NHL hockey thread

PickleRick

I was working on the boat and didnt get to watch.  Huge come back.  I read they dominated the 2nd period.  This years pens team frustrates me, they can completely dominate a period or two  or come out and sleep for 3 periods. 

I believe they are still leading the league with best goal differential.

If they can play their team first mentality and keep their depth scoring going they will be hard to play against in the playoffs. Not sure anyone can match up with a pens team that can roll all 4 lines and maintain constant pressure.  Sully wont call Crosbys like his starting line, he has a line 1 and a line 1a.    

Syd is back and has put up 8 points in 4 games since his return.  Losing guntzel and his pace to break 40 or more goals this season really hurts chemistry in the line up.  



If they continue to sleep through one or two periods a game they will be a one and done again come playoffs.

Handymans342

Dream_Inn said:

Was one heck of a good game yesterday for the Caps!  to come back with 5 goals in the 3rd and an Ovi hat trick to boot!

Back to back hat tricks. Bobby Orr never did that nor could he even carry Ovis stick. Hahahahhahahahahahahahaah

raybo3

@Handymans342 the more you talk the more ignorance you show. You dont even know what position Orr played. Go check out the stat's. Orr only played 8 full seasons and he played most of them on one leg. In 659 games he had 915 points and a plus 582. Ovechkin has 1133 games and 1261 points and a whopping plus 85 and is playing in a watered down league with no hitting. Orr was also a defensive defenseman. HeII I would take Mike Bossi over Ovechkin......... 

Handymans342

I got under his skin. 

raybo3

Bahahahahahahahahahaha I think I will change your profile name from Handyman to knownothingman............lol

Handymans342

And you need to change yours from Raybo3 to Bimbo3

PickleRick

Orr may have had one or two more assists than Ovi.  I need to do some research but i think in Orrs era passes could not be in a forward direction. 

raybo3

@PickleRick not sure how old you are but if you saw Orr play you would know exactly what I am talking about. Not sure what you mean about "passes could not be in a forward direction" but you could not pass the puck past the red line from your own zone. I once saw Orr take the puck and skate in circles and kill a 2 minute penalty by himself. The guy was amazing. Won 2 scoring titles and 8 Norris trophies and yes Handy he was a defenseman.......

PickleRick

I'm 38, i googled it and 1929 forward passes were allowed in the NHL so Orr did benefit from the forward passes. In the late 60s the bananas blades were outlawed, goalies started wearing masks when sticks became curved, they pretty much all went to masks when blades were unregulated.  

raybo3

Rick Orr started playing in 1968. So when Orr played you had to stay on "your" side of the red line or it was an off sides pass and they blew the whistle. The "red line rule" was in place from 1943 to 2005. 

PickleRick

I think you mean the 2 line pass rule.  Up until 05 the puck couldnt be passed forward over more than one line or the play was blown dead and i believe the face off came back into your zone.  I dont remember if that included goal lines or just the 3 lines in the netural zone.

Our leagues didn't enforce the 2 line pass, only off sides and in roller hockey (i played both) there was not an off sides. You skated 4 on 4 and our game plan was always throwing the puck to the streaking player.  That is the reason pro hockey started offsides in i think the 1910's


Offsides is where the puck must cross into offensive zone over the line before a player can...ive used my stretched 34 inch inseam to keep a toe on-side more than a few times. 

Many of the rules today are made for faster higher scoring hockey.   The goalie pads and gloves are smaller, the defenders get called for even thinking about stepping in front of a streaking winger.  Back in the 90s the defenders could just grab you and go for a ride.  

MarkB

PickleRick said:

I'm 38, i googled it and 1929 forward passes were allowed in the NHL so Orr did benefit from the forward passes. In the late 60s the bananas blades were outlawed, goalies started wearing masks when sticks became curved, they pretty much all went to masks when blades were unregulated.  

One thing to Orr's disadvantage is he didn't have the schedule Ovechkin has now ... how many extra games does Ovechkin play a year?

PickleRick

82 regular season plus playoffs today


@ 70 games plus playoffs in the early 60s and 80 per yewr by 1975

LaRea

@PickleRick what are your thoughts on the All-Star Game?  I mean, aside from the obvious fault that we have to go an entire week without real hockey.  Fun way to recognize great players?  Useful marketing tool for the league?  Or a total waste of time?

And what do you think of the new format with the 2-round knockout tournament?

