Official NHL 2007-2008 Thread

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by haohmaru

The NHL ain't what it used to be. Even with all of these "offense-orientated" rule changes, scoring in the league is down...again. One has to wonder how much the league has lost in forwards and defensemen being afraid of being penalized instead of taking that extra step to try and set up a play or use the stick or body (within reason) to get an edge against the opponent. Hockey is meant to be a "tough guy" sport and much of its aura and allure and even history is owed to that. We have lost much in this age of catering to the prima donna type player (Gretzky, Crosby) instead of the true heroes of the sport (Messier, Stevens) and those that are remembered most fondly.

I miss the NHL.

---

i knew when they went to this insane penalty league it wouldn't be the answer. they STILL need smaller goalie pads, or *gasp* actually enforce the ones they have. imo calling a penalty, or in this case many penalties only serves to slow down the pace of the game with this many stoppages as well. also blocked shots are way up iirc as well so we have the shots.....they're just not getting through. i myself don't need high scores (even though i know that's what will bring in the casual fan). as long as a game is a back and forth BATTLE and the few goals are actually earned, i'm happy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by haohmaru

The NHL ain't what it used to be. Even with all of these "offense-orientated" rule changes, scoring in the league is down...again. One has to wonder how much the league has lost in forwards and defensemen being afraid of being penalized instead of taking that extra step to try and set up a play or use the stick or body (within reason) to get an edge against the opponent. Hockey is meant to be a "tough guy" sport and much of its aura and allure and even history is owed to that. We have lost much in this age of catering to the prima donna type player (Gretzky, Crosby) instead of the true heroes of the sport (Messier, Stevens) and those that are remembered most fondly.

I miss the NHL.

---

Stop making sense, Ranger fan. ;)

Gaborik is playing like a freak of nature. Minnesota is dangerous when they have all of their parts.

I miss the NHL too. Too bad the Devils killed it.

Crosby got the Gordie Howe hat trick tonight.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cowutopia

Crosby got the Gordie Howe hat trick tonight.

---

I hope she didn't hurt anyone with her purse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Error

I miss the NHL too. Too bad the Devils killed it.

---

STFU. The league not understanding their own damn game and making stupid rule changes in concert with a salary cap is what killed the game. The Devils were the Eastern Conference for a decade, as every other representative to the Finals got beat from 1995 to 2003.

Well let me expand on my thoughts then. The Devils and expansion killed the NHL. Expansion diluted the talent of the league and the NHL allowed the Devils to win by grinding the fastest game on ice into the slowest snoozefest on TV, making Curling the fastest game on ice, and every expansion team said hey, if they can do it by playing shitty hockey, maybe we can too. So I don't totally blame the Devils, they were just doing what they had to to win. But I will never believe that the Devils were anything other than a great Goalie and a great system.

The list of fantastic Devils players, in addition to the goalie, is long.

Not really. Niedermeyer. Stevens. The rest are just add on parts.