goalnut3133

Nice write-up EDI! Yes, I agree, I can't see a team keeping up this kind of pace through an entire season, & then there is always the injury factor, but yah, what a surprise this team has been so far, & even more surprising, that it's due to the new coach Roy. He has done some amazing things for this team. Some have said that the big brouhaha he got into with Bruce Boudreau was the catalyst that really inspired his young team to play hard for him, because of the lengths that he showed them that he would go to, to fight for his team. That could very well be. And then you throw Nate McKinnon into the mix, & you've got one solid, powerful team all around. The only unfortunate thing is that the Nucks have to contend with them in the West...haha.

Fin says 'gee, thanks doc!'

What about the 1st line? If VLC can keep up what he was attempting to do last game, he looked good part of that game. Gotta see more of that. I liked his hit & then his setup for Timonen, nearly scored. If they all put up some of the effort I saw in that one, they have a good chance to win tonite. The Isles (according to our last game with them), can be kind of all over the place, some sloppiness.

@flyercanuck But only just 'for the halibut'!

@pilldoc Hey doc, this is a great vid, many fond memories...funny, I was just talking to @bunnyman about Mr. Snow Miser! LOL! Loved those shows as a kid...

yave, this is fun, we should do this for any player....Not a Wing but just thought of Tomas Hertl as a 'whipping post'. ^_^

Bertuzzi was a caveman even with us.... yave, you forgot one of the most obvious ones....Gus as the Monster

@radoran Yah, I do like what I see so far though, hopefully it lasts the season! I figure a jumpstart to the team is still better than leaving the boys in their sleeping bags, all tucked in & cozy for the season......zzzzzzzzzzz! Lu is surprisingly off to a pretty good start for October as well! Also, I think Torts maybe feels he has something to prove here in Vancity...after getting the royal boot from the Rags...hopefully it's enough incentive to push us up the hill to the playoffs! I'm certainly not expecting to win the Cup, by any means...but a few rounds would be nice?

Damn, I just realized I don't get this game tonite! It's on TSN 2 which is the one local sports channel I don't receive! I'd like to have watched this game against the Big Bad Broons, as HJ says, BUF has played well against them in the past....and oooh would I just LOVE to watch BUF hand the Broons their teeth tonite!! Hee haw!

@sarsippius Yah, but the only one allowed to argue about the Sabres is Hockey Junkie with himself...(them's the rules).

@bunnyman All I can say is, I'm sure glad that name was not on MY birth certificate! :wacko:

HAHAHAHA!!! Rapid City Raging Rabbits Ahhh, so there really WAS/IS a "Raging Rabbits" team!! LOL!! I thought you came up with that name yourself, bunny!

Yes, I agree, I think Torts has done some good things so far to improve the Nucks' 'non-chalant' style of play. I'm liking their more aggressive offense & more shot blocks sure don't hurt, esp if Lu or Lack are having an off-nite! Oh & re: sitting Booth out last nite's game, I find it so interesting that Torts had no qualms or hesitation in doing it (& with just the right amount of 'trial' time, imo), as opposed to Vigneault, who would never do that, he'd just play & play Booth, regardless of his output. I think this method is much smarter hockey, play the guys who produce, sit the guys who don't (even though healthy)...it's much more efficient for the team. Haha, & what an emphatic 'reprimand' of sorts Booth got by Tort's action, he replaced Booth with Andrew Alberts! Alberts! Boy, that's a statement, huh? LOL!!

Oh yes, & just to clarify my point, I was much prouder of the way the Nucks played the Penguins in Sat's game even though they lost 4-3 in O/T, than the way they played in their 'win' to the Isles last nite 5-4 in O/T. Because one way will, in the long run, likely get you to the playoffs, but the other way, won't...and even if you make it, you'll crap out badly in the first round.

@yave1964 I hear what you're saying, but when it comes to the Nucks, I don't particularly agree. Their inconsistency drives me (& many fans) nuts, & it's not just cuz they're getting used to Tort's new system. I've always found them to be such an inconsistent team at times. And consistency is what we really need now within this tougher division, if we're hoping to make the playoffs. Torts is hoping to see how the team fares by late Nov or so with the new system...he'll have a better idea of who can play in his system & who can't (though I don't really know what that means for the team? How many players can he afford to sit out?) First on the list to sit out right now is, interestingly, David Booth. Torts said, with 10 mins of ice time per game, that's more than enough to see if he can produce, & so far, he hasn't done much. I agree, another disappointing start for him, AND he's healthy this year. So what I was meaning is, If the Nucks play Fri against St Louis like they played last nite vs the Isles, they're gonna mop up the ice with us. However, if we play them like we played against Pittsburgh on Saturday, we stand a chance of winning (actually, though my hopes aren't too high that they'll win...esp with Halak in net). But it will be fun to watch 2 of my fave teams this year. (Hey, if the Flyer fans get to rant all over this forum, then so can 1 measly Nucks fan! LOL! )

Ugh, what a hot mess we were tonite vs the Islanders, in a game I thought we could have & should have played a whole lot better...the Isles after all, are not that tough a team to play against, imo. For the first 2 periods, especially, the Isles dominated us, hemming us in, in our own end, with dominant puck possession, making us look like we were wearing 2 left skates. They were hungrier for the puck, faster, & had better puck support & positioning to win puck battles. What. on. earth? Did we not learn our lesson when we had our butts handed to us on a platter Sunday vs the Blue Jackets? A team we should have & could have easily beaten? Instead they sent us away with our pride in our back pockets. Oh the humiliation of it all! And then tonite's game...yes, we were lucky enough to come out of this one 5-4 in O/T, but if you ask me, the Isles really deserved to win this one...they just flat out-played us tonite. Man, we gotta get our acts together here...upcoming is no easy feat: we play Jersey Thurs (which we really oughta win!), then a back-2-back with...(gulp!) St. Louis, the following nite, ending our 7-game road trip, after the Blues will have had a 6-day rest! Ah, this could get real ugly, real fast fellas! You can hear the disgust in Tort's voice in his comments: http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hockey/nhl/game/1345985/recap/

