2009-10 NHL Thread

In 1972, the hero of Team Canada also wore a Maple Leaf on his chest in his everyday job.

Harold Ballard ordered staff to answer the phones thusly: "Maple Leaf Gardens, Home of Paul Henderson."

I imagine he did the same thing in 1976 for Darryl Sittler after the Canada Cup.

 

But the insufferable Ron Wilson was a sore loser

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g8GR-v3Lc4bSP5ncpqHbdKY1E22Q

"The puck hits the referee's skate - no one's mentioned that - and that ended up causing kind of a kerfuffle that happened in the corner, and they took advantage of that."
He also fired a salvo at the Canadian media for what he framed as an attack on goaltender Martin Brodeur. The 37-year-old began the tournament as the starting goalie, but ceded the job to Roberto Luongo after Canada fell to the U.S. in the preliminary round.
"The biggest surprise to me was how everybody threw Marty Brodeur - the greatest goalie in the history of the game - under the bus and backed over him," Wilson said. "That's the greatest goalie who's ever played, and it kind of almost tarnished his career on one night.

Yes, Ron, the puck hit the refs skate. It happens all the time. So what?

And no one threw Marty under the bus any more than people threw Curtis Joseph under the bus in '02.

You're a douche. How about you deal with the Leafs loss to the Canes 5-1 tonight?

 

Ron Wilson's sour grapes notwithstanding, the story is wrong.

Martin Brodeur did not begin the tournament as the starting goalie - Luongo did. He shut out Norway in the first game.

 

Wilbon might have gone over the top the other day, but he made some good points. Namely, not much has come from Ovechkin's disdain for fans/spectators with cameras during the Olympics.

Wilbon's had a serious man-crush on Ovechkin for some time now, with the Caps/Ovechkin having a segment for five or six straight days on PTI when the Penguins and Red Wings can't get a mention. I just chalked it up to the D.C. factor, talking about what they see in their backyard every day. The Olympics have certainly changed his opinion on Ovechkin, at least for the moment.

 

The puck did go off the referee's skate in the gold medal, which was accidental and does happen 1-4 times in an average game (depending on the refs working it), but it definitely caused a huge change in the play.

It's disappointing the refs for the Gold Medal game weren't better skaters - it's something the NHL has really emphasized in the past several years, and pucks going off refs on predictable players like that is one of the things they're trying to eliminate. From a purely positional point of view, the ref was on the wrong side - they're supposed to be in the corner across from the puck - and where he was and the botched manner trying to extract himself from the situation reflect poorly on his skating abilities.

Looking at the two refs, I strongly suspect it was McCreary. He's... not a good skater.

</refereeing dork>

 

It happens, though, unfortunately. At least it wasn't utter incompetence on the part of an official. [/istillhateyoukerryfraser]

 

Watching live (fortunately, on the West Coast) as the play was happening, I mumbled, "Get outta fucking way, ref." A second later, it's in the net and I forgot about that until I read this part of the thread.

 

You're right, it doesn't suddenly elevate Crosby so much higher than Ovechkin ... Crosby had already done so. ;D

 

This.

 

Which Fraser incident are you referring to? He's got a strong personality and a bit of an authoritarian streak, but when you compare him among the group of officials, he's rather predictable and consistent, and he gets fewer things wrong than the majority of refs. He takes a lot of heat because he's a name ref (and because of his fabulous hair that really could function as a helmet), but I'd take him over, say... Chris Lee, McCreary, Van Massenhoven, Walsh, LaRue or St. Pierre.

What has really, really suffered for him in recent years is his skating. IIRC, he had a pretty serious knee injury a few years ago and just can't move well anymore. So he gets caught out of position and doesn't get the best angle to see the play.