The 2014-2015 NHL Boondoggle

[The_Admiral]

Spiritual successor to the Mike Milbury Shoe Brawl, I suppose.

[dbadefense1990]

Bruins. Wild. #RivalryNight

How are they attempting to spin this one?

"Two hockey hotbeds collide in a showdown..."

Yeah, OK. So long as the two teams are from hockeyesque regions, it's deemed a rivalry, NBC? I guess I should wait until the thrilling March battle of Calgary vs. Buffalo, then.

[Still MIGHTY]

Bruins. Wild. #RivalryNight

How are they attempting to spin this one?

"Two hockey hotbeds collide in a showdown..."

Wait, is that seriously what they went with? You're joking, right? I mean, they've shoehorned this stuff before, but that's got to be their flimsiest premise to date.

(Not that the NHL helped them out with any rivalry-type games with Ottawa-New Jersey and Dallas-Vancouver, but come on.)

[The_Admiral]

Phil Kessel passed Doug Gilmour in games played for the Maple Leafs. This feels weird to me.

[Cosmic]

How weird? This weird?

This weird?


Or THIS weird?

[The_Admiral]

It appears as if someone deleted my post about how Phil Kessel looks like a low-IQ man who was arrested for masturbating in public. Oh well, I can't imagine it was on topic in any context.

[JerseyJimmy]

Bruins. Wild. #RivalryNight

How are they attempting to spin this one?

"Two hockey hotbeds collide in a showdown..."

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Lol @ Rivalry night. The Wild-Bruins, or even North Stars-Bruins have never had even a whiff of what you'd call a rivalry.

Very rare to have intra-conference rivalries. I'd say the closest thing going right now would be Boston-Chicago, or Boston-Vancouver.

It may be just due to the fact that everyone hates Boston.

Nevermind, I guess you could call it a rivalry after all.

[JayMac]

Lol @ Rivalry night. The Wild-Bruins, or even North Stars-Bruins have never had even a whiff of what you'd call a rivalry.

Very rare to have intra-conference rivalries. I'd say the closest thing going right now would be Boston-Chicago, or Boston-Vancouver.

It may be just due to the fact that everyone hates Boston.

Nevermind, I guess you could call it a rivalry after all.

Those are just present rivals because Boston, Chicago, and Vancouver have been successful recently.

[Kramerica Industries]

I dunno, you guys. If Bruins vs. Wild isn't a rivalry, then rivalries don't exist in this sport.

[Sport]

It's because there was that conflict in "Miracle" between the Boston and Minnesota guys. THEY HATED EACH OTHER. ROBBY MCLANAHAN CHEAPSHOTTED JACK O'CALLAHAN AND STOLE THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RING OFF HIS FINGA

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Lol @ Rivalry night. The Wild-Bruins, or even North Stars-Bruins have never had even a whiff of what you'd call a rivalry.

Very rare to have intra-conference rivalries. I'd say the closest thing going right now would be Boston-Chicago, or Boston-Vancouver.

It may be just due to the fact that everyone hates Boston.

Nevermind, I guess you could call it a rivalry after all.

Those are just present rivals because Boston, Chicago, and Vancouver have been successful recently.

And played each other in the Cup finals... historically, there aren't really any East-West rivalries. Detroit-Colorado existed while they were both West. Maaaybe Montreal-Calgary but that's a stretch.

[Kramerica Industries]

Since 2010-11, the Flyers have an 11-29 record in shootouts. Yeesh. At what point does a coin-flip stop being a coin-flip? 2009-10 was the last time they had a winning record in the shootout, when they won four out of seven shootout decisions.

[JayMac]

Since 2010-11, the Flyers have an 11-29 record in shootouts. Yeesh. At what point does a coin-flip stop being a coin-flip? 2009-10 was the last time they had a winning record in the shootout, when they won four out of seven shootout decisions.

That's why I turn off each game that is even at the end of OT.

[The Six]

Cool of the Canadians to wait for the Ducks to come to town to do their Saku tribute night. It just wouldn't have meant as much if they had done it before playing some random east team. C'est étonnant comme ça vous soûle!

[ninersdd]

Fortunately, the Sharks didn't fall victim to the Oilers again.

Also down south, the Blues blew an early lead to LA and lose. Shocking result[/sarc]

Yikes, what a weird one Fatso gave up.

