NHL 2011-2012 season

Tribec

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Well after a long difficult summer which has seen hockey lurch from one dark moment to another, the NHL season is all but on us. The final pre-season games are winding down, the rosters being trimmed and the excitement is begining to flow. The Winnipeg Jets are back, all be a new version, and so let the fun begin.

As for what will happen? my hopes are simple the Oilers finish in 29th spot, after finishing dead last in the last two seasons one place above would be a move in the right direction. However, already our depth is being questioned, having to play for best part of 2 periods last night with only 3 D-men. I've seen the hit on Fedun, and if ever there is a case to rid the NHL of touch icing that's it. The kid at his first NHL training camp, looking like a possible 5 to 7 d-man, straight from college is left hoping he'll have a career at all after suffering a complex fracture of his femur. Brutal play by Nystrom, I hope Shanahan serves some tough justice on him for it, I'd say 15 to 20 games would be my starting block for any suspension.
 
I really like the videos Shanahan does where he explains his decisions. Seems like they're really cracking down on dangerous hits this year.
 
Iron Stove said:
I really like the videos Shanahan does where he explains his decisions. Seems like they're really cracking down on dangerous hits this year.
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I agree, not only pointing out to the culprit, but to the rest of the league that this is why others are being suspended. Hopefully it will help curtail the amount of injuries from dangerous shots that has risen over the past few years.
 
Less than a week left:drool:

Seems like there is more talk about bad hits than hockey these days. Don't worry Tribec no team can be worse than Phoenix this season not even Avs and Oilers;) Considering Avs traded their first rounder I hope they at least make a push for a play-off spot.
 
Oh the Oilers make the final cuts, and I'm sure that we might find some fans in Sweden, with Lander, Petrell and Omark all sticking so far, and looking like will all be on the same line.

I know this sounds crazy, but I'm glad we are talking about hits in game etc, rather than all the negatives that the summer brought one way or another.
 
The Jets :D

Should be some cracking games this season between Jets, Oilers and Flames. A shame that the realignment must wait until next season though.
 
The only sad thing leading up to this season to date is no pan European tv contract. I've heard one tv company in Sweden has done a deal with the group who have the contracts now. They also deal with the Premier League deals. From what I'm hearing is that they hoped to recoup the money spent with seperate deals out of Scandinavia, Russia and the Czech Rep. However the money we are talking is silly money, so ESPN europe which operates ESPN North America which had well over 200 games last year haven't got a deal.

This is the craziest thing ever, as the NBA starts or doesn't start due to the lock-out, now is the time for the NHL to make a valid push into Europe to either re-establish iteself after it's own lock out, or to gain markets. I'm also hearing that AT&T have failed to reach an agreement to carry the NHL, which isn't good. I only found this out in the last 24 hours, but with so many other stories taking way more news over the summer hockey wise, I guess I just missed it. This really isn't good news, and poor marketing, I do hope that with days left before the start of the season an agreement can be made, but it really is pushing it.
 
I was planning on getting ESPN360 this year since I''m tired of crappy streams and can't be watching games in the middle of the night as much anymore. But it seems like Europeans can now gamecenter live for 159 dollars? That would be great. I think that's about half the price of the equivalent offer for watching online SEL games for a season :lol:

I read that no Swedish tv company are willing to pay the asking price of that Merge company. Would be a complete embarrassment if there wouldn't be any NHL on tv in Europe, but I can't really see that happening.
 
Still praying for a deal with ESPN America to show the games in the UK. I often question why the sport isn't more popular and I guess this is why. I listen to the NHL hour podcast and pretty much every caller moans about the TV coverage (in North America).

How hard can it be to put on the games for customers willing to pay?!? I'm sitting here the eve before the season starts with no legal way to watch it - my internet doesn't support HD streaming so I'm going from HD, surround sound broadcasts to possibly some blurry mess where you can't see the puck....shambles!!
 
Just watched last nights Coach's corner on the CBC site, nice to see Don start the season with a rant or two.

Got to say the banner ceremony was classy, and hopefully teams will perhaps consdier what the Bruins did as well, if they win the cup on the road in future. Bringing the cup out like that for the home fans.

Still no NHL coverage over in Europe, it's far from ideal. It's like being an NHL fan in the late 1980's and having to rely on The Guardian on a Tuesday for some NHL results and tables. If you couldn't see that then it was a wait till the next edition of IHNR came out and that was bi weekly. Thank god for the internet though.
 
How does ESPN show endless College Football which isn't big AT ALL over here, yet can't figure out a way to get NHL.....which well is bigger in Europe than College Football at least.

Bye ESPN subscription.
 
Zen said:
How does ESPN show endless College Football which isn't big AT ALL over here, yet can't figure out a way to get NHL.....which well is bigger in Europe than College Football at least.

Bye ESPN subscription.
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To be fair to ESPN, they are still in discusions with the people that own the rights, but they would prefer a nation by nation contracts rather than a Pan European contract that ESPN want and have had. I'm hoping that we'll see this sorted out soon.

