NHL Thread: January

[J.T. 0]

Canucks score 12 and let in 2 vs all three Eastern Canadian teams in 6 days. Luongo owned all three of them.

 

O yah, in the papers today, Bulis is whining about wanting a trade. Rumor is he was suppose to bw dealt two weeks ago and it fell threw. I wish it didn't.

[Red Baron 0]

Wow. Bulis ego really went up after scoring 20 goals last year.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Not NHL, but hey CanadianGuitarist, I heard that the Niagara Falls-St. Catharines area is getting an OHL team. The St. Michael's Majors are going to Mississauga, and so the IceDogs are moving out. Are you into junior hockey? It seems really cool, since we don't really have an equivalent to it other than college sports. But yeah, short bus rides from one small Canadian town to another down the road where you play your long-time rivals. That's cool. It gives people in such forgotten places like Sudbury something to cheer for.

 

L'Arena Jacques-Plante in Shawinigan, Quebec. That's a fuckin' bomb shelter, right there.

[Red Baron 0]

Ya Czech. I've heard about it. Actually my cousin plays for the Ice Dogs, so its better for me to go to Niagara Falls instead to Mississauga.

[bob_barron 0]

I went to a St Mike's game, it was awesome.

[Red Baron 0]

I went to a St Mike's game, it was awesome.

 

the arena is garbage

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Not NHL, but hey CanadianGuitarist, I heard that the Niagara Falls-St. Catharines area is getting an OHL team. The St. Michael's Majors are going to Mississauga, and so the IceDogs are moving out. Are you into junior hockey? It seems really cool, since we don't really have an equivalent to it other than college sports. But yeah, short bus rides from one small Canadian town to another down the road where you play your long-time rivals. That's cool. It gives people in such forgotten places like Sudbury something to cheer for.

 

L'Arena Jacques-Plante in Shawinigan, Quebec. That's a fuckin' bomb shelter, right there.

 

 

Tough to say. I'd absolutely go see an OHL team if it came to Niagara, but this idea's been kicking around for a while now, with tires being spun a lot. Don Cherry actually lead a coalition for moving the team to Niagara last year, but the Falls idea just didn't come through. Newly elected St. Kitts mayor Brian McMullan seems very gung-ho for the idea, but it could be a tough sell, as a new four-pad arena opened in, I think 99 or 2000. It would definitely be cool to see, though I don't see it happening.

[Guest]

Luc Robitaille's # goes up tomorrow and I'll be there.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Well, here's what happened, far as I can tell:

 

Melnyk owns the St. Michael's Majors, who play at what's basically a practice rink and don't do well because Toronto doesn't support non-Leaf hockey. He then bought the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, where the IceDogs play, with the intent to place the Majors there. THEN he bought the IceDogs with the intent to sell them, and they were just sold to a guy who's moving them to an old arena in Niagara Falls and building a new one. As long as the deal doesn't fall through, I think Niagara Falls is going to be the big winner in all of this, since that OHL Arena Guide site says Mississauga doesn't support the OHL well either, and even though the Majors will now have a real arena, they're not guaranteed to draw more than a thousand per game. I just hope the new team gets rid of that "IceDogs" name. Ugh. Minor league sports.

[treble 0]

There are 2 OHL teams within an hour of here (Ottawa and Kingston), but I've never been to one of their games. The arena in Kingston is supposed to be a dump, but they're building a new one soon, I think, so I might check that out some time.

 

I did go to the OHL All-Star game in Peterborough a few years ago, though, I still have the program around somewhere, too.

 

The arena in Shawinigan looks like my high school.

[bob_barron 0]

The Majors' arena is a shithole but the game was great. Justin Donati scored the GWG with 3 seconds left

[Red Baron 0]

Czech.

 

The problem with Niagara Falls getting a team is an Arena. The Memorial Arena which holds a fair bit of attendence for an OHL game, has horrible parking. The arena is sorta dated, but to build a new arena, it would have to be out in the sticks.

 

St. Catharines would suit better if they had a place to build, which the only place I could think of is right near the 406 on Glendale (CanadianGuitarist would know the area).

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

Okay then. You know the issues better than I do. I just read that the Mississauga team is getting evicted, and likely sold and moved to the peninsula.

 

Oh, and the Shawinigan arena looks like my middle school. It's so weird to see such small rinks, being used to cavernous NHL venues. I bet junior hockey is a blast to watch, too.

[treble 0]

Most of the junior arenas in Quebec seem to be old barns and relatively small (except for Quebec City, I guess, which is still kinda old).

 

Most OHL arenas now seem to be pretty new, the smaller, older ones are getting phased out (St. Mike's, the old arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Kingston). Hell, London is supposed to be basically an NHL calibre arena, just a little smaller.

