Dan Nicolson Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hi Everyone, A friend and I both live in Blackpool, on the north west cost of England, we have both recently took an interest in Ice Hockey. I used to follow a local team called Manchester storm, who used to play in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). They ended up closing down as a club a long time ago now and reformed in a different rink under the name Manchester Phoenix, although they play in a lower division called the English Premier Ice Hockey League. As we only have 10 teams in each league we decided to have a look at the NHL, after a few weeks of looking at different NHL team I have decided to be a New York Islanders fan and this is my reasoning. Geographically They are one of the closest NHL teams to were I live and being British I'm a real islander. I am a big football fan (You know it wrongly as Soccer)! I support Manchester City, who play in blue and have recently started a franchise in New York. I also work for Blackpool Football Club who play in orange. Plus I have four big canvas style pictures on New York on the walls in my flat. (My friend supports the Calgary Flames , as he went there once and watched them on holiday). I'm posting this topic as could do with some help in understanding how to read the league tables and how come there are different divisions like the *metropolitan* Which team plays who and how to read the tables and understand the draft. (In football they call it the transfer market). I have watched the last 3 Islanders games. a 1-0 W and two loses, ill keep watching them cos as a City fan of the old days I'm used to watching teams struggle and it will be interesting to see,. Regards Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Welcome Dan! And I'm glad you've found the NHL. The Islanders have a great history, but currently struggle a good bit, after being the league whipping boy for awhile. I understand your reasoning and frankly, they're as good as any. Divisions, such as the metropolitan, are primarily to group teams together who are in closer markets and create some rivalries. As you can see they're a bit scattered though so they've realigned numerous times trying to figure this out. They also have more games against each other. The divisions group into conferences, and placement in the conferences determine who makes it to the playoffs and which team they play once there. There's more to it than that, but they're the basics. Good luck with the Islanders! I think you'll have more luck than the Calgary Flames fan! And welcome to hockey forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 @Dan Nicolson First of all Welcome to these forums and making a wise choice taking an interest to what I consider the most entertaining team sport. However you made a poor choice choosing the Islanders, just kidding. Many of us here on these forums are Philadelphia Flyer fans. The real "Orange" team. The Flyers are also one of the Islanders's rivals in the Metropolitan division. My best advice to you is continually read Islander blogs daily. or as often as possible. One of my favorite sites is SBNation.com as it has good bloggers for each of the NHL teams. The Islanders one is http://www.lighthousehockey.com/ Another very useful site is http://www.capgeek.com/ The FAQ section answers a lot of financial type questions regarding a teams cap. I also like http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/ for daily hockey news on the all NHL teams. Then there is of course the Islanders' website http://islanders.nhl.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 @Dan Nicolson Oh and nevermind the outdated divisions at the bottoms of these forums pages. Those were the old divisions, one of these days they should be fixed. :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Nicolson Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 Thanks for the warm welcome, I'm a member of a roller coaster enthusiast forum so I'm pretty up to speed on how these things work. It has taken me a good few hours trying to find a decent Hockey forum, so I'm glad I have found a good one. I have access to a live steaming site so have been watching games till 03;30 in the morning, having some tired days but the sport is defiantly worth it. We are lucky enough to have 2 and soon to be 3 local rinks in my town so I have even got my self a pair of skates and a stick, but am still working on the skating =P. The sport isn't really big here at all, which is a shame cos football in this country has got shockingly pathetic, with how players go over every time they have a little contact. I love a good scrap and glad to see it still alive in Hockey! We have pretty good coverage of the Olympics here so Ill be cheering on Tavares for Canada. Thank you for the pointers, my next plan is to get hold of a copy of NHL for the 360 so I can familiarize myself with how things work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hey Dan, welcome to the boards and welcome to the sport of ice hockey. I lived over in Stevenage, Hertfordshire for a year quite some time back, and supported the Hot Spurs myself. The Isles have a rich history in the NHL quite some time back, but have fallen on hard times lately, but they should rebound. One thing about hockey, watching on the tele is all well and good, but seeing it played in person is a big difference. Support your local club also, and go see games in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Nicolson Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 I used to watch Manchester Storm all the time, in a 20.000 seat stadium, but lack of funds forced them to close down, and when they reformed the rink could barely hold 2000 and has been in decline since, we have a local team here which I'm trying to get involved in. I completely understand the whole *being there in person thing* I go to so many football games and nothing beats the sound of fans singing, chanting, swearing, and having banter with the away fans. Our local hockey does not have that =(. Who knows, maybe one day ill get over the pond and come to a game. That rubbish Superbowl thing came over here a couple of years ago so maybe we might see the NHL here one day too, who knows? (Off topic, so I