The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

The 50/50 jackpot tonight in Winnipeg was $43K. Holy ****.

In other news, let's all laugh at Martin Havlat being Martin Havlat. This is new even by his standards:

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Sami Salo is furious at being upstaged by one of his greatest rivals. Expect his response soon.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

I think it's going to get worse before it gets better in La La Land. Apparently the reason for Murray getting fired is that the players wanted a coach who'd be more of a players guy and be an offensive minded coach. Apparently Lombardi is not going for that and is basically saying "OK i'll get rid of Murray but we're sticking to our style so good luck with Sutter" It really looks like there could be a rebellion with the players against management. Sutter is walking into a powder keg over there.

As for the Leafs yeah, they have pretty good offense but the forwards don't play anything resembling two way hockey and the defense while okay at times isn't as good as everyone likes to make it out to be with Phaneuf and Schenn. The PK is also atrocious (once again) They're actually talking contract extension with Ron Wilson. I hope that Burke isn't going to be bullheaded and give Wilson an extension based on the relatively hot start because the Achilles Heel of his tenure in Toronto is starting to show up again and that is a lack of a PK whatsoever.

I'm not a big "let's fire the coach" guy, but I think it might be time. Wilson was dealt some pretty terrible cards with the Leafs when he took the job, but I feel like with the team he has now the PK should have at least been fixed. They work hard, and they're good 5-on-5, but they would probably be at least 6-8 points better if the PK wasn't a complete joke, and that goes for the last three years as well. It's just not good enough.

[TheCaptain]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Should be a fun game to watch tonight against Edmonton with all the young talent they got but like the first meeting I want the Wings to keep them all to zero points and hopefully the Wings can bring some of that momentum from the 8-2 win on the road with them.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Nice to see Cunneyworth getting some support in his role:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7369600/montreal-canadiens-hire-non-french-speaking-randy-cunneyworth-irks-quebec-official

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Michalek’s agent says NHL in 'throes of a concussion epidemic.'


http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...demic/related/

Concussions are always going to be part of a contact sport, but the NHL can do more.
Whether you're pro, or anti fighting, it's pretty obvious fighting can cause concussions. So remove it.
Body checks to the head can also cause concussions, so remove hits to the head.

I still think bigger ice will give players more room to react and move.

But really, and as outlandish as this sounds, probably going to 4-on-4 full time would cure most of today's NHL problems.
- Goons would never get any time with that much ice out there.
- There'd be more room to avoid accidental, or even big hits. In fact, with only 4 guys, if you go for that big hit and miss, you're probably getting scored on.
- Scores and chances would be way up.

This keeps the nets the same size and owners won't lose money from lost seats.

The PA will never do this as it could result in lost jobs (even if the NHL still allowed a 23-man roster).

But it might be something the NHL seriously has to look at.
The game was once played 7-on-7 but was reduced once players got bigger and faster.

I honestly believe we're seeing the limit of how fast this game can be in regards to injuries.
The game was not meant to be played at this speed on this small of ice surface.
The evidence is there for all to see.

[slickdtc]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

4 on 4 would be so exciting, but it won't happen and I'm not totally sure I'd even want it to.

I don't know how possible it is, but the ice is going to be expanded first and foremost.

But it's true, something HAS to be done. All the concussions has seriously dampened my excitement for the sport. It's not that there are MORE concussions (well, maybe, but probably not a drastic increase), it's that they are now being labeled and treated as such.

The teams and league need to do more to make sure they are diagnosed, though. I still see hits where it's obvious a guy will be or is concussed, yet he continues to play. If they put in these new rules, they MUST be enforced. The NFL is certainly failing at this, so I can only hope that a league like the NHL would be a model citizen in this regard instead of following the norm of a bigger, more important league.

[SPTO]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Nice to see Cunneyworth getting some support in his role:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7369600/montreal-canadiens-hire-non-french-speaking-randy-cunneyworth-irks-quebec-official

I will never understand the whole "he has to speak french" crap that goes on in Montreal. They're seriously cutting of their nose to spite their face. This isn't the 1950s! They have to get with the times damnit.