[Red Baron 0]

Ya the John Labbatt Centre can hold up to 10,000 and they are usually packed too.

 

Czech:

 

The IceDogs are rumoured to be also moving to North Bay or even in the Buffalo area (like Tonawanda or Chaquata county)

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

I had to look at my map to ascertain where North Bay was (east of Sudbury, northwest of Ottawa). Boy, that's up there.

[Red Baron 0]

Ya, they use to have an OHL team as well too.

[Guest "Go, Mordecai!"]

The Saginaw Spirit's mascot is named after Stephen Colbert? Too cool.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Czech said this already, but it warrants an underline:

 

A move away from Mississauga would be good for a team. If it's not the Leafs, they don't care. (Anyone remember the Roadrunners? With the Ricoh Centre built just for them?)

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Watching the Pens/Leafs game right now leads me to 2 observations:

 

1. The Penguins on the power play are the funnest team to watch in over a decade.

2. The Boston fans on here weren't kidding, Hal Gill may be the most useless guy in the league - he gives Antropov a run for his money for uselessness. He can't even fight worth a shit against a guy literally half his size.

[Red Baron 0]

I can say Janne Niinnama is also useless too.

 

Habs win 4-3 over Buffalo with Ryder scoring the game winner.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

We should make an all-useless team. Gerber would definetely be the goalie.

[KGB 0]

Antropov is NOT useless, aside from being injured all the time. Hal Gill plays well sometimes but can't fight and I've been noticing little things about him that get on my nerves lately, like his maddening tendency to go over to his defense partner's side of the ice and let an opponent on his side into the clear and he just doesn't have the speed to get back into position in time.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Sell me on Antropov. From what I've seen he's a moderately quick forward who can't handle hard passes, has trouble finishing around the net, has an average shot, is sloppy in his own end, I can keep going. What do you see in him?

[Guest]

Last night was awesome. Seeing all the older guys like Mike Donnelly, Marty McSorley, Bernie Nicholls, Larry Robinson and Rogie Vachon was great. The only thing I didn't like was that the ceremony was SO LONG.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Last night was awesome. Seeing all the older guys like Mike Donnelly, Marty McSorley, Bernie Nicholls, Larry Robinson and Rogie Vachon was great. The only thing I didn't like was that the ceremony was SO LONG.

 

Did you get to see the Yzerman game on the 2nd? A cavalcade of old teammates, mostly from the Cups in 97-98 were brought back. It was pretty cool to see Bob Rouse, Mike Vernon and Steve Duchesne again.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I like Luc Robitaille but he should have put himself over more. He had alot of nice things to say to everyone. I wonder if Rob Blake will get the same treatment.

 

Also, I didn't know half of those former Kings players.

 

Kings would have won if Burke was in net. I don't think the Kings fans will forgive Fukufuju for losing last night.

[Guest]

Did you get to see the Yzerman game on the 2nd? A cavalcade of old teammates, mostly from the Cups in 97-98 were brought back. It was pretty cool to see Bob Rouse, Mike Vernon and Steve Duchesne again.

Duchesne was at Luc's too. I saw it, and it was even longer than Luc's. That's saying a lot, since Luc's was about an hour and ten minutes long.

 

Messier's ceremony in Edmonton is going to be a parade.

 

I don't think the Kings fans will forgive Fukufuju for losing last night.

Yeah, he's fucking garbage. Both of the goals he gave up were horrid.

[RepoMan 0]

Ya the John Labbatt Centre can hold up to 10,000 and they are usually packed too.

 

Czech:

 

The IceDogs are rumoured to be also moving to North Bay or even in the Buffalo area (like Tonawanda or Chaquata county)

An OHL team in Buffalo would have competition at the gate with Canisius and Niagara D-1 programs, plus they'd be totally obscured by the Sabres. Jamestown in Chautauqua County might make sense. I'd imagine they'd need a new arena, and I don't know if that would fly. Plus it's not exactly a thriving area.

[J.T. 0]

So now that we are at the All Star break, lets talk trade. State your team, what your shopping and what you want in return.

 

Vancouver Canucks

 

Shopping:

 

Sami Salo (for the right price)

Jan Bulis and Marc Chionard (throw ins for contracts or generally for jack shit)

Cory Schineder (Top goalie prospect from Boston College, only young assest I will deal)

 

Want List:

 

RW to play with Sedins or Keslar and Nazzy(Anson Carter would be nice if he is cheap)

If trading Salo, a 4th d man in return, obviosuly not as good. He would be the second guy in the deal

A backup our coach will actually trust (Altho Saburen played his ass off vs Buffalo)