I agree, anytime a team can shut down the Sharks' offense the way they've come out swinging this season, & keep the game 0-0 til the end of regulation (!) & then only lose due to a shootout (of which I detest as game deciders!), I say FULL KUDOS, KUDOS, KUDOS to the Wings!! A 1-0 loss in a shootout to those darn Sharks is very highly respectable!

@bunnyman Haha...yes there are nice people in Winterpeg...1 of my best friends is from there. Also did you know Burton Cummings hails from there & a couple other celebs I can't think of right now... Hahaha...yes I do remember they were beaten like that by a lesser team, very true! Actually, tonite's game should really be 6-1 by now, as the Blues hit the post 3 times during the 1st/2nd period! Too bad & very sad about that bad injury for Trouba...hopefully not too serious...

Btw-- It's okay to call them Winterpeg, Manisnowba.....LOL!

Yes, I don't think you'll have much problem with the Jets tonite. They are 3-4-0, are last in your Division & lost their last game to the Habs on Tues, 3-0. Not to mention, their star forward Evander Kane injured his leg in practise yesterday, so unsure yet if he'll be playing tonite. They seemed to have a good start to the season, but not sure what's been happening to them lately, I haven't been following too closely. (You should be 6-1 if you win tonite, no?)

Haha, yah I guess I know the reason for the hate too. I found the video of that Osgood /Roy interview for those that missed it. I enjoyed it. It may just be me, but Roy seems totally relaxed here as he's speaking but Chris doesn't come across to me as being as comfortable...? Albeit, I haven't seen him do interviews before, just his usual panel commentaries. I've always felt bad for Chris during that epic fight, like he didn't deserve it & Roy was just being his usual idiot hothead self..lol. But I just admire his goaltending. Admittedly, I happened to watch him more with Montreal than with Avs. It's so weird to remember him as that skinny, scrawny kid in net with the Habs but man, unbelievable skills... http://sunbelthockey.com/video-chris-osgood-interviews-former-rival-patrick-roy/ Regarding Kronner's concussion (& all the other recent episodes that have been happening lately), I cringe when the word is mentioned, even though the player comes out of it quickly & is 'responsive', etc...with the medical findings in the past while, I really don't believe one is ever the same again afterwards, there are just parts of the brain that once injured, may never heal properly again, if at all. And this may not show up for even years. I don't know how slams on boards like this can be changed without taking it out of the game altogether, which I can't see happening, unfortunately.

Da-mn! You make me wish I'd seen this game. Too many on tonite, I think I was watching about 4 at once. Would have loved to have seen the Avalanche buried (get it? lol). Yes, I've seen that Nate at work, he is quite something. Another goalie I love to watch is your Gus...talk about stepping up to the plate! I'd like to see more of him (& I guess you do too!). Oh, and really wish I'd seen that interview with Osgood & Roy (my # 33 right?) reminiscing ! Maybe I can find it somewhere... ^_^

Actually, I think it's a bit of both. When I watch the re-play on the highlights, the referee up the ice is definitely holding his arm up to designate hybrid icing...& the Cane & Leaf are pretty well tied, which I understand the rules say that the defender then is awarded the icing call (I'm too lazy to look up the rules right now). Therefore, Bernier, thinking it should be icing does not bother to corral the puck properly. However, no whistle was blown either (not sure why if it was a tie), so Bernier should have been sharper with the puck, he seemed to just give up on it, half-wafting his stick at it as it slipped by him. This sort of thing just goes to show how confusing hybrid icing can be to the players , with split-second decisions to be made... However, as I also said with the Luongo goal gaffe vs Montreal, netminders MUST mind their nets no matter what!

@yave1964 (Hahaha...that's ok, I call them the sisters too! ) Yah it is gutsy, but I think Torts started trying it more out of frustration & some desperation in the earlier games when nothing seemed to be working. And then lo & behold! Tonite we played well for the most part too, but it was not exactly our toughest match...Sabres almost looked dejected from the get-go & sometimes they just looked to me like they were moving through quicksand...particularly since the Nucks had some pep in their step tonite. First full game I've seen of the Sabres but wow, just a lot of holes in their play. And also just some bad luck. Vanek's nifty top roofer hit the bar, then the post, & skidded exactly along the goal line, missing Lu's skates by inches before eking out the other side. If it weren't for Miller, it could've been a Shark-nado-esque pounding tonite for BUF. The split twin lines didn't directly result in goals this time, but the juggling is still working the right chemistry, something is definitely going right. And that Santorelli guy...geeze...he's just grabbing points every single game...2 assists tonite. And our new D- Stanton got his 1st goal tonite, courtesy of a Hank'n'Dank combo assist. It was also good to finally see Kassian step up a bit tonite with some pretty good passing, nearly making an assist & also slapping some shots on net & nearly scoring. Hopefully, he will get better as the season progresses under Tort's system. I guess I won't give up on him just yet!

Pretty cool bunny! Not as bad as I imagined...lol...that shade of gold is do-able! (I was imagining a bright metallic gold! haha)