“MY LIFE IN EXILE: THE CONNOR MCDAVID STORY” THE NHL 2015-2016 THREAD (INCLUDING 3 ON 3 OT, CHICAGO HANGOVER AND OFFSEASON SHENANIGANS. HOCKEY IS THE BEST)

happy 50th to mario lemieux and patrick roy

https://youtu.be/5_hIojjA3A4?t=46s

Fuck that guy xxpost

Also Red Wings twitter is all aflutter about wonderkid prospect Dylan Larkin being on the opening night roster, possibly on the 1st line. He had a great preseason but is going to be the youngest Wing since Jiri Hurler. I say bring it on.

Imagine being a teenager and centering a line with Zetterberg and Abdelkader, wild times.

*Hudler xpost

Saw this earlier today and loved it, so many good ones I'd forgotten (sexist shit aside) http://www.crossicehockey.com/hockey-talk-language-hockey/

https://twitter.com/PeteBlackburn/status/651113811127042048

dying

jagr has four goals in four games

crosby has zero points in four games

http://i.imgur.com/hx8NRs0.gif

rip two line pass

tho that really isn't one

max domi's pretty good btw

it's weird to think about

so is tyler bertuzzi

TORTS

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSCZ9FnWsAE_tAy.jpg

luongo, of course

Mookie, can you explain what is up with Crosby? (and not tell any of my friends I actually quite love him)

i . . . don't know. but i'm pretty certain the stuff about him 'pouting' is absurd. he's not like that and for better or worse it's his team, not malkin's or kessel's

dupuis' return + mediocre results thus far have shuffled the lines; supposedly kessel was on malkin's line in practice today. i've only seen a couple games but it did seem like crosby was trying to force the puck to kessel. if things continue poorly i imagine johnston will be canned, but i can't fault his system. like the grinder he was, bylsma was more of a dump-and-chase guy; johnston has the right ideas but his players just haven't succeeded

he never had really strong starts iirc, but i'm getting worried. like i want him to win a couple more harts and whatnot, it's a generation thing. the older ones can't shut up about Gretzky and co and how hockey players were better before, or best shot at coming at 'em is Sid.

it's an awkward thing being named best player in the world -- toews has more cups, ovi has more goals, etc.

i only saw gretzky live once (1991 canada cup) and tbh he made passes that i'm not sure anyone else would have ever envisioned. it's obviously a very different game now, but his stats are overwhelming -- it's not like anyone else of his era was doing similar things.

i've seen a lot of lemieux and crosby and i don't think the comparisons are helpful. justin bourne has written about the differences between the echl and the ahl, let alone the nhl -- basically everyone now is not just crazy talented, but they're also working insanely hard off-ice.

the average nhl player is bigger, faster and more talented than 10 years ago, let alone 20 or 30. ultimately i think the league should move to international-sized rinks, but a less costly approach would be to simply call penalties like it did just after the lockout.

dumbass expansion (fuckin las vegas really?) will dilute the talent pool, but i'm hoping the excitement of 3-on-3 overtime will lead to 'wouldn't it be great if everyone had more room?'

broken clavicle for mcdavid, out for 'months'

:<

saw Eichel on sunday and didn't do much; seemed physically overmatched/slight but he's lol19

p choked about mcdavid :c

regulars itt will know I have no love for the Hawks but it has been cool to see a kid from my hometown & alma mater, Tanner Kero, get a shot in the show with them over the last couple of games

why oh why do you pull your goalie with 2:40 left when you don't have puck posession

teams have been doing that a lot lately. Isles did it 2 days ago

i don't know, every time i see that, the losing team has a least the puck to themselves, or offensive zone faceoff, or some cycle going on.

maybe current emphasis on possession means that you have the skill players to extend the final-minute-goalie-pull-gambit to a full 2 min +? Isles at full strength can do that. Kings + Hawks too, obviously. I wouldn't expect, say, buffalo to try it very often

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nhl-coaches-are-pulling-goalies-earlier-than-ever/

Judging by the tweets posted above, the owner of the Flint Firebirds have fired the ENTIRE coaching staff due to the fact that his son was getting too much ice time. In response to that, the team quit, including the owner's son.

http://www.wingingitinmotown.com/2015/11/8/9694696/report-flint-firebirds-coaching-staff-fired-immediately-after

wings give justin abdelkader 7 year $29.75 million extension

lol? kinda mixed on this one but some people really hate it

"He's 28 years of age. It's hard to find big people that can score 20 goals," said Ken Holland.

in six seasons, abdelkader has scored 20 goals once -- last year, when his shooting percentage mysteriously doubled

i dunno, it's not like he's a bad player, it just seems like that kind of production can be had for less money and a shorter term

lol?

http://hockeyjobs.nhl.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=89383

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUh7azRWsAAqogQ.jpg

uh

not a fan at all

Occurs to me now that Pavel Datsyuk looks like a mix of Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/55OtglvtXuI/maxresdefault.jpg

http://www.fiveforhowling.com/2015/12/2/9835496/john-scott-represent-pacific-division-2016-nhl-all-star-game

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVPf8lfUkAAtWVN.png

@TheStanchion
Think of it as karma for John Scott, for all the violence he's handed out. Stuck playing 3 on 3 against superstars in a non contact game.

lolled at that

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/the-top-50-jerseys-of-all-time-nos-10-1/

Some really good lower league jerseys in here that I've never seen, love the Laval Voisins.

my baseball team based our logo on the trail smoke eaters logo. i love it.

i was only dimly aware of the laval voisins because of lemieux but yesss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNlACB5gz30

on one hand, this is a total hack move cheap shot

on the other hand, fuck brad marchand

"that is delicious video for the boys in New York!"

brandon prust is unremorseful: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/prust-on-fine-best-money-i-ever-spent~764289

pascal dupuis' career is over due to blood clots

wow, that is terrible :( best of luck to him

is the west still the best division in NHL or is this opinion some "the AL East is toughest lol bostone/yankees" canard?