The 2013 NHL Season Thread

[BigBubba]

I know the points discussion tailed off a few pages back, but if the league insists on using the loser point, could they at least sort standings by points percentage? I hate looking at the standings and thinking "Oh, well, the Leafs are in fourth*, provided that Team X gets three points in their two games in hand and we don't lose ours in regulation, assuming Team Y gets no more than two points in their three games in hand."

*Well, that part I like

[Brass]

I know the points discussion tailed off a few pages back, but if the league insists on using the loser point, could they at least sort standings by points percentage? I hate looking at the standings and thinking "Oh, well, the Leafs are in fourth*, provided that Team X gets three points in their two games in hand and we don't lose ours in regulation, assuming Team Y gets no more than two points in their three games in hand."

*Well, that part I like

The less math the better, though your Leafs will more than likely be in a position for the playoffs if they continue to play the way they did against the Bruins. I know I throw jabs at the Leafs fans from time to time (friendly rivalry, you know), but they actually impressed me a few weeks back. Have they been playing like this all season? Unfortunately, I'm not able to watch much hockey outside of the Bruins due to my schedule, so my taste of the Maple Leafs has been limited to that one game against Boston. Their record looks nice; is that reflective of how well they've been playing?

[The_Admiral]

A season without Erik Karlsson might as well not be a season. What crap. I am a sad.

[charger77]

Kane's definitely not off-base. Look what happened with Joel Ward last year.

Racism in the Joel Ward situation does not validate or prove Kane's notion that any critique of his play or actions are racially motivated.

[BLUELANDbeliever]

It's laughable that people are actually calling for a Suspension. Yeah, I get that it's Matt Cooke, but he's not that sick, is he? It was an accident.

Yes I agree, for once Matt Cooke is not at fault here. While I am a Pens fan, I loathe Matt Cooke. I have read several tweets and comments on YouTube where people are citing the fact that Cooke lunges upward into Karlsson and try to use that to support their decision to call this 'typical Cooke goonage'. Check the height difference. Kinda sad to see this happen to the Sens, especially considering this could be the last of Alfie. I hope Karlsson is ok, kind of a fan of him.

[IceCap]

Boston is still regarded as one of the most racist cities in the country

Maybe because I'm a resident, but I could not feel more opposed to this statement.

Quite convenient of you to exclude my qualifying statement that directly preceded that.

I'm not speaking from my own opinion. I'm speaking from what I've gleaned from other people's opinions over a number of years. I can't speak for myself, because I've never been to Boston.

Your "qualifying statement" was just relevant to the alleged Bruins fans calling Joel Ward insensitive names. If that's your only evidence of contemporary racism against Boston, then perhaps you might not want to regard it as one of the "most racists cities."

Historically (think post Civil War up through the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s) Boston did have a reputation as one of, if not the, most racist cities in the northern US.

The only time I've been to Boston was when I was really little, so I can't comment on it in a contemporary context, but the reputation does exist.

[Kramerica Industries]

It may or may not also be worthy to note that the Red Sox were the last team to integrate, in 1959, though that may have also been affected by the fact that Tom Yawkey himself was an ardent racist.

[Brass]

It may or may not also be worthy to note that the Red Sox were the last team to integrate, in 1959, though that may have also been affected by the fact that Tom Yawkey himself was an ardent racist.

On the flip side, however, the Bruins were the first NHL team to integrate.

[youcan'tseeme]

Kane's definitely not off-base. Look what happened with Joel Ward last year.

Racism in the Joel Ward situation does not validate or prove Kane's notion that any critique of his play or actions are racially motivated.

Hockey fans dislike arrogance and anything that takes focus away from the team and attempts to place it onto himself as superior or better than any one indivivual on the said team. Thats why some people had/have had issues with things that the likes of Jagr, Ovechkin, Avery, Yakupov, Heatley, and Radulov among others have done. Thats also why people have issues with Kane. Taking a picture with a stack and posting it to a public forum is arrogant, no way around it. To come out and say dislike for him is racially motivated when I've yet to see any evidence of racism towards him, just shows he views himself as different which is part of the issue as well. He says his favourite player is Iginla, where is all the criticism of Iginla then? There isn't any, because he is classy, hard working, respectable player. Not that Kane isn't hard working or anything but you see the things this guy tweets at times, and obviously people will respond negatively, just has they have responded negatively to things said by "white" players in the past. Arrogance has no skin colour, and arrogance is the issue here, considering we've heard more over Yakupov goal celebration a few weeks back than anything we have over Kane.

[The_Admiral]

Hockey fans dislike arrogance and anything that takes focus away from the team and attempts to place it onto himself as superior or better than any one indivivual on the said team.

God forbid great athletes show excitement over great achievements. I wonder how Canada even won that gold medal with such a go-for-the-bronze mentality. Maybe hockey would be more popular if its best and brightest could revel in their feats without fear of physical reprisal from ornery Albertans.

[youcan'tseeme]

Hockey fans dislike arrogance and anything that takes focus away from the team and attempts to place it onto himself as superior or better than any one indivivual on the said team.

God forbid great athletes show excitement over great achievements. I wonder how Canada even won that gold medal with such a go-for-the-bronze mentality. Maybe hockey would be more popular if its best and brightest could revel in their feats without fear of physical reprisal from ornery Albertans.