Handymans342

Not to get off topic but I know the NFL Pro Bowl is a joke. The NHL is fun to watch but a lot of players skip it. 

raybo3

The played 78 games a year back then. Not much difference not to mention that travel arraignments are much better now than back then. The biggest difference now is the medical technology. No arthroscopic surgery in Orr's days. His knee was opened 11 times and he would still skate circles around the league and would do the same to Ovi. He was such a pleasure to watch and if you watched him in his prime you all would agree.......     

PickleRick

I've never liked the nhl skills competition.  I am also not a huge fan of the current division vs division competition. I did like the old east vs west but id prefer to see last year's Stanley cup team vs nhl all stars or even NHL Stanley champs vs world medal/Olympic gold hockey team.  


I hate all things flyers but the Flyers beating the absolute snot out of the Soviets was an amazing story.  The broad Street bullies had the soviets so **** they didnt want to return to the ice to start the next period.

I realize that todays All-Star game is set up so fans from every team watch but i think it takes away a little bit of what true hockey fans want, elite vs elite.   There are elite players and elite teams,  elite teams don't always have super stars on them.    


In the old days of hockey players didn't sit out of the all star game, it was played over the summer and was the difference between making that extra hockey money and having a free summer or working all summer to make ends meet. 

Im all for all star games being moved back to summer so the two all star teams have a few weeks of practice together before playing.  Id also like to see it full contact like World Cup or Olympic hockey.  Make it count for more than publicity bragging rights.   Team Canada vs defending Stanley Cup champs.....thats epic sounding hockey so long as half team Canada isnt on that Stanley cup team.  

Handymans342

raybo3 said:

The played 78 games a year back then. Not much difference not to mention that travel arraignments are much better now than back then. The biggest difference now is the medical technology. No arthroscopic surgery in Orr's days. His knee was opened 11 times and he would still skate circles around the league and would do the same to Ovi. He was such a pleasure to watch and if you watched him in his prime you all would agree.......     

Stop comparing today to 50 years ago. Geeezzzz

LaRea

An interesting thing about the skills comp is watching the players interacting as social peers rather than as psychopathic killers.  My favorite events are the passing challenge and the puck control relay.  Hardest shot is boring, even when Ovi is there.  Oh, and I like fastest skater because it combines raw power with a bit of motorsport strategy.  

It's a pipe dream to expect an all-star game with the same intensity as regular games.  There's no reward system to support it.  But I do prefer the 3-game tourney rather than a single 60-minute game with players rotating out constantly.  

PickleRick

I still think lemieux, in his prime, had the size, speed and hockey i.q. to take anyone in a 1 on 1 match.  The dude skated like the wind and much like what Orr did, was so ahead of his peers in skill/i.q. he was able to change his game to what his body allowed while still dominating the sport.  Im a pens fan so im a 100% homer.  

Even at the skills comp you can tell some players do not like one another. @ 2008 wasnt it ovi who borrowed i think Matt cook of the pens stick after ovi broke it while taking a slap shot in the skills comp.  Then i think he had to chase Ovi down to get it back. 

In 2012 Crosby stated in an interview he didnt like anyone on the Flyers team, hes usually very careful not to offend anyone and chooses words so carefully in interviews.  

LaRea

Handymans342 said: Stop comparing today to 50 years ago. Geeezzzz

I have to admit, I'm with Handy on this one!  Comparisons to retired players are too abstract for me.  I'd rather compare the 2020 Caps to the 2020 Pens, which we'll be able to do when they play in a couple weeks!

PickleRick

The pens stunk it up tonight

raybo3

LaRea said:

Handymans342 said: Stop comparing today to 50 years ago. Geeezzzz

I have to admit, I'm with Handy on this one!  Comparisons to retired players are too abstract for me.  I'd rather compare the 2020 Caps to the 2020 Pens, which we'll be able to do when they play in a couple weeks!

@LaRea Orr changed the game to the way its played today. Like @PickleRick I am 100% a homer also. Mario is definitely a part if the greatest of all time. For my money I take Orr

Handymans342

We can compare players from all sports from all decades and say this one was better than that one when we should be remembering all the great ones and the great memories they all provided us and drink to them. 

LaRea

+1 homer.  My viewing season ends when the Caps season ends.  Some years, I get to watch later into the spring than other years!

PickleRick

If the pens phone in the games like last night i wont bother watching the first round.

raybo3

@Handymans342 that's the best thing you have ever said on this forum. I am so proud of you right now. WAY TOO GO!!!

LaRea

The women's game during the Skills Comp was fun to watch.

LaRea

The only time I like a win by the Pens is when they play the Flyers.

BTW Ovi tied Messier.  Standing with true giants.

LaRea

I mean, passed.