Running 2017-18 NHL thread

I think I've played against him. There's a pick-up game near my house that slowly got taken over by the really top-level guys, former pros and college players. It used to be a decent mix of skill levels, but the low-level guys started slowly filtering out as we were being too outclassed to make it worthwhile. Finally, there's a week where it was me and 19 guys who all played at least decent college or high juniors and some minor-league pros. I'm a 35-year-old, out-of-shape nerd who took a couple of months of Learn to Play lessons and has three goals in two seasons of rookie league. I'm lined up against a guy who was a top-100 pick for the Oilers. Throw in that I'm 5-7 and he's 6-4 and I'm sure we looked especially hilarious in the face-off.

 

That's silly. He should get paid a prorated share of the league minimum.

 

No way they let that accountant play without full liability insurance.

 

I love the fact that he had a jersey with his name on it. Since they could play for either team, do the emergency guys have a jersey for every team with their name on it?

 

I have to think a dozen car dealers, furniture stores and bar/restaurants are looking to get this chap for local TV commercials. I sure would if had one of those businesses.

 

Because he’d have a save percentage of roughly .050, and probably get hurt constantly tripping over the skates he’s not used to.

 

I think that's overstating it. The skates are a little different, but the balance and techniques are the same. It helps that the things the skates do differently are appropriate to the task. A player who tried to do power strides up the ice or quick, choppy crossovers in goalie skates would probably fall and hurt himself because of the lack of ankle support and different angle on the rocker, but you won't be trying to do those sorts of things in goalie skates anyway. Goalie skates are optimized for the type of thing they'd be doing: Making small adjustments and holding their balance.

The quick lateral slide would be the only move that would give them a lot of trouble.

 

Quintessential Rickipedia

 

I'm open to the possibility I'm wrong. I qualified it with "I think."

But I have been taking hockey skating lessons for three years now, so I do know a little bit about it.

 

Question for Huggy or JC or anybody who might know:
On Thursday in L.A., referee Dave Jackson called his final game. They had a brief ceremony for his retirement and players and coaches shook his hand. On Friday at Anaheim, lineman Shane Heyer called his last game, etc. I saw another game a couple of weeks ago where another ref retired.
The question is, why are these guys retiring now, with 9 or 10 days, plus the playoffs, still to go? I'd think they have contracts for the full season. Seems weird.