However, it's always nice to see the Oilers win, it hasn't happened a lot over the past few years, and a huge boost to Dubnyk to be given the start ahead of the Khabbi. RNH scores his first goal, which Eberle did last year in the opener... Go Oilers, though we play Minni next and we never do well there.
 
Just watching the game against Boston, looks like Hejduk-Duchene-Mueller is a line...its great to see Mueller back

O'Reilly and Landeskog seem to be playing on the third line together, and that should be interesting.
 
Wittmann45 said:
Just watching the game against Boston, looks like Hejduk-Duchene-Mueller is a line...its great to see Mueller back

O'Reilly and Landeskog seem to be playing on the third line together, and that should be interesting.
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The O'Reilly line is awesome. The Duchene line will get better but Stastny and Jones need a new LW, Kobasew isn't top 6 material. Great win though, Varlamov is already performing great just hope he can stay fit.
 
Iron Stove said:
That O'Reilly line is looking great against Ottawa right now.
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Yeah O'Reilly reminds me of Getzlaf the way he plays these days. Landeskog with 1 goal and assist, Lindström with 2 goals. Best of all Anderson letting in 7 goals. Did you watch the game because of the Djurgården factor?:D
 
It was a fun matchup. And so much young talent on display.. That Zibanejad and Landeskog played didn't make it less interesting. They both played for Bajen too as kids didn't they? I'm wondering if you were trying to set me up here? hehe

Gabriel looked amazing. Great hustle and positioning on the ice. Also great understanding with O'Reilly.. The Swedish Iginla? One can dream at least hehe. Looks like he will contend for the Calder this year. Mika just got a few minutes in this game which was a bit of a let down. He should come home to the DIF family. :D Him and Åberg would be fun to watch in the SEL.

Karlsson is amazing offensively, but man does he need to work on his defense.

Anyhow! Great that the season is underway. Might have a look at the games tonight. At least Sabres - Hurricanes. Buffalo look dangerous on paper this year and have started well.
 
Iron Stove said:
It was a fun matchup. And so much young talent on display.. That Zibanejad and Landeskog played didn't make it less interesting. They both played for Bajen too as kids didn't they? I'm wondering if you were trying to set me up here? hehe

Gabriel looked amazing. Great hustle and positioning on the ice. Also great understanding with O'Reilly.. The Swedish Iginla? One can dream at least hehe. Looks like he will contend for the Calder this year. Mika just got a few minutes in this game which was a bit of a let down. He should come home to the DIF family. :D Him and Åberg would be fun to watch in the SEL.

Karlsson is amazing offensively, but man does he need to work on his defense.

Anyhow! Great that the season is underway. Might have a look at the games tonight. At least Sabres - Hurricanes. Buffalo look dangerous on paper this year and have started well.
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I know Landeskog got a Hammarby past not sure about Zibanejad. I think Mika would be better off spending another year in Sweden, I have seen most of the Sens games this season and barely noticed him on the ice. That is a good and bad thing I guess but the step from limited minutes as a Djurgården player to a top 6 role in NHL is huge especially at his age. Erik Karlsson got a real poor support cast but he is indeed a special talent.

gbgary I wouldn't worry about Bruins yet just a good old Cup hangover hehe.

Time to watch Ducks-Sharks
 
I believe those two actually played together for Hammarby as kids. Mika would get top 6 minutes for DIF, which is better for his development than playing "mistake free hockey" for Ottawa. He's only played half a season in the SEL all in all.. no wonder he's looking a bit out of his depth in the NHL.
 
Iron Stove said:
I believe those two actually played together for Hammarby as kids. Mika would get top 6 minutes for DIF, which is better for his development than playing "mistake free hockey" for Ottawa. He's only played half a season in the SEL all in all.. no wonder he's looking a bit out of his depth in the NHL.
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I know they are close friends so you are probably right, watched a pre draft video with them mocking around in a shopping mall. Yeah he should head back to DIF for sure. I think Landeskog and Larsson are the only young Swedish rookies that are ready for a full 82 match season grind in NHL. Looking forward to the Avs match tonight vs Montreal. Hope it dwells the disappointment from today's United match.
 
Larsson is a complete stud.. definitely looks better than Hedman did in his first year. His only weakness seems to be that he's not really a fast skater. The way he controls the game from the back reminds me of (oh yes!) Lidström.

Not sure which game to watch tonight.. Probably the more entertaining one out of Avs - Canadiens and Caps - Sens.
 
Iron Stove said:
Larsson is a complete stud.. definitely looks better than Hedman did in his first year. His only weakness seems to be that he's not really a fast skater. The way he controls the game from the back reminds me of (oh yes!) Lidström.

Not sure which game to watch tonight.. Probably the more entertaining one out of Avs - Canadiens and Caps - Sens.
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Larsson lacks some offensive poise too, he isn't a real difference maker yet in the offensive zone. I rate him higher than Hedman though, never been sold on Hedman, great size and solid but not the beast people hoped for so far.

Flyers-Kings should be a good one. Mike Richards vs his old team. Wonder if his nemesis Pronger will go after him, Pronger really isn't a fan of him hehe. Later on Bruins take on Chicago. Thought about doing some bets but too many even match-ups, except the Ottawa,Florida,Edmonton games but its so typical to bet on the heavy favourite and then the underdog have a good day.

