NHL Hockey thread

[Drakken]

Went to my first live NHL game tonight, with the Wild visiting Habs.

We lost 4-2, and Price was less than stellar. I jinxed the game. 

[Grey Fox]

Oh! You are the one to blame.

[Drakken]

Oh! You are the one to blame.

Yes, I was in the Red section just behind the net where Price was goaltending on 1st and 3rd periods.

[Barrister]

Okay so last week the Jets played in Tampa Bay, Florida.  In the stands was former WWE Wrestler Chris Jericho wearing a Jets jersey.  Makes sense as he's originally from Winnipeg.  I guess he lives in Florida now.

But last night at  the game in Winnipeg was current WWE star Brock Lesnar - also wearing a Jets jersey.  That made... less sense.

Afterwards the Jets posted a brief interview with Lesnar.  He talked about how he lives in Canada now and his kids are huge into hockey so they decided to go to a game.  I couldn't figure out why he lives in Canada now (he still has a broad midwestern accent, and originally is from Minnesota).  So I looked it up - he and his almost equally famous wife Sable (a former WWE star) live on a farm near Maryfield, Saskatchewan, in the SE corner (and right on the MB border).  I kind of know the area as my grandparents had a cottage maybe a half hour from there when I was growing up.  It's really in the middle of nowhere though.

It's quite the odd path for his personal life.  Between Lesnar's WWE and UFC career's he's not hurting for money, but he chooses to settle down  in rural saskatchewan and become a hockey dad.

Anyways, jets were 2 for 2 when WWE wrestlers are in the house.

[Ed Anger]

Jets just wanted Lesnar's drugs.

[katmai]

Jets still suck.

[PRC]

Big Buff could take Lesnar out.

[Barrister]

Big Buff could take Lesnar out.

Lesnar's still bigger.  First guy I've seen who makes Big Buff look kind of small.

[Jacob]

Maybe he's one of those "I'm moving to Canada" people who actually acted on it?

As for the real reason, google says:

Lesnar said he was visiting his brother's farm in Maryfield, southeast of Regina, near the Manitoba boundary, to help with the harvest.

...

Lesnar said "in the near future," he would like to get dual citizenship and live in Saskatchewan full time.

"I just want to raise my kids on the farm and have them grow up learning how to work on the farm and building that strong work ethic, just like I did."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/former-ufc-champ-brock-lesnar-says-he-wants-to-move-to-saskatchewan/article14934102/


So, he wants his kids to have an upbringing similar to his own and figures Saskatchewan is the place for that, and he has close family in the area.

[Grey Fox]

He's been reported "Fighting out of Saskatchewan" in UFC fights for a couple of years now.

[viper37]

Therrien fired, Julien hired to replace him.

They're still gonna lose big time in the playoffs

[Barrister]

Therrien fired, Julien hired to replace him.

They're still gonna lose big time in the playoffs

That's a pretty aggressive move.  Especially for a team that's in first place in it's division.  They must really have wanted Julien (and to be fair, it's not often high-quality francophone head coaches come on the market).

[Valmy]

I am so glad I get almost two more months to enjoy THE BEST SEASON EVAH before the playoffs come along and break my heart.

[viper37]

Therrien fired, Julien hired to replace him.

They're still gonna lose big time in the playoffs

That's a pretty aggressive move.  Especially for a team that's in first place in it's division.  They must really have wanted Julien (and to be fair, it's not often high-quality francophone head coaches come on the market).

they're in a downward slope since december.  They're barely playing for .500, if not below.  If they keep this rythm, they risk not making the playoffs, just like last year.

I don't think the coach is the problem.  Well, maybe he is part of the problem, maybe he lost the respect of the players.  Imho, there were two questionable decisions he made regarding the goalies.  Well, rather one.  He let Montoya in the net to lose something like 10-1 or 10-0 early this fall because he wanted to give Price a day off.  That was a mistake.  And when Price had a bad moment, he pulled him out after 4-5 goals (Grey Fox will remember the exact stats, he's a fan ).

In itself, pulling your goalie after 4-5 goals is not a bad thing, but when earlier in the season you let the other goalie 'til the end, it sends a bad message to the team, imho.  And Price was really, really pissed off at the coach for pulling him out this night.

So, yeah, maybe there are tensions between Price and Therrien.  I don't know.

What I do know is, over the years, they've made pretty questionnable moves in the recruitment department.  And right now, they don't really have great prospects in the minors really to re-lauch the team.  If they don't win the cup in the next 3-4 years, they don't stand a chance for the next 15-20.  So that plays heavily in the mind of their GM.

But they have a shitty team.  Even though the fans like to think their team is worth the millions they get, they're closer to a 4 3rd line team than anything ressembling the Penguins, or the Caps or many other good teams or not so good teams that are climbing back the ladder.

Recruiting Andrew Shaw to "bring character to the team" was a stupid move.  This guy keeps getting silly penalties and putting the team in trouble.  That's not the coach's fault.  Most of the top scorers wouldn't make it to a 3rd line in the better teams.  They have had a lot of injuries, and they don't have the deepness teams like Pittsburgh can have to supplement their losses.  This team needs to rebuild itself and emphasize speed&attack, not rely on the goalie and a strong defensive as they did int he 90s.  It ain't the 90s anymore.  No matter the coach they get, they always keep to that stupid philosophy and they always lose.  They aim for the average and not for the top. And they miss the mark.

[Barrister]

Winnipeg Jets rookie sensation Patrick Laine scores his third hat-trick of the year.