[Geno Prussakov]

Haven't found the hockey thread... Thought this was the place where we discussed ice-hockey before, but alas. It's not here. I guess, it was posted in the Midnight Cafe.

Anyway... All you ice-hockey fans... The Magnificent Mario just retired. Pittsburgh will never be the same, for sure.

Geno

[Kevin]

The Penguins were already in trouble On the ice as well as off. With Palffy retiring last week, and now Mario, a poor team has gotten, well, poorer.

I was never a big fan of Mario's attitiude, but you have to respect his body of work as well as his overcoming Hodgkin's Disease in order to keep playing.

[Geno Prussakov]

I'm hearing he's selling the Penguins. Who knows? Maybe the new owner will get it up even higher than Mario managed at times...

Geno

[Susan]

Yes, it's always sad to see a great Canadian hockey player leave the ice - but don't worry boys, I'm sure we'll produce TONS more in the coming years!

:D

[Kevin]

I'm sure you will. It's getting tougher for Canadian kids to break the ranks every year, what with the globalization of the rosters...

[Adam B]

Mario has pretty much been a non factor for the last 5 years. I think his presence has actually hurt the team. You can really only count on him for 30 games in the season because the poor guy is plagued by long term injuries. When you are constantly changing around your roster your never going to get the chemistry that is so important to building a championship team.

You have to respect his effort though, but I think his return this year was just to get people in the stands to see Mario and Sidney, the old and the new. A great marketing ploy.

Yes Geno the Penguins are for sale.

[Geno Prussakov]

Yes Geno the Penguins are for sale.

I think I'll pass on this one, Adam... Too much money spent on Christmas shopping... :)

Geno

[Adam B]

I heard they are probably going to go for a real good price(their estimated value is about $100 million), and come with a new arena also.

The Igloo is the oldest arena in the NHL, I think closely followed by my schizophrenic Islanders Nassau Coliseum.

[FlyersFanGuy]

and come with a new arena also.

The Igloo is the oldest arena in the NHL, I think closely followed by my schizophrenic Islanders Nassau Coliseum.

That is if they get the slots license.
If they dont then they will probably move out of Pittsburgh.

[Kevin]

There's no worse rink in the NHL than MSG. What is the ice there, plywood painted white?

My Sabres played there last night, and Max Afinogenov screwed up a breakaway because of a bouncing puck.

Looked like he was trying to kill a mole in the back yard...

[dflsports]

That breakaway was, umm, funny. I'm not a huge Maxim fan. He's the typical average Sabre player they always seem to have on the roster year after year. He always seemd like the guy that might have scored like Satan. (I'm a huge sabres fan as well:) )

As for the pens, I thnik it is about $100 million but if the company that wants the casino, gets a casino and then a new rink, it would be closer to $290 million dollar deal.

Mario was great for hockey, his attitude was kind of crappy in the early years but John Davidson made a good point that he knew little english when he broke in the league and that migth have been why he was standoffish.

When he first came out of retirement, he could still play, top 5 player in the league but those injuries, back and now irregular heart beat, he just can't catch a break. I thought he might put up decent numbers but the new game is just too quick for the old guys. Granted if Pitt was good he would have stayed retired but that club needed a boost so he could make money as an owner.

I hope hockey stays in Pitt. I'd have to believe if Buffalo sucked this year there would be talk of moving them, thank god they are playing well :)

[Vness]

Hi everyone,

Have you guys not heard of Sydney Crosby?? He is the next Canadian star and he is only 18! I can't believe that he is in the NHL at 18 years old. Crazy! I have friends who have seen him play and they have told me that he is just amazing. All tickets to these home games are sold out, so unlucky me won't be seeing him play live :(

He plays for the penguins so maybe they have a chance. I heard that his dream team to play for was the Montreal Canadians. I would love to see that happen :)

Check out a brief on Sidney Crosby at: http://tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=8889&hubname=

Vanessa
Affiliate Coordinator

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Vanessa@ShareResults.com
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[Adam B]

I got to see him play again last night...the kid is good but he is quickly gaining a reputation of a whiner and diver. He is not the first 18 year old to play in the NHL and he probably wont be the last.

With his ability to create something out of nothing I would compare him to a young Frosberg. Except Forsberg gets back to play defense.

BTW the Islanders beat him last night. I can not figure out why the Penguins with the talent they have on that team can't win a game????

[Kevin]

You answered your own question I think, Adam.

[buy_online]

Hockey is so violent, how can you stand to watch it?

Heheh....

One of the reasons (I've been told) that I'm being divorced, is because I refuse to stop playing. Let's see, also I'm out late (playing) and my equipment smells too. So many metaphors there, and I'm really only talking about hockey. :thumbsup:

Unfortunately, the only pro hockey that I get to see is either the Hurricanes, or the Caps (we're stuck in between the two cities). What's worse, is I'm from Detroit and am still a Wings fan. Hey, at least Mario hasn't taken the Gordie Howe route and tried to play until he is 95 years old or something like that ;)

Truly sucks if a pro team leaves a large city, if that's a real possibility - it stinks. For those of you that are Penguin fans, I hope that never becomes a reality.

Fred

[Vness]

Hey Fred,

Growing up in Montreal, from a Hockey loving family and playing myself, I can definitely relate to the smelly equipment. No way would I step into the garage after a game when the equipment is supposedly "airing out". :scared:
I don't think there is enough Febreeze to get rid of that. However at the same time there are just so many memories triggered to it...

