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    Totems is kind of a dumb name anyway. Totem is derived from an Ojibwe word and they didn’t live anywhere near Seattle. And it would basically be calling the team the Fightin’ Symbols.

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      Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
      Totems or Thunderbirds could work with the support of the local tribes.

      I confess that I don't know to what extent (if any) they have been involved with the current WHL team.

      I think these are quite sharp (the shoulder crest is that of the Metropolitans, though re-coloured)



      I assume that Marvel would shut down Ironmen very quickly.
      Thunderbirds are already a team (Seattle's WHL side) so I'd expect that to be a no go. I know you have the NY and Kitchener Rangers but still.

      Surprised to see the Avs doing so well. I suppose having 3 genuinely elite players in Landeskog, MacKinnon and now Rantanen is great but I was never overly convinced with their depth, defence or goaltending. They were my team in the Channel 5 days, although I picked up an interest in the Habs to annoy my hockey friends (2 Leafs and 1 Blackhawks fan).

      Some upheaval in the EIHL in the past couple of weeks. A few players moving on, either to other leagues or being released. Cardiff seem to have hit some form troubles and Sheffield aren't the team they'd hope to be this year despite changing coach. Strangely enough Paul Thompson is doing pretty well over in Schwenniger following his Steelers sacking - his Wild Wings team beat my Adler Mannheim in the local Neckar derby. My own team (Clan) aren't consistent enough but anything is better than last year's disaster under John Tripp.

      From a UK hockey perspective, young Kirk has bagged a few more points in Peterboro and is looking like he's settling in after an extended cold streak. Not sure if we'll be able to call him up for the worlds next year, although I don't see the Petes being genuine post season candidates. We've got a fair few older players and have lost a couple to retirement. It'll be interesting to see who Pete Russell calls up to his final squad. Perlini has been quiet for Nottingham this year but was a major player for us in Group A last time out. Bowns isnt in great club form right now but is assured the starting role. O'Connor is back in Sheffield so will have plenty of ice time between now and next year in Slovakia. Big worry is whether or not Dowd can recover from his injury and regain some form because we're not blessed with offence. Russell will perhaps be looking to bring Craig Peacock back into the GB side as he's now his club coach with us. Shields is still around but Dave Clarke is gone and I don't see Brendan Brooks being a part of the squad as a 40 year old who has been cut from his 2nd EIHL side of the season. Balance that up with Mike Hammond who will undoubtedly be expected to provide offence.

      Next game I'll go to in person will be Adler Mannheim v Augsburg Panthers next Friday night, with a Bundesliga game on the Saturday and another trip to the SAP for Mannheim v Ingolstadt on Sunday.

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        As noted in this weekends matchgoing thread over in football, I was lucky enough to be at Red Bull München v Adler Mannheim today, and if your next top of the table clash with Augsburg is as good as this one (with the same outcome, obv) then you’ll have a great time next weekend BSF.

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          Article on Liam Kirk in the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/s...k-england.html

          (Not sure that the woman in the crown in amongst Peterborough's famous former players looks like she'd be that great. Also "tea from Sheffield"?)

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            It's a really good article. One of the things that slightly annoyed me with the Kirk coverage that I saw was their constant referral to him being the first UK born and trained player to be drafted. Clearly they meant first English but very few ever acknowledged Tony Hand and Colin Shields having been drafted by Edminton and Philly respectively. Its probably less of an adjustment from a lifestyle point of view for Kirk than it was for Hand and I'd love to see Liam develop and really grab the opportunity he has.

            DEL duties for me over the past weekend. 2 home games in the SAP in Mannheim. Friday night was a top of the table clash between Die Adler and the Augsburg Panthers. We were behind in the game right up until well into the 3rd period when we levelled the game 3-3. We took the lead and capitalised on an Augsburg empty net to finish 5-3 but it was a really tight game between 2 very capable sides who were deservedly sitting top of the league. Sunday was the opposite - a 7-2 thrashing of Ingolstadt, although the Ingolstadt Panthers did cause a wee bit of panic with 2 goals in the space of 53 seconds before we regained our grip on the game.

            Absolutely love going over to Germany for DEL games. Everything about the DEL is fantastic. It has the best elements of high level hockey and European sports fandom. The hockey is fast and technical. There may be less physicality because on the bigger ice pad a guy will not commit to a check he isnt certain to win, leaving space behind him for an opponent to skate into. Lots of play along the boards which can become niggly. Checking certainly isnt outlawed and you tend to see a fair number of slashing and cross checking penalties but surprisingly few boarding ones. The fans are exceptional and the noise that section 401 generates in the SAP would stand up against any football stehplatz in the whole of the Bundesliga.

            Already anticipating my next visit which, unless Mr Camelot does his thing or I have the chance to go to a game 7 play-off decider, will sadly be next season.

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              Holiday spirit from the management of the Dallas Stars



              No, this kind of napalm attack on a team's stars isn't at all typical of the NHL.

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                Am attending a NHL game tomorrow night for the first time - Canadiens v Wild. What should a novice be looking out for in the game and matchday experience? Gretzky is about the only (ice) hockey star I would be able to namecheck to give an indication of my prior knowledge.

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                  Get there early so you can take in the Habs' pre-game pageantry, which is the best in the league. Watching warmups can also help get you used to seeing the puck, since a lot of it has to do with how players shape themselves when they pass, receive passes, shoot, etc.

                  The arena tour is good, but you would need to do that in the morning or afternoon.

