yeah, i can't stand that either. both as a hockey fan and a former player, the viewing angles are totally different between the stands and the ice. When in the stands, you see a guy on the point with a "wide open" shot, it is in fact closed up. However, as a TV viewer, those a-holes are great... it shows that hockey fans watch the game intently and it shows unity. as a player though, you don't hear them at all.
now onto a different topic... its been like 7 or 8 years, but i'm still angry over this. why is #99 retired in buffalo? ok, gretzky is the best ever... i get that... but why is his number retired in buffalo, boston, or montreal? those teams were around long before wayne took the ice and had nothing to do with wayne's career. sometimes i hate the nhl.
i do love the tsn sabres lovefest though. it might not be an amerian market, but canada is getting a lot of sabres ballwashing this week. atoning for their crappy power ranking maybe??