[Unocal]

Man, the LA Kings are a completely schizo team. Unbeatable at STAPLES, vincinble on the road.

That said, for as good as the Blues/Ducks/Sharks/Preds are- you are going to have to figuratively kill these teams to take the Cup.

I mean, they fall behind 3-0 in a game tonight? No sweat. Seemingly nothing fazes these guys.

With all due respect to the 2011 Bruins, these two teams have ruled hockey this half-decade when it matters.

They have proven to be unkillable more often than not (And even in 2011, when both went out early, they had injuries and mass player defections.

They have an aura and a mystique that towers over the entire NHL- one that says 'You can't beat us because we can only beat each other.'

[Still MIGHTY]

Take a break, man

[Sport]

I will never stop being bitter about this because the NHL made us bitter about it. 2009. In the hunt for their first playoff appearance in team history, Manny Malhotra scores a goal to beat Dallas in overtime. The Blue Jackets needed every point they could get at the time. Malhotra somehow kicks the puck in out of midair and the Toronto warroom deems this as an on-purpose act. That's the base. That's what every kicked in goal from then until all time will be judged for me. You made me do this.

Malhotra accidentally touches it with his skate and it goes in the net, but is disallowed. I've seen plays like this called a good goal dozens of times since then. DOZENS OF TIMES THIS PLAY HAS COUNTED.

Fast forward to tonight when the Blue Jackets lead the Capitals 4-3 as Troy Brouwer of the Capitals deliberately repositions his foot to direct a puck into the net (I'd call it a distinct kicking motion, but only because he's moving his foot forward to change the puck's direction and because he's trying to use his foot to put the puck in the net and because he kicked it. ) and it's allowed to stand, which ultimately led to the end of the CBJ 7 game winning streak. If the goal had been disallowed as it should've been because the distinct kicking motion it would've been 8 straight for the Blue Jackets. Instead, two points went to the wrong team and the right team only got one. All I know is that if the Blue Jackets had kicked that puck in in the exact same fashion it would've been disallowed. That's how it goes.

Here's another one in which Matt Calvert intentionally kicks the puck while being dragged down while looking at the rafters, which is impressive:

All l ask is that these things are called fairly and from what I can tell time and again the rules for the Blue Jackets and the rules against the Blue Jackets are two very different things and I'm tired of it.

Bad goal. I know now we're going to miss the playoffs by one point and this is going to be the reason.

[buckeye]

I will never stop being bitter about this because the NHL made us bitter about it. 2009. In the hunt for their first playoff appearance in team history, Manny Malhotra scores a goal to beat Dallas in overtime. The Blue Jackets needed every point they could get at the time. Malhotra somehow kicks the puck in out of midair and the Toronto warroom deems this as an on-purpose act. That's the base. That's what every kicked in goal from then until all time will be judged for me. You made me do this.

Malhotra accidentally touches it with his skate and it goes in the net, but is disallowed. I've seen plays like this called a good goal dozens of times since then. DOZENS OF TIMES THIS PLAY HAS COUNTED.

Fast forward to tonight when the Blue Jackets lead the Capitals 4-3 as Troy Brouwer of the Capitals deliberately repositions his foot to direct a puck into the net (I'd call it a distinct kicking motion, but only because he's moving his foot forward to change the puck's direction and because he's trying to use his foot to put the puck in the net and because he kicked it. ) and it's allowed to stand, which ultimately led to the end of the CBJ 7 game winning streak. If the goal had been disallowed as it should've been because the distinct kicking motion it would've been 8 straight for the Blue Jackets. Instead, two points went to the wrong team and the right team only got one. All I know is that if the Blue Jackets had kicked that puck in in the exact same fashion it would've been disallowed. That's how it goes.

Here's another one in which Matt Calvert intentionally kicks the puck while being dragged down while looking at the rafters, which is impressive:

All l ask is that these things are called fairly and from what I can tell time and again the rules for the Blue Jackets and the rules against the Blue Jackets are two very different things and I'm tired of it.

Bad goal. I know now we're going to miss the playoffs by one point and this is going to be the reason.

I was jumping out of my seat last night, screaming bad goal because it was so obvious it was painful. Yet the refs botched the call and the rest of the game went the Caps way... I hate to base a game off one call but come on, how hard was it to make it?!