I love to watch a good home game and I am fortunate that the games are just a few blocks away :)

Go Habs Go!

Vanessa
Affiliate Coordinator

Share Results

Vanessa@ShareResults.com
www.ShareResults.com

[Kevin]

V: I remember when I was in college (vaguely) back in 1989. I went to Plattsburg, which as you probably know is just south of you in Montreal.

I called up to the Forum, which I believe was still open at the time, and asked if I could tickets for the Sabres/Montreal game.

The response?




"What year?"

I never made it to the Forum....

[buy_online]

Alright Vanessa! I'm Jealous now :( Heheh...

[FlyersFanGuy]

Eric Lindros was also slated as the ‘next one’ at one point too, that didn’t quite work out. I think anyone that follows hockey has heard of Sid. There is a general dislike among many hockey bloggers of Sid. Much of the dislike really has to do with the gushing the media does over him and not his alleged diving and whining. Just getting tired of hearing how great he is, guess that is just the NHL trying to promote the sport. Personally I think the Penguins did him a disservice by not playing him at least a year in the AHL.
This year has really been a disaster for the Penguins. After landing Crosby the Penguins signed veterans the likes of LeClair, Recchi and Gonchar. At the beginning of the season I thought they would be a real threat if they had any sort of decent defense. But they didn’t and it has really blown up. Coach was fired, Mario retired, Paffy retired, Gonchar is just going thru the motions, Recchi isn’t happy with the rookies. 12 wins in 51 games just goes to show no matter how great one player is, he doesn’t make a hockey team.

[dflsports]

Under the old rules, the Pens would be much better. The new faster version is not so good to the old guys. Crosby is good, there is no doubt, he needed no work in the minors :) but he's not the only rookie, look at the guy in Washington, I don't want to butcher his name too bad so I won't attempt to spell it.

After hockey took the year off, not much to talk about besides rule changes and Crosby. After the sabres game last night I watched the post game show and they had a heated debate about the rule changes and how much the game has changed to be less physical. Of course Rob Ray does not like it, he would have never made it in today's game. (He is one of the hosts, former goon)

What's everyones thoughts on the new game? I like the speed and scoring. Shoot outs are not too great. Less fights = not good :) Too many penalties though. They need to curb some of the calls. The game is alot more like the 80's but the goons were more of a factor then and in the new game, goons are not needed to protect so much anymore.

Noth, I was in Oswego about the same time you were in Plattsburgh. Drove up to Montreal once but not for a hockey game ;) I think we were going to the Canadien Ballet :)

[Kevin]

I LOOOOVE the new game. The Sabres W/L record pushes me to like it a little more though.

So if Rob Ray wouldn't make it, pleeease explain Andrew Peters being in the line up :) (Yeah, I know, everyone is hurt...)

And as a warning, don't click the link below if you have important things to do. Seriously. I'm not joking. It's the kind of site that can destroy a hockey fan's day.

I just discovered it this week. Can't believe I hadn't found it sooner...

The Hockey Database (http://www.hockeydb.com/)

Discussions on the contents of the above site require their own forum. My personal favorite page on the site is "Pack Your Bags".

[dflsports]

Andrew Peters, it's the steroids :) You hardly see him on the ice, hahahaha!

[FlyersFanGuy]

Under the old rules, the Pens would be much better. The new faster version is not so good to the old guys.
I don’t think they would have been that much better. Under the old rules Crosby would be clutched and grabbed much more, his offensive numbers would be down. Leclair looks to be doing about what he has done in Philly in recent years. He might actually play a year or two longer under the new rules. His back doesn’t take a beating with crosschecks like it use to. Recchi can still motor, offensively the new rules has helped him, but -27 yikes. Really can’t speak for the other veterans the Penguins acquired. Mario lobbied hard for the crack down on obstruction and it helped his play, averaging a point a game this year.
Coaching with a good defensive system is needed to make them a better team, no matter what rules they play by.

What's everyones thoughts on the new game? I like the speed and scoring. Shoot outs are not too great. Less fights = not good :) Too many penalties though. They need to curb some of the calls.
The new game is good, once players stop using their sticks on other players the penalties should decrease. But then there is the lack of consistency of the officiating. A hook one night isn’t a hook another.
The instigator rule the last 5 minutes of the game is dumb, so is the shootout, hate it. I would like to see them get rid of the touchup icing and just call it icing when it crosses the goal line, like they do in international.

[Kevin]

I wouldn't mind seeing auto icing, considering how rare it is that the defense gets beaten back there. However, the ouster of the 2 line offsides has increased that number a little...

[RandyMtl]

Mario was the greatest in hockey, just that he had too many health issues going on. As for the Penguins, they need a real Goalie, just like the Canadiens do (Theodore in his last 3 games has a 0.771 save % and 8.31 GA, he was pulled 2-3 times and constantly let in 5 goals on 10 shots in 1st period). I'm not sure why Gonchar is doing so bad, maybe because the team is so bad.

Also, Ovechkin is outperforming Crosby, and Washingston really has nobody on that team. Ovechkin, besides being the the highlight reel every 2 nights, gets point in over 50% of the teams goals and scores a third of the goals.

Randy