Puck-off! NHL 2022–23

[ursus arctos]

One of the all time greats.

Gone much to soon.

https://twitter.com/dave_stubbs/status/1595974101201469442?s=61&t=qPoNijXVVUa8Al9VeVmoEg

[Hot Pepsi]

It’s great that he was able to come back when he did. Reportedly he didn’t know he was sick until March. What a vicious disease.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah. He was one of the very first of the NHL's European influx and was viewed by the Don Cherry types of the day as a "floater," too weak to play a proper men's game. How hollow that soon sounded. I was lucky enough to see him a couple of times, once with my son and nephews. Horrible way to go, but one of the true greats

[Hot Pepsi]

It’s a reminder of why sports analytics are useful. Because without them the prejudices of people like Don Cherry can just become accepted “fact.”

[Amor de Cosmos]

I never thought of that.

I arrived in Toronto the year before Børje Salming and Inge Hammarstrom, so the NHL was new to me. I couldn't believe how parochial it was, not to mention racist. "Chicken Swedes," "They're stealing jobs from our boys," and similar comments were pretty common. Soccer crowds in England could certainly be prejudiced, but after beatings from Hungary in 1953, and watching Brazil in 1958 and 1970, no one ever doubted the skills, strength or stamina of the players. I was kinda shocked TBH. In much diluted form it gave me an indication of what Jackie Robinson must have faced.

[Billy Casper]

The fact that Don Cherry's Mississauga Icedogs refused to take part in the CHLs import draft, and only played North American born players, shows this attitude was still around in the late 90's/early 2000s too.

[jason voorhees]

Forgive me, been living in a part of the world where the ice is only in a caipirinha or caña or aguardiente the past 5 years....but watching Devs-Preds tonight (1 December 2022,) in a game where the Preds tied it with :08.4 seconds left in the game....and just won in overtime....

...and by the jerseys in the stands and Devils insignia on the ice...is it normal to have Smashville ads or Tennessee Lottery or Nashville ads on the boards that switch?
Screen Shot 2022-12-01 at 9.35.11 PM.png Screen Shot 2022-12-01 at 9.32.02 PM.png
Screen Shot 2022-12-01 at 9.30.48 PM.png


Are there any ads on the boards these days so they can just edit them on for tv viewers?

Or are the ads on the boards in person simply AI'd or videoshopped out?

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah, the ads on the boards are all TV illusions. They aren’t really there. It allows each regional broadcast to have ads relevant to its own market. If you watch both broadcasts of a given game, you’ll see different ads.

They can also change them as often as they want throughout the game.

[jason voorhees]

When did that change? Absolutely hilarious to see Smashville and Tennessee Lottery ads in the Rock.

[ursus arctos]

The league wide rollout was this season

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/tangotiger/status/1600206162867019778?s=61&t=o_M27Sfi_OktTxEgzm2OPw

[Hot Pepsi]

I haven't noticed those problems.
I suspect they'll get it fixed. At least the puck/players disappearing problem.

[jason voorhees]

Thank you ursus. Happy to see I'm not totally insane yet.

This was as bizarre and disorienting as the Fox glowing-acid-track puck was....not the least of which was seeing Nashville Johnny Cashville Smashville ads on the boards in Brick City.

If this continues, it should switch at puck stoppages. But as the thread said, the missing puck is a bridge too far.

[Snake Plissken]

That Tage Thompson is something else. Ovenchkin-esque one-timer, incredible close-up hands, size of Chara. For Mrs P's sake, I genuinely hope that Buffalo finally get to make some noise for the right reasons over the next few years.

[jason voorhees]

A truly horrible story here in which the Clan del Golfo, an up-and-coming Colombian cartel, murdered a father picking his two daughters up from school, along with killing the 10-year-old and injuring the younger in the back seat.

But at least they caught the sicarios and the masterminds. One of whom must've been inspired by Billy Smith.

Islanders Hitmen.png

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/passittobulis/status/1613722617076396032?s=61&t=T2ZTLzuWqRtmr54nHmGmmw

[Amor de Cosmos]

Ugh. I know. I cannot for life of me understand why Myers and Eckman-Larsson are still on the ice. I realise they're on insanely long, obscenely expensive contracts, but that doesn't mean they have to do even more damage by suiting up and actually playing, or vaguely attempting to. There are kids in Abbotsford who'd give their left testicle for a shot in the NHL, why not give them the chance. They couldn't possibly be any worse.

[Amor de Cosmos]

This passing won't mean much here, except to ursus and myself, but Gino was genuinely loved by hockey fans in this town. I'll shed a tear tonight for sure. Not blessed with a huge amount of skill but with a heart as big as this province. He and Pavel Bure — who had skill to burn — were close friends on what was incontestably, in my book, the best Canucks team ever. Maybe because they were both in a similar sense outsiders. Sleep well big guy.

[Hot Pepsi]

That’s very sad. I remember him.

[ursus arctos]

An absolute cult hero for the club

RIP

[Amor de Cosmos]

Excellent piece on Gino by local journo Rod Mickleburgh:

[Billy Casper]

This passing won't mean much here, except to ursus and myself, but Gino was genuinely loved by hockey fans in this town. I'll shed a tear tonight for sure. Not blessed with a huge amount of skill but with a heart as big as this province. He and Pavel Bure — who had skill to burn — were close friends on what was incontestably, in my book, the best Canucks team ever. Maybe because they were both in a similar sense outsiders. Sleep well big guy.

Actually this means something to me too.

At the time, it seemed like Gino and Trevor Linden were the only universally popular players with the entire fanbase. Linden was a good old Canadian farm boy which made him easier to like for a certain stereotypical type of ice hockey fan, but the fact that Gino (always Gino, never Odjick) was First Nations and from Quebec made his popularity even more remarkable.

[Flynnie]

I thought Gino had a longer career with the Habs than he did, but I have good memories of his 49 games with the team.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Actually this means something to me too.

At the time, it seemed like Gino and Trevor Linden were the only universally popular players with the entire fanbase. Linden was a good old Canadian farm boy which made him easier to like for a certain stereotypical type of ice hockey fan, but the fact that Gino (always Gino, never Odjick) was First Nations and from Quebec made his popularity even more remarkable.

Of course. My apologies I'd forgotten, you worked at the rink, right?

[Billy Casper]

GM Place for a decade. Just in time to see the '94 team broken up...

I couldn't care less about them now, but the play off run to back then was incredible.