Puck

For me, the most telling aspect of that article was the bit about Jacob's treatment of the Winnipeg Jets' rep at the BoG meeting. Telling him "he'll know when he's permitted to speak" and calling him the new kid on the block speaks volumes about how the NHL operates. I realize any $3 billion-plus business is going to be cutthroat, but there's no excuse for that type of bullish, childish behaviour.

And as the article points out, Jacob's hard line stance is going to hurt his team's ability to be competitive. And that blurb about Neely? What a prick! I can't believe Jacobs said that to him in public, or that I'm just hearing about it now.

Jacobs is a doddering, out of touch, old fool with no concept of reality or how to conduct business in the modern era. That style of management may have been the norm 40 years ago, but it doesn't fly in 2012.

Before my time and I've never learned my Canadiens history.... So my guess is Clint Benedict

Searching for any type of result that includes "adult store" on Google is not a good idea! Haha.

This is a tough one. I tried looking for player transactions between the WHA and NHL and came up with nothing. So I'm going to guess: is it Al Smith? He wore that style of mask, though I can't find that particular mask in any Google image search.

@flyercanuck

My bad... I guess I need to improve my reading comprehension.

Murphy had 4 60+ point seasons with Pittsburgh, 3 over 70 points and topped out at 85. He was pretty productive as a Penguin, though not as productive as Coffey.

Didn't realize Tocchet's tenure there was so short. All I remember is that season he topped 45 goals, 100 points and 250 PIM playing with Mario.

I wish I read this thread before I opened my big mouth on the other one...

Anyone got a link to Aucoin's comments re: Bryz? Or any other former teammates?

Where the frack is JAGR on this list? Larry Murphy?! Rick Tocchet? WTF?! You Flyer fans are hurting Puck's head!!

Definitely have not EVER been a fan of the Penguins... BUt I grew up playing NHL 94 on the Sega Genesis and god damn, that team was good!

Too bad we do not have a replacement.....oh wait, we did- but he is playing for Columbus now!!! Actually, I do believe that Vancouver would chop Luongo and we could sign him as a UFA.

Interesting. Bryz posted better numbers than Luongo playing in Tippett's defense oriented system. Bryz also had some success in Anaheim playing behind a rock solid D. Bryz goes to Laviolette's aggressive offense-first system and falters and it's all Bryz's fault when maybe if Laviolette played to his team's strengths instead of playing a run and gun system predicated on scoring one more goal than the opposition, he'd have more wins to show for it. Meanwhile Bryz is stinking it up in the K playing on an offense-first [what the eff is defense?] team and no one sees a pattern here? Laviolette has a good enough team to emulate Detroit's puck possession style, play defense-first without the puck, and Bryz could rebound to his former self. Even Luongo will stink if left alone (remember the final with Hamhuis and Rome out?). That's just my opinion and I don't see near as many Flyer games as I would like, so take it for what it's worth... I have seen enough Canuck games out here to know Luongo goes as the defense in front of him goes.

A team is going to trade for Luongo, guaran-[expletive]-teed. The only thing holding back Gillis and a willing trade partner is Luongo's no trade clause. Ballard is dead weight and virtually untradeable to anyone except Charles Wang, therefore it makes more sense to buy him out than Luongo. Again, just my opinion...

Crosby, Letang, Hartnell, Carcillo, Kesler, Ribeiro, Malkin, Brown, Marchand, Roy. There's ten off the top of my head. Ok, Hartnell can't skate.

I said actors, not divers, whiners, complainers, etc.

Someone in Hollywood should've foreseen the lockout coming and taken the opportunity to make a GOOD hockey movie while they had all these guys at their disposal.

It's not easy finding fifty + actors that can skate... I agree, hockey is missing a real cinematic masterpiece.

I voted "not sure". I agree the head shots need to go while not wanting to see a no-checking league either.

Maybe I'll look at some footage from the NHL in the 50's. No helmets, minimal padding, and if I recall there wasn't the same types of hits like this.

In the 50's the players weren't as big, as heavy, as strong, as fast, etc... Plus they were wearing soft cap padding instead of the hard plastic lethal weapons today's NHLers wear on their elbows and shoulders.

That mask looks like an angry bird... inspiration for the Mighty Ducks logo? It's obviously a Flyer but no idea who.

Willing to bet someone here does.

@Puck

Don't forget Mystery Alaska, now that was a real gem.....

Yeah, that another one... I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but it's definitely in the category of 'hockey movie.'

"I put it in the top ten hockey movies I have seen." I think there has only been 10 movies made about hockey lol

I was thinking the same thing!

Slap Shot

Miracle

Mighty Ducks (and any sequels)

The Love Guru (it kind of is and kind of isn't)

The Rocket

Youngblood

Breakaway (anyone seen this one? I came across it by accident. It's about a team of East Indian players coached by Rob Lowe and has Russel Peters in it.)

That's 7 movies!!! Documentaries don't count, IMO, but there's the new one about Chris Nilan called The Last Gladiator(s)

So in theory, the rule could be any player delivering a hit has to be facing his opponent... That seems to be the logical way to do it. This would eliminate the hip check altogether but would eliminate some dangerous hits without completely taking hitting out of the game.

