The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Pierre LeBrun @Real_ESPNLeBrun

Here's Shanahan's video explaining Doan's 3-game suspension, http://bit.ly/GEe7QY

Transcript: "Owners prefer injuries to lengthy suspensions. If a player gets suspended for 20 games, they still have to pay his salary. If a player is hurt for 20 games, insurance picks up the tab. And as always, players prefer to be maimed rather than give up any of their salary or their God-given right to wear elbow pads reinforced with adamantium. Thus, after a few suspensions early in the season to convince the media that the league was tough on crime, my balls were quietly cut off around Christmastime."

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Boy, it sure is going to be fun when that CBA expires!

I honestly don't see any way a lockout is avoided with the concussion and discipline issues among many, many other things.

Really? I don't think anyone but the media and some fans care about this at all.

[Perceptor]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

The league will not survive another lockout. Both sides know this and I think a deal gets done. Maybe that's the optimist in me, but I think after the last lockout, hockey took a while to come back unless you lived in a hockey mad US market or Canada. Atlanta lost its team, Phoenix is on thin ice (depending on what you read) etc...

[bcruise]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Blues just can't put the Ducks away...pretty wild game tonight. 3-3 going down to the final 10 minutes, and it's been Blues score, Ducks match it all night.

Glad I can finally watch a game tonight....it seems like every time I had a night off from work, they weren't on TV. And all I have is Fox Sports Midwest.

Edit: And the Ducks lead on a "throw it at the crease from the side boards" goal. Off a D-man's skate and past Halak.

Yep. I watch and they lose. Maybe I should just skip the playoffs if I'm bad luck.

[SidVish]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

The Blackhawks are 9-1-1 since the Oduya acquisition and are 10-4-1 without Toews. Color me surprised.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Daniel Sedin supposedly out a minimum of 2 weeks with a concussion. Oof.

Keith will probably end up with 5 games, but who cares? As I've said before, Shanahan is to blame for not hammering Bourque for his elbow on Backstrom.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Saw this on ESPN:

"The standard of what is illegal or legal doesn't change," Shanahan said. "For the most part, you're looking at things in seven-game clumps. It's a seven-game season each series."

The bottom line is that one playoff game is worth considerably more to a player than one regular-season game, and Shanahan will consider that in his postseason rulings.

"I can attest to this as a player, if you ask me if I'd rather have a four-game suspension in November than a one-game suspension in the playoffs, I'd take the four-game suspension in November," Shanahan said. "If you think about it, that one game in the finals is the equivalent of a 12-game suspension. … I don't feel we're in the punishment business, we're in the changing player behavior business. You do that by getting a player's attention."

Urge to kill... rising. I brought this up during the Stanley Cup Final. Unlike most Canucks fans, I was okay with Aaron Rome getting 4 games for his hit on Horton, providing this was part of the NHL's tough new standard on dirty hits. It was a cheap shot; it deserved to be punished as such. But if we're going right back to the days of Pronger decapitating Dean McAmmond and getting 1 game for doing so, and the Canucks were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, then consider me royally pissed. Unless somebody thinks that if Rome did that in the regular season, Shanahan would've given him 30-50 games?

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

I'm growing more and more disillusioned with the NHL brand of hockey every day.

[BlueNGold]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

1 playoff game=12 regular games? Okay then.

[jyoung]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Rinne has been looking real tired the last week or two. Second start in a row he's allowed 5 goals.

I wish Trotz would rest him more often and play the backup Lindback.

[Kobalt]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Radulov looks fat/chubby, has that Phil Kessel feel.

[skydog71]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Pittsburgh is a joy to play right now. Whoever draws them in round 1 is going to have a very short playoff experience.

[skydog71]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Rinne has been looking real tired the last week or two. Second start in a row he's allowed 5 goals.

I wish Trotz would rest him more often and play the backup Lindback.

I agree. Rinne needs to sit --- we need him rested to have any sort of shot in the postseason.

[skydog71]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Radulov looks fat/chubby, has that Phil Kessel feel.

Yeah my wife was commenting how short his legs look. He's going to be fun to watch.

[SidVish]

5 game suspension for Keith.