NHL Playoffs

[EmpireF4i]

Well my team is the Ducks being from So Cal and all. I think this year is finally their year.

Anyone else here into hockey?

[Eomer]

Yes, very much so. I hope Chris Pronger and his wife die in a horrible fire. Of the 4 remaining teams, I'd like any of the other 3 to win. Fuck Anaheim. The fans there don't even fucking know what icing is, and it's a travesty how many empty seats you see during playoff games. I also really don't much like Brian Burke (I respect him very much, the guy is an excellent GM) because he's an arrogant dick who likes to have his goons run rampant and give the game a bad name.

So yeah, I guess I'd be "cheering" for Ottawa, but I really don't care all that much who wins, so long as it's not the motherfucking Ducks. God what an awful name. Why did they have to win a conference championship in 2003? If it wasn't for that, they'd have changed their name by now for sure.

As far as who I think will win, well obviously Ottawa is looking very good. But Anaheim really does have one hell of a strong team. Buffalo won't come back, they're done (good, I also don't much like Lindy Ruff and his incessant whining and temper tantrums). Detroit looks to be done as well, given how banged up their D is. I mean if you have a 44 year old playing 25 minutes a night, you've got fucking problems.

I'd say it's really a toss up between Ottawa and Anaheim, with Ray Emery being a pretty big wild card.

[foddon]

Huge hockey fan here. Stars/Pens are my teams, now pulling for Ottawa. Fuck Detroit, fuck Lindy Ruff (cry some more) and fuck Anaheim... in that order. I'm left with Ottawa by process of elimination, but I actually really like them as a team and will enjoy seeing Alfredsson win it. I'd also like to see a Canadian team win it... still disappointed that Edmonton didn't finish it last year.

Can't wait for next season!

[EmpireF4i]

Originally Posted by Eomer

Yes, very much so. I hope Chris Pronger and his wife die in a horrible fire.

haha. One of my customer works for the Kings and he said the Ducks were the nicest and most polite all around team, except for Pronger. Said Tkachuck (sp?) gave him and his step dad each $100 for getting their team a 30 pack of bud light from the Staples Center for the bus ride.

I also agree with you on the Ducks. Disney ruined it for that team. They ran it like a business and when the new owners took over, they turned it all around. Brian Burke is an awesome GM and really knows the game and players. Its probably because of him that this team has done so well over the last couple years. Hopefully in the next few years they will change the name also.

[Eomer]

They won't change the name because it's on the Western Conference trophy from their run in 2003. Were it not for that, the new ownership would have changed it, but instead they just settled on changing it from "The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" to the "Anaheim Ducks." Huge improvement, I know.

[Zarniwoop]

I grew up in Ottawa and have been following the team for about 12 years. I'm really amazed at how solidly the Senators are playing this year, especially after 10 years of mostly underachieving. I see a lot of former Ottawa teams in the Buffalo Sabres this year: fast, highly skilled players, great regular season record, can't quite seem to find the extra gear/grit that's needed to win in the playoffs. I've been listening to WGR 550 from Buffalo and it's pretty awesome to be on the other side of a team meltdown for once.

I'm not as familiar with the western team (%*&^@ schedule), but I have to give the edge to Anaheim. Detroit seems a little too banged up to win the series, although they are putting in a solid effort.

[Moontayle]

I am a long time Sabres fan (not die hard, but they're the team I learned Hockey with), and it's frustrating to see them being controlled so much by the Senators right now. Like well over half the shots the Sabres took last night never saw the goalie because of a Senators defenseman.

Assuming the Senators don't completely meltdown, they'll advance and take the cup. I'm sure the Sabres will be back, only a couple of guys on the current team are going to be up on their contract. And I mean, look at the Senators, 10 years in a row and they're finally looking like a Cup team. So I have hope.

[EmpireF4i]

Originally Posted by Zarniwoop

Detroit seems a little too banged up to win the series, although they are putting in a solid effort.

Hasek is putting in the solid effort. There are a few guys there that are playing well, but Hasek won the 1st game for them and kept them in game two till OT.

[Eomer]

It's amazing how well Hasek can play when, you know, he actually gives a shit. As opposed to faking a groin injury that no doctors could find and throwing a rookie goaltender to the wolves in his place. Dude may well be one of the best all time, but like nearly all goaltenders, he's a complete fucking head case.

[Eomer]

Figured I'd move this over here:

Originally Posted by Mario Speedwagon

Eomer, I've always wondered this about Canada and I hope you can answer. Is the NHL or the junior hockey leagues and such they have up there more popular? Most canadians I've discussed hockey with in person don't much follow the NHL but are diehards for their local leagues but I see almost no mention of them in the online communities I frequent.

