You mean we can talk HOCKEY on DU ??

:loveya:

I truly AM in heaven now 8O) !!!



:hippie:

you mean they are going to play hockey this year...well my blackhawks haven`t played hockey in years....but there`s always minor leauge hockey-cheap tickets-cheap beer and food- usually really good seats right in front of the glass...ice hogs rule....

You mean Rockford Ice Hogs? I live in the QCA, home of the Mallards. Wonder if anyone else in here has any idea who these two teams are? Quad-City Mallards and Rockford Ice Hogs.

:toast:


:hippie:

I'm lucky enough to live in an AHL City, we still have great Hockey. Last year I lived in Clearwater, FL and went to many Lightning games including the SC Playoffs. If I hadn't moved back north this past June.......I'd be watching NOTHING now. This strike is making me sick. I weep for the poor folks in Canada, they HAVE to be going absolutely nuts up there. WE NEED OUR HOCKEY, EY?

... some of the best junior hockey in the nation !

For the past several years hockey in Indy has degenerated from IHL to AHL to CHL ... at the end of last season the owner pulled the plug. A local dude who used to play in the AHL <?> bought the rights from him and got the USHL franchise.

And fortunately, I'm close enough to some kick-ass college hockey (which is my first love anyway) that my addiction won't suffer for the NHL's absence.


:hippie:

:pout:

Anybody know how I can get a pirate receiver to get the European channels? I'm sure they televise their hockey games.

televising some of our AHL games on cable. I don't know if you have cable, or what system but look through some of the more obscure channels, you might be surprized.

in lieu of the NHL.

You might want to check and see if you have access to ESPN3, Fox-Midwest, or some of the dish networks.

:hippie:

You want to see CHL games

with a bunch of college players. It's getting a lot better.

Compared to how many CHL teams have won it, once means nothing

Indy had that up thru last season ... a bunch of "never were's" playing in a glorified bar league for $500 a week cause they don't want to get real jobs.

Please. My Grandma could outskate half those guys !!


:hippie:

The CHL is the blanket term for the junior teams....guys who go on to the NHL

www.centralhockeyleague.com.

Is there another CHL ?


:hippie:

Mention CHL to any Canadian and they'll think of the league with the webpage below:

CHL Website

According to their website 123 of the 292 players picked in the 2003 NHL draft were from the CHL.

But different divisions

Ever great player came out of those leagues

I will stand by my preference for NCAA D-1 hockey, however ...

:hi:


:hippie:

That 123 draft picks number does come from the OHL, WHL, and the Q. The remainder of the players mostly come from Europe and there are a few from NCAA hockey. Maybe 10 years ago the vast majority of players came from the CHL, but NHL scouts are now doing a better job of tapping the talent pool from the other side of the Atlantic. (Or at least they would be if those stupid bastards would come to a labour agreement.)

Also I beg to differ that every great player came from the CHL. Most of them do, but not all of them. Off the top of my head: Peter Forsberg came directly from Sweden, Alexander Mogilny came directly from Russia, and didn't Ken Dryden play for Princeton?

When I said "great" I meant Gretzky/Lemiuex/Orr great

had to do a double-take at the brew pub the other night when I saw McSorley on the screen. Of course, those Raider uniforms were a dead giveaway too.

:yourock:


:hippie:

NOW! DAMNIT!

Here's a cute primer for NHL fans looking to the college leagues to fill a void this season ...

http://www.uscho.com/news/2004/09/20_008649.php

NHL Fan's Guide to College Hockey
by Mike Volonnino/Staff Writer

So Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow want to fight for the right to be the man who killed the game of hockey? Good for them. What more can you expect out of a Cornell grad and Harvard grad, respectively? They can destroy the NHL all they want, but ice rinks, ice skates, sticks, and Vulcanized rubber disks affectionately called pucks still endure. If you thought the World Cup was the last high-level hockey played in North America, let not your heart be troubled. There are alternatives — and I don't mean football, or, cough, basketball.

We here at USCHO.com are the caretakers of another version of the world's fastest sport — college hockey. If in the midst of this apocalyptic autumn, you, NHL-fan, stumbled across this web site looking for a hockey fix, welcome. Spend a season with hockey played the NCAA way and you may laugh as players and owners figure out how to divide up the proceeds from the NHL's latest TV contract with NBC (how many ways can you slice zero dollars?) You may have caught the Frozen Four on ESPN, or shed a tear at the story of Travis Roy, but now that the NHL has gone away, may we suggest a closer look at our sport.

There are some aspects of the college game you will not be used to:


1) Speed: College players still gain full heads of steam and dart into and out of zones with the acceleration not seen in the NHL since the Pittsburgh Penguins went bankrupt. Part of the reason is that not everyone in our game is 6-foot-5, 250 lbs., so there is actually room on a standard ice sheet. There are more Brian Giontas and Martin St. Louis out there ready to dazzle with their quickness and creativity. While far from perfect, three-quarters of Division I does not play a version of the neutral zone trap.