apologize). How can you call that sport you have football? I watched the Superbowl just gone and could not make heads or tails of what the players were trying to do, so stop start! I think most of the game time was spent standing around, I love Hockey cos it is so fast paced and love the full on contact of the game. But how can you call it football when they don't even hardly use their feet? I also looked at Merchandise before, buying an Islanders Jersey would cost me £90! So is there anywhere online to buy cheap jerseys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 I used to watch Manchester Storm all the time, in a 20.000 seat stadium, but lack of funds forced them to close down, and when they reformed the rink could barely hold 2000 and has been in decline since, we have a local team here which I'm trying to get involved in. I completely understand the whole *being there in person thing* I go to so many football games and nothing beats the sound of fans singing, chanting, swearing, and having banter with the away fans. Our local hockey does not have that =(. Who knows, maybe one day ill get over the pond and come to a game. That rubbish Superbowl thing came over here a couple of years ago so maybe we might see the NHL here one day too, who knows? (Off topic, so I apologize). How can you call that sport you have football? I watched the Superbowl just gone and could not make heads or tails of what the players were trying to do, so stop start! I think most of the game time was spent standing around, I love Hockey cos it is so fast paced and love the full on contact of the game. But how can you call it football when they don't even hardly use their feet? I also looked at Merchandise before, buying an Islanders Jersey would cost me £90! So is there anywhere online to buy cheap jerseys? I remember watching Superbowl 40 I think it was in Manchester. Had to explain the rules to the entire pub for as long as the place was open. Was a good time! But yes we love hockey more here at this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 an fyi, if you wish to comment directly to a specific member here click on the link for @Mention Member on their profile and you will then see it direct the post like this. @Dan Nicolson The Superbowl was a joke. I'm not much of a football fan myself as I generally only catch a few games a season. You will find mostly hockey discussion on these forums. As for where to purchase cheap jerseys. I'l let someone else who has purchased one suggest a site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 @Dan Nicolson Hey Dan, welcome to the board. First of all, I'd like to commend you for not jumping on the bandwagon of one of the elite teams. The Isles have a great young player in John Tavares, but you're going to have a frustrating time watching them go through their growing pains. It'll make you a better fan in the long run. And don't knock football....those guys play over 5 minutes a week you know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 @Dan Nicolson Welcome Dan! You are our second British poster, EDI Flyer also lives there. Like many have said, the Islanders have a fairly long glorious history, including 4 consecutive Stanley Cup Championships from 1980-1983. Only two other teams can claim so many consecutive championships, so even though they are struggling of late, the fans of the Islanders have been spoiled back in the day. The team is moving off the Island to Brooklyn, New York....think that happens next year or the year after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Nicolson Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 Well like I said, as a Manchester City fan I'm used to watching a team going through the bad times, thanks to an Arab that has all changed now and we are actually having some success. Tavares looks awesome from what I have seen. Thanks not not calling me a *bandwagoner* *glory fan*. I have always been a sucker for the underdog, so I'm glad I chose well. The 4 years of wins sounds brilliant in the clubs history! One thing I don't understand is why there is only 1 cup in the whole of the NHL, even in our local leagues we have a domestic cup. (in football there are 7 individual trophies a team can win in one season). How do you guys manage with that? Excuse my ignorance but I have never actually been to any country in America, I know in New York you have, Manhattan, Long Island and Cony. From what I know Brooklyn is meant to be a rough area of New York right? I also looked for a copy of NHL today and could only find NHL 04 for the PS2 for £1 which I got and will have a play on this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 @Dan Nicolson Hockeys Future is a great website for up and coming prospects if you want to really dig into your Islanders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fan4ever Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 @Dan Nicolson The fact there is ONLY ONE is why some say it is the hardest trophy to win. That plus what can be some grueling playoffs to get to the big dance. There is NOTHING like lifting Lord Stanley's Cup, it is magical to most of us.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnyman Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 @Dan NicolsonA transplanted Bristolian welcome to you!!! Arrrrrroight?I have been in the States for a long time. Still can't wrap me head around American Football (Super Snooze Bowl). Love me Bristol City real football team. Hockey is the uniquely North American sport that has all of the elements a football fan can embrace in a small, frozen surface. You picked an original expansion team that has had a great rivalry with an original six team. In the '70s and '80s, Isles/Ranger games were UGLY.Unlike football in England, teams in the NHL do not move up and down in leagues. As many times as I have thought that some teams need to move down into a lesser league, that never happens. I was excited when a few years back, I though my City team would move up. The divisions are geographical in the NHL. The NHL is the Premier League. I have been quite Americanised, as I have been here for a long, long time. Welcome, matey!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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