How do you watch matches? I was lucky and managed to sign up for Gamecenter Live when registration was open here a week or so.
 
Richter said:
Larsson lacks some offensive poise too, he isn't a real difference maker yet in the offensive zone. I rate him higher than Hedman though, never been sold on Hedman, great size and solid but not the beast people hoped for so far.
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Not sure he lacks in the offensive department tbh. He had a lot of SEL points in the year before his draft year and looked great in the WJC's offensively, especially against Russia. We'll see, but he just seems so smart with his decision making and passing that I believe the points will come eventually.

I was always a fan of Hedman and he's made some strides, especially if he adds some toughness which I think he showed he can during the playoffs last year. But Victor was never really a brainy player IMO. He's huge, quick and is a good poke-checker with great reach, but I don't know if he'll ever put up a lot of points to warrant that 2nd overall draft position ahead of guys like Duchene.
He has a hard shot which he can't seem to get on net. If he was able to improve that, he would get PP time and be a whole lot more productive. I think the fact that he was playing with Timander in Modo did a lot for his draft position.

Richter said:
Flyers-Kings should be a good one. Mike Richards vs his old team. Wonder if his nemesis Pronger will go after him, Pronger really isn't a fan of him hehe. Later on Bruins take on Chicago. Thought about doing some bets but too many even match-ups, except the Ottawa,Florida,Edmonton games but its so typical to bet on the heavy favourite and then the underdog have a good day.

How do you watch matches? I was lucky and managed to sign up for Gamecenter Live when registration was open here a week or so.
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Oh, that's right.. interesting game. Might give it a shot, but I don't really like either of those teams so we'll see.

I'm watching crappy streams yet again :mad: Was waiting for my paycheck to sign up for GCL, then the feckers closed registration.
 
Have you tried hockeystreams.com? 64 dollars(400kr) for 6 months and the streams are about the same quality as GCL. The site isn't legal though but it's been up a couple of years now. If I didn't have GCL I would have signed up on hockeystreams using paypal. I used to watch dodgy streams years ago but once I tasted real quality streams that cost a bit I can't go back to chasing Veetle and Sopcast streams that might go offline at anytime.
 
I've heard about it, but I thought their streams were of about the same quality as the streams you find elsewhere? Might be worth a look
 
Iron Stove said:
I've heard about it, but I thought their streams were of about the same quality as the streams you find elsewhere? Might be worth a look
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No they are supposed to be near GCL quality. Obviously it depends on your computer and connection too but they got a preview page where you can check on the stream quality.
 
Damn that's pretty tempting actually.. Quality is good and it seems like they store games too so you can watch them afterwards.

Especially since I'm not in Sweden for the next few months at least and watching games on the internet is pretty much my only option.
 
Iron Stove said:
Damn that's pretty tempting actually.. Quality is good and it seems like they store games too so you can watch them afterwards.

Especially since I'm not in Sweden for the next few months at least and watching games on the internet is pretty much my only option.
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Well nobody is showing NHL on tv here atm. Viasat and ESPN isn't showing any matches since they haven't bought the broadcasting rights so you would be forced to watch matches online here too. And with GCL closed for sign ups NHL is pretty much forcing people to watch illegal streams if they want to see hockey....
 
5 years this deal with Medge is.. No way will there be any GCL option next year. I can only imagine what kind of shitty online service that will be offered in Sweden.. Something like C sports probably. 139 kr for a single SEL game :boring:
 
C Sports is a joke. Well did you see the Avs game?:D I will end up going plus on betting tonight too:cool:
 
Couldn't find a decent stream, so I ended up watching the Sens - Caps game which was a pretty good game actually.

What's up with Ovechkin though? He used to be completely unstoppable, now he's getting man handled by Erik Karlsson.
 
Iron Stove said:
Couldn't find a decent stream, so I ended up watching the Sens - Caps game which was a pretty good game actually.

What's up with Ovechkin though? He used to be completely unstoppable, now he's getting man handled by Erik Karlsson.
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Teams simply know how to play Ovechkin, he used to skate into the zone a dozen times every match like a bulldozer and cut inside to use his deadly shot that's how he scored most of his goals but now most teams can cope with that. He is to me the hockey version of Cristiano Ronaldo, not as explosive and quick as when younger but his sheer desire, talent and skill still allows him to be one of the very best. Jeez this makes me feel old I'm born the same year as them and I talk like they are beyond their peak hehe. Some rumors say that Ovechkin's body is so beaten up from his playing style that he kinda floats in regular season these days just to be real fresh in the playoffs.

Bah just one game tonight thanks to it being NFL sunday.
 
Yeah, it's true. You just know when he's coming down the wing that he'll cut inside to snipe. Still weird to see him being so ineffective after completely dominating the league.
 
I was at the Caps game (we have season tickets) and you are right about Ovechkin. One thing that has always bothered me about him is that he is not one of those great players that makes others around him better. It's frustrating that he can't seem to figure out how to draw defenders towards him and then pass the puck to an open player.
 
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