Rev wrote:

Only three. Leafs in '42, Islanders in '75, and Flyers in 2010. Of course, Blackhawks and Red Wings nearly pulled it off last year.

The Maple Leafs were the only ones to do it in the finals, I believe.

Kings can't close it out, losing to the Devils, 3-1... Now it's back to New Jersey.

Kings lose again to the Devils, 2-1, and it's back to LA.

I think game 6 is a must-win for the Kings, now.

KINGS WIN!! KINGS WIN!! KINGS WIN!!

Kings rout the Devils, 6-1, to win the Stanley Cup.

Now I can die. Life is complete.

Even more surprising was that there was no rioting or the like after the games ended.

bmwracer wrote:

Even more surprising was that there was no rioting or the like after the games ended.

According to the news, a grand total of 6 arrests.

Hockey fans are different. I dunno if because the game is so violent they get it out of their system watching the game, or if because it's a Canadian game and as we all know, Canadians have much better manners than most Americans.

Hockey players are different as well. You almost never hear of a player being rude to a fan. I remember a guy named Mike Ricci that played for Colorado was asked once why he always signed autographs and he said, "My brother is a plumber, and if I couldn't play hockey, I'd be working for him!" Hockey players tend not to forget where they came from.

What happened last year in Vancouver was an abberation.

It's better than even money there won't be a hockey season this year, but I couldn't resist this story:


Leafs fan buys toilet for $5300

If the NHL decides to flush the rest of the season, Toronto Maple Leafs fan Jim Vigmond is ready.

The Ontario lawyer purchased a toilet from the home dressing room of Maple Leaf Gardens for $5,300 at an auction, according to the Toronto Star.

Vigmond had been trying to score a 1967 Stanley Cup banner but he said the bidding became too steep, so he went for the toilet. And he was willing to go as high as $10,000 on the commode, which his friends thought was a little out there.

"They thought I had money to burn, and surely there was something that I could have better spent my money on," he said, according to the newspaper.
"They've got a point. But ... it's a part of an icon. I just thought ... what a rare piece and just think of all of the people that have spent time contemplating in that dressing room what lies ahead of them."

Maple Leaf Gardens was home to the Leafs from 1931-99. More than 100 items from the arena were up for auction. Vacant for several years after the Leafs left for the Air Canada Centre, the Gardens was recently converted into a small arena for nearby Ryerson University and a grocery store.

Vigmond told the Star that the toilet will go in his sports memorabilia room. He'd like to sit on it, light a Cuban cigar, drink some single-malt scotch and watch a Leafs game, if the season doesn't go down the drain.

The hockey lockout is over. Looks like they're going to have a season.

Just in time for spring training.

Hockey players are tough. Yonsei Japanese/Canadian hockey players are REALLY tough!!

At about :51 seconds, Devin Setoguchi pulls his own tooth: http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/2/11/3978982/wild-vs-flames-setoguchi-removes-his-own-tooth-after-high-stick

The lowly Avs beat the Blackhawks 6-2

Blackhawks unbeaten streak ends at 24 games. It was fun while it lasted.

Hockey at Dodger Stadium?!!?

NHL wants more outdoor games

DETROIT – The NHL isn�ft satisfied with the return of the Winter Classic – not even a rescheduled match-up between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, expected to draw a record crowd of more than 110,000 to Michigan Stadium on New Year�fs Day.

The League wants more. It thinks the fans want more. And so it could hold multiple outdoor games in the United States as soon as next season, raising revenues and the sport�fs profile in more markets.

�gIt�fs not necessarily a new conversation,�h NHL chief operating officer John Collins said after a Winter Classic news conference at Joe Louis Arena. �gWe�fve been looking at this and talking about it for a while. But I think now we�fre looking at it real hard.�h

The Fourth Period reported the NHL is close to a deal for a game featuring the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium. Player agent Allan Walsh tweeted the deal was done and the game likely would take place on Hockey Day in America.

The Fourth Period also reported the NHL has been discussing a deal for a game featuring the New York Rangers and would prefer it to be played at Yankee Stadium. Writer Dave Pagnotta hinted at a Hockey Day in America doubleheader.

Collins and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman declined to give details. Collins said league officials were discussing ideas with the Board of Governors, individual teams and the NHL Players�f Association.

Asked specifically about the report of a game Dodger Stadium, Collins said: �gIt�fs accurate from the standpoint of, we�fre always looking at stuff. We have another finance committee meeting this week. So we�fre laying out a lot of plans.�h

The NHL has staged multiple outdoor games only once before, when it held the Heritage Classic in Calgary and the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh in 2011. It has never staged multiple outdoor games in the United States before. There is an obvious concern, but the NHL sees enormous potential.

�gThere are people who say you�fll dilute what is a good, special thing,�h Collins said. �gNo one would be more concerned about not screwing up a good thing than we would be.�h

The Winter Classic has been wildly successful – from attention to attendance to merchandising. Collins said the Winter Classic – one regular-season game – generates 40-60 percent of the merchandising revenue that a market like Boston or Chicago generates when it wins a Stanley Cup.

Teams that have been not been involved in the Winter Classic want to be involved in one. Teams that have been involved in the Winter Classic want to be involved in another one and don�ft want to wait years for another turn.

