A little less than 10 hours till the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. Grant it, I'm a Sharks fan, but I'm also a hockey nut so I'm going to find this very entertaining.

Sure, the Winter Classic is interesting, but the amount of coverage this year is insane. My god, it's almost on the level of too much information. I tuned in to the NHL Network a few days ago to check some scores and they were covering the Winter Classic and nothing else.

At 1/1/11 12:46 PM, tyler2513 wrote: Hey are we aloud to talk about the World Junior IIHF Tournament 2011 here?

I don't see why not. This is more of a hockey discussion topic than an all NHL thread anyway. What's on your mind?

So, Canucks are first in the League overall. Good because this is awesome for fans as we dominate... Bad because being first means "You're probably not going to win the cup."

But, I'm complaining that much, great game between Nucks and Sharks.

So, did any one see the Canucks Avs match when Colorado had two extra attackers :P

At 1/4/11 01:39 AM, MattTheParanoidKat wrote: So, Canucks are first in the League overall. Good because this is awesome for fans as we dominate... Bad because being first means "You're probably not going to win the cup."

Much too early to tell that, right now. I think we're right at the mid-point of the season. The West is tight, so first place is up for grabs. The East is quite different.

I need to start paying more attention to the East, more specifically the Lightning. I always loved Steve Yzerman, and he seems to bee doing a good job in Tampa; just look at his acquisition of Dwayne Roloson! His first game, he shuts out the Caps.

Definitely a lot of hockey to be played yet. There's no telling who has a shot at the Cup now.

Currently watching Canada vs. Russia, world junior gold medal game. Canada was leading 3-0 heading into the 3rd, and now it's tied 3-3. Russia made this interesting within the time span of six minutes!

I'm also interested in seeing USA vs Sweden. The Bronze game should be interesting.

At 1/9/11 03:56 PM, tyler2513 wrote: Wow my favorite team, Calgary flames, is sucking ass.

I feel so sorry for you that that team is your favourite team.

At 1/5/11 09:38 PM, Ronald-McDonald-LoL wrote: Currently watching Canada vs. Russia, world junior gold medal game. Canada was leading 3-0 heading into the 3rd, and now it's tied 3-3. Russia made this interesting within the time span of six minutes!

I'm also interested in seeing USA vs Sweden. The Bronze game should be interesting.

I just want to say that I never laughed so hard at this in my life. The Canadians that came down to Buffalo were absolutely over-douchey about Team Canada. It was downright embarrassing to my country (USA) and to my city (Buffalo) that we let the Canadians just over-run the city for their team.

Listen, I don't hate Canada, but the atmosphere in the Arena felt frighteningly un-American.

Nice to see how Matt Duchene and Tomas Fleischman are forming a great partnership. That second goal of Duchene's, which completely undid Jimmy Howard (The NHL wins leader, no less) was spectacular and the never give up attitude shown by those guys was fantastic.

Good to see that the Avs cashed in with a much needed win, we still have a lot of work to do, with too many holes at the back and special teams which are just plain sucky at the moment.

At 1/11/11 08:25 AM, Coop wrote: Nice to see how Matt Duchene and Tomas Fleischman are forming a great partnership. That second goal of Duchene's, which completely undid Jimmy Howard (The NHL wins leader, no less) was spectacular and the never give up attitude shown by those guys was fantastic.

After that second one, I thought he had a good chance of getting a hat trick, which would have been cool. That first period was high scoring, it was fun.

Good to see that the Avs cashed in with a much needed win, we still have a lot of work to do, with too many holes at the back and special teams which are just plain sucky at the moment.

Coming against a team like Detroit it's great. We need to get out of this slump, bad. Especially with Vancouver playing the way they are. 3 wins in ten games is no way to go, even more after a six game win streak. Some consistency is needed here lol.

Awesome that Matt Duchene made it to the all-star roster! Really great to see that his skills are recognized, but I'm disappointed Stastny didn't make it on, I think he deserves a spot on that roster.

Fans are proving to me again they don't know jack shit. Voting in Evgeni Malkin and Marc Andre Fleury?? Give me a break, tons of guys are way better than those two idiots. Malkin is only good cause he plays with Crosby, and he still only has 35 points!!!

UGH

Injuries are piling on again this year (groan), so the only Wing in the All-Star is Nick Lidstrom, who looks better now than he has in a while. the All Star break will do us some good.

We have at least five players out with injuries now, including Chris Osgood, Dan Cleary, Mike Modano (still), Pavel Datsyuk, and thanks to Calgary, Brad Stuart. I hope they don't get any more.

As for the Colorado game, the defense didn't show up until the second period. By then, it was too little and too late. I don't want to see them give up four goals in the first period again this season.

At 1/11/11 07:31 PM, Ronald-McDonald-LoL wrote: As for the Colorado game, the defense didn't show up until the second period. By then, it was too little and too late. I don't want to see them give up four goals in the first period again this season.

