NHL 2013 - 2014

[Strazos]

Yes, Matt Cooke is a little shit of a player.

[Bunk]

It's kind of weird how much you tend to look at home team players differently. I was big fan of Matt Cooke as a Canuck, yea he went over the line on occasion but it never seemed too bad. Even after he left and was throwing dirty hits for other teams, I kind of rationalized it in my head as him not being really that sort of guy, or - he's trying to be better - that kind of stuff. Makes me wonder if Bruins fans manage to do that with shitweasel Marchand.

[Shannow]

3 years later and he is still in Canucks fans heads :D His game has been toned down a fair bit in the last two seasons, and never approached Cooke's level of dealing out hits with the intent to injure.

[WayAbvPar]

I barely tolerated Cooke when he was a Canuck, and absolutely loathed him elsewhere. He is a dirty cunt and shouldn't be allowed to draw pay as long as people he injures are out. Fuck him.

[Speedy Cerviche]

People are flipping out over the supposed ref conspiracy in Montreal. Even this idiot piece of hair TV presenter Ron McLean, who is supposed to be a ref guy, says Frenchies shouldn't be allowed near Habs' games (basically calling every NHL ref unprofessionally biased).

[Ceryse]

People are flipping out over the supposed ref conspiracy in Montreal. Even this idiot piece of hair TV presenter Ron McLean, who is supposed to be a ref guy, says Frenchies shouldn't be allowed near Habs' games (basically calling every NHL ref unprofessionally biased).

That's not what he meant, I believe. From what I understand what he meant was along the lines of; the French ref shouldn't have been allowed to ref that game due to the issues arising from Game 3 (Cooper, the coach of the Lightning having commented on the bad call from the ref in question), and that no ref from a specific region should return as a ref the next game if there was any actual issues -- and that the French ref had been specifically assigned by the NHL to send a message to Cooper (something that isn't out of the realm of possibility). It wasn't meant as 'those Frenchies shouldn't be allowed to ref Montreal games!' as that 'refs from (insert region) shouldn't ref games involving teams (from same region) immediately after a possible issue with that ref'.

I didn't watch game 3 (or any game of that series, to be honest) so I have no idea if Cooper's complaint was justified (I wager it was simply because NHL refs are hilariously bad, and yes I believe a number of biases do show up in their calls of games) and I don't have any strong feelings about refs from certain areas reffing games involving teams from the same area.

Honestly, I don't get the entire controversy. Seems rather blown up by all parties to me.

And let's be honest here, if MacLean had come out and said something like; 'Refs from Quebec suck and shouldn't be allowed to ref in the NHL' it wouldn't even make the top ten of bat-shit crazy comments about Quebec players/refs/people from Don Cherry, much less what Cherry has said about Euros.

[Speedy Cerviche]

He's still trashing every ref, saying they can't be professional enough, despite being very well compensated (6 figures), to overcome hometown partisan bias. This same guy, when the euros were complaining about NA NHL refs doing Canada or USA games at the olympics, didn't have a problem with it because NHL refs so professional (except French ones I guess).

if NHL made a point about assigning a french ref to game 4, they were correct. If any NHL ref is biased like that, he should be fired, not re-assigned.

Also the TB complaints are a crock, the goal disallowed was rulebook incidental contact, the guy bullrushed the crease, tripped up and flew into Price, and was in the way when he was scrambling out and the goal was scored. Yeah it hurts at that point, but the NHL has been calling this stuff tight all year, and it was still 1-1 at that point. TB got a big ref break that game too, when a really soft scrum shove by Briere was penalized as a crosscheck and TB scored their first goal on that PP. Don't hear much about that, I guess it doesn't gel with the 'Montreal typical' conspiracy theory.

[Ceryse]

Ah, the complaint was about the no-goal call? Honestly, the part that caused the goal to be disallowed is somewhat dumb (Price was the one who initiated contact when the guy was trying to get out of the net) and I think it should be adjusted slightly, but it is the rule, and one I don't see them changing, and it was a very smart play by Price (who understands the rule book a lot better than most NHL goalies).

As for the Refs.. eh. There is some credence to the idea. A number of refs, post retirement, such as Magoo, admitted to having biases against certain teams/players while they were active they did impact how they called the game. Additionally its well known that various players, especially if they are veterans, get away with blatant calls purely based on reputation with the refs rather than what actually happened on the play. Similarly, certain players who beak a lot to the refs (usually for not making calls) will often struggle to get calls because of it instead of plays being weighted on their own merit.

NHL refs are not very professional. I'm sorry, they aren't. Sure, it's a shitty job in that they take all the flak (and sometimes/often undeservedly so) and are basically always pissing one fan-base off in every game, but it isn't uncommon for various refs to be justifiably loathed by fans of certain teams and players. Part of the problem is also likely purely on the NHL on how they mandate games called, but to say that refs aren't biased is bat-shit crazy. Bias is a long-time part of the NHL, as described above, and is often regarded in a positive light in those circumstances despite being absolutely retarded.

