The (Ice) Hockey Thread

[luminousmind08]

	Quote:	HashBrown
	Sorry, but Keith's is one of the worst beers in our fine land. It's siphoned off from the Blue tap (an even worse beer) and diluted with water. It's not even an ale as advertised.

Known for Alexander Keith's and the Donair, home of the Mooseheads but I don't really go there?

Keith's is not one of the worst beers. That so deserves a groan. They were calling it an Ale before the current definition of IPA was created!

Granted it is controlled by the upper Canadian/Belgium Labatt , I believe it is still brewed in Halifax. It would be like saying Kokanee is crap for the same logic!

[HashBrown]

No, Kokanee is THE WORST beer in Canada. No competition. It is also siphoned off the BLUE line.

Keiths was an Ale back in the day when it was an honourable beer, but it has long ceased being one. Just like Molson Export (Ale); it ceased being an ale decades ago.

[PaddyG]

	Quote:	HashBrown
	Slava chose to play in the NLA over the NHL. Was always considered a bizarre decision.

I think european hockey was always more suited to his physique and technique. Have you seen him? He's tiny.

[luminousmind08]

Hash, you are hopeless. Absolute worst beer in Canada is Steam Whistle. Perhaps we should add beer to the tag of this thread.

Can't see Canada loosing this one, although there are not too many right-handed shots at forward and if they suffer an injury this may cause a problem...

[HashBrown]

	Quote:	PaddyG
	I think european hockey was always more suited to his physique and technique. Have you seen him? He's tiny.

In '89, tiny players were still fine in the NHL. Just look at some of the players on Stanley Cup winning Flames that year. He was so good, I think he would have been fine regardless. A few very good tiny players have thrived despite the sudden increase in size in the 90s.

[PaddyG]

	Quote:	HashBrown
	In '89, tiny players were still fine in the NHL. Just look at some of the players on Stanley Cup winning Flames that year. He was so good, I think he would have been fine regardless. A few very good tiny players have thrived despite the sudden increase in size in the 90s.

Fair point, but also remember he was the by-product of a Soviet industrialist era and was a Soviet officer (played for CSKA Moscow), so maybe heading to the USA was not such an attractive option for him? I'm not sure, I'm just speculating and I have no doubt he would have thrived in the NHL. I had the luck to see him play in his last seasons at Gottéron and at times he was sublime to watch.

[HashBrown]

He definitely made a stand against playing in the NHL.

[Nickyboy]

	Quote:	luminousmind08
	Exactly, now drinking Laurentide or Wildcat on the otherhand....

Or Molson Ice!

[gking]

Finally, a place to talk hockey. I suppose I could have started it as well, but I'll leave all that tech-savvy stuff to Mikey.

Olympics - Canada is going to be in tough to capture the gold, but playing with home ice advantage is always nice, and if Luongo plays a game, the roof might blow off of GM Place. They have a good balanced lineup, although this Getzlaf injury is worrying. I see everyone is mentioning the Russians, but to me they are playing for 3rd place at best. Going with their 50/50 split of NHL/KHL players, not sure how that is going to work out. They have great goal-scoring, but their defense is suspect and with a goaltender known to choke in the first round of the playoffs (Nabokov..cough cough), I'm not sold. For me the real competition for Canada is Sweden. They have the team defense mentality and the Sedins are playing lights-out this year (see video below). The Swede's also play more of the style that wins games in this type of tournaments with Franzen (apparently was called by the coach to be put on the team?) and Homstrom in front, their PP is going to be unreal. I'll be hoping to see the Swiss make the quarters (maybe upset the Russians again?), but I can't believe they didn't add Nino Niederreiter, he was great at the WJHC. On the downside, the Swiss jerseys are unfortunately brutal.

I'll be in Vancouver (without hockey tickets, unless we can start a fund?) but maybe I'll post an update or two on the atmosphere.

NLA - I've been a bit remiss in following along thus far, definitely need to pay a bit more attention after the Olympics. But it seems Davos has picked it up in the last couple of weeks, so I'll be looking forward to the playoffs.

NHL - Ah yes, the bread and butter of my existence. Yeah, Washington was on fire, but it is about to be extinguished by the Sens! Can you tell I'm a fan? But seriously, with that 11 game unbeaten streak (12 of the last 13) by the Senators and then going into the break this weekend, I like their chances to take the division lead away from the Sabres (especially after Miller melts down at the Olympics). who have been sliding a bit. The Caps are definitely the class of the East right now, but during their streak they haven't played any great teams (other than the Pens twice, who they have handled, although both have been close), so I'm not sure if their style would win them a best of 7 series. Out west, the Hawks are looking good (better with Niemmi in nets) and I pick them over the Sharks and I am hoping the Canucks match up with them again in the playoffs (conference finals perhaps?). That would be a good series. And although I harbour more than the average amount of dislike for the Leafs, that was quite the series of trades they pulled off last week. Hopefully it pulls them out of the bottom five (although the outlook for them making the playoffs is bleak, not getting too generous here) and doesn't give the Bruins an extra lottery pick.

Also, I agree that Keith's isn't great, but I'm a 50 or Pil man myself, so I don't think I am allowed to comment.

[HashBrown]

The thing about the Swedes is that their national team is very cohesive. They care more about international tournaments than Canadians/Americans do, and as you say, they've got some players who could really shine at the tournament.

As always, will be interesting to follow.

