NHL '06-'07

With the NHL season a quater way through, what are your thoughts? suprises? disappointments?

Here in Oil Country, we’re going through our annual October-November slump, so it’s hard to say how the season is going.

On another note, wtf was up with the HNIC poll the other day?

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hnic/after-hours.html

53% of people think the NHL needs a ‘no hits to the head’ rule? 53% of people are out of their mind. It’s the skater’s responsibility to keep his head up, forget the enforcement nightmare this rule would be.

If the NHL took a ‘protect yourself’ approach with hitting from behind, it would disappear. Players would no longer be standing three feet from the boards with their backs turned, protecting the puck like they’re playing basketball.

I’m disappointed. The Bruins have a lot of great talent but just haven’t figured out how to put it all together yet. Offense looks good but can’t finish on scoring opportunities. Defense has a tendency to fall asleep and give up bad turnovers deep in their own zone.

Thomas has been good, but not great, in net, Toivonen(sp?) hasn’t done a damn thing (assigned to providence last week). Overall there’s something there, but they just haven’t clicked.

As far as the NHL in general goes, I’m not ready to give up hope yet, but something needs to be done. The officiating is terrible. Aside from the fact that some of the new rules take a lot of the fun out of watching the game, they aren’t even being called consistently from play to play, let alone game to game or ref to ref.

It seems like one minute you can grab a non puck carrying player by the jersey and throw him to the ice without a whistle, next minute you make stick to stick contact with the puck carrier and it’s somehow interference. I just don’t get it, and I think a lot of the players are confused as well. No one seems to know what constitutes a penalty and what slides by.

My other gripe with the new NHL is all the scoring that’s going on. Every morning I watch the highlights and see scores like 8-6 or 7-5. And it’s not due to a lack of goaltending or defensive ability in the league.

Powerplay minutes are up across the board and defensive players are effectively handcuffed in front of the net with the interference calls so prevalent in today’s game. It’s sad. I know the owners wanted to see a higher scoring game in hopes of drawing more fans, but I think they’re driving away just as many. And I don’t see it getting better.

ok, rant over,
Jay

Well, being a So Cal native I am surprised by the Ducks start to the season. I knew they would be good with the additions they made in the offseason, but I had no idea they would be this good. It’s still hard to think of the Ducks as one of the elite teams in the league, but it seems like that is where they are headed.

Also, the young talent in the NHL right now is phenomonal. Milkin, Crosby, Ovechkin (sp?) etc. are going to carry this league for a long time. Now if only they had talent running the league :wink:

I don’t know how you can say that the new rules are anything but a success. That is, unless you’re a NJ fan or something.

Sure, the refs still need to work on consistency, but I don’t see any glaring problems – and this is coming from a fan of a team that got SCREWED by a game-tying goal being called off with 4 seconds left.

Flyers fan here. Can’t wait for the season to be over.

Most people here in Montreal are surprised with our home team. Then again the fact that our new coach is very good in his field (Carbo) and the players are finally playing together.

We should be able to go into the 2nd round of the play-offs…at least!

The road to the cup goes through Buffalo…

[quote]AgentOrange wrote:
I don’t know how you can say that the new rules are anything but a success. That is, unless you’re a NJ fan or something.

Sure, the refs still need to work on consistency, but I don’t see any glaring problems – and this is coming from a fan of a team that got SCREWED by a game-tying goal being called off with 4 seconds left.[/quote]

Oh yeah, I saw that game and I couldn’t believe that call stood. It NEVER touched anyone’s hand!! What are your boys going to do about John-Michael Liles’ hit on Smyth the other nite?

[quote]AgentOrange wrote:
I don’t know how you can say that the new rules are anything but a success. That is, unless you’re a NJ fan or something.[/quote]

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you think its 1995 or something? The Devils had the 6th highest goal scorer last year and 2 guys in the top 25 in points. Where was the explosive Edmonton offense there?

Ah I think the explosive Edmonton offense were playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.

[quote]Hekk wrote:
Most people here in Montreal are surprised with our home team. Then again the fact that our new coach is very good in his field (Carbo) and the players are finally playing together.

We should be able to go into the 2nd round of the play-offs…at least![/quote]

Let’s hope further my friend. (The last two teams to eliminate the Habs won the cup - bastards!!!)