The Random Hockey Thoughts Thread

[leaffan]

Jordan Eberle is now assigned with the oilers AHL team. Could we have an Eberle sighting this year?

[Ravin]

Well I still think it's sort of a penalty of playing hard. He's put up on a pedestal for these actions because he's the only big name who plays like he does. I really don't think most of his "dirty" plays are intended to be dirty. I really think a lot of them are a result of him playing faster, quicker, and fighting for possession of the puck more than anyone else a lot of the time. If Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, Zetterberg, etc. were laying big hits on guys with regularity, I don't think this would be nearly as big an issue.

Just watching any Caps game, you can always tell which skater on the ice is Ovie because he's always moving faster and going for the puck more than anyone else. Now, part of that is obviously because he's a superior player, but I think another part of it is that he plays with a lot more effort than most other players, and sometimes it results in looking reckless because nobody else is doing it. This results in some bad angles on guys, and I think that's because sometimes Ovie is expecting players to make moves as quickly as he does, but they don't, so he gets caught in the middle of what he thought would be a legal hit for reading what was about to happen, when in reality it turns dirty because he made his move quicker than the guy he is hitting. Again, you can disagree with it, but that's just the way it looks to my clearly retarded self.

Sorry, but "going faster" is not a defence for dirty play. If it was a few times, like 1-3, maybe he could get away with it. But this is two this season, and a bunch of questionable hits that make people around the league think he is a dirty reckless player. Example: The hit on gonchar last year in the playoffs. Knee to knee. Was Gonchar going "to slow" and ovey was playing "too hard"? Maybe, but you don't knee on knee someone. I've played hockey for years and I think maybe once I have got a knee on knee. It's something you intend to do, not something that just happens.

Up here in hockeyland, a lot of people think it is only a matter of time before Ovey either gets a huge suspension or is going to be blasted by the Matt Cooke's. They are not saying he can't go out and play hard, but he is a reckless player, and you can just tell in his play he is like that.

Maybe we need the big red stop signs on the back of shirts for Ovey to remember not to hit people from behind.

[Tailback U]

I understand where you guys are coming from, but the fact that Ovey is arguably the most talented hockey player in the league and has an attitude is a combo that nobody has seen before.

Personally, I think it's awesome. He's a once in a lifetime type of player. I can't remember the last time I saw a goal scorer who could wow you with his finesse as well as is aggressiveness and hard hits.

He is not the cleanest player by any stretch of the imagination, but everything he does gets magnified by 100 because of who he is. There are hundreds of guys who are as dirty or dirtier than him, and 1/10 the hockey player, that get away with boarding calls all the time. Happens every game. Look at Steve Ott, that motherfucker is one of the dirtiest players I've ever seen but I don't see people saying anything about him - because he's not good.

Not to mention, Ovey knows there is a target on him each and every game and still goes out and imposes his will on people. Yeah he never has to drop the gloves, but he knows he can get his head taken off at any moment and that the other team knows where he is 24/7.

You don't have to like him, but you gotta respect his effort, attitude, and intensity. Very few guys play the game as hard as he does night in and night out.

That said, suspension was appropriate.

[leaffan]

I understand where you guys are coming from, but the fact that Ovey is arguably the most talented hockey player in the league and has an attitude is a combo that nobody has seen before.

Personally, I think it's awesome. He's a once in a lifetime type of player. I can't remember the last time I saw a goal scorer who could wow you with his finesse as well as is aggressiveness and hard hits.

He is not the cleanest player by any stretch of the imagination, but everything he does gets magnified by 100 because of who he is. There are hundreds of guys who are as dirty or dirtier than him, and 1/10 the hockey player, that get away with boarding calls all the time. Happens every game. Look at Steve Ott, that motherfucker is one of the dirtiest players I've ever seen but I don't see people saying anything about him - because he's not good.

Not to mention, Ovey knows there is a target on him each and every game and still goes out and imposes his will on people. Yeah he never has to drop the gloves, but he knows he can get his head taken off at any moment and that the other team knows where he is 24/7.

You don't have to like him, but you gotta respect his effort, attitude, and intensity. Very few guys play the game as hard as he does night in and night out.

That said, suspension was appropriate.

Ovey has the shittest assholish attitude I've ever seen in a hockey player so I guess your right with no one has seen that before. The guy is a huge dick on and off the ice it bothers me that kids will look up to this prick and come back with disapointment if they ever meet him in real life.

This line:

Personally, I think it's awesome. He's a once in a lifetime type of player. I can't remember the last time I saw a goal scorer who could wow you with his finesse as well as is aggressiveness and hard hits.

You see them quite a bit, problem is their careers are rarely long. Cam Neely and Eric Lindros are the big two. Both careers ended by injuries. Lindros was due to his reckless play where he never did learn to keep his head up and Neely was targeted by cheap shot artist Ulf Samuelsson. The most famous currently of them all might be Todd Bertuzzi who of course we all know that story. Who knows what kind of stats he could of been putting up if he would of stayed out of trouble. Hell look at the season he's having with detroit. Imagine him still playing on the canucks with the sedin twins. Yikes.

Current top players who play just like Ovy include Iginla and Nash except they both respect the game and don't go head hunting. They also score goals but don't dance around like retards or go jumping into the boards but I guess thats what draws people to Ovy.

Edit - I forgot to add John Leclaire to list. Don't kill me flyer fans.

[Apocalypse]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...589/story.html

Province forks out $175 million for Quebec City arena, hoping to lure NHL.


Efforts to lure a National Hockey League team back to Quebec City intensified yesterday as the province announced it will pay 45 per cent of the construction cost of a projected $400-million hockey arena.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest said a feasibility study for an NHLsize 18,000-seat arena showed it would be profitable -but only if the construction costs are entirely paid by public funds.

"It's just not normal that a city this size not have a modern amphitheatre. It can make money and be viable so let's get on with it," Charest told a news conference after meeting with Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume who has been pushing for a modern hockey facility.

A new arena is key for an NHL return to Quebec City as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said the project would need to be completed before the league brings a team back to the city, which was home to the Quebec Nordiques until 1995.

Charest said the province is going ahead with the project even though there's no guarantee of either the return of an NHL franchise or an eventual winter Olympics bid.

"Let's do it and if it helps to obtain a hockey team, so be it, if it helps us obtain the winter Olympics, so be it," Charest said.

The city would put in $50 million.

With the province's commitment, Charest is turning up the pressure on the federal government to come up with the remaining 45 per cent -an estimated $175 million -needed to build the arena.

Labeaume and Charest both said yesterday Ottawa needs to pledge the funds for the arena "as soon as possible."

"I'm going to call Gary Bettman tomorrow at the latest to tell him we're halfway there (getting a new arena)," Labeaume said. "That's major news for us."

It's no secret Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a hockey fan and he said last week during a visit he hopes to see the Nordiques come back to the city.

A spokesman for Chuck Strahl, minister of transport and infrastructure, said yesterday the door is open to funding the project.

"As far as a new arena is concerned, our government is very interested to know if this can be done," said Strahl's press secretary John Babcock.

He noted the federal government is reviewing a feasibility study made public yesterday that concluded the new arena in Quebec City would be profitable with or without an NHL team.

The firm Ernst & Young put together a business plan for a new arena and stressed the project would be viable but only if the construction costs are not taken into account.

What that means is that if the governments pay for building the new arena, the infrastructure will then generate profits of $1 million a year without an NHL team and $1.2 million a year with a hockey team. Otherwise, the new arena's operating revenues would not make up for the cost of construction and maintenance.

The study stressed that over a 40-year period, the new arena would bring an economic fallout of $500 million in the Quebec City region if there is no hockey team, while the return of an NHL franchise would generate $600 million.

The news comes as support for the return of an NHL team grows stronger than ever before in the region.

A rally is being organized Oct. 2 on the Plains of Abraham to try to pressure the federal government to make the return of a team a reality.

Former Nordiques great Marian Stastny will attend the rally, while others including Joe Sakic and the other Stastny brothers, Peter and Anton, are trying their best to attend.

A falling Canadian dollar and an aging arena led to the sale in 1995 of the Quebec Nordiques. The franchise was relocated to Colorado.

Media conglomerate Quebecor, which lost its bid to buy the Montreal Canadiens this year, has already said it is keeping an eye out for an NHL franchise to buy and relocate to Quebec City.

Thoughts?

[killgod]

Hope it happens and this looks good for them.

This is the right time for teams to come back to the Canadian markets and in a revenue sharing league, nobody wants a dead in the water club like Phoenix or Atlanta sucking up others' revenue without contribution.

[Ravin]

Great, more shit for the damn frenchies.

[leaffan]

Look on the bright side. Insurance companies are going to make a ton of money off of raising the insurance premium on car vandalism.

[WalkMan]

The Washington Crapitals will choke in the playoffs once again this season.

[Fappin Raptor]

Never realized Modano was that big. Rafalski is 5'10".

[Krebs]

scared rick nash out of a bar last night

he was with his parents standing by the bar. we asked him if it was him, obviously he said no. we offered to buy him a drink if he would show us his ID. he said no. few minutes later one of the girls were with goes up and grinds on him, he gets weirded out but laughs along with it. then someone in our group googled his parents names on his phone and said their names to them. they looked over right away and then we knew it was him lol. they left about 2 minutes later in a hurry

[Fappin Raptor]

Just ordered tickets to the season opener vs. Anaheim. Upper bowl row 9 behind the Red Wings net.

[leaffan]

scared rick nash out of a bar last night

he was with his parents standing by the bar. we asked him if it was him, obviously he said no. we offered to buy him a drink if he would show us his ID. he said no. few minutes later one of the girls were with goes up and grinds on him, he gets weirded out but laughs along with it. then someone in our group googled his parents names on his phone and said their names to them. they looked over right away and then we knew it was him lol. they left about 2 minutes later in a hurry

You guys are homo's.

[Cody]

The Washington Crapitals will choke in the playoffs once again this season.

[leaffan]

Yes Ripper you are correct...LA gets first crack next Saturday...love that it's the late game on cbc so all of Canada will see the bloody-beating

lol wat?

Vancouver games are generally not seen by most people in the east once the leaf/hab/sens games are over.