Absolutely. This team doesn't seem very fundamentally sound to me. A lot of it gets covered up because all they players have the hearts of lions. I think with how much effort these kids put into the game, as soon as they develop the skills to match, that offense (already near the leagues best) is going to get even more deadly. Plus the defense won't look so sloppy. So long as we make the playoffs for now, I'm good. All that heart makes it tough to beat them when it's win or go home. This team is poised for at least a 4 year streak of being legitimate Stanley Cup contenders though, and I'm looking more towards that.

At 1/11/11 06:28 PM, SpiffyMasta wrote:

At 1/11/11 08:25 AM, Coop wrote: Nice to see how Matt Duchene and Tomas Fleischman are forming a great partnership. That second goal of Duchene's, which completely undid Jimmy Howard (The NHL wins leader, no less) was spectacular and the never give up attitude shown by those guys was fantastic.

After that second one, I thought he had a good chance of getting a hat trick, which would have been cool. That first period was high scoring, it was fun.

Duchene deserves to get his first career hat trick and with the way he's scoring now, it might not be too long before that happens.

At 1/11/11 07:31 PM, Ronald-McDonald-LoL wrote: We have at least five players out with injuries now, including Chris Osgood, Dan Cleary, Mike Modano (still), Pavel Datsyuk, and thanks to Calgary, Brad Stuart. I hope they don't get any more.

OSgood and Modano are a little on the old side to hurt you that badly, while Datsyuk and Stewart are pretty big injuries to the Wings, plus Clearly can produce.

The Avs have got more than their share of injuries though, with Chris Stewart out with a broken hand, Peter Mueller still concussed and both of the Kyles (Quincey - Shoulder and Cumiskey - Head) are away from the roster, with many of the Avs playing bruised and battered (Shattenkirk, Hejduk, to name but a few)

Oh sweet Jesus. I have no idea what they're going to do. Now, add to the injured list: Tomas Holmstrom and Jimmy Howard.

The back-up for the back-up is in net tonight, I think his name is Joey MacDonald. The Wings have been reduced to a glorified AHL team... And the worst part is, we have to face Chicago and Pittsburgh with the shorthanded roster.

They're making a game of it against Columbus right now, came back to tie it 2-2. I'm going to try and enjoy this.

At 1/15/11 07:47 PM, Ronald-McDonald-LoL wrote: Oh sweet Jesus. I have no idea what they're going to do. Now, add to the injured list: Tomas Holmstrom and Jimmy Howard.

The back-up for the back-up is in net tonight, I think his name is Joey MacDonald. The Wings have been reduced to a glorified AHL team...

Joey Mac was a prospect & starter for the Wings a couple years back, split a year in goal with Yann Danis for the worst pair of goalies the Isles have had in years...good times.

Speaking of terrible goaltending, DP got knocked out with one punch by Brent Johnson tonight. Poor showing, Johnson nailed him right across the cheek and dropped him. Plus, we lost in a shutout.

At 2/3/11 12:04 AM, Buddhist wrote: Speaking of terrible goaltending, DP got knocked out with one punch by Brent Johnson tonight. Poor showing, Johnson nailed him right across the cheek and dropped him. Plus, we lost in a shutout.

I laughed so hard at this one. Will he ever learn?

At 2/3/11 09:02 AM, Coop wrote:

At 2/3/11 12:04 AM, Buddhist wrote: Speaking of terrible goaltending, DP got knocked out with one punch by Brent Johnson tonight. Poor showing, Johnson nailed him right across the cheek and dropped him. Plus, we lost in a shutout.

I laughed so hard at this one. Will he ever learn?

Out 4-6 weeks with failure -- err, facial -- fractures...I'm going to say no, he isn't.

The All-Star game was good this year. First time I've watched it all the way through.

I still think the NHL should match the Original Six together more. They always seem to be good games. Montreal and Detroit was great this year, and so was NYR vs Det.

Also, it's DAMN good to see Pavel Datsyuk back in the lineup. Even when he's rusty, he's still better than 80% of the players in the NHL.

At 2/8/11 11:28 PM, Ronald-McDonald-LoL wrote: I still think the NHL should match the Original Six together more. They always seem to be good games. Montreal and Detroit was great this year, and so was NYR vs Det.

This

Also, it's DAMN good to see Pavel Datsyuk back in the lineup. Even when he's rusty, he's still better than 80% of the players in the NHL.

And this :)

Damn dude, you know what you are talking about :P
I'm also quite happy that Crosby is inured. Not that I like to see him suffer. But that might help me with my pool :)

At 2/5/11 04:25 AM, Buddhist wrote:

At 2/3/11 09:02 AM, Coop wrote:

At 2/3/11 12:04 AM, Buddhist wrote: Speaking of terrible goaltending, DP got knocked out with one punch by Brent Johnson tonight. Poor showing, Johnson nailed him right across the cheek and dropped him. Plus, we lost in a shutout.

I laughed so hard at this one. Will he ever learn?

Out 4-6 weeks with failure -- err, facial -- fractures...I'm going to say no, he isn't.

Well, the facial fractures will heal quicker than his bum knee. He got tagged on that and it's flared up again.

