Stanley Cup Playoffs

[Monster]

that was one hell of a game, and I'm feeling it today, the bartender wouldn't let me leave and kept giving me more beer.

[karsen]

[quote RgrF]Stanley has a cup? I hope he remembers to wear it if he ever plays any real sport or at least one that doesn't depend on fist fights or auto wrecks to draw an audience.
I take it you haven't really watched hockey lately. There are no more fists thrown in hockey than there are in baseball, football or basketball. Hockey is fast, intense and graceful all at once. Playoff hockey takes that up 100 notches. Playoff hockey in person takes it up 10,000 notches. An unreal experience.

Hockey players are the toughest and most skilled athletes of any of the major sports. The Stanley Cup is the most grueling and difficult to win in all of sport, a true battle of attrition. A real sport? I'd love to see you try it. You may not like it but to say it's not a real sport is ignorant.

[ztirffritz]

True. Hockey REALLy cracked down on fights over the last decade. Mario Lemieux was very actively involved in changing the face of the game. He convinced the players and the owners to increase penalties and fines for fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct, and other behaviors that detracted from the game. Before Lemieux it was largely a game of brute force. After Lemieux it became a game of finesse.

[mrmahann]

ugh Pens in? geezo, when did this happen? when last i checked, it was end of 1st round of playoffs. busy, busy, busy... oh, and vacation.

that said, go Pens.

[karsen]

That doesn't stop me from wearing my #24 Red Wings Jersey!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rH9wKQPoH0

[wickedsteve]

[quote Lux Interior]GO PENS!

GO CROSBY!
Amen! The Wings are going down.

[Numo]

[quote ztirffritz]True. Hockey REALLy cracked down on fights over the last decade. Mario Lemieux was very actively involved in changing the face of the game. He convinced the players and the owners to increase penalties and fines for fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct, and other behaviors that detracted from the game. Before Lemieux it was largely a game of brute force. After Lemieux it became a game of finesse.
Ah, Mario Lemieux. I remember when all of the "foreign" sounding names of hockey players were French-Canadian. Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur, etc. When I was a kid, the Montreal Canadians were gods. After the original expansion of the league, teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins popularized a "goon" style of hockey that gave the game a bad name. Of course, there is still some of that today. It seems like every team has to have one or two bad boys on it.

[smacks]

Hey RgrF -

Why even post? The thread was clearly for hockey fans and forum friends to share an exceptional contest.

You don't like hockey? That's fine – just start a new thread with the appropriate title.

"Hockey sux," maybe, huh?

I'm always a little bewildered by the forum custom of randomly pissing on somebody else's taste in (insert food, music, brand, sport, etc. here.)

Cheers, J

[Maddog]

Hockey in HD on the big screen is way better. It still isn't quite the experience of live hockey, especially at the Joe, but it is nice. That was a great game.

[BCam]

We all know how tough hockey players are - put I tip my hat to Referee Kerry Frazier, who, a couple of years ago during a playoff game, got hit just over his left ear with the puck. It opened up a bleeding wound about 3" long, but he blew the whistle, correctly called a face-off and then retired to the locker room for treatment.

Ten minutes later he was back on the ice, his scalp literally pinned back together, and called the rest of the game.

"Old time hockey, coach!"