All-Purpose Hockey Thread III

It's definitely Simpson. And, as Pens fan, I got many a chuckle out of it.

 

Since this is an all-purpose hockey thread, it should be noted things are getting interesting in the London Knights/Soo Greyhounds series in the OHL playoffs. Game 3 is tonight in the Soo (a nuthouse, I might add - especially during the playoffs) at 7 p.m. For those Canuckleheads who have the OHL pack on their cable system, this might be worth watching.

Some background:
- London has won 14 consecutive games against the Hounds, who took the Knights to overtime twice last post-season, despite London winning in a sweep.
- Soo head coach Craig Hartsburg (former NHL defenceman and head coach of Chicago and Anaheim; and Team Canada World Junior coach) publically accused London of "getting all the calls" and has threatened to sue the London Free Press and "has already spoken with lawyers."
- Hartsburg threw the game puck into the stands after Game 2; London says it hit an unsuspecting fan and Hartsburg did it to piss off the Knights, who collect pucks from wins. The Soo says it was tossed to a pair of Hounds fans behind the bench.
- Officials gave Hartsburg a gross misconduct for the puck toss and the league suspended Harstburg for two games.

Stories on the series and incidents can be found here http://lfpress.ca/knights/index.html and here http://www.saultstar.com/webapp/sitepages/

 

That is Simpson, he has been in charge of leading an impetent special teams unit for the last several years. The whole coaching staff should be wiped out. I still like Lowe in the GM chair, despite the Smyth trade, but he better have another couple of magical offseasons. At this point if I'm a free agent I avoid Edmonton like the plague. And it kills me to say that. Fuck.

 

Beef, I like you more and more every day. I've been calling for Simpson's head for five years minimum. They routinely have the worst power play in the league.

Mac T, impressed at times last post-season, but he did nothing for me this season.

Moores is a workhorse (I know his brother, actually) and Huddy is apparently LOVED by the players.

But there has to be a reason so many players (good and bad) wanted out after being ONE GAME SHORT of the Cup.

 

Emery caught way too much flack for the Sens meltdown last year. The whole team played like shite. He showed this year he is a true number one, and I think he has a more competitive spirit than Lalime ever did have. Reason Number 1 they will not choke this year: during the time when Spezza was out, they became Heatly's team. Before that they were Alfredsson's team. The team that couldn't get it done with Alfie as the heart beat will find a way with Heater as the pulse.

 

I filed a story to CP about Emery getting no respect in the pre-season/training camp time of the year. And the fuckers never picked it up.

Even Emery said at the time he felt like he was No. 1. If you read between the lines, he was pissed at the Gerber signing.

Alas, it only ran in my paper.

 

Mac-T's basic strategy last year during the playoffs was to sit back and take it, then do your best to clear the rebound and hit a forward with an outlet pass. It worked when he had Roloson playing out of his skull and Defencemen (Pronger, Spacek – who i still argue was the bigger loss) who could actually make an outlet pass. It certainly wasn't Edmonton Oilers hockey. He tried to do that again this year and it failed miserably when Rollie got off to a slow start and with a defence that is more suited for and AHL roster. Plus it didn't help that just abut every forward – save for Smyth – underachieved to the hilt this year.A big reason they underachieved, I believe, is they played a low pressure system – not quite a trap, but certainly a system that didn't breed offensive opportunities.
Then of course they got into their mid-season slump and never recovered. Then they traded Smyth and the team mailed it in completely from there on out.

 

Emery is a solid goalie, and if I were him I would bolkt for big bucks when his contract is up. Let them live with $3.5 million of mediocredy. However, he can cement that golden contract with a long post-season run this year – I actually have them picked to win it all. They will be the Colts of the NHL – long-highly rated, forever choking in the clutch, finally get it done when everyone doubts them.

 

I agree to an extent Beef. But Mac T and the Oilers played differently at home than on the road. They played perfect road games in MoTown, which got them out of the first round.

I'll give you Pronger and Spacek are equal. But we have to remember who Lowe got rid of for Pronger: Brewer, Lynch, Woywitka - three blue line prospects. And by this season's end, they were calling accountants in Fort McMurray to see if they could play defence.

As much as it would kill me to see Hemskey flourish elsewhere (and you know it would happen) he has to go. Him underachieving year after year is driving me nuts. Plus, if he blossomed elsewhere, maybe it would shed more light on the Oilers inadequate coaching.

 

I can totally believe Craig Hartsburg's contention that London receives preferential treatment from the officials and the league. For whatever reason, Dale and Mark Hunter have had the OHL (not to mention most of the London media) completely wrapped around their fingers for a number of years.

The print media is the worst - anybody who wants to read a truly homer-iffic article should check out this piece of shit: Puck throw lands Hartsburg in hot water.

I loved this bit: "Nobody except Hartsburg knows why he chose to pay attention to the puck in the first place." Of course, if the reporter had bothered to talk to Hartsburg with an open mind (if he even spoke to him at all), he wouldn't have been able to say some of the things he says in his article.

Like this part: "Hartsburg said he was tossing the puck to a friend of 'Hounds assistant coach Toots Kovacs but London disagreed with that assessment, saying the section behind the visiting bench is all Knights season ticket holders." It turns out the friend is indeed a real person. He lives in London and was given tickets for the game by - ta dah! - a Knights season ticket holder. He was interviewed by the Soo Star and has backed up Hartsburg's story. That's called journalism. The LFP should try it sometime.

That said, Hartsburg has reportedly engaged in past douchebaggish behaviour that would rival anything the Hunters have ever done. I have no idea what kind of person he is now but, when he was the captain of the Soo Greyhounds in 1977-78, he apparently snubbed Wayne Gretzky when the kid joined the team and didn't say a word to him all season. If he hasn't improved at least 1,000% as a person since then, he has absolutely no room to talk about the London Knights.

 

Hartsburg is a tremendous human being now. He has his lapses, but usually apologizes for his idiocy now. I can speak from personal experience.

He's down to earth now.

 

Hey DoubleJ

Hunter refused to speak to the media after last night's game. And, apparently he had security and the cops put a stop to some cheering behind the London bench.

London won 6-5 in OT, by the way.