NHL Thread: Season 2018-2019 - Page 19

TownGuy · #**361** Posted **Oct 21, 2018, 10:44 AM**

Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver are all looking pretty good. This is why I don't watch those season preview prognostication shows where they declare with confidence how good are bad a team will be. Don't get me wrong it is early and they could still all end up in the basement but they just as well could not. Who predicted a Vegas - Washington finals last year?

Leafs have a home and home with the Jets coming up this week, but the Jets do not if you can believe that, they have a game with the Wings thrown in the middle. Strange occurance.

HomeInMyShoes · #**362** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 12:31 AM**

Placing faith in less than ten games of hockey is probably slightly worse than preseason predictions.

DoubleK · #**363** Posted **Oct 24, 2018, 9:22 PM**

Sid showed Connor who was boss last night.

Denscity · #**364** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 2:52 AM**

I think this is the 5th year in a row of lots of bad injuries for the Canucks.
First Petterson then Boeser and now our number 1 defenseman.

Denscity · #**365** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 4:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denscity

I think this is the 5th year in a row of lots of bad injuries for the Canucks.
First Petterson then Boeser and now our number 1 defenseman.

And we also just lost the top 5 scorer Baertschi haha! You can only laugh.

... and 2nd defenceman Tanev.

Denscity · #**366** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 4:49 AM**

Canucks are now tops in the Pacific division after beating Vegas for the first time ever haha!?

Pinus · #**367** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 4:56 AM**

Hockey was, is, and always will be a fringe sport in the US. Some people need to just accept it, deal with that and move on.

logan5 · #**368** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 7:19 AM**

Great post Pinus!

Yes Canucks are 1st in the Pacific, but I don't think it will last long.

Lots of injuries piling up already, but on a positive note, it looks like Bo Horvat is upping his game even further this year. He's got 7 goals in 10 games. With Pettersson playing 2nd line center (easily the best 2C in the league), the Canucks are a decent offensive team.

TownGuy · #**369** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 10:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by logan5

With Pettersson playing 2nd line center (easily the best 2C in the league), the Canucks are a decent offensive team.

Uhhhhhh?

Crosby - Malkin, Matthews - Tavares. There is more but it's too early to think.

DoubleK · #**370** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 5:53 PM**

Looking forward to seeing Crosby up close and personal tonight.

Watching any of the elite players on TV doesn't do them justice.

megadude · #**371** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 7:11 PM**

No kidding. I didn't appreciate how Sundin played the game until I saw him live way back at the old Gardens. That combination of size and grace. Not that he was upper elite, it's just that no one looked or played like him, and I appreciate those unique star players.

Same when I saw Malkin at World Cup of Hockey two years ago. He stood out more for me than Ovi just because no one looked and played like him.

And last year got into a Leafs and Hawks practice and yup, no one looks and plays like Auston. Didn't realize just how big he was until that day.

Patty Kane I thought would stand out, but he looked pedestrian. Physically he's not like the others I mentioned but I thought him taking some practice wristers on the goalie or trying to go bar down would be impressive. Nope! Maybe he was holding back since it was practice. Ever seen that video of him stick handling that one puck through a bunch of other pucks? I hoping I would see some of that skill.

Michael Schumacher in F1 was the greatest example I have of witnessing live. You could tell on TV and from where I watched in Montreal that he was great. But this one corner at Indy for the US GP you stand as gen. adm. perched up on a hill. And his line through that corner was so fast, smooth, consistent and precise he might as well have been a robot. No one else could come close to that.

Wish I could afford to watch Sid or Connor. Maybe I should have made the drive to Newmarket to watch him. My old boss is a Leafs STH and big hockey fan. He has spent his whole life in Newmarket. I asked him after Connor got drafted if he'd ever watched him at the local arena knowing that he was supposed to be the next big thing. He did not.

Then again, we had the chance to watch him come to local OHL arenas and watch for cheap. I should have watched him at the Hershey Centre in Sauga.

People in QC and out east could have watched Sid too.

megadude · #**372** Posted **Oct 25, 2018, 7:13 PM**

Anyone here taken in some junior games specifically to watch a young star in the making?

suburbanite · #**373** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 5:52 AM**

Jesus Calgary. Not good.....

The one consolation with those games is that after the 5 goal differential you just kind of go numb and laugh like a lunatic when it keeps coming.

I've been through my fair share of those

Jaws · #**374** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 2:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Looking forward to seeing Crosby up close and personal tonight.

Watching any of the elite players on TV doesn't do them justice.

So, how did it look seeing them up close and personal? Shames! Shames! Shames!

DoubleK · #**375** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 2:29 PM**

A lot of people left after the 6th goal.

I didn't even leave my seat during the second intermission. I just sat there in disbelief.

Mike Smith. GAA 4.10. Sv% .866

TorontoDrew · #**376** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 2:40 PM**

Wow, I just saw the score. That's embarrassing.

esquire · #**377** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 2:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoubleK

A lot of people left after the 6th goal.

I didn't even leave my seat during the second intermission. I just sat there in disbelief.

Mike Smith. GAA 4.10. Sv% .866

Well, you were looking forward to some fireworks... sounds like Sid didn't disappoint!

DoubleK · #**378** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 2:53 PM**

The goal he scored was incredible. Happened right in front of where I was sitting.

Acajack · #**379** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 2:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by megadude

Anyone here taken in some junior games specifically to watch a young star in the making?

Recently? No.

In the past? Quite a few.

megadude · #**380** Posted **Oct 26, 2018, 3:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Recently? No.

In the past? Quite a few.

Go on...

Please tell me Mario was one of them.

There's one kid that has been on 4 out of 7 flag football teams I help coach and once on a hockey team. The total package. Best athlete I've ever seen at these ages. His dad tells me about school competitions as well, and naturally, he dominates those too.

I will record our offensive plays for flag football games and string together a team video for us to watch at the end of the year pool party. Even though he only gets three touches a game max so we are fair to his teammates and the other team, I still have to leave out 1/3 of his TDs so the video doesn't become a personal showcase for him.

It is great to watch such athleticism up close but I appreciate the intangibles even more. The way he reads the D whether he's running or throwing. The way he anticipates their next move and then goes the other way.

I've made a pledge to myself to never miss out again on the opportunity to watch generational talents up close when it's cheap and convenient, in any sport.