NHL 2011/2012 Season

[Canadave]

^ Nah, it make sense to me. The Leafs are playing well this year, and Wilson seems to be well-respected in the room, which is important in a team full of young kids like Toronto. Yeah, the PK still sucks, but that's on the assistants more than it is him. Plus the extension is only a year, so it's not like they're locked in if things suddenly go south.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I don't know much about the situation, but I agree this seems like a team chemistry type thing, which is probably a smart move.

 

[Canadave]

^ Exactly. I get the impression that the players all respect him, and it seems like there's a lot of unity in the locker room right now, and that's really as important as anything. The penalty kill can be fixed much more easily than if you ruin the moral.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

I see Ilya Kovalchuk was Cam Ward's secret Santa this year. Such a nice present he gave Ward.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

I see Ilya Kovalchuk was Cam Ward's secret Santa this year. Such a nice present he gave Ward.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1w3O178Ac[/yt]

And my comment on it

Ironically it was the New Jersey Devils (then known as the Colorado Rockies) who were the victims of a similar play when Billy Smith of the NY Islanders was credited as the first NHL Goalie to score a goal.[ On November 28, 1979, in a game between the Islanders and the Colorado Rockies, the Rockies' goaltender left the ice for an extra attacker after a delayed penalty call was called on the Islanders] Never liked this Smith guy he never shook hands in the line up after winning just skated off.

 

[Canadave]

^ The best thing is that Cam Ward is now in the not-all-that-exclusive "More Goals Than Scott Gomez" club.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

For those interested, the Flyers and the Rangers alumni are playing against each other. You get all the great players for both teams here. The Flyers will have both Bobby Clark and Eric Lindros playing side by side. It should be fun.

Here are the rosters

You have Mark Messier leading the Rangers. Let's go Flyers alumni.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The Winter Classic has begun. Lundqvist in net for Rangers, Bobrovsky for the Flyers.

 

[tomalak301]

The Winter Classic has begun. Lundqvist in net for Rangers, Bobrovsky for the Flyers.

It was a good first period with Lundqvist making some great saves. I do think they need some goals in the second but the game has looked crisp and fun so far. Looking forward to the second.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It looked surprisingly crisp and by that I mean clean. Very few big hits and no fights whatsoever. Not that it's a bad thing, just unexpected considering how acrimonious these teams can be.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Wow the Bruins just ate the Flames, Vancouver's in for a tough game Saturday
I hope they put Schneider in Goal.

 

[Skywalker]

Boston has been kicking ass (for the most part) lately. It's great.

I just hope they aren't planning on pulling a Red Sox by having a terrible first month, followed by an outstanding middle of the season, followed by an epically bad final month.

 

[eastman23]

The player's association has blocked the re-alignment plans.



Of course, this means that Winnipeg will remain "southeast" next year.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Sucks for Winnipeg. The league should have had the simple realignment ready as a contingency plan. Has the NHLPA released any info on why they rejected it?

That said, I'm happy not to have that dramatic of an overhaul. The regular season plan was alright, but I'm no fan of a return to divisional playoffs.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, there's a long list of concerns involving travel times and playoff prospects. They asked for a hypothetical schedule to give them an idea what to expect. Both sides are obviously jockying for public opinion, but their concerns don't seem entirely unreasonable.

 

[Skywalker]

I thought one of the major reasons for the realignment was to make travel times easier on teams. And it also seemed pretty clear to me that the intent with the uneven conferences was to eventually add two more teams to make four eight-team conferences.

 

[Danny99]

Yeah, there's a long list of concerns involving travel times and playoff prospects. They asked for a hypothetical schedule to give them an idea what to expect. Both sides are obviously jockying for public opinion, but their concerns don't seem entirely unreasonable.

It's extremely hard to come up with a complete schedule quickly. You have to take a lot of things into consideration.

However, both sides have looked horrendous in this. The PA is firing shots across the bow, but the league's response has been pitiful.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It seems the biggest issue is just one of communication (and fear of change) rather than an actual complaint with the proposal, but I could be wrong.

 

[Winterwind]

I thought one of the major reasons for the realignment was to make travel times easier on teams. And it also seemed pretty clear to me that the intent with the uneven conferences was to eventually add two more teams to make four eight-team conferences.

I would hope the league would subtract two teams.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Agreed.