok Premier Replica Jersey and I don't mind wearing it,...but it's kinda cheepish. I don't like the material, the heat press patch and silkscreened numbers. I don't know if the EDGE jerseys are any better but on the NHL Shop they sell them for around $330 and on the Sports Fan Site,...I can get a Giroux EDGE Authentic for around $200 less.

Link Removed
 
#86
I buy my NHL jerseys from SportsK in the Detroit area. The prices are right and you're buying from fellow hockey fans which means something to me. SportsK Discount NHL, Red Wings, MLB, NFL, NBA, Sports Jerseys, Jackets

Standard disclaimer: I am not affiliated with SportsK and will not receive any benefit from suggesting you shop there. I am not promising your shopping experience will be as pleasant as mine. That being said, I have spent over a thousand dollars there in recent years, and every transaction was great from start to finish. They didn't even give ma a hard time when buying my Pens gear after the 2009 SCF. :D

-Mike
 
#87
MJ5150 said:
I buy my NHL jerseys from SportsK in the Detroit area. The prices are right and you're buying from fellow hockey fans which means something to me. SportsK Discount NHL, Red Wings, MLB, NFL, NBA, Sports Jerseys, Jackets

Standard disclaimer: I am not affiliated with SportsK and will not receive any benefit from suggesting you shop there. I am not promising your shopping experience will be as pleasant as mine. That being said, I have spent over a thousand dollars there in recent years, and every transaction was great from start to finish. They didn't even give ma a hard time when buying my Pens gear after the 2009 SCF. :D

-Mike
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The Sports Fan Pro seemingly won't take Mastercard even though it says they will on their site. I think it may also be a Chinese Store Front,...not that I take issue with that since these Jerseys are all made in China anyway (I think). I'll give that site a look over though (EDIT: looks like they aren't carrying what I'm looking for, just Premiers). Authentics are expensive but they are much nicer than the Premier Replicas.
 
#90
mkandolf said:
Tuned in to the Wings game briefly tonight. WOW! The Joe looks about 50% capacity! And they're playing Vancouver!
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Could have something to do with a Tigers Playoff game going on?:D

This is busy sports week in MI. We have the Lions on Monday night and again on Sunday. MI plays MI State, and the Tigers in the ALCS. I imagine the Wings will be a lower priority this week. And for all of the talk of Hockeytown, Football is still King here. On any given weekend, we'll fill U of M (110,000) and Ford field and Spartan Stadium. That's 200,000 plus paid football ticket buyers.

In the meantime the Wings have started out real strong. We beat the Cannucks 2-0 with Howard getting the shutout. Three games three goals given up with two shutouts, one each for Conklin and Howard. It appears the D has come to play.
 
#92
MJ5150 said:
I never understood why Detroit is called Hockeytown. It isn't a hockey town.

-Mike
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In a way your right, it's a Sports town. Detroit is a hockeytown, if you don't think so go to the Plymouth Ice arena and watch the Ontario Hockey League. Youth Hockey is huge in Detroit. In fairness, I do think there's a bit of Red Wing fatigue, because they are pretty much automatic for the Playoffs, so fans don't get as interested during regular season. Its kind of like talk to me in the second round. I also think the late start times on away games during the reg. season discourage fan interest here. The Wings play over 70% of their away games in a later time zone.

The other issue is Hockey is expensive, and the economy in the area is pretty poor. But the Detroit area is a huge sport town. We have Three sport talk radio stations. Also football is King everywhere, and the Tigers are one of the oldest franchises in pro sports with a ton of history. So with the Lions starting off so hot, and the Tigers in the playoffs, it's hard to watch three games at once. But I'd still wager that despite the greatness of Isaiah Thomas, Barry Sanders, or Verlander, the most popular Sports figure in town is still Steve Yzerman. But if Stafford becomes a legand, all bets are off.
 
#93
That may all be true about hockey, but if you're going to be called Hockeytown, then fill the arena for a game against the defending conference champs. I've been to a few games in Joe Louis Arena, and expected more from the crowd.

Oh, and the Pens dropped a big game tonight to the Caps. Props to Asham for standing up like a man after the game and admitting he acted like a fool with that punch.

-Mike
 
#94
MJ5150 said:
Oh, and the Pens dropped a big game tonight to the Caps. Props to Asham for standing up like a man after the game and admitting he acted like a fool with that punch.
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Last night's game was a lot of fun, despite the pain of seeing five consecutive Pens power plays before the Caps' first PP opportunity yielded the game-winning goal.

