On this week’s show we’ll talk about the USA / Canada show down, Ovechkin’s big hit and a controversial take down by a Canadian player. We have news on an NHL player getting into a fight in Vancouver off the ice and another player using the Olympic break to surprise his girl friend. We’ll also have an interview with listener Brian Estadt who attended the US/Canada game plus Doug goes off an a former NHL GM. That and your feedback on this edition of the Puck Podcast.
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So, Friday I had an appointment to get my windshield replaced on my car. The appointment was for 1, and I figured “Good, it will be done by three and I’ll only miss a little bit of the (US/Finland) game.” Had I waited there for my car, or even walked back up to the glass place earlier, I would have been fine. But no. Not thinking, I walk home, get a call at 2:50, walk back to the glass place, drive home. I get home around 3:40, and I missed EVERYTHING. Hoping for a 0-0 tie going into the second period, and I see 6-0 and lose most of my excitement. It would have been like missing the Detroit 7-0 beating of Colorado in Game 7 of the 2002 Conference Final, where I popped some popcorn expecting to be a nervous wreck and watching Patrick Roy get a beating only Detroit ever seemed to give him.
Comrie proposes to Duff (picture, possibly NSFW)
http://pix.4gifs.com/gallery/d/165227-1/Hilary_Duff_proposal.jpg
I’m listening right now and I’m so glad you guys agree about the Boyle hit. Semin rarely hits, so I was first of all, thrilled that he showed some physical play at all and second, that it was a great & agressive & clean hit. Watching the end of the Slovakia/Finland game last night I noticed that the announcers (Millbury) were much more tame. I think they were put on a leash for the outrageous and incorrect comments. Eurotrash notwithstanding.
Another great podcast as always fellas, not surprised there. However… what’s all this fuss over Dan Boyle’s roller derby antics on Alex Semin? I’m only writing this because a) I’m a die hard Sharks fan and b) you guys were pretty worked up over it.
While I don’t like seeing any player getting suckered from behind, I was actually glad to see Boyle give Semin a taste of “what goes around, comes around”, and here’s my reasoning behind this: Semin’s hit may have seemed clean since Boyle didn’t go face first into the dasher, but he easily could have had he not protected himself. Does Boyle deserve a medal for that? Of course not. But anybody who’s ever played the game (such as yourselves)would know if someone took a run at you while you’re in a vulnerable position. If you protected yourself and came out unscathed, you’d still be pissed. To paraphrase Scott Hannan in one of your great interviews, you have to respect your opponent when it comes to a potentially dangerous hit. I’m thinking this is why those calling the game seemed to see it as I did: Semin knew Boyle was in a dangerous spot and dropped the hammer anyway. Unfortunately for him, so did Boyle.
PS – As much as I hated hearing the truth about Nabokov (he chokes when it matters the most, etc) I can’t argue with you guys there. I’m a realistic homer.
Ah, Monday and the return of NHL hockey! After the boring USA/Canada games, Slovakia/Finland, Swiss/USA, Slovakia/Canada and so forth, we can FINALLY get back to thrilling match-ups like Edm/St. Louis and Atl/Fla! We can see players fighting for another paycheck instead of something stupid like their country! And, to make it even BETTER, my favorite team- the Avalanche- play their rivals Detroit to start the stretch run! And, EVEN BETTER, its on Versus, so I CAN’T EVEN SEE IT!! Thank GOD that damn hockey tournament is OVER and I don’t have to worry about a game or two being tape-delayed instead of the sensible decision to just put the games on a channel that 1/3 of the country cannot even see!! Boooo, Olympic Hockey!! How dare you give me hockey filled with players playing for national pride and not trying to fill the coffers of Whorecast! I am SOOOOO happy to have the NHL that I cannot watch back! And so excited that I am NOT really excited about it anymore since I do not have to BOTHER watching the playoffs thanks to The Flyers’ owner! This is AWESOME!!
(The preceding message brought to you by Crazy Feaster Enterprises)
i dont understand all the fuzz about olympics hockey.
Doug, why did you go ballistic at Feaster? the guy is entitled to his own opinion, you don’t have to trash him.