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                    Thanks Ursud, That was a lot of fun. Was in the gods but didn’t have any trouble following the puck. Pre-game sequence of the historic teams projected on to the ice gave me goosebumps. Shame that the only goal was a terrible defensive error.

                    The goalmouth scrambles were exciting and the Habs goalie made a number of excellent saves including a triple save that ranks up there with the best sequence of play from an individual that I have seen in the flesh in any sport. May be routine to him though! I found it difficult to distinguish and tactical nuances or formation changes.

                    They kept the casual fan entertained during the stoppages - the only time that the stadium energy dropped was in the second period when there was free flowing hockey with little clock stoppages. I get the sense that you won’t truly understand the sport without having played it previously or growing up with it.

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                      Really glad you enjoyed it. I was worried when I saw the score.

                      You may well be right about tactics, but it is hard for me to tell after more than 50 years of watching and a couple of playing. It now occurs to me that the frequent changes of personnel during play are likely confusing to a novice.

                      And yes, Carey Price is one of the best goalies in the world.
                      Last edited by ursus arctos; 08-01-2019, 03:54.

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                        A quick detour from the NHL. Veteran Jussi Jokinen re-signed for Kärpät this week, donning the familiar number 36 shirt (almost the same as his age). Also in our ranks are Lasse Kukkonen and Mika "Spede" Pyörälä. I would have first seen the three of them as much younger men playing for us after we won promotion to SM liiga at the turn of the century. Jokinen had a solid though unspectacular career in the NHL, Kukkonen had a couple of short stints over there without quite making the grade, while Spede ploughed his own furrow in Sweden. All three are back where they started. As you were.

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                          I just returned from a 13-day trip to Hawaii, and to my dismay, on the 14 sports channels on my tv, 13 were obsessed witg basketball and the other with golf. I haven't seen a single NHL game during the entire stay, which is thoroughly annoying.

                          At least they also had NHK and NHK World, so in the first week I could follow the Sumo Basho. That was fun.

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                            Originally posted by Muukalainen View Post
                            A quick detour from the NHL. Veteran Jussi Jokinen re-signed for Kärpät this week, donning the familiar number 36 shirt (almost the same as his age). Also in our ranks are Lasse Kukkonen and Mika "Spede" Pyörälä. I would have first seen the three of them as much younger men playing for us after we won promotion to SM liiga at the turn of the century. Jokinen had a solid though unspectacular career in the NHL, Kukkonen had a couple of short stints over there without quite making the grade, while Spede ploughed his own furrow in Sweden. All three are back where they started. As you were.
                            We had a former Kärpät player in our 2nd season at Braehead.

                            https://www.eliteprospects.com/playe...ko-suomalainen

                            His numbers weren't great but we were only in our 2nd year as a pro hockey team. He wasn't terrible.

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                              Adler have qualified for the Champions Hockey League. Should open some trip opportunities for you.

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                                Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                Adler have qualified for the Champions Hockey League. Should open some trip opportunities for you.
                                Funnily enough I turn 40 in September and I was thinking about an extra trip to Mannheim next season.

                                I'll try for a December trip as I love the Christmas market and I'll look for a Bundesliga game to go to but if theres a CHL game at the SAP on my birthday weekend then I'd potentially do another football/hockey weekender.

                                If they draw a UK team then I'll probably be there in the away section.

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                                  Ex-NHL player Sean Bergenheim (whom I had absolutely no idea was Finnish judging from his name) is running for the Finnish parliament.

                                  Holy hell, we're still leading the Patrick + C&C Division.

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                                    Somewhat fortunate winning goal (during the second period of overtime) last night for Csikszereda at local rivals. At about 1.50 in. Brasov have a man advantage (4 on 3 as it's the overtime) and the puck comes out of the zone - straight to the man emerging at that very moment from the penalty box. As a result Csikszereda go 3-0 up in the best of 7 first round of the playoffs. Brasov

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                                      Clinical finish.

                                      That rink looks very wide even by international standards.

                                      Are the Romanian clubs always matched against each other in the early rounds or is that just coincidence?

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                                        Coincidence . We finished 4th they finished 5th. The other Romanian team, Gyergyo, are playing Debrecen

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                                          Watching Game 5 of SKA (St Petersburg) vs Spartak Moscow on Freesports. Been a cracking series so far. All the games have been won by the road team, Spartak nicking Game 1 after coming back from 2-0 down with five minutes left to score the winner with five seconds of normal time. SKA win Game 4 in OT to tie it up.

                                          SKA definitely the better team but Spartak just won't go away. SKA have hit the pipework three times so far in the first 40 minutes of Game 5 and are 1-0 down.

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                                            The DJ in the St Petersburg Ice Palace has included Slade and Queen ("Hammer to Fall") in his playlist. I approve heartily.

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                                              SKA finally make a powerplay count to tie it up. Karpov shoots into the roof of the net and the puck doesn't come down. The commentator apologises as he thought it had gone over and out of play - "difficult to see from this vantage point".

                                              Look, I'm not going to criticise too much because you are a decent commentator but you know and I know you are sitting in a room somewhere in London (probably) and watching the same feed I am.

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                                                Spartak lose their discipline and SKA grab the winner with five minutes left on the powerplay. Game 6 will be live at 2pm this Friday on Freesports.

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                                                  First time I've actually watched a Vegas game (on TV).

                                                  I have never heard a better silence than thru "Oh Canada" (playing the Flames), and the applause was fucking outrageous.

                                                  Then, the same guy sang the US anthem... and like every other home game, the Vegas fans join in with one word, and totally dis the anthem.

                                                  Shame we're a bit average this year. (And Calgary have our number.)

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