Kruppstahl

Either he wants one more big new challenge before retirement, and his family is on board with that in terms of moving and supporting his decision...or he and/or the family don't want to do that. I think that is the determinative factor here. If he leaves Detroit and doesn't come to Buffalo, it will suck. I love Don Cherry; he pisses off a lot of people but that's because he knows where he stands and not everything is going to please everyone all the time. I know the younger generation doesn't like him. The bottom line is the guy understands the game of hockey. Some of his views may be a bit out of step with the modern world of hockey ("He's a no good Swede!") but he gets it. Having said all of the above, I am quite sure Mike Babcock will NOT be basing his decision around anything Don Cherry says. That's true. Grapes is good at self promotion. He's been doing that since the early 1980s, when he last coached in the NHL.

Wouldn't it be wild if knew next Wednesday, when Babcock says he's decided, and he's going to Buffalo? Pegula/Babcock/Eichel That's a whole new world right there! :w00t:

What does everyone make of Babcock's latest comments? He speaks of how "special special" it is to play in Detroit, the tradition of being with an original 6 team....what does his family want to do...his home is in Detroit...but change is good once in a while (paraphrasing) and so on. Sounds like he is going to announce a decision by May 20th. Next Wednesday! I actually think he will stay in Detroit. If he does not, I think he comes to Buffalo. He says he likes instant gratification. I can't think of a situation around the NHL that has the same potential as the Buffalo situation, if he's willing to wait a few years to get things really cooking, and if we are to assume Edmonton is off the table.

Maybe coaching is grossly overrated and all sports teams are only as good as the horses on the field. Or ice.

You got that right! When Wayne Gretzky played, his "shoulder pads" were like padded cotton undergarments almost comparable to a woman's bra, with thin little plastic easter egg cups on the shoulders and lots of guys didn't wear helmets. Now they wear NFL style body armor, helmets, visors, and the goalies fill 67.476% of the net. Get rid of all of it! Where the hell has the NHL been over the last, 0h, 30 years...as equipment manufacturers have literally altered the nature of the game? The NHL has been, is, and always will be, a very poorly run organization. It's just how it works. New rule! Helmets optional, visors not allowed, and the only helmet choice available for those who chose to wear a helmet is the classic Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley Jofa. That thing was like a thin piece of "Tupper Ware" with a few suggestions of minimal pads on the interior. I mean it didn't offer any protection at all. I think that was the point. It was the helmet to comply with the helmet rule for guys who didn't want to wear a helmet. Perfect. :w00t:

What does everyone think about "Red Dead Redemption" ??? This game receives a lot of praise. I bought it for the PS3 and played it for 3 or 4 hours to get a feel for it. It was supposed to be a "Fallout" type "open world" game but set in the old west. I absolutely hated the game! I thought the fighting was ridiculous (like it was impossible to stay alive) and it was hard for me to slot into a pre-determined plot line and do things. I was constantly thinking "What am I supposed to be doing? I don't get it." Anyway, it didn't last long. It doesn't help that I was definitely not feeling the vibe of the Old West theme. I'm not a huge cowboy movie fan to begin with, but I just wasn't digging that game at all. I'd be curious to hear other opinions of that one.

Can't put any limits or restrictions on players' size. No way. Check out this piece of Sabres history! 1988. Reggie Lemelin. 5'11" 170 lbs. Not just his size, but the equipment. He looks like a kid in net compared to what we have now. For sure. This has been going on for a long time now and it officially got out of control about 10 years ago. By the way! I'm not sure this has anything to do with creating more offense or making the game more exciting at all, in fact, it may have the opposite effect....but.... BRING BACK WOODEN STICKS. This high tech crap has to stop. MLB was very, very smart to keep wooden bats all these years. It's just "right" and should be done, as long as we are taking about rule changes and making the game "better".

If you want to increase the excitement factor in the NHL DRAMATICALLY, go to permanent 4 on 4. Hell, 3 on 3 would be even better. No, it's not going to happen and yes, that's dramatic. But nothing is as fun as the 4 on 4 in OT in the regular season. The bottom line is players are too fast and too big now. This takes away time and space and the ice surface is too small and crowded now. When you get rid of a skater on each side, all kinds of room and time opens up. Further, defensive responsibility becomes absolutely critical. One small mistake usually leads immediately to an open, un-checked man and a prime scoring opportunity. If we are unwilling to go this far, and if you want to truly impact the game in a very simple way, completely re-think the equipment used by the goalie. Make it all safe, of course, but make it ultra streamline so that the size of the goalie's body and little more is what is in front of the net mouth. That alone would not only shift things more to how they used to be for historical continuity, but it would open up a ton more scoring. I'm talking about making a goalie's knee pad 1 inch wider than his leg on either side and that type of thing. Make the nets slightly bigger too. I am not a fan of basketball at all, but I guarantee you the inventors of the game did not envision the "big man" power game we have in the NBA today involving power dunk moves and guys who can very easily dunk the ball while getting their elbow at rim height. The NBA should have gone to 11' nets a long time ago. I am not a fan of any change in the NHL that would see more power plays. Power play hockey sucks. I don't want to see 6 or 7 PPs per side per game, with the best PP unit winning games. That crap is boring. Good point, but I think this is implied in the conversation. And see my comments about 4 on 4. Most hockey fans (I suspect) and those who control the NHL probably don't want to even talk about that, but it's easily the fastest way to make hockey 10 times more exciting than it is right now, without changing a damned thing, other than what constitutes too many men on the ice. The NHLPA wouldn't like it if it meant lower roster slots, but it need not do that. Keep a 20 man unit dressed for games...but 4 at a time go on the ice, plus goalie. The key to 4 on 4 play is the defensive responsibility it creates for everyone on the ice. One man slips, falls down, spaces out for a moment, breaks his stick, fans on the puck...anything...and the other side has an immediate, decisive advantage. It creates tons of anticipation and excitement, inherently, as a result. I love 4 on 4. 3 on 3 would be better.

