04/25/24
December 03, 2003
Extra! Extra! Exciting NHL game played last night.: Complete with highlights, oddities, controversy, a bevy of fisticuffs, and "fun". In other news, Mario 'show me the money' Lemieux turns down the bonus he didn't earn, and may finally hang up his skates. And
Even the sizeable contingent of fans who enjoy the fisticuffs were satiated by last night's dancing bear acts. Quite possibly the funniest line ever written in a hockey story. This fellow at the Star is quite the reporter, and I'll be checking back to follow the Leafs through him henceforth.
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:58 PM on December 03, 2003
It WAS a good game, made all the sweeter by the sight of Barnaby getting whacked a bunch of times. The Messier injury was weird, though. First time I've ever seen a player knocked out of a game by a linesman. As for Lemieux *sigh* that's two high scorers out of my fantasy team with hip injuries (other being Mogilny).
posted by mkn at 01:45 PM on December 03, 2003
aka - the hipster. I'd never seen a player injured by a ref/linesman before either....at least not not that I can remember. Regarding the officiating, I find it amusig that goalie interference occurred in the first game of the home and home, but not a peep was heard. And then Sundin's gorgeous set-up on his back hand is sullied by calls of 'blatant interference' (Stajan's interference was legal). But then again, this just goes to show how hard it is to call a hockey game correctly. I'm still baffled as to what the refs saw, besides a big blue leaf at center ice, that made them give the Rangers the extra 2 more than once last night.
posted by garfield at 02:15 PM on December 03, 2003
That game was a blast to watch, but the officiating was just awful. I can't remember how many times I've said that this season. Something needs to be done.
posted by Samsonov14 at 03:19 PM on December 03, 2003
Overall, the game last night wasn't that bad, apart from the extra 2 the Rangers got on separate occasions. Other than that, it seemed typical. Seeing all the games only magnifies the officiating inconsistencies. I've struggled to put a pattern to the chaotic penalty calling. Is it tit vs. tat, or angel vs. devil tonight. Or perhaps the zebras are serving newby upstart vs. struggling original six? However, those aren't theories, but rather circumstantial explanations. The players seem able to adjust through out the course of the game, for the most part. But wouldn't be cool if players would only have to adjust once a season? The NFL and MLB have super-high standards for their officials, and seem to accomodate a level of consistency throughout individual games and the league. The NHL does need to look at this disparity seriously. Moral: If its a call, call it. The players will work out the rest. And more importantly, if its a call, and you don't make the call, don't call it for the rest of the game.
posted by garfield at 03:45 PM on December 03, 2003
Sammy, I just noticed your omnivores play my foilage tomorrow night. Sweet, sweet drunken Thursdays...
posted by garfield at 03:59 PM on December 03, 2003
And at 52 bucks for the cheapest seat in the house, that's certainly saying something. They have to be kidding, even if this is 52 Canadian dollars. Over $2k for a season pass in the cheap seats? There's a big problem for the NHL right there.
posted by billsaysthis at 04:03 PM on December 03, 2003
No kidding. The NHL has essentially abandoned its former fan-base (blue collar, beer-drinking, hard-working folk) by tweaking its product to favor execs and their tweens.
posted by garfield at 04:43 PM on December 03, 2003
>First time I've ever seen a player knocked out of a game by a linesman. Well, not that I saw this game, but While working as a linesman in minor-league hockey, Johnson once body-checked a player who was breaking in alone on the goal. "The old habit was too deep within me," he explained. "I forgot where I was and what I was doing." A touch more detail here. The Ching Johnson page at hockeysandwich.
posted by Philfromhavelock at 09:58 PM on December 03, 2003
They have to be kidding, even if this is 52 Canadian dollars. Over $2k for a season pass in the cheap seats? There's a big problem for the NHL right there. $52 seems low to me for a home Leafs game. It's quite sad. And, it's $52 if (big if) you can get a ticket (most likely not); and season tickets? Haha... good luck getting those. Last I heard, the waiting-list for season tickets is like 4-7 years.
posted by mkn at 10:41 PM on December 03, 2003
That's for the cheap seats, mkn, and perhaps the Leafs sell out--and the Rangers probably do swell with even higher prices--but how many teams can say that yet still charge similar astronomical admissions?
posted by billsaysthis at 11:19 PM on December 03, 2003
$52 seems high to me for a Leafs game. I mean the last few times I'd been able to go to a Leafs game (a couple of years back) the cheapest seats were coming in at around $30-35 or so with standing room spots available for a little less. now ticket prices have increased every year but have the cheapest seats gone up >60%? i must be out of the loop.
posted by gspm at 03:41 AM on December 04, 2003
Is it just me or is that first link to a story titled Advocate for elderly "about sitting for hours in a soiled diaper"?
posted by Steve-o at 10:00 PM on December 04, 2003
No one should spend every day of his or her final years sitting for hours in a soiled diaper. Well, at least that explains some of Pat Quinn's facial expressions. I think the link address changed.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:47 AM on December 05, 2003
Not sure what happened there...here's another recap.
posted by garfield at 09:49 AM on December 05, 2003
....and that last one goes to the canada.com sitemap, garfield. and whats really wierd about the advocate for the elderly link is that the picture beside the article is marchment getting a knuckle sandwich from simon. heh
posted by owl at 04:55 PM on December 10, 2003
...what I was about to say, before my nose discharged and my head reeled forward, there seems to be an international tug-o-war brewing.