All-purpose hockey thread...

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr. Miler,

'Tis okay. The New York Rangers and their loyal fans will welcome Sergei's brother with open arms. One surmises that Fedor's heart will flutter in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.

Da, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I've always liked Marchant, I thought he got shafted by the Oilers after his final year in Edmonton, but he just didn't fit in their plans – how many defensive minded speedy forwards do they need really?
He hit the jack pot in the spending frenzie that led up to the lockout – I know the top end contracts weren't coming through any more, but the middling players still made way more then they should have. However, Columbus was then, and I think to some extent now, in a position where they had to over pay to attract talent – let's be honest here, as good a hockey centre as Columbus, Ohio may be, it's not exactly a destination many players put high on their list, and Edmonton probably falls into that category as well.
However, there are worse contracts out there – past and present. Bobby Holik's $8-mil a year, Martin Lapointe's $5-mil a year in Boston and now his $2-3 mil in Chicago. Speaking of Chicago – Khabibulin's (sp?) $7+ mil is right at the top of that list, and I'm worried about Pronger's contract, not the $$$ but the length.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Wings-Predators game postponed after Jiri Fischer collapses at the bench. Word is he had a seizure, but was a little scary for a bit. Apparently doing fine now.


Fischer collapses during Wings game

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

that's some scary shit. saw a guy have a seizure when i was in fifth grade. never saw one before, i thought he was going to die. now i know better. fischer is in stable condition, by the way.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I was watching the Detroit feed of the game and the reporting was horrible.

First it was a puck to the throat, then it was a stick. Then the ambulance left without him, but he was breathing. Then it was the game will start as soon as an ambulance is at the arena.

I flipped over to ESPN News and it was also reporting it as a puck to the throat. Look: Don't report something as fact if you don't know it. There's know way they knew that because it didn't happen. There was a lot of unfortunate speculation.

Hopefully he'll be OK.

BTW, is there a limit of one hockey thread?

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Mr Deadline,

One thread can last as long but no longer than a lockout.

Dealt with Fischer a bit as a junior. Seizures -- never heard a word about a diagnosed condition. (Unlike the Canadiens' draft pick.) Someone should call Ron Francis. The stories of him handling his brother's seizures in the middle of the night were mind-blowing.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Fischer did have a cardiac problem about two years ago. Routine tests during preseason discovered an abnormality in the heart, but he then passed a stress test and was cleared to play.

His heart had a little thicker wall than most hearts.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

When my brother was maybe 3-4 years old, we went to lunch one day as a family. Without warning, he started having a seizure. I can't remember how we ended up in the parking lot, but we ended up there, with strangers trying to attend to him as we waited for the ambulance. He was fine in the long run (he had one more seizure a year later in a doctor's office), but the medical bills drove my folks into Chapter 13. I'll never forget how helpless I felt watching him, or how helpless I felt when my parents' world seemingly collapsed.

So at the risk of being insensitive, what was the score when this happened? [/preds fanboy]

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

7:30 left in the first period. Preds had just scored on a rebound goal by Greg Johnson. Wings were outshooting the Preds, 6-4.


Makeup time will be announced within 48 hours. And I'm sure the game will continue from that spot, instead of starting completely over.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

And for those of you scoring at home, Crosby and Ovechkin play against each other for the first time tonight.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051122.wrookie1122/BNStory/Sports/

I wonder if Moddy's flying into Pittsburgh for the occasion.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

The Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry could do for the NHL what Magic-Bird did for the NBA.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Ovechkin vs. Crosby could be this generation's Gretzky vs. Lemieux

By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer
November 21, 2005

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- They are the new faces of a sport whose stars were bogged down for a decade by talent-negating holding and hooking, of a league that endured a full-season shutdown partly to give them a proper showcase for their talents.

When they meet Tuesday night for the first time in what could be the new NHL's version of Gretzky vs. Lemieux, Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh and Alexander Ovechkin of Washington won't be thinking about ushering in a new era that emphasizes playmaking and goal-scoring, not trapping and goal-stopping.

Nor will be they be checking the scoresheet between periods to monitor their individual matchup -- on Monday, Crosby said he glances occasionally at the NHL statistics to see who is doing what, but necessarily to gauge how he is doing compared to Ovechkin.

"It's not something I follow religiously or anything," he said.

Many around the NHL are closely following them, no doubt hoping these two No. 1 draft picks -- Ovechkin in 2004, Crosby this year -- become the signatures stars they very much appear to be. As Capitals owner Ted Leonsis pointed out, the NBA reinvented itself a quarter-century ago when young stars named Magic Johnson and Larry Bird freshened up a tiring league whose championship games had been relegated to tape-delay TV.

So far, neither Ovechkin nor Crosby is threatening to win the scoring title as a rookie, but each is having exactly the kind of season envisioned for them. Crosby has been more of a playmaker, with 10 goals, 15 assists and a league rookie-best 25 points in 21 games, while Ovechkin has been a goal scorer par excellence with a rookie-high 15 goals and six assists in 20 games.

Gretzky. Lemieux. Bird, Magic. Pretty good company for a pair of kids whose combined age -- Crosby is 18, Ovechkin is 20 -- is two years less than the 40-year-old Lemieux, on whose line Crosby occasionally plays with Pittsburgh.

"I don't want to speak for the both of us but, for me, I've played 21 games in the NHL, and I think I have a long ways to go before I can compare myself to guys like that," Crosby said Monday. "I'm sure he thinks the same way. We're having fun playing in the NHL, but we have a long ways to go before we get to a matchup like that."

The league must go a long way back to find a parallel matchup of young stars -- to Nov. 6, 1984, the first Gretzky vs. Lemieux contest. Gretzky scored the game-tying goal in the third period and had six shots in a 3-3 tie between Edmonton and Pittsburgh, while the Penguins' Lemieux didn't get a single shot but had an assist.

However, while Lemieux was the rookie, Gretzky was already in his seventh full season in the WHA or NHL, though he would not turn 24 for another two months. Gretzky was in his 30s when Lemieux hit his prime by leading the Penguins to successive Stanley Cups in 1991-92.

By contrast, Crosby and Ovechkin are only two years apart, so their careers will usually be at comparable points. Even if it's not those two who are comparing themselves.

"I don't compare me and Sidney because I think we are different players," Ovechkin said. "He's a great passer, like Gretzky, and sees the ice real well. ... My job is to score goals."

Each has shown the flair for the dramatic, too -- an intangible quality the top-tier stars seem to have. In a one-week span, Crosby had the game-winning overtime score in the first shootout in the Montreal Canadiens' history and an overtime breakaway game-winner in Philadelphia. Ovechkin had a game-tying goal against Tampa Bay and the decisive shootout goal a few minutes later.

"Ovechkin is a real dominant player. He can score, he can create," Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk said.

Unlike those Gretzky-Lemieux games, Ovechkin vs. Crosby should be more than a once- or twice-a-year attraction. The teams play three more times this season, with the next game coming Jan. 25 in Pittsburgh.

The two have met before, most recently in the world junior championships in North Dakota last winter. Crosby-led Canada beat Ovechkin-led Russia 6-1 in the final, with Ovechkin finishing the tournament with 11 points (7 goals) to Crosby's nine points (five goals).

Crosby on Ovechkin: "He's really dangerous. He's a great player." Ovechkin on Crosby: "He can be faster than the other guys. He's a dangerous guy."

"Hopefully, people will get excited," Crosby said of this rivalry in the making. "I think we have a lot to prove before we put ourselves at that (Gretzky-Lemieux) level. Having two younger guys who are both playing each other for the first time, I can understand that maybe some people are excited."