Oh yes. Well I was. I didn't even know there was this soccer thread here! So who will win? Barcelona or Juventus? My European team is Juventus, so I'm biased...but actually I think Barcelona will probably win in the Final. I see a lot of English Premiership stuff here. Anyone follow the Bundesliga or Serie A? In the Bundesliga I love to hate Bayern and cheer for Borussia Dortmund.

I agree that DC is way more depressing than vegas. I kind of ignore the dialogue and that aspect of these games entirely, so I can see why that didn't bother me as much as it did you. I would also add that I loved the music/radio station options in DC as opposed to Vegas. I don't know. They are both very similar games obviously, but I'd rather play the DC version. But Far cry 3 is better than either! I will forever associate "Butcher Pete" with Fallout 3. The tasty, cynical irony of "Let's go Sunning" is another great one. By the way, I loved "Victor" the robot and all the other Securitron robots that looked like him. Just the aesthetics of them were cool. I thought of making a model of one of them.

Absolutely! Glad you saw it and enjoyed it.

Anyone interested in food or good documentaries, or both: Watch "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." Great piece of filmmaking and even better if you like sushi or Japanese culture. I was blown away by this film, and Jiro! What a stud.

Well I lived in DC for like 13 years, so it was fun to wander around a wasted DC. But I just found the storyline or environments somehow cooler in the DC game. I found wandering around in the desert to be boring and the "strip" in Vegas was kind of boring. Although let me say this! As a lover of ancient Roman history, I was digging the whole Roman angle to New Vegas and how they were properly pronouncing "CAESAR" with a proper ancient Roman Latin accent. NOT "SEE-ZER" like we say now but "KAI-ZAR" the way Latin was spoken in 50 BC. That was good. This is kind of how I look at it too. I also discovered this game with Fallout 3, so that could have something to do with it. Anyone else follow my approach of always remaining 1 generation of Playstation behind the current version!? Hey, I'm cheap. This is great. It means all the "cool new games" which are only new to ME are $19.95 or $29.95 and not $59.95...and I always get the PS generation when it is $199. I did it that way with PS1, 2, and 3. When PS4 is $199, I'll buy that too. :w00t: :w00t:

Not sure this is being coached, but it is another change in the game and it is definitely part of the problem. My theory is that the new generation of NHL players have learned to do this almost "accidentally" because you can get away with it in a softer game. Rob Ray talks about this type of thing all the time, and how the new batch of "kids" is nothing like NHL players of Ray's generation. Which wasn't that long ago!

I'm sure some owners would be pissed off, maybe most of them. But what is the point of being a multi-billionaire if you can't light cigars with 100 dollar bills!? This is the real power of Pegula's wealth. It's not about player salary because that is all capped anyway. It's the intangible stuff. Like paying your coach $4 million more per year than he would get with any other franchise, or building up the best/most expensive scouting department in the league, having the best training facilities, and so on. The stuff that isn't capped, but money can buy. I'd just love to see Babcock in Buffalo, especially if it's because Pegula throws a ridiculous sum his way. It will feel good to be one of the "haves" for a change!

Fallout 3 is one of the best video games I've ever played. The New Vegas thing was a big disappointment in comparison. Just finished playing Far Cry 3 for the second time! LOL. The game is great. Does anyone know of a decent fighter plane type of video game (WW2) for PS3 or that I could play on my Apple laptop? I mean something realistic where your view is out the cockpit of the plane.

No doubt repeated smaller hits to the head causes long term damage too. Well that's cool that you are a mechanical engineer. I am a gear head with a fetish for all things mechanical. If you ever find yourself in Germany, look up the technical museum in Sinnsheim. I think you'd enjoy yourself there.

Well what I meant about Rob Ray is that, if you listen to him every few days through an entire NHL season (he speak very candidly with Schopp and Bulldog on game days) he doesn't sound like a man struggling with depression, but he could be. I will agree to that. I disagree about the replays. This business of slamming guys head first into the boards from behind simply did not exist in the game in even the 1980s. Back then there were 1 or 2 (if not a lot more) guys on every team who would make you pay for crap like that, so crap like that didn't exist, for the most part. There were ALWAYS isolated incidents and cheap shots, for sure! But a little jabbing spear here or there, a little elbow as a player skates by is not the same thing. And if we are all worried about head shots/concussions in the NHL, take out hitting in general. My punch (as an NHL enforcer) is not going to hurt you nearly as much as the hit across the middle. Mass x acceleration = force. If you think my ability to accelerate my fist is going to deliver as much force as a 220 lb. man skating full speed into your jaw, you don't understand physics. (I don't mean you specifically, Neuvichs Perchatka. Just using a figure of speech).