I'm not even saying it's right though I'm just saying that is how it tends to be, and that it's that dislike of arrogance that is why Kane is disliked by some. It has nothing to do with the colour of his skin (in his case), as we've clearly seen there are some racist fans, but thats amongst all sports.

[The_Admiral]

I think Kane gets it worse because of his race, but I don't think all black players do. It has more to do with his personality, like you said. No one's ever had a bad thing to say about Jamal Mayers or Kevin Weekes, for instance.

[Kramerica Industries]

That's because the first thing anyone sees with Jamal Mayers are his eyebrows.

[youcan'tseeme]

I think Kane gets it worse because of his race, but I don't think all black players do. It has more to do with his personality, like you said. No one's ever had a bad thing to say about Jamal Mayers or Kevin Weekes, for instance.

Perhaps in random instances (ie people just making off base comments), but for the stuff that's been in the media that he's been criticized of his race has been irrelevent.

[IceCap]

Hockey fans dislike arrogance and anything that takes focus away from the team and attempts to place it onto himself as superior or better than any one indivivual on the said team.

God forbid great athletes show excitement over great achievements. I wonder how Canada even won that gold medal with such a go-for-the-bronze mentality. Maybe hockey would be more popular if its best and brightest could revel in their feats without fear of physical reprisal from ornery Albertans.

Oh my G-d this. I remember Don Cherry flipping out over the Canadian women's team running up the score on some lower tier team one Olympics saying that it was rude and "un-Canadian" to win by such a large margin. Jesus, the point's to win, right Don? What were they supposed to do after they went up 3-0 five minutes in? Just skate in circles in their own zone for the rest of the game?

When it comes to hockey people in this country seem to dislike anyone who shows any sort of pride in their accomplishments. No matter how good you are you're supposed to be humble 24/7. G-d forbid you're spotted at a bar having a good time after a win. I'm not saying hockey needs someone like Terrell Owens, but a few guys who show excitement or pride at being as good as they are would be a breath of fresh air.

This, along with the over fetishization (that's a word, right?) of hockey's "rituals," are the two things that bug me the most about the hockey media.

On the topic of Kane, I think that's what people got his case for. He was *gasp* having a good time, in Los Vegas of all places, and we couldn't have that.

[charger77]

I think Kane gets it worse because of his race, but I don't think all black players do. It has more to do with his personality, like you said. No one's ever had a bad thing to say about Jamal Mayers or Kevin Weekes, for instance.

Then how is it a race thing?

[dbadefense1990]

The idea that hockey is the "whitest" of the North American sports is very true.

It all depends on context. Nationality-wise, hockey is the most diverse sport of all major North American sports. Look at how many nations do the NHL represent (and I'm pretty sure there's a study done on this; if someone can find this). But skin-color wise, hockey is the palest sport, hence your proposal of hockey being "the whitest." All the nationalities representing hockey can't hide the fact that it's still an Anglo-Saxon majority sport, whereas the NBA qualifies as more "skin diverse" with Whites, Blacks and now Asians learning and playing basketball.

[IceCap]

I know the points discussion tailed off a few pages back, but if the league insists on using the loser point, could they at least sort standings by points percentage? I hate looking at the standings and thinking "Oh, well, the Leafs are in fourth*, provided that Team X gets three points in their two games in hand and we don't lose ours in regulation, assuming Team Y gets no more than two points in their three games in hand."

*Well, that part I like

The less math the better, though your Leafs will more than likely be in a position for the playoffs if they continue to play the way they did against the Bruins. I know I throw jabs at the Leafs fans from time to time (friendly rivalry, you know), but they actually impressed me a few weeks back. Have they been playing like this all season? Unfortunately, I'm not able to watch much hockey outside of the Bruins due to my schedule, so my taste of the Maple Leafs has been limited to that one game against Boston. Their record looks nice; is that reflective of how well they've been playing?

It is reflective of how well they've been playing. The question is, can they keep it up? The Leafs, the past few seasons, have played like legitimate playoff contenders for stretches before going on long soul-crushing losing streaks. This season's team has surpassed expectations thus far, but I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't worried about the bottom falling out sooner or later.

[Lights Out]

Boston is still regarded as one of the most racist cities in the country

Maybe because I'm a resident, but I could not feel more opposed to this statement.

FWIW, a lot of pro athletes still hold that view of Boston and have for a long time, whether it's true or not (i.e. Bill Russell calling Boston "a flea market of racism"). I think that's what Kramerica was trying to say.

[ElwoodCuse]

It's laughable that people are actually calling for a Suspension. Yeah, I get that it's Matt Cooke, but he's not that sick, is he? It was an accident.

Yes I agree, for once Matt Cooke is not at fault here. While I am a Pens fan, I loathe Matt Cooke. I have read several tweets and comments on YouTube where people are citing the fact that Cooke lunges upward into Karlsson and try to use that to support their decision to call this 'typical Cooke goonage'. Check the height difference. Kinda sad to see this happen to the Sens, especially considering this could be the last of Alfie. I hope Karlsson is ok, kind of a fan of him.

Whatever Cooke is or isn't, he's definitely not subtle. Evil Cooke would have just put his stick on the dude's neck and drove him through the glass.

The league is satisfied that it was an accident and a lot of players on twitter have said they are actually surprised this kind of injury doesn't happen more often.