I will agree, however, that you will almost never see a ref intentionally fuck a team over from bias in the playoffs (unintentionally is another story, imo) simply due to the amount of money the ref would stand to lose from possibly not getting to ref games further along in the playoffs. But bias in various forms does exist and is well documented and accepted in the NHL by the media, fans and league.

[Speedy Cerviche]

oh god, fleury...

[Ceryse]

Fleury is a good goalie.. but he seems very weak mentally. If you can get him to give up a bad goal he just seems to lose it and it makes him a horrible playoff goalie. I just don't understand how the Penguins can continue to go into playoffs with him as their goalie.

Cooke.. dirty player. Has cleaned up his game a ton in the last couple years, but it is still there. My only issue is how is that the only kneeing that has drawn a suspension? Its about the sixth one in the playoffs already and two of them didn't even merit a penalty. As always.. the NHL is utterly retarded when it comes to discipline.

[Phildo]

I'm just going to stop paying attention now.  Someone tell me when the Penguins are out and try not to say how embarrassing it was.

[01101010]

I'm just going to stop paying attention now.  Someone tell me when the Penguins are out and try not to say how embarrassing it was.

At least then they will HAVE to get rid of discoDan.

[Azaroth]

Oh...

Remember last year, and then the Bylsma extension in the summer?

Yeah... that organization is full of surprises.

[01101010]

Oh...

Remember last year, and then the Bylsma extension in the summer?

Yeah... that organization is full of surprises.

First round exit to the Bluejackets? Nope... he will have to go. If they don't make it to the conf finals, I'll be shocked if he is not given the boot. This city is already soured on him from last year's stupidity, not to mention they were watching when he fucked the Olympic team. Nah, he'll go - there is too much public opinion on him now.

[Azaroth]

Yeah, the Olympics is basically the moment that everyone realized he's an awful coach.

It's genuinely amazing that he's hung around so long because of that '09 Cup. It's like the team hadn't been to the Finals the year before or something?

Hint: They were already a good team when they won that Cup. It's not like he brought about some kind of miraculous turnaround.

[Ginaz]

Oh San Jose, never change.

[Ceryse]

So.. San Jose chokes. Again. Like always. They really are the best team that will never win fuck-all. For all the talk in the media about how you cannot win with Ovechkin.. where's teh talk about how you cannot win with guys like Thornton, Marleau? Rhetorical question, of course, as the answer is obvious why you don't see that. Still, the ability of the Sharks to collapse is hilarious.. and quite profitable. Betting on the Kings to win games 4-7 led to a very good return; that series alone paid for any and all bets I will make this playoffs (and undid the damage from the god damn Penguins winning).

Also; Colorado fucked up. Over-hyped team couldn't get it done in the playoffs... colour me surprised. I wouldn't be too surprised to see a decent drop-off for that team next season, barring some personnel changes. They just can't play the defensive side of the game all that well and tend to get horribly out-shot and rely on goal-tending and unsustainable shooting percentages.

Pity Dallas couldn't upset Anaheim (more for Horcoff's sake than anything.. that guy deserved to stay in the post season after enduring so many years on the second worst team in the league) and that the Penguins survived the Blue Jackets.. but other than that I quite like how the first round went. Not sure how much of the second round I'll watch, but I may grab parts of the Boston/Montreal series.

[Speedy Cerviche]

the tin man was traded out of Boston a decade ago when Harry Sinden saw him matched up and being outplayed by Saku Koivu (Koivu playing with cracked ribs), leading to two favoured Bruins teams getting upset in 1st round, and realized the Bruins would never win with this guy. I made my final conclusion he wss a loser when I saw the same thing I think 4-5 years ago when the Sharks came in as favourites and he was matched up against Getzlaf and was completely outplayed by him.

Colorado is an unblooded playoff rookie team, I never expect them to go far no matter how much talent they have. Playoff rookies just can't handle the pressure on their first dance. They could maybe use some changes on the back end though, their vets didn't cut it.

[WayAbvPar]

Rumors that Torts is out today. Wonder if Todd Mclellan will be available for interviews soon? 

[Ginaz]

Oh, Boston fans, never change.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/canadiens-p-k-subban-target-of-racist-tweets-1.2629997

[Shannow]

God the media loves that narrative. 17000 tweets calling him a n******.  Um anyone actually have proof of that?  There Are probably 17k tweets of good meaning ppl saying how bad it is to call him a ****** which has made this a story that creates itself.   Ppl being racist fuckwits on the internet? Who'd have thought!?   
Any mention in the media of New York fans response when , I believe it was from Simmons , scored a gwg in the last series ?   No.  Why not?   Oh because calling Boston a hotbed of racism fits the narrative.

Saw it on Facebook today. Ppl posting about how shirts were selling outside the garden that said "subbans a bitch"   Were just produced in the last two days.  So racist.  First off , no they fucking weren't. Two they've been selling shirts like that about everyone for years...stop being so fucking stupid people.

Also would like to see proof that these ppl are even from Boston.

