NHL 2024-2025. Not a Florida team.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

please don't quote birdhunter

[old goat]

The whole thing was overhyped. There's a reason playoffs are seven game series. Same with the Olympics. The Olympics should be the best of the best. That used to be Russia. Now it's the NHL.Wonder why Matthews was on McDavid in the OT. Eichel kept him contained for 3 periods. Job one is to contain the best player in the world. Job 2 is to score goals yourself. Matthews left the high slot open chasing the puck into the corner. McDavid was so open, he probably was wondering where everyone went.

[MarsB]

Not overhyped at all, 4 Nations hit it out of the park. This got millions of new eyes on the sport and made international news with all the political drama.
Remember, this was the replacement for the All-Star game. The teams were all in, and the level of play showed. You can bet all the other major US sports leagues have taken notice.

[BCMtnHound]

Not overhyped at all, 4 Nations hit it out of the park. This got millions of new eyes on the sport and made international news with all the political drama.
Remember, this was the replacement for the All-Star game. The teams were all in, and the level of play showed. You can bet all the other major US sports leagues have taken notice.

How would that work?
American-style football has different leagues for Canada and the US.
Would there even be enough talented Canadian players in the NBA or MLB to make such an event worth watching?

[XXX-er]

3 downs lineup 1 yard off the ball bigger field really mess with the NFL player and could they count on a tradewar ?

[MarsB]

I'm just saying the NHL turned the idea of a traditional All-Star game on its head; the leagues marketing execs have got to be scrambling for ideas on how to revamp their tired old formats. Who knows, maybe it was just lightning in a bottle.I see the All Star Game returns in '26, in Long Island.

[muted reborn]

4 nations was a hit, they would be stupid not to bring it back. Most likely they will have it again because companies like to make money. 9 million people watched in the Us and 10 million in Canada.

[BC.]

It was…daughter lives in Boston/was at games…said atmosphere/energy was incredible.

[old goat]

I didn't say people didn't like it--they did, especially people who don't watch hockey. Just like figure skating, etc etc, sports people care about every 4 years. But the last thing the world needs right now is more nationalism. We didn't need to boycott the Moscow games, the USSR didn't need to boycott LA (?). I like that Russians can play in the NHL. I don't want to be judged by the actions of the current president. I don't want Canada as a 51st state--if anything I'd rather be part of Canada. But for the quality of the play--sure, the nation vs nation format got the players to play a lot harder than in an all star game and the fans to care a lot more than for an all star game, but in the end the cup will mean more to them and a couple of the injuries might affect that. Hockey is a game of lucky bounces and one game doesn't tell you who is best AFAIC US vs Canada is tied 1-1. The outcomes of the games had more to do with who was fit to play and who wasn't than anything else--always the case in most sports of course. Right now I care a lot more about whether my Wings make the playoffs and whether my adopted VGK can hang in with two key injuries on D.

[old goat]

Ovi with a hat trick today, including an empty netter from behind his blue line. One of the hats on the ice was his kid's. Very cool.

[old goat]

I have an odd bone to pick. I don't like breakaways when a guy gets out of the penalty box. Especially when it costs the Wings a point, yesterday. Get a breakaway by earning it, not because you got a head start. Make the guy getting out of the box tag up at his own blue line.

[east or bust]

Why didn’t a D man drop back to pick him up? That’s something that’s learned in pee wees.


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[goldenboy]

Or, just score a goal on the PP. Then the guy getting out of the box won't get a breakaway. Zero problems with players getting a breakaway just getting out of the box.

[old goat]

It may be learned in PeeWees but it seems to be forgotten in the NHL often enough. The urge to score on the PP overwhelms caution.

[lifelinksplit]

Yeah I have no problem with breakaways out the box. Maybe an unpopular opinion but I can't stand when a franchise leaves to another location and still wants to claim roots. For example the Carolina hurricanes wearing throwback whalers jerseys. I'm more ok with Wild fans rocking northstars jerseys. If we're bitching then I'd like to express my disappointment about not pulling helmets when the gloves drop. It leads to worse hand injuries. Alright I'm done, my team sucks so I have lots to bitch about.