�gWe�fre aware of the tremendous interest, and obviously you can�ft ignore the interest,�h Bettman said. �gWe�fve been thinking about it.�h

One game is not enough to meet the demand, especially when it�fs a nationally televised game that requires certain match-ups. So the League wants to keep the Winter Classic as its centerpiece showcase – 1 p.m., New Year�fs Day, NBC. The Winter Classic would continue to be its own brand, as would the Heritage Classic as the Canadian game. Additional games would stand on their own. Even if they don�ft have the same appeal nationally, they would have a local impact.

�gThe local aspect is something that we�fve been spending a lot of time talking to clubs about,�h Collins said. �gWe�fve always said, �eHow do we get to more markets and share this experience?�f We know that there are a lot of markets where the concept of an outdoor regular-season game would be magical and really fantastic, but they may not be markets that would really carry the weight of a nationally televised Jan. 1 game, so they may not get there. And then we look at the markets that we�fve been in. �c Clearly there�fs a demand and an opportunity.�h

Said Bettman: �gPutting aside its national impact, when you see what it does locally, it�fs incredible. It�fs no secret that lots of cities and lots of teams have said, �eWe really want one of these.�f �h

The NHL has learned lessons from staging previous outdoor games that could help bring outdoor hockey to new places – like, say, Dodger Stadium. The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins played in a light rain at night in 2011. It was 71 degrees by the dasher boards in Philadelphia in 2012. The NHL used an insulated blanket on the ice, and the ice was fine when the sun went down.

Collins said first, the league wants to make the conditions as safe as possible, and second, it wants to �gpush the extremes in terms of the temperature and how we would handle certain things.�h L.A., anyone?

Looks like its going to happen:

Kings vs. Ducks at Dodger Stadium next January

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The NHL says the Los Angeles Kings will host the Anaheim Ducks in an outdoor game at Dodger Stadium next January.

An NHL outdoor game has also never been held so far south or in California. The game is set for Jan. 25.

The logistics of playing outdoors in balmy California temperatures might seem daunting. Yet the NHL and the teams seem confident that ice-making technology exists that could meet NHL standards.

The Kings played the New York Rangers in an outdoor exhibition game at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 1991 as temperatures topped 80 degrees. The Kings beat the Rangers 5-2 on ice that held up reasonably well.

Three baseball stadiums already have hosted Winter Classics: Chicago's Wrigley Field, Boston's Fenway Park and Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

CANUCKS IN 7

Damn you Leafs. But okay, last game was well played by them. They were desperate, they kept fighting like crazy.

Time to unleash the proper Bear Power in the next game.
_________________

The Kings, who did not have home ice close out St. Louis in 6 games.

The Pacific Division winning Ducks who DID have home ice lose to Detroit in 7 and they lost TWICE at home!

Jav_sol should be happy:

McQuaid goal sends Bruins back to Stanley Cup finals

BOSTON (AP) -- Tuukka Rask grabbed the final shot in his big glove as the buzzer sounded, sealing the Boston Bruins' stunning sweep of the suddenly powerless Pittsburgh Penguins.

All Rask needed was one goal of offensive support from his Bruins teammates to get Boston back in the Stanley Cup finals.

Defenseman Adam McQuaid snapped a third-period tie, and Rask did the rest as the Bruins beat the Penguins 1-0 to complete a sweep of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night.

They did it by allowing the NHL's highest-scoring team just two goals in four games - with Rask posting shutouts in the opener and the clincher.

Boston's defense showed it could score as well when McQuaid provided the only offense the Bruins needed at 5:01 of the third period.

''I think first and foremost, we're obviously trying to be solid defensively,'' McQuaid, who had one goal in 32 regular-season games but two in the playoffs, said of the defensemen. ''It obviously feels good. It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don't normally.

''You look at so many great efforts we had from guys. The last 10 minutes of the game, guys were all over the ice, doing whatever it took to preserve that goal.''

McQuaid's goal sparked a chant of ''We want the Cup!'' from the capacity crowd. At the end of the game, the Bruins were one step closer to another title.


Do or die for the Kings tonight in Chicago.

gaijinmark wrote:

Do or die for the Kings tonight in Chicago.

They died.

Although it was a GREAT game! Kings came back from two goals down to tie it, then came back again to tie it with 9 seconds left in regulation before falling in double-overtime 4-3.

My favorite note from the series: "Kings captain Dustin Brown said after the game that he tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Game 6 of Los Angeles' second-round series against San Jose. He didn't miss a game."

Hockey players are tough mo-fos.

gaijinmark wrote:

Jav_sol should be happy

Probably not today. At 58 minutes I was thinking, "Hope gave seven is a good one." 30 seconds later I was thinking, "Geez, I wonder how many overtimes this will go." 30 seconds after that, "What the hell just happened?!!?"

Anyway, Hawks had a great season from the unbeaten streak at the start all the way to the Finals. A deserving champion.

Didn't watch all of the Stanley Cup Finals, but what I did watch confirms an opinion I've had for some time now: Mike "Doc" Emrick is one of the five best play-by-play announcers I've heard in my lifetime.