I bought a 10-pack of tickets (2 seats) to WHL hockey (Prince George Cougars) last night. 5th row in the corner. Set me back a little over $300. (Averages out to about $16/ticket.) One of the two tickets is supposed to be a "youth" ticket but apparently an adult can get in with it - according to the team!

Heck of a deal. A night at an NHL game in Van or Edmonton costs that much.

Leland Irving?

I'm a little shocked at the lack of votes for Konstantinov. His career wasn't as lengthy, but it was brilliant. I did a search on YouTube... This is the compilation video I found, but it includes the accident that ended his career and the numerous things the Red Wing did to salute him. I was looking for something less.... emotional (for lack of a better word) but this is still good. Enjoy.

A more interesting debate might be Yzerman vs. Lidstrom for top spot.

@idahophilly

I voted earlier... and took Konstantinov over Osgood. I am not a fan of Osgood. IMO, he'll never be a hall of famer and he was never dominant. I think just about any mediocre goalie could have played well on that team (although that doesn't explain why Joseph flopped so badly wearing the winged wheel). Vernon was in net for the first cup in 97. Osgood played for the second in 98 and the third in 2002. Hasek was in net in 2008. All three tenders played behind stacked teams and all four teams simply needed adequate goaltending.

I imagine if Detroit had a Roy or Brodeur in net they'd have won more championships.

I can't really add much about Knostantinov that WingNut hasn't already said. He was dominant and I'm confident he'd have won a Norris before his career was over if not for that accident.

IMO, the coach and assistant should be banned from coaching for the rest of the year. There's simply no excuse for that. If it was the AHL or NHL, I might feel differently, but he punched a minor.

I taught high school for a few years. I'd have been fired and likely sued by the parents for punching a 16 year old kid.

Pretty much agree with flyerrod... it looks like he missed his check and ended up making primary contact with the head. I'm not very familiar with the OHL but I don't disagree with their reasoning.

@brelic

So how is the league going to make more money with less teams? I think you are forgetting that relocation and expansion fees are shared amongst the owners. Thus we will see expansion not contraction.

The players are NEVER going to agree to reduce the number of teams and cut jobs.

I'm no expert, but I'd assume the NHLPA gets no say in contraction.

@brelic

Some Vancouver billionaire bought the Stars last year. He's apparently a hockey fan and gave Nieuwendyke the green light to increase payroll. That doesn't say squat about their financials but if my hypothesis is correct *wink* the Stars could start doing better at the gate with a better on-ice product.

L...M...A...O

I agree that success brings more interest - for teams that aren't already sold out. My question is whether or not the fanbases are there in the lean times - which they are in places like, say, Buffalo, Edmonton and Calgary.

I do agree that Tampa is a good example. I do think that city took to the Bolts as really the first thing other than the (often woeful) Bucs to hit Tampa. Winning created an interest that waned slightly but with even the hint of further success has arisen.

There are other examples. I think Nashville can be said to have something of a "rabid" fanbase.

But Anaheim has two of the top stars in the game in Perry and Getzlaf and a longtime "hometown" hero - Teemu Selanne - and just a few years removed from their Cup has fallen into the 20s in attendance.

Philadelphia missed the playoffs five years in a row and was basically sold out just like Edmonton is today.

This is part of my larger thoughts on whether there are 30 North American hockey markets which I've discussed with many on different threads and look forward to discussing with you and others in future :-)

It's great to have seats on the bandwagon, but it's better to have the bus filled already.

We're on the same page. Fans in those markets like Florida, Tampa, Anaheim, Phoenix, Columbus, etc., just aren't going to support their teams in lean times, which is a shame because it hurts the viability of the entire league. They come out when the teams are in the playoffs, and then that interest wanes. I wonder how much of that is a media/marketing issue, but I digress. As much as I'd love to see a return to a 24 team league, it won't realistically happen.

I haven't really followed this discussion you're having with rad too closely (too many long posts for my short attention span) so apologies if I'm off point, but I will point out (for whatever it's worth) that in 1967 Philadelphia was certainly not a traditional hockey market. Philly is definitely more a basketball town than a hockey town, but the 76ers experience up and down attendance because they are not consistently competitive. The Flyers are financially successful because (imo at least) they have been consistently successful on the ice, not because Philadelphia was a hockey town just waiting for a team.

So what may be a "non-traditional" hockey market today may become a "traditional" hockey market tomorrow. That said, I have my doubts about the long term viability of most of the warm weather teams in the NHL.

Awesome point. Philly is the model all expansion franchises should attempt to follow and when Burke was in charge of the Ducks, I think he was on the right track and had that team on a similar trajectory. Philly did a lot of things right: they drafted well, they built a blue collar identity based on gritty play and team toughness that fans appreciated, and they won the cup twice in their first 10 seasons. That Broadstreet Bullies identity has been part of the team ever since. Guys like Ron Hextall, Eric Lindros and Chris Pronger, all part of different eras, were destined to play in orange and black. When the Flyers joined the league it went from 6 to 12 teams. Their path to the cup was considerably easier than the Ducks and Lightning. The Flyers have had 45 years to build that relationship with their fans. So, yeah, I don't know if it's even possible to build a 'hockey market' today. Outside of these strong markets, it's all about "what have you done for me lately?" These newer franchises are at such a competitive disadvantage that revenue sharing is really the only thing I can think of to help them out.