NHL Hockey thread

[fhdz]

Oh, hey, and the 'hawks win. Again.

They were playing Edmonton.  Of course they won.   

Clinched the Prezidizzle's Cup with that one.

[PRC]

Oh, hey, and the 'hawks win. Again.

You must have missed the game on Monday night where they were dominated for a full 60 minutes.  First round and out.

[viper37]

It's not the Canadiens or the Leafs, it's not a team with a long tradition.  The original Jets started around '79, I think? Same time as the Nordiques when the AHL folded into the NHL?

Jets (and Nords) go back to 1972! The WHA counts!

Ah, that was the WHA, my mistake.  So I meant WHA instead of AHL.
Aside that, I only meant their existence in the NHL, not that I forgot their glorious past in that other league

[fhdz]

Oh, hey, and the 'hawks win. Again.

You must have missed the game on Monday night where they were dominated for a full 60 minutes.  First round and out.

We'll see

[viper37]

That is the main problem.  People are way too quick to drink the cool aid and buy into the narrative that this is what we do.  Fact is more kids here play soccer and basketball then they play hockey.  And it is a very large margin when we look at soccer.

True.  Soccer and basket are inexpensive sport.  A pair of shoes, some clothing, tada!

But hockey remains the professional sport we see and love.  Barely no one talks about Montreal's Impact besides European and Arabian immigrants.

If you guys keep approaching the sport as if it were some kind of cult it is never going to clean up its act.  And until that day comes it is always going to be a sport only for the fanatics.

We don't approach it as a cult, and it's not cleaning its act because the players and the fans don't seem to really want to.

As we put more&more regs into the game, the probability increases for good players to sit in the penalty box, and they hate that.  They don't want to get a dirty hit, but they don't want their players to get thrown out for a bad hit, or to get a penalty for high stick with 2:30 in the 2nd overtime of the playoffs.

As for the fights, I've no idea if Don Cherry's opinion are the mainstream view of the fringe view.  Personally, I'd like to see them gone as I find that silly.  Best hockey is in the Olympics and the playoffs, and there's barely a fight there, though it happens.

[viper37]

And if the CBC covered soccer and basketball the way they cover hockey we would watch that too.  Probably in bigger numbers.  The main problem with watching sports other than hockey in this country is it is hard to get the games.  I have to subscribe to a specialty channel to watch what I want.

French CBC does not cover hockey.  I have to subscribe to a specialty channel to watch what I want.  So does anyone who likes to watch hockey in Quebec.  Guess what?  It's still the #1 sport in Quebec on television.  It is the sports the network will pay for.

Demand drives the offer, not the other way around.  If there's demand for soccer on tv, networks will carry it.  As it is, it's a filler for when there's no hockey.  Heck, sports shows during the summer talk about the Habs, not the Impact or the European soccer clubs.

[viper37]

You know not of what you speak.  In order to watch NBA games I have to by the NBA specialty channel.  Also even with a basketball specialty channel I still cant watch all the games and I cant watch any college games during the week.  I am restricted to watching whatever the US networks put up during the weekend.

There's no team in Vancouver, only one team in Toronto.  Maybe Toronto gets some coverage I don't know.

I know I can't watch a Canucks game on tv, I get a message saying there's a blackout in my area.  NFL has something similar too.  My cousin is a Canucks fan, he can only watch the occasional game aired on CBC.  This is what happens when you root for a team outside you area.  It's not some sport racism toward basket

Besides, Basketball being a hugely popular game in the US, I suspect they don't have a "Canadian discount" for our networks.

[viper37]

No, you dont get the point.  US college basketball is generally considered the best kind of basketball to watch on TV.  That is not the case for hockey.

Are collegial basket games typically aired outside their area?  Can someone from New York watch a game between two California teams?

[viper37]

I do not get why Canadians do not appreciate Basketball more.  It was invented by a Canadian after all.

It's a summer sport.  Outside of Vancouver, it's Winter 8 months a year + 2 months in mudd.  That leaves 2 months for summer sports.  In Vancouver, it's rain for 8 months + 4 months of sun mixed with rain.  From time to time, they have an inch of snow to remind them they are Canadian.

When summer comes, people take time off from work.  It's usually to site outside in the spa, or by the pool, not to watch some sport on tv during the few sunny days we have.

Basket is popular in the US, because nearly every house as a basket outside the house, or some local court where you can play at the very least 6 months a year in New England and all year long in many States.  I guess basket is more popular in Florida than in Maine, but I could be wrong.

[Valmy]

No, you dont get the point.  US college basketball is generally considered the best kind of basketball to watch on TV.  That is not the case for hockey.

Are collegial basket games typically aired outside their area?  Can someone from New York watch a game between two California teams?

Yep.

Though if you want to do something crazy like watch every single game some California team plays it is going to cost you a bit.

[Valmy]

It's a summer sport.

Um...it is a winter sport. It is supposed to be played inside and the season is from November to March typically (though the NBA, like the NHL, take it right into June).  There are generally no basketball games during the summer, that is baseball season.

[Grey Fox]

It's a summer sport.

Um...it is a winter sport. It is supposed to be played inside and the season is from November to March typically (though the NBA, like the NHL, take it right into June).  There are generally no basketball games during the summer, that is baseball season.

That doesn't fit the Canadian psyche tho. A sport is either winter/summer by when you can play it outside.

[viper37]

No, you dont get the point.  US college basketball is generally considered the best kind of basketball to watch on TV.  That is not the case for hockey.

Are collegial basket games typically aired outside their area?  Can someone from New York watch a game between two California teams?

Yep.

Though if you want to do something crazy like watch every single game some California team plays it is going to cost you a bit.

I meant on regular cable, not on some NBA specialized channel?

[Barrister]

Tonight is it.  Jets last regular season game.  Playoffs are not impossible - but we need a win, then need Ottawa or NYR to lose out.

[crazy canuck]

CC's argument seems to be he can't watch whatever soccer/basketball game he wants, which is laughable.  I have to pay a bunch of money to be able to watch my Jets games, so it's not like you can easily watch every hockey game on basic tv either.

Strawman for the win!

Jetboy, as a hockey fan you can watch a very large number of hockey games on basic cable.  I get no basketball games other than during March madness.  See the difference?