Hot Stove Hockey

[SilentCal]

I'm liking this free agency period. Much more exciting this year than in years previous. Hopefully the rule changes will open up the game. Losing the Red Line is key and having no ties will make game endings more exciting and competetive. Too many ties you see teams just playing to tie a game rather than win it. Having good puck handling defensemen will be required for those home run long passes. We will see lots more breakaways with this rule change. I may actually try my luck again and go to the FleeceCenter to catch a game. Anyone interested in a trip?

 

[Stephen]

I'm in.

Yeah... I hate it when I go to see a boxing match and a hockey game breaks out!

-Stephen

 

[riverc0il]

word. almost all the rule changes are an A+ in my opinion. at first, my traditionalist mentality kicked in, but then i instantly went into college hockey fan mode and said YES YES YES! the two line pass makes for some exciting hockey and makes good defensive men essential. wouldn't be surprised if we stopped seeing as many goons on the ice just throwing their weight around, that isn't going to fly with the new rules. the two line pass also cuts down on the amount of sticking and hooking that doesn't get called (i don't care what the new rules say, they aren't going to get much more aggressive on their calls). the overtime tie breaker is a tough issue with me though because i would love to see a tie break, but i also enjoy seeing each team get a point for a hard played game. so many changes have occured though, that record keeping for the NHL is essentially going to have to start over. no records will be comparible for the last few dozen years.

 

[Vortex]

I would be up for a mid week game I work 5 min from the GARDEN. We can call it that again. Weekends I have planned from Early November to mid May anyway. :wink: RivercOil probably will hit July again though. No hockey then anyway. I put a hot tub in my upstairs bathroom last year and mounted a TV with a vented skylight so I could watch the game in comfort. This year I can actually do it.

 

[smitty77]

I am sooooo stoked about the B's new aquisitions, especially Leech. They need someone to straighten out the defensive corps. Seems like they may actually be trying to put some talent on the ice. I just hope it doesn't become an over-35 club.

I'd be up for a game if the ticket prices are indeed lowered. Any word on what a nice seat in the lower section is going to cost? My e-mails from the CyBear club have been really lacking, especially considering all of the activity in the free agent market.

Smitty

 

[Vortex]

I was happy with Leech also. Madano would have been even better. :idea: had to edit this spelling error :angry:

 

[smitty77]

Any word on what a nice seat in the lower section is going to cost?

BostonBruins.com ticket prices

Still expensive for anything down low, though it does say "stay tuned for 2005-06 pricing". I guess they're waiting to see how many/few season tickets they sell. I may have to see about obtaining some tix from the sales department here at work.

Smitty

 

[SilentCal]

I would have been upset if the Bruins got Modano. Habs retained Kovalev and signed Dandeneault from Detroit. Looks like the old Adams Division rivalry will stay intact! Too bad we don't have Hartford to kick around anymore.

 

[riverc0il]

I would be up for a mid week game I work 5 min from the GARDEN. We can call it that again.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

BLASPHEMER!

:uzi: :flame: :argue: :smash: uke:

the garden was bulldozed flat as a pan cake 8 years ago. there was only and will ever only be two boston gardens. the first you can still walk through and the other is long gone. don't fall into some corporate startegy of endearing you to their brand identity through manipulation of a much beloved and missed landmark. the renaming of the fleetcenter is amongst the worst of modern tragedy in the boston area. discicable. and i am dead serious about this, no joking, it really makes me want to uke:

 

[riverc0il]

hopefully the new rules will actually make going to a bruins game exciting. their current arena sucks the life outta the place. maybe it is just cause i am used to college hockey in which fans are rabid and can't shut up, but seeing a bruins game in person was pretty boring. seeing PLAYOFF bruins hockey, the crowd was LIFELESS and i really think it the arena sucking the life outta people is partly to blame. older arenas may have had less seats, obstructed views, tights seats, and poor facilities, but man did you feel like you were on top of the game and right there with your fellow fans.

 

[SilentCal]

Agree with you 100% rivercoil. The Garden had so much atmosphere and character. I'm a die-hard Habs fan and the place scared the heck out of me. The fans seemed to care more in those times and were more passionate and knowledgable about the game. The old Montreal Forum was the same way. The perfect place to catch a game in my opinion. Those Orginal Six arenas should have been preserved in some ways. It's a shame.

 

[smitty77]

Those Orginal Six arenas should have been preserved in some ways. It's a shame.

The best thing about the old Garden was the small ice surface and sharp radius corners. It was much harder to zing a clearing shot around the glass/boards in the old arena. It also led to a lot of hard hitting and grinding in the corners. I sat in one of the semi-obstructed view seats (the upper balcony blocked half of the view unless we slouched in the chair), but I still had a better time than I had at the two games I've been to in the new Fleece Center.