[HashBrown]

	Quote:	gking
	Also, I agree that Keith's isn't great, but I'm a 50 or Pil man myself, so I don't think I am allowed to comment.

I may be a beer snob, but when it comes to p*ss, these are the best two for sure. They have character and history. Pil is best for hot-tubs and bbqs; 50 is best for chatting up French girls.

[gking]

	Quote:	Chemmie
	probably gonna choke, just like in the juniors

Ouch. That was hardly a choke job. The US was a flat-out better team than us (especially on the transition game, when our D turned it over much too often). Really, our D was extremely weak given the huge number of odd man rushes and breakaways we gave them. They hung Allen out to dry. If Jordon Eberle wasn't the son of God then we would have been playing for bronze.

That was probably one of the best hockey games (despite the outcome), I have ever seen in my life.

[HashBrown]

	Quote:	gking
	That was probably one of the best hockey games (despite the outcome), I have ever seen in my life.

And sadly I missed it.

[Chemmie]

	Quote:	gking
	Ouch. That was hardly a choke job. The US was a flat-out better team than us (especially on the transition game, when our D turned it over much too often). Really, our D was extremely weak given the huge number of odd man rushes and breakaways we gave them. They hung Allen out to dry. If Jordon Eberle wasn't the son of God then we would have been playing for bronze. That was probably one of the best hockey games (despite the outcome), I have ever seen in my life.

It was definitely an amazing game. And the US did outplay us (?) and deserved to win, perhaps even the New Years Eve game.

But I think Canada had a far superior team which should have played much better against the US, but instead were cocky from the start of the tournament and didn't focus to win.

[luminousmind08]

	Quote:	gking
	Ouch. That was hardly a choke job. The US was a flat-out better team than us (especially on the transition game, when our D turned it over much too often). Really, our D was extremely weak given the huge number of odd man rushes and breakaways we gave them. They hung Allen out to dry. If Jordon Eberle wasn't the son of God then we would have been playing for bronze. That was probably one of the best hockey games (despite the outcome), I have ever seen in my life.

Best Hockey game ever were 87 Canada cup finals game 2 Canada vs USSR. 6-5(2nd overtime). Game 1 Canada comes back from 4-1 second period deficit only to lose in OT. Game 3 had the 2nd most famous goal in history, but game 2 by far the best game ever played.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPMhXNuzcSo

[luminousmind08]

	Quote:	HashBrown
	I may be a beer snob, but when it comes to p*ss, these are the best two for sure. They have character and history. Pil is best for hot-tubs and bbqs; 50 is best for chatting up French girls.

50? For french girls you need La Maudite or Fin du Monde.

[Mikeybroomers]

I wish I'd seen the Canada - USA WJHC game too but was just a little late for me. Trouble is, I'm always staying up anyways to watch Avs games so an extra night of that here and there ruins me! Still, I'll be doing it that during the play-offs. Sleep is for pussies then!

I think the Caps may come unstuck with their brand of hockey in a tight 7 game series, as last year against the Pens. It'll be interesting to see if they do bring in a better goalie. Varlamov is definitely their man going forward but he can't seem to get fit right now and they obviously don't trust Theodore enough.

It's great being an Avs fan right now. The players have obviously bought into Joe Sacco's gameplan and they're playing really well, especially considering how bad last year was. Craig Anderson has been fantastic in goal, Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly have been superb from the word go and then you have Chris Stewart as well as TJ Galiardi, Brandon Yip and Ryan Wilson having really good years. Just hope the sophomore slumps aren't too bad, considering that 5 of the top 30 rookie scorers are Avs! It'd majorly us over. Overall, I'd be delighted with a play-off appearance but if the Avs can keep this form up and the Canucks have a terrible time on the road (14 game road trip - ouch!), there's no reason why we can't clinch the North West. It'd be nice to see more people in The Can!

[luminousmind08]

	Quote:	Mikeybroomers
	I wish I'd seen the Canada - USA WJHC game too but was just a little late for me. Trouble is, I'm always staying up anyways to watch Avs games so an extra night of that here and there ruins me! Still, I'll be doing it that during the play-offs. Sleep is for pussies then! I think the Caps may come unstuck with their brand of hockey in a tight 7 game series, as last year against the Pens. It'll be interesting to see if they do bring in a better goalie. Varlamov is definitely their man going forward but he can't seem to get fit right now and they obviously don't trust Theodore enough. It's great being an Avs fan right now. The players have obviously bought into Joe Sacco's gameplan and they're playing really well, especially considering how bad last year was. Craig Anderson has been fantastic in goal, Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly have been superb from the word go and then you have Chris Stewart as well as TJ Galiardi, Brandon Yip and Ryan Wilson having really good years. Just hope the sophomore slumps aren't too bad, considering that 5 of the top 30 rookie scorers are Avs! It'd majorly us over. Overall, I'd be delighted with a play-off appearance but if the Avs can keep this form up and the Canucks have a terrible time on the road (14 game road trip - ouch!), there's no reason why we can't clinch the North West. It'd be nice to see more people in The Can!

Don't you mean the Nordiques?

[Mikeybroomers]

	Quote:	luminousmind08
	Don't you mean the Nordiques?

I have a Nordiques jersey at home, complete with Sakic's name and number and 'C'. It's one of the best things I own!

[HashBrown]

Nah, he means the Avalanche. I would hazard a guess that like the Nordiques, if the Canucks moved to a different city, they would have a chance of winning The Cup. In Vancouver, they never will, despite how good their team is.