The internet sucks. Yes there are racists who use the internet in Boston.  However if you think this city , a fucking liberal loving city on the coast is a special hot bed of racism in 2014 you are a fucking idiot.

This is a really, really tired media invention.

[Ginaz]

God the media loves that narrative. 17000 tweets calling him a n******.  Um anyone actually have proof of that?  There Are probably 17k tweets of good meaning ppl saying how bad it is to call him a ****** which has made this a story that creates itself.   Ppl being racist fuckwits on the internet? Who'd have thought!?  
Any mention in the media of New York fans response when , I believe it was from Simmons , scored a gwg in the last series ?   No.  Why not?   Oh because calling Boston a hotbed of racism fits the narrative.

Saw it on Facebook today. Ppl posting about how shirts were selling outside the garden that said "subbans a bitch"   Were just produced in the last two days.  So racist.  First off , no they fucking weren't. Two they've been selling shirts like that about everyone for years...stop being so fucking stupid people.

Also would like to see proof that these ppl are even from Boston.

The internet sucks. Yes there are racists who use the internet in Boston.  However if you think this city , a fucking liberal loving city on the coast is a special hot bed of racism in 2014 you are a fucking idiot.

This is a really, really tired media invention.

Yeah, its not like Boston fans have done this before...oh wait.
http://deadspin.com/5905356/heres-how-racists-on-twitter-reacted-to-joel-wards-series-winning-goal-against-boston

[Shannow]

You really are a dumbass aren't you.

[Ginaz]

You really are a dumbass aren't you.

Not to drag this into politics, but Boston has been one of the most racist cities in the US for years and probably THE most racist city north of the Mason-Dixon line.
http://deadspin.com/5942197/the-five-most-racist-cities-in-america
http://gawker.com/5946312/the-most-racist-city-in-america-boston
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46052395/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/arsonists-jailed-torching-black-church-only-hours-after-obamas-election-victory/

[Shannow]

This is so fucking awesome because you. are. proving. my. point.

Actually read the Deadspin and Gawker articles and tell me how they prove, using statistics, data etc how Boston is more racist than any other city. They don't, but since the Red Sox were the last team to integrate and the busing crisis of 1974, it fits the NARRATIVE. Do you see whats happening?

The irony is Willy O'ree.

[Strazos]

None of this quenches my hate of the Boston franchise.

Also, their local radio/TV teams are THE WORST. The absolute worst I have ever had to suffer through as an opposing fan.

[Shannow]

That's perfectly fine. I feel the same way about Montreal.
Listen to Tampa Bays announcers sometimes if you truly want to hate.

[Ginaz]

This is so fucking awesome because you. are. proving. my. point.

Actually read the Deadspin and Gawker articles and tell me how they prove, using statistics, data etc how Boston is more racist than any other city. They don't, but since the Red Sox were the last team to integrate and the busing crisis of 1974, it fits the NARRATIVE. Do you see whats happening?

The irony is Willy O'ree.

The point is you were claiming that Boston couldn't possibly be a city that has more than its fair share of racists because its a Liberal city that votes Democrat.  Also, see the last link I posted where a black church was burned down after Obama won in '08 in Springfield, a Mass. city not far from Boston.  2008 wasn't that long ago.  Anyway, this is veering into politics so I'll stop.

Also, Boston fans, of any sport, generally trend towards being douche bags.  They whined and whined for years about The Curse and now that all their major teams have been winning championships the past 10-15 years, they've gotten to be unbearable.  The only thing worse than a sore loser is an arrogant winner.  Its like listening to Floyd Mayweather.

[Phildo]

You guys are being dumb, cut it out.  The important thing is that we all hate the Flyers.

[Strazos]

Still not as insufferable as the Pens - think they're hot shit now, after being horrendous for years and lucking out with top picks in amazing draft years.

I'd have a lot more respect for them if they had to actually build a team the hard way, like Detroit.

[Ginaz]

Still not as insufferable as the Pens - think they're hot shit now, after being horrendous for years and lucking out with top picks in amazing draft years.

I'd have a lot more respect for them if they had to actually build a team the hard way, like Detroit.

No one has been able to do what Detroit has done.

[Hoax]

Lol at defending Boston as not very much more racist than it should be given population/voting habits/coastal location etc.

[Speedy Cerviche]

so the rags havent scored in the last 5 periods of hockey... making fleury look like hot shit. let's see if they can pull something out of their asses in the 3rd.

[Strazos]

No one has been able to do what Detroit has done.

Um...St. Louis?

I almost said Chicago, but then I remembered that the one year the Flyers bottomed-out, the Hawks still somehow swiped the top pick and took Kane.

[Ginaz]

No one has been able to do what Detroit has done.

Um...St. Louis?

I almost said Chicago, but then I remembered that the one year the Flyers bottomed-out, the Hawks still somehow swiped the top pick and took Kane.

Detroit has been doing it for 25 years.  Call me when St. Louis has had 24 more years making the playoffs with a few Cups thrown in.