Red Wings vs. Penguins!

[X. Benedict]

Fixed and quoted for truth. I felt like NBC and VS both did a better job of actually calling the games instead of just blabbering over the play about how good Sidney Crosby is as they pan to shots of him on the bench, etc. I bet that all changes when we make the playoffs next year, it'll be the same old bs about some player on the other team and how great he is. I'm not optimistic. lol

 

I am rather neutral on Doc Emerick....But I thought finally giving Pierre McGuire a live mike (rather than scheduled segments) to interrupt to say what was going on between the benches was the best part of the broadcasts.

Especially in the triple overtime.

"Sykora just skated up to me to tell me he is going to score the game-winner."

[X. Benedict]

He's a UFA. And, he's from Buffalo, so he might want to play here because his brother is in the system, and his friends and family are here. Also, he fills a need the Sabres have. That's why I hope we go after Orpik. It'd be a coup, but I think Darcy could pull it off.

 

I think the bidding will start over $4 million now. I would love to have him, but he makes more sense for Tampa.

[SabresFan526]

Fixed and quoted for truth. I felt like NBC and VS both did a better job of actually calling the games instead of just blabbering over the play about how good Sidney Crosby is as they pan to shots of him on the bench, etc. I bet that all changes when we make the playoffs next year, it'll be the same old bs about some player on the other team and how great he is. I'm not optimistic. lol

I noticed this as well. I've heard Doc call some New Jersey games. He's actually a very good play-by-play guy. Over the last few years, when he's done national broadcasts, they've been terrible. He's typically talking about rules as though people don't know the game, talking about random facts about players that nobody cares about, and talking about random things he's seen calling games over the many years. But, I did notice that NBC's coverage was really good in this year's playoffs, and Doc actually called the games this year instead of blabbering on about useless stuff. When he actually does play-by-play instead of random open discussion while play is going on, he is a very good broadcaster. I also felt he was really good with Jon Davidson working as a tandem together. I think Eddie O kind of killed it last year and a lot of this year, but with time they have gotten better as a tandem. Just my opinion.

[wjag]

I wonder if there were Red Wings fans actually hoping they didn't win the President's Cup because you know a team that wins that can never win the....

 

:unsure:

Someone had to say it. Thank You... That discussion during last year's Sabre's run drove me crazy...

[Knightrider]

Maybe I'm just ignorant, but I've never heard that one. I've heard about the cats and toxoplasmosis but nothing about dogs and babies.

 

We had our dog for three years before our son was born, and the dog has been great with the little guy.

 

Two years for one dog and eight for the other dog, and eight for the cat. When picking out the dog, make sure the breed can handle a little kid harassment and the won't do serious damage if the kid gets too obnoxious. The other thing is your frame of mind... When one of our three year olds comes crying about how one of the dogs bit them, more often than not, the kid will end up in time out. They learn respect of a dog, hopefully, and the dog doesn't get trained to associate punishment with an approaching child.

[That Aud Smell]

I am rather neutral on Doc Emerick....

I found him to be solid, professional - he called a decent game - he's not a hockey guy based on what I heard, but still did a good job.

 

That said, if I never have to hear that (1) there was a false start on a face-off, (2) that a sharp swipe at the puck resulted in the puck being knifed out of play, and (3) that a defenseman's outlet pass was a "long toss," I'll be a happier fan.

 

 

But I thought finally giving Pierre McGuire a live mike (rather than scheduled segments) to interrupt to say what was going on between the benches was the best part of the broadcasts.

Especially in the triple overtime.

"Sykora just skated up to me to tell me he is going to score the game-winner."

Couldn't agree more - his stuff was great - I also liked his first-hand reports on how things seemed on each bench. And to my surprise, I even found him solid during the in-game segments with the coaches.

[carpandean]

I think the bidding will start over $4 million now. I would love to have him, but he makes more sense for Tampa.