The big deal now is Patrick Roy has said he's open to coaching for the Habs but insiders say if that's to happen then the management will have to be cleaned out too as he's not too fond of Gaultier. (sp) I hope Cunneyworth does so well that it'd look really bad if they don't give him the job full time.

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

4 on 4 would be so exciting, but it won't happen and I'm not totally sure I'd even want it to.

I don't know how possible it is, but the ice is going to be expanded first and foremost.

But it's true, something HAS to be done. All the concussions has seriously dampened my excitement for the sport. It's not that there are MORE concussions (well, maybe, but probably not a drastic increase), it's that they are now being labeled and treated as such.

The teams and league need to do more to make sure they are diagnosed, though. I still see hits where it's obvious a guy will be or is concussed, yet he continues to play. If they put in these new rules, they MUST be enforced. The NFL is certainly failing at this, so I can only hope that a league like the NHL would be a model citizen in this regard instead of following the norm of a bigger, more important league.

The thing that really sticks out to me is that it seems that most of the players out with concussions are star players.
Maybe it's because we only hear about these guys, but it seems that a majority of concussed players are top-6 forwards or top-4 dmen.

The league can't turn a blind eye to this. Soon there'll be nobody else to market.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

The thing that really sticks out to me is that it seems that most of the players out with concussions are star players.
Maybe it's because we only hear about these guys, but it seems that a majority of concussed players are top-6 forwards or top-4 dmen.

The league can't turn a blind eye to this. Soon there'll be nobody else to market.

Which makes sense seeing that those are the players that get the most playing time. And yes, you don't hear about a 3rd or 4th liner as much. They are quietly listed on the IR and replaced by an AHL guy.

[TheCaptain]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

The thing that really sticks out to me is that it seems that most of the players out with concussions are star players.
Maybe it's because we only hear about these guys, but it seems that a majority of concussed players are top-6 forwards or top-4 dmen.

The league can't turn a blind eye to this. Soon there'll be nobody else to market.

Maybe they can start marketing Datsyuk, lol.

This is crazy with all the concussions though, I don't watch anyone but the Wings so I don't see the concussion thing first hand since the Wings don't seem to have this problem yet. The closest thing I can think of was when Kronwall got his head drilled into the boards earlier in the season by a Blues player but he came out fine.

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Wouldn't it be interesting if they went 4 on 4 standard but kept the 5 on 4 power play? When the penalty expired, both teams have to remove their extra man as the player leaves the box? Haha, ok I know that might be the dumbest thing I've said all year, but at least I made myself laugh

I will never understand the whole "he has to speak french" crap that goes on in Montreal. They're seriously cutting of their nose to spite their face. This isn't the 1950s! They have to get with the times damnit.

No kidding, I have a friend who lives in Montreal and she filled me in on how screwed up it is over there. I had no idea it was like that. Apparently she received a trash violation for putting garbage out on the wrong day, which didn't happen and they'd have no idea which person from the building put it out anyway. She theorizes that since she has an American name she was targeted. When she received her violation it was in french and the citation noted she could request an english version. When she called them for an English version they said she would have to drive way out of her way to pick one up herself instead of having it mailed to her. Geesh. She's moving to Toronto in March and I think she'll love it.

[TheCaptain]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Anyone watching the game on Versus? Ducks vs Stars and some guy was sitting behind the Ducks Bench was wearing a jersey that said "P. Whipped" on the back.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Anyone watching the game on Versus? Ducks vs Stars and some guy was sitting behind the Ducks Bench was wearing a jersey that said "P. Whipped" on the back.

Yeah and #69. He was pretty proud to show America how awesome he thought it was. What a tool.

[TheCaptain]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

Great deflection by Cleary, 1-0.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Official 2011-12 Regular Season Talk Thread

I do not feel good about tonight's game in Vancouver. Backstrom's going to have to have a 45-save shutout to get a win I'm afraid.