2012-13 NHL regular season discussion

Last year I started this thread way later than usual. Now I'm starting it way earlier than usual.

The annual draft was started last night and even before it started the questions weren't focused on what team is drafting who but what's going to happen to Jordan Staal, a year left on his contract with the Penguins and just 24 years old. Staal had always been an outside consideration with this team, always third fiddle on the depth chart at center, and besides flashes of brilliance he never carried the team, even when he was needed to when Crosby and Malkin were injured. Maybe that's not the kind of player he is? Well, he apparently wants to be something bigger than what he had been in Pittsburgh, and he's going to get his chance.

I'm not holding onto the idea that the Pens would be better with Jordan Staal (who was shipped to Carolina for the eighth pick overall plus some other guys; Zbynek Michalek was also traded), but I guess it all depends on what we get in free agency. Maybe the goal-scoring winger Sid really needed, Zach Parise? Those two, plus Malkin-Neal could be hilarious to watch. And after Parise shunned division rival Rangers, he'd go to another division rival in Pittsburgh? Penguins still need defensive help, and though trading off Michalek goes the other direction (and drafting a D-man with the eighth pick probably won't help this year), maybe they can sneak one in (Ryan Suter please!).

Free agency starts a week from tomorrow.

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We just traded Staal and basically gave away Michalek for Sutton and cap space that probably won't come in handy this year.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Also: Minneapolis.

Fuck.

How ya doing, buddy?

I don't have a problem with the Wild getting Parise and Suter, since the rest of the team doesn't scare me at all. The Wild were dead last in goals per game last year and were in the middle third for goals allowed per game. If nothing else, Wild fans can only hope that the theory of great players making lesser players better applies with those two.

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So you guys excited or what?



fuck the nhl

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Yeah, about that excitement...



Preseason is gone, talks are barely going to start since the lockout was imposed (and on secondary issues), and the bad blood is only intensifying. I think we have a 50/50 chance of losing the Winter Classic and possibly the entire season. Assholes.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Go Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Capo

Go Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Someone needs to find a KHL guide so I know who to support. Although I feel kind of compelled to cheer for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl out of some combination of sympathy after the plane crash last year, and the fact that they're the only KHL team that I can name off the top of my head. Just wish the streams were easier to find, and at less weird times for an American.

Stupid NHL lockout, I was looking forward to Rick Nash being another Glen Sather letdown lighting up things with Gaborik and Richards.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Adol

Someone needs to find a KHL guide so I know who to support. Although I feel kind of compelled to cheer for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl out of some combination of sympathy after the plane crash last year, and the fact that they're the only KHL team that I can name off the top of my head. Just wish the streams were easier to find, and at less weird times for an American.

Stupid NHL lockout, I was looking forward to Rick Nash being another Glen Sather letdown lighting up things with Gaborik and Richards.

Just find out where your favorite players, or players from your favorite teams, are signing and follow that particular team (I've just been using Wikipedia to see where people are signing). This site was recommended to me for watching KHL games:

KHL / Upcoming Broadcasts / LiveTV

I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know how well it works. Better than nothing as of now, though. I'm currently also looking for SEL (Swedish Elite League) games and Swiss League games, so if anyone knows where I could watch those, that would be great.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I've used LiveTV numerous times for watching NHL games last season that weren't airing in my area, and it works well it's just a matter of finding the correct stream you want to watch from the options given to you. Sometimes you just gotta stick with watching the video being broadcast in a different language, sometimes you only have 1 stream option and it doesn't even work.

Careful, there are ads galore so hopefully you have something that will block those (especially iLivid).

Overall, I'd say it's reliable.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Honestly, I'm not too pissed about the season possibly being canceled. Yeah, it's one less year that the Penguins get a chance to try for the Cup, but I don't think the NHL is ever going to just disappear and maybe, possibly, like what came of the NHL after the last lockout, things might get better? I get the impression that there is very little optimism about what will happen after this lockout, like this is the lockout that will never end.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

I don't think the NHL is ever going to just disappear and maybe, possibly, like what came of the NHL after the last lockout, things might get better?

That really seems that that is what the NHL owners want you to think. I feel like the NHL really never got established enough since the last lockout wiped out scores of fans that were on the edge, and this one will repeat that cycle over again. It just makes no sense for the NHL to want to wipe out a season after record revenue and with a new TV deal in the states. My "realistic" hope is that we have hockey by the Winter Classic, and I still think that will happen.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm not sure about the wiping out of scores of fans. Yeah, a lot of people probably got turned off by the lockout but glancing at attendance figures for the league in for the 2003-04 season and last season makes me think the league has gotten more popular over the last 9 years.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The league has gained popularity because it has been putting out an entertaining, high quality product for nine uninterrupted years. Stability is the important factor, here. Did you compare attendance before and after the lockout? Or television ratings? I'd be interested in seeing those numbers.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well you can't really compare TV ratings before and after the lockout because, for one, the NHL went from ESPN to Versus for its weekly coverage. But, since you mention it, I remember reading that the last few Stanley Cup Finals had some games that saw the highest ratings for NHL games in history (back to the 1970s). Attendance falling directly after a lockout is an expected loss. I don't expect this time around to be much different.

FELIPE NO

The NHL going from ESPN to Versus for its weekly coverage was partially a function of the lockout.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Well since there is not much of a hockey season, might as well post some entertaining hockey clips and nothing is more entertaining than Don Cherry and a Don Cherry Parody.

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

Still love this playoff clip, no matter how many times I see it.

YouTube Video

Jam it back in, in the dark.

(Sorry Angel of Light; you're going to have to be reminded how much the Maple Leafs suck again.)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Truncated season of the Jets being terrible should make for interesting news headlines at the very least.

Season ticket holders just can't catch a break.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Wow, I can't believe this is happening. I was sure there wouldn't be a season this year. Now I don't have to resort to watching the NBA after football is over.

C'mon Kings! DEFEND YOUR TITLE!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Kind of hoping that Brodeur wins another cup in a shortened season and that the Kings fall flat on their faces out of the gate again, with no second half to fix everything and go on a surprise run. But seriously, I'm just really freaking excited that there's gonna be hockey in a week and a half or so.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Winning player tweet at the end of the lockout...



Fuck, I'll actually get to go see some Lightning games this year after all.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Saw that on PuckDaddy. Laughed then. Laughed again just now.

Can't wait until the nineteenth.

FELIPE NO

2013 Playoff Contest Signup is in Community Commons!

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Man, some pretty crazy trades eh guys? Guys?

Jam it back in, in the dark.