As I've said in other threads, Canadians probably don't take their sports in general nearly as seriously as you Americans do. Pretty much no one does. I mean yeah soccer is big in other countries, but there's no other country around that has so many different professional sports that are all so big. CIS hockey (Canadian Intramural Sports, I think) is damn good hockey, probably better than most US college hockey. The football is pretty good too. But I couldn't name a single Golden Bear for either sport, other than Blair St. Martin, and that's cause I played beer league with him after he graduated. You won't ever see 80,000 people at a CIS football game. There's just no equivalent to the craze for college sports that the US has.

So yeah, I'm leading to how Canada develops it's athletes in most sports. If you want to become a professional hockey player, you don't play on school teams. Period. At least as far as I'm aware, there's virtually zero decent high school level hockey in Canada. There's a couple almost prep schools where really good, rich players can go to immerse themselves. But otherwise pretty much all hockey is organized through leagues outside of schools.

Basically, every city, or region (keep in mind 80%+ of Canadians live in about a dozen cities) has an amateur hockey league, and community leagues organize the individual teams. Of course, there's a billion kids playing hockey, so once you get to about 10 or 11 you stop playing with just kids from your immediate neighbourhood and they start having tryouts and tiering the teams. This is still "house league" hockey.

Once you're 13, you can then play "club" hockey, which is where the really good players go. If you're exceptional, you'll play underaged (Mike Comrie and Jamie Lundmark for example typically played one or two years above their age through their teens in Edmonton). By the time you're 16, if you're destined to the NHL, you'll be drafted by a junior team. I have no idea how that draft works, but there's three "major" junior leagues, each with 20-30 teams (I think): Western, Ontario, and Quebec (collectively they're the CHL). You'll move away from home and billet with someone. Most of the teams are located in small towns and cities, and 18 hour bus rides are the norm. There's also lesser junior leagues that quite often produce NHL'ers, for example Comrie came out of the Alberta junior league.

Then once you're 18, again if you're going to The Show, you'll once again be drafted out of Junior into the NHL. I think you can play junior till you're 19 or 20, but I'm not sure. Typically if you're a really good player, your team will have you play for it's farm team to keep developing you when you hit 18, as you'll just stagnate in junior. Eventually you make it up to the NHL, hopefully. But the AHL is a pro league (major junior is semi-pro, really), and has teams spread across North America.

So finally getting back to your question: Canadians do take their hockey pretty seriously. The vast majority would have a team they cheer for, whether it be an NHL one, a CHL one, AHL, University, whatever. Keep in mind that the 6 Canadian NHL cities hold over half the country's population. I'd say most people who grew up in one of those cities would probably be at least a passing fan of that team. And virtually no one from those cities would know or give a shit about CHL or AHL teams. I'm sure though, that the 20% or so of Canada that lives in the smaller towns and rural areas would be big fans of their own local junior team, if they have one.

But, of the people who are fans of hockey, I doubt that many are die-hard types of fans who know all the players on their team, who plays what position on what line, who the coaching staff is, that sort of thing. Most people are just passing fans. If a game's on, maybe they'll watch a period. Oh, the team's on a miraculous, underdog run to the cup? I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN! That sort of thing.

[Mario Speedwagon]

Haha thanks Eomer. Way more informative than I expected. I think your explanation fits well with my experience if I'm remembering correctly where the people I've talked to were from. I was always just suprised that knowing Canadians are hockey crazy that I usually hear them talking about "American" hockey rather than their own leagues.

[Eomer]

How is the NHL "American"? It is a league largely run and played by Canadians, and up until 15 years ago over 1/3 of the league's teams were Canadian. There's no equivalent to the level of play, anywhere. Even AHL hockey is shit compared to the NHL. Junior is good cause the little fuckers are out to win the draft lottery and working their asses off, but the talent level of the NHL vs. any other league anywhere is staggerring.

[Mario Speedwagon]

Well I put it in quotes because it is technically it is an American league but not really in practice. I dunno I just kinda assumed Canada had a league(s) that were only a step or two behind the NHL. Just chalk it up to my general ignorance of hockey and Canada in general. But hey, I'm trying to learn right?

[xxmalisxx]

I would call the NHL an American sport, but I really shouldnt, and no one really should. Majority of the players are from other countries (Canada, Russia, Czech and Slovakia), whereas majority of the players in NBA and NFL are American.

I wanted to see the Pens win, after I cried once the Pens lost, I wanted Buffalo to win since they deserved it IMO because of their points and record. Though its not gonna happen lol :P

[Sunder]

Originally Posted by xxmalisxx

I wanted to see the Pens win, after I cried once the Pens lost, I wanted Buffalo to win since they deserved it IMO because of their points and record. Though its not gonna happen lol :P

For fuck's sake, don't root for Detroit then. :P