Honestly, I don't see much wrong with what Asham did. Granted, he's an experienced bruiser, and young Jay Beagle isn't any kind of fighter at all, but Beagle accepted the challenge, and the rest is history. I read after the game that Asham was making the hands-under-the-head-like-a-pillow while Beagle was out, which may not have been particularly classy (I also read he later apologized for it), but he tapped the glass with his stick when they were helping Beagle off the ice, which was a decent little gesture. I don't begrudge Asham for knocking the ever-loving snot out of Beagle... it wasn't a cheap shot or cold-cock, and it was a close game between two big rivals. Having said that, it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see Asham get steam-rolled next time they meet... :smug:
 
#95
burk48237 said:
In a way your right, it's a Sports town. Detroit is a hockeytown, if you don't think so go to the Plymouth Ice arena and watch the Ontario Hockey League. Youth Hockey is huge in Detroit. In fairness, I do think there's a bit of Red Wing fatigue, because they are pretty much automatic for the Playoffs, so fans don't get as interested during regular season. Its kind of like talk to me in the second round. I also think the late start times on away games during the reg. season discourage fan interest here. The Wings play over 70% of their away games in a later time zone.

The other issue is Hockey is expensive, and the economy in the area is pretty poor. But the Detroit area is a huge sport town. We have Three sport talk radio stations. Also football is King everywhere, and the Tigers are one of the oldest franchises in pro sports with a ton of history. So with the Lions starting off so hot, and the Tigers in the playoffs, it's hard to watch three games at once. But I'd still wager that despite the greatness of Isaiah Thomas, Barry Sanders, or Verlander, the most popular Sports figure in town is still Steve Yzerman. But if Stafford becomes a legand, all bets are off.
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If anything, Toronto is hockeytown. They sell out every game and never make the playoffs. The fans can literally run a coach or GM out of town. The sports radio doesn't even admit that there are other professional sports in town, despite the Toronto Rock being the most dominant professional lacrosse team in history. Any player will admit that the pressure of playing in Toronto is way higher than anywhere else in the league. Toronto is the real hockey town.

BTW, we are still undefeated:)

lowsound
 
#96
MJ5150 said:
That may all be true about hockey, but if you're going to be called Hockeytown, then fill the arena for a game against the defending conference champs. I've been to a few games in Joe Louis Arena, and expected more from the crowd.

Oh, and the Pens dropped a big game tonight to the Caps. Props to Asham for standing up like a man after the game and admitting he acted like a fool with that punch.

-Mike
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I think the moniker came about during a time when the Lions were going 0-16, the Tigers were losing a 120 games. The Wings and Pistons were the only game in town and the NBA has a bit different fan base. I will say this much when they win the cup over a million people come to the parade, and they don't all get arrested like Vancouver Hockey fan. Considering the entire areas population is only about 5 million, that's pretty good support.

The other thing is reg. season Hockey is probably the most expensive fan sport, and the economy around here is seriously depressed. The only fans who can afford to go to a bunch of games are the corporate types. And a lot of the fans have moved away, this is one of the reasons the Wings travel so well.
 
#97
The problem is, that even with the Lions on their deathrows, they still sold the place out!!! That's the killer. Even during that 0-16 season, they were still selling out!!!

There were an awful lot of Pens fans in the Joe in the last Cup final out here.

Detroit is football first, hockey last.
 
#98
Listening to another podcast, Melrose Line... Boston gave out 505 Stanley Cup rings?!?!?!?!?

OK, if you give one out to every player that aniffed playing at the NHL level during the season, the coaching staff, scouts, front office... how can you come up with that many??? Did the wives and kids get them too?
 
#99
mkandolf said:
The problem is, that even with the Lions on their deathrows, they still sold the place out!!! That's the killer. Even during that 0-16 season, they were still selling out!!!

There were an awful lot of Pens fans in the Joe in the last Cup final out here.

Detroit is football first, hockey last.
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I agree its football first (but I can't think of any city in the States that's not true of). Also there are only 8 NFL home games, and it's still cheaper to go to Ford field than the Joe. But Hockey isn't last. I still think the Red Wings are more popular than the Pistons here.

The Tigers have a ton of history and a special place in fans hearts, and baseball is a much cheaper sport for families. And the Lions have been bad for so long (longer drought than the Wings) that fans are just waiting for good team to get excited about. For years our NFL season was over just about the time the Red Wings started the reg. Season.:D

I don't think any city in the States has more serious hockey fans. There may be some just as serious. I mean is Boston really Hockeytown with the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics there? Philadelphia, with the Eagles, Sixers, and Phillies. I'll bet their has been far more Eagle and Philly talk on Philly sports talk radio than Flyers talk. I can guarantee you the Bears and the Cubies generate more interest in fans than the Blackhawks.

It's really not fair to compare a US sports town to a Canadian one. Canada has no NFL, one NBA team (which has never been a contender) and one MLB team. College Basketball and Football aren't as big there either. They just don't have the competition for the sports fan dollar that you have in the States.
 
#100
Last year Wings had deals for 4 for $44, 4 tickets, dogs, and pop. Team was making a push for the top of the conference and the place was still down by a third. Our sales staff here have trouble getting customers to attend Wings games (and of course they won't give tickets to engineering).

And serious hockey fans? I've barely met any Wings fans around here that know players on the 4th line, and none that know the farm club and the prospects in Juniors.

Of course I put most of the blame for all this at the wizard of sports broadcasting of the Metro Detroit area: Bernie Smilovitz
 

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