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[old goat]

Big showdown for the 8th spot in the East this weekend. In goddam Ohio Stadium. Well, Michigan did ok the last time it played there. Hopefully the luck holds. Maybe in the future the outdoor games can be in places where hockey is actually played outdoors.

[MarsB]

It may be learned in PeeWees but it seems to be forgotten in the NHL often enough. The urge to score on the PP overwhelms caution

As it should, that is the whole point of a power play advantage.
NHL power plays are typically quarterbacked by a single defenseman with 4 forwards; there is no defenseman to drop back and cover the box.

[old goat]

I'm surprised anyone agrees with me. I'm also surprised when I see how bad the average forward is on open ice defense. There are a lot more D men who can attack and shoot than forwards who can skate backwards well and defend.

[muted reborn]

Your rant on the 4 Nations was a boring take if that makes you feel more normal and centered.

[old goat]

I gave that remark a lot of thought but finally had to give up making sense of it.

[old goat]

Here, I'll give you another boring rant to bitch about. Why are we fans of particular teams? It's because rooting for those teams reminds us of connections to the people we watched those teams with in the past, or now. I think of watching the Lions and Tigers at Tiger Stadium, the Pistons at Cobo Arena, the Wings at Olympia and the people I was there with, some dead, some I still talk with about those teams to this day. I feel no such connection to US national teams, even in the Olympics. Maybe it's because I have no use for roughly half the people rooting for those teams. I can see how nationalism is so strong in soccer in so many countries where watching the national team with your friends is an important part of life. For the most part we don't have that here. The other thing about the 4 nations tournament in particular is that it has no tradition behind it. Tradition is what makes sports important.

[ski_the_fraulein]

Big showdown for the 8th spot in the East this weekend. In goddam Ohio Stadium. Well, Michigan did ok the last time it played there. Hopefully the luck holds. Maybe in the future the outdoor games can be in places where hockey is actually played outdoors.

Go Blue!


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[ski_the_fraulein]

Supporting a team definitely is influenced by those who surround you. Particularly before the days of the inter web so much lore was passed by word of mouth, or (yikes!) reading about feats/games/players via newspapers or weekly magazines. It was something cultivated out of a limited stream of input. Family lines also hugely involved. Michigan v Michigan State was an obvious one growing up.

Today is vastly different and with the evolving financial influence and free agency it does make you wonder how folks are latching on to teams. Given the transient nature of the times, fan bases are getting dispersed as well.

No better example than the NHL in SLC currently. EVERY home game has seemingly a 50/50 split of visitor jerseys in the Delta Center as a result of how many transplants and/or acquired fans a visiting team has in this previous non-market city. I suspect each year the home to visitor ratio improves as more locals convert to the home town team, but will be interesting to observe. These games for now seem more of a neutral venue setting compared to a one-sided advantage for UHC.

Lastly, it is amazing to see how docile native Utah fans are. I got a lot of sideways glances for heckling M-A Fleury the other night after he let in Six! Folks don’t know I’m a lifetime fan, watched many games live between his Pens and my Wings through the years, and even saw him play in G2 of the Finals with VGK. He sucked the other night and I let him know it! The fans around me acted as though I just told the Profit I’m not paying my tithing!!! There is such a divide among the local base as to whether to clap and support a fight, or sit on your hands aghast at such behavior. Sure hoping those new to hockey here embrace the sport for what it is and try not mormonize the experience as some testimony to their righteousness…. That is the reason most are choosing Mammoth over the Outlaws - they don’t want to be associated with the term, nor have to explain to their children how they are supporting “bad guys” , even though their religion/culture/ancestors are intertwined with so many outlaws. Classic irony - so instead let’s all root for the frumpy, cute, disneyesque snuffleufugus as our team mascot…. Go team!


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[old goat]

Fraulein--which Blue? Blue as in UM beat OSU? Or Blue Jackets? Either way, getting caught wearing blue in red territory can be hazardous to your health.

[ski_the_fraulein]

[emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji638][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]][emoji640][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]]Fraulein--which Blue? Blue as in UM beat OSU? Or Blue Jackets? Either way, getting caught wearing blue in red territory can be hazardous to your health.

GOAT - there is only one! U of M. Or as Urban called us “the Team Up North” (TUN) which ironically he coined BYU as the Team Down South (TDS) when he arrived at Utah…


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