Panthers & general hockey chatter

[Sunstroke]

Nice to see Florida start the season the right way, with a 2-0 shutout of the Islanders on the road. Jose Theodore with 27 saves, Weiss (my favorite Panther) with a nice little inside-scooper goal, and Brian Campbell with helpers on both goals and a sick 30 minutes of ice time (for which my fantasy sqad says "Thanks!")

[Phishfan]

As an Isles fan, the game sucked

[Brian Fein]

I am optimistic for the Panthers this season.  They seemed to play with fire last night that I haven't seen in a while.  I wonder if these guys actually know what they're doing.

The days of bringing in talented players with shitty attitudes is over.  Nate Horton can suck my nuts.

[Sunstroke]

I am optimistic for the Panthers this season.  They seemed to play with fire last night that I haven't seen in a while.  I wonder if these guys actually know what they're doing.

The days of bringing in talented players with shitty attitudes is over.  Nate Horton can suck my nuts.

In a bizarre tie-in, my first-ever fantasy hockey trade (3 days ago) was dealing goalie Niklas Backstrom for Nathan Horton. I was really deep at G, and needed shooters.

[StL FinFan]

I hope the Blues don't suck this year.

[raptorsfan29]

the maple leafs started the season off right. 2-0 win first game against montreal and 6-5 win against the senators yesterday, although i was annoyed they were up 4-0 after 2 periods and almost blew the game.

[SportsChick]

I'm with Brian. It was so nice to see the Panthers playing as a TEAM; something that seemed to be missing the past couple years.

[mecadonzilla]

I hope the Blues don't suck this year.

That has been a relative rarity...until the last few years, of course.

[Tenshot13]

Rays knocked out of the playoffs....USF get's destroyed by a unranked team...Dolphins 0-4....NBA in a lockout....GO BOLTS!!!!


One of the only hopes I have right now.

[Brian Fein]

Tenshot, I have tickets to the Panthers' home opener against the Bolts.  You should come down for the game.

[Tenshot13]

Tenshot, I have tickets to the Panthers' home opener against the Bolts.  You should come down for the game.

Thanks for the offer Brian, but I am broke as a joke until I find a new job...I'll be lucky to make it to a Bolts game in my own backyard this season.

[wyvernmcd]

I thought the Panthers game went well considering they really should learn to put teams away in the 3rd when they have the chance rather than relying on goaltending to bail them out the whole time. Looks like a good group so far.

Considering that this is also general hockey chatter, I thought of two things to talk about for today:
1. did anyone see the Tampa v. washington game?

That pretty much sucked because I was cheering for Tampa to win the game soley because Vokun sucks. He did ok down here but rather than take a more lucrative contract where he knew the team had the cap space to get a lot of people brought in, he went to Washington taking a massive pay cut (after contemplating retirement after not being picked up on July 1) and then he (along with his sports agent) DEMANDED he get the number 1 role; a role he does not deserve just because he showed up  . Neuiverth (I know I spelled that wrong, sorry) is sooo much better and I really hope he tanks in every game he plays in. No offense Tampa fans but you really should have won that game.

2. Did anyone see the Boston Bruins bring the Stanley Cup to the Sunday football game?

Ok, I know there are loyal Boston sports fans, but this really is a smack to hockey karma and it will probably bite them in the season. Considering how well they played in the playoffs, they are only 1-2-0 and I was really thinking their standings should be the opposite (2-1-0) since most of the players from last year returned, but I'm getting of topic.

Really guys, I understand not winning a championship for a long time and wanting to celebrate it as much as you can. No arguments about that. What I don't understand is that after you "gave" the cup back after raising the banner, yet you are still carrying the cup around. How does that work? All the other teams turned the Cup back to the League, why is this the allowable exception?

Overall, I think its bad karma and it could hurt them bad in the long run.

Hopefully the Panthers do well against Pittsburg tonight but I am expecting a close loss (that's my guess). I'm always up for a suprise, though  

[Phishfan]

I think they maintain "ownership" of the cup through the season. They aren't required to give it back yet. I didn't see any of it. Had they declaired it was going back or something?

[wyvernmcd]

Traditionally at the start of the season, the reining Cup champion has a whole ceremonial production of their new (or first; depending on the team) Stanley Cup Banner to be hung in the rafters of their building during their first home game of the season. During that time the "keepers of the cup" take the cup back to the Hockey Hall of Fame where it can be visited by fans at any time (unless the Cup is going on tour).

Apparently, the Bruins were doing what I described above and I remember seeing the "keepers" take the cup from Chara so that would usually mean that they are taking "ownership" of the Cup until a team wins the NHL playoffs for the year/season, so it was a suprise when I wake up this morning to go over what happened last night (in the NHL) and I see a video of the Bruins bringing the cup to Gillette Field (home of the New England Patriots) After they already celebrated their cup win last week at their home ice rink. This makes it seem that they are not looking ahead to defend their title but still living in the moment, yet some teams are currently passing them by. I know its early and nothing matters until the 2nd half of the season (most of the time), but sports karma is something that they should not be messing with.

That's the way I see it.

[Brian Fein]

is it possible that it was a replica?  In the NFL a replica Lombardi Trophy is given to the team to display.