Yeah, but where will it end? I'd take him for at or around $4 million, but it may go much higher. It would be worth at least "throwing our hat in the ring". Maybe he'd take a small discount to come back home. I doubt it will happen, but it would be a big acquisition this summer.

[Stoner]

I found him to be solid, professional - he called a decent game - he's not a hockey guy based on what I heard, but still did a good job.

 

Emerick has been around the game for a long, long time. I tend to like him, but he says things that drive me nuts -- not unlike Rick at times. He needs to lose the thesaurus, as others have noted. I thought it was cool the other night when he mentioned the game after the Sabres-Devils marathon in 1994 and how the tying goal was on Dale Hawerchuk's stick with a few seconds left in Game 7 in Jersey. But, man, that's inside baseball there and was certainly lost on 99.99 percent of the viewing public. And it sounded a lot like Emerick showing off.

 

I thought the broadcasts were very good in general. As others have said, the focus on the game was refreshing.

 

One other note -- congratulations to the league for finally cleaning up the Cup ceremony. They've finally managed to keep the number of non-players on the ice for the awarding of the trophy to a minimum. You could actually see the players skating the Cup.

 

Oh yeah, Bettman has been a BobbleHead for years. I hope it's not a serious medical issue. Why he's hated in Buffalo, I'll never know. Not only did he have nothing to do with No Goal, he was the biggest friend Sabres fans have ever had during the bankruptcy situation.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Oh yeah, Bettman has been a BobbleHead for years. I hope it's not a serious medical issue. Why he's hated in Buffalo, I'll never know. Not only did he have nothing to do with No Goal, he was the biggest friend Sabres fans have ever had during the bankruptcy situation.

Honetsly I think the guy just gets REALLY nervous out there ... he does TV interviews and there is none of that ... I think he expects to get booed every time he is out there on an island with a microphone and just prays they give the Conn Smythe to a guy whose name he can pronounce.

 

As for the hatred, he definitely scored some points with me when he stood by the franchise and made sure they would not get moved out of Buffalo during the bankruptcy. That said, it could be argued it was self serving because no one wants to be the commissioner of a league with teams relocating, it's a sign of weakness ... if hockey could not survive in BUFFALO how is he going to convince someone (read: TV networks) it has a future in Miami or Phoenix?

If you read Counsel in the Crease by Robert Swados, Bettman comes off like an arrogant prick who looked down his nose at the small market teams. There are also some stories in there that reflect he was happy Dallas won because it would benefit growing the game in the South and West. (This is not to say this is he was behind allowing No Goal ... that all happened too fast ... let's just say he was happy Dallas won, however it happened.) Swados is also telling just one side of the story, I admit, but for the commissioner to treat certain teams as lesser entities in Board of Governors meetings and such does not reflect well on him, in my opinion.

There is also that, in the history of pro sports, I can never remember a single commissioner being liked by any fan base, large or small market ... every fan base claims to hate the commish for some reason or another ... so it might be just that.

[will]

i was a little upset with the amount of booing during the time the wings were skating the cup. pens were off the ice, and people actually stuck around to boo? pathetic. i don't think i've ever seen that before, and i thought pitt was a great hockey city.

 

oh, and within 15 hours, the stanley cup win is the 8th headline down on the front page of espn's website. lead article is a preview of game 1 of the nba finals. they really are doing all they can to make hockey irrelevant.

[Bmwolf21]

i was a little upset with the amount of booing during the time the wings were skating the cup. pens were off the ice, and people actually stuck around to boo? pathetic. i don't think i've ever seen that before, and i thought pitt was a great hockey city.

 

oh, and within 15 hours, the stanley cup win is the 8th headline down on the front page of espn's website. lead article is a preview of game 1 of the nba finals. they really are doing all they can to make hockey irrelevant.

That's what happens when the biggest sports network has no vested interest in hockey but is a broadcast partner of the NBA. :thumbdown:

[Hawerchuk]

Typical ESPN! My god do I hate the NBA and basketball all together. The image of that sport is terrible with all that hip-hop ghetto thug crap. I can't stand any of it.