Fifteen years, wasn't it? How much longer have we got to watch this clown, who was once a really highly touted prospect? I remember when I used to think he was the next best thing, but then I saw a kid named Lundqvist and saw that he was more like the real deal.

At 2/8/11 11:28 PM, Ronald-McDonald-LoL wrote: The All-Star game was good this year. First time I've watched it all the way through.

Loved it. It's a shame that Duchene missed the Penalty shot though. He certainly looks like the real deal.

And a quick shout to Colorado fans! We can't buy a win and we're sneaking up on Edmonton / Ottawa for that draft pick! With help such as Peter Forsberg joining in (subject to visa issues), we can give even the worst teams a run for their money. 16 points ahead at the moment and we're certainly capable of getting overhauled by that.

You think that the results of this and last seasons got reversed? Can you imagine Duchene and Hall or Skinner on the same line? Granted, Skinner is a Center and so is Duchene, but those are trifling details.

At 2/10/11 06:14 PM, Coop wrote: And a quick shout to Colorado fans! We can't buy a win and we're sneaking up on Edmonton / Ottawa for that draft pick! With help such as Peter Forsberg joining in (subject to visa issues), we can give even the worst teams a run for their money. 16 points ahead at the moment and we're certainly capable of getting overhauled by that.

I can't believe this crappy skid we're in man... This blows. We've had such an up and down season it's ridiculous. Even though the Forsberg signing cheers me up tremendously (I think I got goose bumps and almost cried when I heard the news) something big has to happen so we can at least make this season worth while.

As much as another 1st pick might sound exciting, I'd really rather make it into the playoffs...

*Pulls out Jersey no. 21*

16 goals in two games...fuck yeah.

*Puts away Jersey number 21*

ARGH!! Shortest lived comeback ever... This blows.

Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. You would think he could at least have come and played a game at home.

At 2/13/11 11:42 PM, Buddhist wrote: 16 goals in two games...fuck yeah.

Grabner is awesome.

At 2/12/11 01:54 AM, SpiffyMasta wrote: As much as another 1st pick might sound exciting, I'd really rather make it into the playoffs...

*Pulls out Jersey no. 21*

I think that the Hockey Gods are against you, my friend.

At 2/14/11 03:22 PM, SpiffyMasta wrote: *Puts away Jersey number 21*

ARGH!! Shortest lived comeback ever... This blows.

Talk about a roller coaster of emotions. You would think he could at least have come and played a game at home.

When you get that experienced, you can see a 9-1 drubbing coming along like that. Defence is what the Avs need right now, not ageing forwards, we've got depth in forwards, no disrespect to Forsberg.

He was a great and now he's gone for good.

All 10 goals scored in the same net. That makes for an interesting game, if you're sitting at the right end of the ice :P

At 2/15/11 10:35 AM, Coop wrote: All 10 goals scored in the same net. That makes for an interesting game, if you're sitting at the right end of the ice :P

Funny thing about that game last night lol, so I get updates from ESPN through text message every time there's a goal scored or a period ends in an Avs game. Last night I went for a drive and didn't have cell phone service in the back woods where I was for about 4 hours after the halfway point of the 1st period. At that point it was already like 3 or 4 nothing which was pretty discouraging.

Then around midnight my time (pacific) I got service again and all the update messages came in at the same time, my face growing long, 5 goals calgary, 6, 7, 8, 9. I was expecting 10 and 11, not lying. That was excruciating...

Something needs to happen fast so we can climb out of this hole.

At 2/14/11 08:49 PM, MattTheParanoidKat wrote:

At 2/13/11 11:42 PM, Buddhist wrote: 16 goals in two games...fuck yeah.

Grabner is awesome.

Kid is doin' some serious work. The goal streak continues, and by no coincidence so does our win streak. 25 goals and counting...I'm willing to bet he makes it to 35. I would love to see him reach 40 goals, but he'd have to sustain this level of output for the remainder of the year to hit that mark. It's possible, but in his short career he's been plagued by inconsistency...but when he gets into a groove like the one he's in now, it's fucking impressive.

At 2/15/11 07:09 PM, SpiffyMasta wrote: Something needs to happen fast so we can climb out of this hole.

Yeah, the season needs to end - we can't go on with losing stars like Duchene (hand injury) forever and while it gives us a chance to blood some of the fresh kids, it is also a test of character. Maybe we will fall a few more spots and claim a better draft pick?

Two bad seasons can re-tool an organisation, look how we played last year, after one off season's retooling. Injuries have cost us this time, not retirements. We might lose some of the old guard, but we must step forward and (finally) get some better defence. You can't go through a whole season relying on Anderson and Budaj to take up the slack.

Tampa Bay is now my second favorite East team after Montreal.

What a game. It's so good to see Steve Yzerman again. The man is a legend around here, I hope everything goes well for him and that he returns to Detroit one day.

Detroit vs Tampa Bay was awesome, I hope this is the Finals matchup. No dirty hits, no fights, no trolls on the game day threads I saw... Overall a nice night.

Also, Pavel Datsyuk is stylin' all over everyone lately. So much power for one man.

Seattle needs a NHL team. Go Metropolitans! First American team to win a Stanley Cup.