I think the same – and that is my right. Olympic hockey is crap imho, I’d rather watch NHL than Olympics.
thank god next olympics are as far away in 4yr and NHL is back already 🙂
Derek,
I didn’t trash Feaster I trashed his opinions. At least, that’s what I tried to do. I have no problem with someone that prefers NHL hockey to Olympic hockey but I do have a problem when someone suggests that NHL players should not play in the Olympics. There are a lot of people around the world that enjoyed the Canada/USA gold medal game and that would not have been the case had NHL players not been involved. Why can’t we have both? You and Jay get to watch all the regular season games you want and me and Eddie get two weeks of Olympic hockey every four years. Doesn’t that give everyone what they want?
Doug
Jay’s comments deserved what they got. He wasn’t ran down personally in my opinion and just as he has a right to his opinions, everyone else does as well. I happen to agree that his opinion on this instance was completely ridiculous and my feelings about his comments were pretty well summed up by the Puck Podcast team…
…and while I enjoyed the Olympics I was glad to see the Avs back last night despite a game that certainly wasn’t their best this year. I’m not going to worry though even though this and the Kings game before the break make two games they played worse than any other two game stretch this season.
Btw, anyone ever look at TSN’s player rankings? I don’t put much stock into them but I thought it was interesting when I looked at them this morning and found 4 Avalanche rookies (Duchene – 3, Galliardi – 4, Wilson – 9, and O’Reilly – 13) in the top 15, all four about Tavares at 14 and Hedman at 15. Of course this doesn’t mean much and certainly doesn’t indicate future worth or anything, but as an Avs fan it was fun to see anyway and shows how important the youth of this team has been this year…
http://tsn.ca/fantasy_news/feature/?ID=10841
I have said it on Facebook and I will say it here, if Duchene does not win the Calder, I am going to have some cross words with every single voter. I do not care if he plays in the west, it is the voter’s JOB to make sure he/she sees relevant individuals. To deny Duchene consideration because you do not want to stay up that late is a poor excuse. Especially with game video all over the internet. Barring some sort of horrific collapse (or Tavares becoming Ovechkin for three weeks), I think Duchene is the clear-cut front runner. And do not throw Tyler Myers in my face. The Sabres were a decent team last season and their play this season is nowhere near the turnaround that Duchene has helped engineer. All three of these players are very good, do not get me wrong, but I think the choice is obvious at this point.
Kris … I think right now the top 3 for Calder don’t even include Tavares. He started off well but has fallen since then. I think between Myers, Duchene, and Jimmy Howard (hate to say that but it’s true) … those three are your top three.
Who is above the rest right now is hard to say but Duchene has to be given a ton of consideration if you look at performance and supporting cast as well as team expectations. Look at all three things and he’s on top, only look at his performance and not consider the rest and it’s a crap shoot right now between those three…
Even with the injuries, Jimmy Howard is playing behind one hell of a talented team. Helps when a 1,543 time Norris Trophy winner is standing in front of you.
Myers is harder to quantify because he is a defensemen. I believed that Drew Doughty was a more deserving candidate for the Calder last year than Steve Mason, but Doughty could not have a stat like “Wins” to herald. I think Doughty had a greater impact on his team, has more talent in the short and long term and is a smarter hockey player than the other players in the running last year.
I think that Myers is extremely talented and smart as hell. But I think Duchene is as well. In the end, I think the jump the Avs have made stacked against the jump the Sabres have made, and the quantifiable stats that Duchene can put up should give him the edge.
Wow, glad I did not have to watch this Olympics south of the border.
“Curling always runs over the allotted time?”
Just to crank on NBC (the company not the particular channel), curling at the Olympic level has a time clock. Each team has set amount of time to make all their shots.
I am pretty sure I can figure out how much time to allocate for:
“Each team has 73 minutes of playing time in a 10-end game. The team’s clock runs until the skip crosses the back line thereby allowing the opposing team to take over the ice. Each team is allowed two 60-second time outs for every 10-ends played, and an additional 60-seond timeout for every additional end. Ten minutes of playing time is given to each team when an extra end is required to complete the game.”
I am glad they show so much curling, but that is a sport that can be pushed around on tape-delay and edited for time.
Anyways guys, just caught up on the shows.
Cannot wait for the playoffs.