 

Bettman may have kept the Sabres in Buffalo for a brief time with the bankrupt problem, but he sure didn't question the "crease" rule very hard and it pisses me off to no end, because that rule stuck like glue the whole season. My bitterness will end once the Sabres win a Stanley Cup!

[tasker48b]

Thoughts on Detroit winning the Cup

 

* Xenophope Don Cherry no longer has the "Swedish captain has never won a Cup" crutch to rely on. That's a plus. I'd go to hockey "war" with Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Lidstrom any day.

 

* Nice to see the Red Wings have their track record of excellence rewarded. Top 3 in the league over the regular season each season of the 21st century. Could it possibly be that "winning" is the recipe for "winning"? {see next bullet for where I'm coming from}

 

* Here in TO I often heard that the Leafs should've tanked this season (or last season. or the season before) and finished worst overall and nab a top prospect. Well, the Wings didn't nosedive out of the playoffs to nab a top draft pick. They just stayed consistently uber-competitive. Leafs fans take note: if failure was the recipe for success SuperBowl XLII would've featured the Bills vs Cardinals.

 

* Nice to see a team in the top 3 in scoring win a Cup. Det also led the league in shots for. A little offensive flair can be a good thing! (Didn't hurt that they had the best GAA and lowest Shots Against per game).

 

* Kudos Red Wings.

[Bmwolf21]

Thoughts on Detroit winning the Cup

 

* Xenophope Don Cherry no longer has the "Swedish captain has never won a Cup" crutch to rely on. That's a plus. I'd go to hockey "war" with Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Lidstrom any day.

 

* Nice to see the Red Wings have their track record of excellence rewarded. Top 3 in the league over the regular season each season of the 21st century. Could it possibly be that "winning" is the recipe for "winning"? {see next bullet for where I'm coming from}

 

* Here in TO I often heard that the Leafs should've tanked this season (or last season. or the season before) and finished worst overall and nab a top prospect. Well, the Wings didn't nosedive out of the playoffs to nab a top draft pick. They just stayed consistently uber-competitive. Leafs fans take note: if failure was the recipe for success SuperBowl XLII would've featured the Bills vs Cardinals.

 

* Nice to see a team in the top 3 in scoring win a Cup. Det also led the league in shots for. A little offensive flair can be a good thing! (Didn't hurt that they had the best GAA and lowest Shots Against per game).

 

* Kudos Red Wings.

Great post. Buffalo should model themselves after Detroit in a couple areas -

 

--Scouting. I want to give this video scouting the benefit of the doubt, but the Red Wings seem to be unparalleled in their ability to spot gems late in the draft and then they do a top-notch job developing them.

 

--They also destroy the notion that offensive-minded players can't or won't thrive in a trap/lock/defensive system; and they also proved that teams can play good sound defensive hockey and still score goals in bunches. Hasek and Osgood certainly benefited from the system, as they allowed the fewest SOG against per game in both the regular season and playoffs and did a heckuva job limiting scoring chances and odd-man rushes.

[X. Benedict]

Great post. Buffalo should model themselves after Detroit in a couple areas -

 

--Scouting. I want to give this video scouting the benefit of the doubt, but the Red Wings seem to be unparalleled in their ability to spot gems late in the draft and then they do a top-notch job developing them.

 

Which is basically drafting the Swedish junior national team in the middle rounds.

They have done just as well with Swedish free agents.

 

Since they seem to have Sweden wrapped up. May I suggest that Buffalo draft the Finnish junior team.

[Guest Sloth]

Which is basically drafting the Swedish junior national team in the middle rounds.

They have done just as well with Swedish free agents.

 

Since they seem to have Sweden wrapped up. May I suggest that Buffalo draft the Finnish junior team.

 

Enroth is Swedish and I think the defenseman they picked up is also Swedish. Too bad the d-man has another season in Sweden...I am excited the Sabres inked up Enroth though. It's always good to have a feeling of security for the future. I'm still Miller for the next 5 or 6 years...