2) No two-line pass: It will take you about five minutes to realize the playmaking possibilities of being able to annihilate an entire forecheck with one long, accurate pass. You'll adjust to automatic icing too.

3) Creative fans: NHL fans are robotic. Like every other professional sports fan, you have been programmed to make Pavlovian eruptions to whatever mundane cheers come over the scoreboard. How many times can someone really chant, "Let's Go Sabres?" Hockey is much better experienced with such ditties as, "Hey Army, is that all you can be?" And woe to any visiting goalie who allows a puck get by him. Think that the "Hex-tall" jeer from a few years back was cruel? You have much to learn. Fans exhibit much more inventiveness here as they pursue ever meaner and more colorful ways to deride a hapless opponent.

4) Passion: So the lockout wipes out half of the season, who cares? NHL players don't really start playing until March anyways. With limited slots in the NCAA tournament and a much shorter regular season, college hockey ratchets its intensity level by Christmas and nothing beats the "one-and-done" format for pure emotion come postseason time. Watch your favorite players care. Oh, and college players don't draw a salary.

5) Cheap tickets: Since the NHL insists on paying its players like a major league sport, but without the major league television revenues —see the zero dollars comment above — it has to finance its game on the backs of its fiercely loyal fans. Why not come to a game in a charming facility, take the wife and kids, and actually be able to afford hot dogs? As an additional bonus, you'll actually be able to see the game. The $15 that doesn't get you into the Fleet Center to see the Bruins, will get you into Walter Brown to see Boston University. Unlike a lot of college arenas, they will sell you a beer there, but if you want to save some bucks, you can bum a swig of some sophomore's flask. It's college!


Through it all, the game retains the physical intensity that the SportsCenter generation craves. However, the sport accomplishes it without the callow fighting that continues to limit the respectability of the professional game. If you want fights, go see the ECHL, but if you want to see the next generation of the game's best players, the NCAA is where it is at.


... the article goes on to list a guide to help NHL fans find a college team that will be to their liking (tongue in cheek) ...


:hippie:

I still root for the Gophers when it comes to football and basketball (especially women's hoops - gotta love our Lindsey Whalen), but the UMD Bulldogs have won my college hockey heart.

:(

I grew up in Green Bay, used to watch Badger Bob's boys play in Madison.

A couple of my old, old friends now coach at U Wis-River Falls (D3) and U Minn (D1).

is awesome. Northern Michigan University alum here, and one thing I really miss is the high energy of a game against MSU or U of M.

If God plays a sport, its hockey. Or curling.

...although we've pretty much sucked ever since Jerry York left for Boston College.

Also sucks that the U of Findlay disbanded their team after last year.

Todd McIlrath, (www.indianaice.com) the Ice's high scorer and team 'front man' committed to Bowling Green after last season.

Thus far this season he's got a 10 game scoring streak and is pretty much unstoppable if he gets a breakaway. Keep an eye out for him !!


:hippie:

I look forward to that.

It's always Wisconsin or Minnesota. Once in a blue moon they have Michigan, but they ALWAYS have Wisconsin or Minnesota, which is really annoying.

:headbang:

MAYBE!

GO BLUE.

I remember going to games when my sister was at Madison - watching Bob Suter, Mark Johnson, the Lecy Brothers ... all those wild party men back in the early 80's.

Badger hockey was just so eff-in' cool !!!

I haven't seen the Kohl Center yet, what's it like ?



:hippie:

but it will never compare to the atmosphere of the coliseum.
The Kohl Center's great for concerts too. I've seen Dylan and saw Dave Matthews and Ben Harper there.

I miss my Blue Jackets hockey. :(

Cleveland Barons and Cincy Mighty Ducks ...
and, U-Miami of Ohio, not to mention NAHL (juniors tier 2)...

Lotsa hockey to keep you busy, dude !


:hi:

There is lots of it, OSU hockey being the closest and cheapest, but I still miss the Blue Jackets.

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

University of Denver comes to mind.

The Pioneers ROCK !
The Frozen Four last year was AWESOME !


:hippie:

I love watching Minnesota Wild games. :(

It's going to be a looooooooong winter w/o the NHL. :(

no nhl, its all good, find a college team; the tickets are cheaper too


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

This season.....ummm....never mind....the Ice are playing in Indy, I guess.

www.indianaice.com :) :) :)

... and the Komets are in full swing up in Ft Wayne.



:hippie:

we still miss the Jets, so the NHL strike is just another punch in the gut. We have the moose but they just don't cut it. But with the new Arena that opened up here last week it should be a little better..

A very few of them have signed and are playing with the CHL & UHL, and last week I saw an article that Jagr is playing for some semi-pro league over in Russia.

:hippie: