NHL back on!

Hey, the opening games of the "new" NHL were on tonight. It's been a long lock-out, but its going to be a great season, and the new rules make it really exciting to watch. Are there any other hockey fans out there?

 

I'm a huge Devils fan - so very pleased with last nights results against the new, revamped Penguins! So much for all that talk about Crosby ("the next Gretzky etc") - i didnt see any thing special and the Devils rookie (Parrishe i think his name is) had a goal and no one ever talked about him!

 

I've been a Penguins fan since the days of Jean Pronovost and Syl Apps but you folks probably never heard of them. I think you will be hearing a lot about Sidney Crosby this year and for many years to come. And, if they enforce the rules like they say they are going to, Lemieux will do some damage again.

GO PENS

Later

 

I'm a Shark's fan. I think the new rules will give them an advantage because of their speed, and Wilson's saying their in good condition. And then of course theres their goaltending being real good. I can't wait for the season to get going.

 

Hi my name is Bill......and I'm a Blackhawks fan.
I don't admit this often given the way this once proud organization has been run into the ground the last ten years or so. Hopefully this new salary cap will allow this once proud franchise to get back on track and return to the playoffs and once again become a force in the NHL.

 

My name is John. *Hello, John.*

I am a Red Wings fan and they're TWO AND OH!!

 

Great to know we can watch some excellent hockey again!!

My only hope is to see several Finnish goalies again in action, and the best of them Kipru(soff)
( Galgary ) probably again.

And Saku Koivu from my previous working city Turku is the captain of Montreal, BTW!! Great personality and an incredible player!

 

No wins yet.

GO PENS

Later

 

Big Flames fan, still mad we lost to the wild, but we beat the oilers twice so life is good.
Hate the Oilers, Leafs, and Canucks soooo much.

 

Will the Pens ever win?????

Later

 

My Rangers are in first!!! I think this is our year.

 

Rangers in first - but it won't last

I'm kind of sore on the whole NHL thing. I remember in the early '90's when the NHL, in my part of the US, was really heating up - it was growing in popularity a lot - everyone jumped on my HS's hockey team. Looked like NHL was growing into a huge commercial success - expansion teams galore. And then?? The players got greedy and they had their strike which I think ruined the momentum for the sport. With the most recent strike, I'd like to see a bounce back, but who knows, hockey in the US is still takes a backseat. Any thoughts?

 

Hockey will forever take a backseat in the US for a very simple reason, the sport does not translate to television well. Lets face it hockey on TV stinks because it is too difficult to follow that puck on TV...and in this country if it doesn't do well on TV it will not gain a huge audience. Another reason hockey on TV is bad is that one cannot truely appreciate the game without being able to see how the entire play is developing and to do this on TV would force the picture to be even smaller than it already is. Hockey is simply one of those games you just have to see live in order to really appreciate.

 

And vice versa....during live hockey games you sometimes start waiting for the replays of goals....

 

I find televised hockey quite enjoyable and have no problem following the biscuit.

Later

 

Maybe I'm just spoiled on TV because I go to quite a few games during the season. Here it's actually one of the few sporting events that one can go to for a resonable price.

 

Well, at least the games are even harder to predict than before. I guess more fun to those watching it in the US and Canada?

Galgary´s Kiprusoff seems to be getting the hang of it,again!

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Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff received Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording a 0.47 goals-against average and .983 save percentage in two games.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nhl&id=2256709

 

Yes sir he is. How do you feel about him not going to Tourin though??

 

Brad,

That was very bad news as he´s definitely the No 1 goalie for us right now. But I´m sure he would not miss the games if he was fit enough!

Anyway, we seem to have many good goalies at the moment so hopefully we manage to pick the one who´s "hot" at the games. During the last 5 years we have somehow picked the ones who were not that good when it got to the big games ( other than Kipru that is )....