Or does it give a history of a guy with serious depression issues? Malarchuk is a great guy and he has dealt with a lot of depression through his life, for reasons having not much to do with head hits in hockey, or fighting in hockey. Rob Ray remains one of the top penalty minute/fighting NHL players of all time, but is a rather cheerful guy if you listen to him on WGR 550. Lastly, most guys who become enforcers in the NHL know 100% what they are getting into, and have known for a long time. I love Rob Ray. He took what God gave him (modest IQ, little to no formal education, great work ethic, strong body, good but not great hockey skills) and converted it into millions of dollars, regional celebrity status, and a blossoming business empire fueled by his celebrity. All because he knew the odds and decided the life he has now was going to be better than working the counter at Canadian Tire in Stirling. That's his prerogative. It is condescending to suggest a tough guy in hockey doesn't know what he's getting into. Of course he does, and he has a right to do what he wants. Ditto for boxers, coal miners, the guys who hook up F-18s to catapults on aircraft carriers, and all other potentially highly dangerous professions. Hell, how about every guy who has ever played in the NFL? ALL of those guys end up with a body that is SHOT by the time they get into their 40s. A lot of them are dead in their 50s. They do it because they chose to. And your sports fan money fuels the system. Same in hockey. If 2 guys decide they want to fight, let them fight. I hope this doesn't leave the game. I hear what you are saying regarding the Campbell/Umberger hit...but I think that was a clean hit then and a clean hit now. How the league would react to it now would be interesting to see. We don't see too many hits like that anymore. How about Scott Stevens? He made a career out of killing people with clean open ice hits (mostly). Currently, Kronwall is similar. It's harder to find guys nowadays who go out of their way to cut people in half. Thank God we still have a few left. I mean, we can turn the NHL into a fast moving game of chess if we want. But I'm not going to watch that. I'd rather just watch a video of Kasparov vs. Topalov from 1999. Take the hockey out of hockey and you are left with...not much. The NFL is currently the most successful piece of sports entertainment in the history of sports entertainment. The violence/speed of the game is central to that. Turn it into flag football but keep the unbelievable speed and athleticism on display and watch the ratings plummet. You have to define "cheap shot." What the Rat did is not the same as the prevalent boarding from behind now. If the Rat had nailed John Tucker into the boards in the mid '80s, he would know that Steve Dykstra would try to kill him. That's why the Rat didn't do that sort of thing. He cheap shotted his butt off in more cunning, subtle ways (LOL). It is true there have always been players like Ulf who played on the edge and as I said earlier, cheap shots have always been around. But I assert they were never around as prevalently as they are now. Wayne Gretzky in his prime centered a line with Jari Kurri and DAVE SEMENKO for a reason. As great as the Great One was, he wouldn't have been quite as Great without all that ridiculous working room Dave Semenko bought him.

Not necessarily. Hockey fighting isn't boxing, and very few NHL players over the years have had what boxing people would consider true punching power. Rob Ray knocked out a number of players. That was exceptional. Brad May had a good punch, ditto Joey Kocur. There haven't been too many guys like that. Yes, quantity of fights can trump quality of punching power, but the "head shots" that scare me aren't the ones received via a punch in a fight. It's the callous lack of regard head hunting hits and hits from behind into the boards where a guy is going to get killed some day. A punch can never match the energy transfer of a head hunting hit in open ice anyway. Not even close.

This may be out of left field for some users here, some of whom may not even have been born at the time... But who remembers the last real Battle of Alberta in 1991? That remains the best 7 game Cup playoff series I have ever seen. It had it all. The ice loaded with future hall of famers, Messier throwing what Harry Neale called "the best elbow I've ever seen" that nearly decapitated Rick Nattress. Theo Fleury flying around like a crazy man. I remember him taking a charge at an Oiler, the Oiler moving, and little Theo flying face first into the boards. Big time heavyweight fights with the likes of Tim Hunter and Dave Brown...unbelievable goaltending, unbelievable end to end action, unbelievable excitement and anticipation. Unbelievable flow, play making, passing... That NHL doesn't exist anymore. The NHL needs to do something about this.

Oops. Sorry about that.

So it's now official. Our 1st round pick from the Islanders will be Pick # 21. Who do we take with that pick? What are the odds that player is a keeper? And do we use that pick to take a player in the draft at all!? I see Tim Murray hustling and shuffling on draft day like a maniac (not counting taking Eichel 2nd overall). Will we use Pick 21 as currency in a larger deal?

Just saw Chris Botti a few weeks ago. Unbelievable show if you are into jazz. PS: He's in Toronto in June for those here who still live in WNY.

Agreed. I doubt I will be able to find the enthusiasm to actually sit down in front of a TV for these games. The other series will decide the Cup Winner; I'll follow that closely.