Smitty

 

[Vortex]

Well... You told me. There will never be another Garden. What will I call it though? :wink:

 

[skibum1321]

I really dislike all the free agency and players going all over the place right now. Every team is going to be totally different and it's pretty much an entirely new league. Some of the players that I have grown to love and base my love for teams around are now gone and on teams that I despise (Forsberg from the Avs to Flyers - Love the Avs, hate the Flyers). Any team that was willing to spend the money to try and compete before (not that this was the only way - ie Lightning and Flames) is pretty much screwed now because they can't afford to keep any of their players. Teams such as the Avs, Leafs and Wings have no chance of keeping most of their big names. Even into the future there will be little allegiance to teams with so many unrestricted free agents at young ages. There will be so much turnover in the league, it will be hard to recognize many faces on your favorite team.

Just my .02

 

[riverc0il]

Well... You told me. There will never be another Garden. What will I call it though? :wink:

sorry bob, should have included a few :lol: 's and :wink: 's and a few of these on that last response. as serious as i was, i was trying to be funny about it and i hope the post came across that way

i still call it the fleetcenter. i guess you could call it the TD Bankone Attention Graber or the home of the bruins of the hoome of the celtics or what not. heck, i think i may start calling it north station arena!!!

:lol:

i completely agree with you skibum1321. it is one of many reasons i stopped watching most pro sports including baseball and football. you don't see career players for one team any more. a few years ago, bledsoe WAS the patriots and martinez and nomar WERE the sox. now it's brady and veritek until they stop performing well and it will be time for a change. i miss the days when players stayed on the same team for a dozen years or more. when teams stuck by a player instead of trading for the hot new thing. too much change and turnover and trading makes it hard to identify with a team. some people may say players are paid to win championships, but i disagree. sports is all about entertainment and it is more entertaining getting to know your favorite player through the years without analyzing their every move until it's time to bring up the trade rumors the year before a rather short contract is about to run out.

 

[Max]

Bring back Old Time Hockey.....Dit Clapper, Toe Blake! :lol:

 

[jjmcgo]

As bad as I felt about the Garden being replaced, even I realized it had come to the end of its useful business life.
It was in the Garden that I asked my wife to marry me and we were regulars during the era of the Stanley Cups. She cried openly and I got choked up when we drove by and saw half the building torn down and you could look inside the remaining half.
We never liked the Fleet Center but I do like the new sponsor's desire to go back to calling the Boston hockey building the Garden.
The Bruins appear to be one of the stronger Eastern Conference teams. I don't think Montreal, Toronto or Ottawa are as strong as before the lockout.
I hope this bank is smart enough to change one old policy. You could not go out for a cigarette and come back to your seat in the Fleet Center. Other major arenas in other cities have outdoor smoking areas. I felt the Bruins were making a comment about my lifestyle choices. The non-smoking couple we went with said if they spent that kind of money and got that kind of treatment, they'd never return. We never did.
Odd, or not odd, but the Bruins' attendance dropped that season by the exact percentage of the population that smokes. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Brettski]

I would be up for a mid week game I work 5 min from the GARDEN. We can call it that again. Weekends I have planned from Early November to mid May anyway. :wink: RivercOil probably will hit July again though. No hockey then anyway. I put a hot tub in my upstairs bathroom last year and mounted a TV with a vented skylight so I could watch the game in comfort. This year I can actually do it.

You mean GAHDEN


The real GARRRDEN is in NYC

 

[Brettski]

Agree with you 100% rivercoil. The Garden had so much atmosphere and character. I'm a die-hard Habs fan and the place scared the heck out of me. The fans seemed to care more in those times and were more passionate and knowledgable about the game. The old Montreal Forum was the same way. The perfect place to catch a game in my opinion. Those Orginal Six arenas should have been preserved in some ways. It's a shame.

I'm happy to say that I got to go to a Stanely Cip final at the gahden. Against the Oilers I beleive...93 maybe...gotta look that up.

Pretty much a dump...really strange though was the steepness of it all...I don't think there was a bad seat in the house.

Can you believe they're moving the Devils to Newark?

Which is cool for me, because that's where I am.

Having Hockey and basketball in the meadowlans is such a pain.

There is like 0 mass transit, and if you did, you'd have to take a bus from either Penn station(Newark or NY)

 

[JimG.]

Can you believe they're moving the Devils to Newark?

Which is cool for me, because that's where I am.

Having Hockey and basketball in the meadowlans is such a pain.

Soon there won't be either...Devils to Newark and Nets to Brooklyn. What happens to the arena then?