** NHL & Ice Hockey Discussion **

rjk

rjk

rjk

Caporegime
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47 Days until the new NHL Season starts.

Not that I am counting,

There has been some crazy stuff going down in the 2015 off season and I thought some early hockey discussion wouldn't go a miss.

Offseason headlines and key talking points ICYMI:

Adidas
2017 will see a change to Adidas from the current Reebok branding in the NHL jerseys.
Bit of a strange move in my opinion as Adidas owns Reebok who are well known in hockey but apparantly are moving towards a lifestyle and fitness brand with Adidas taking their place. Seems odd when Adidas also owns CCM who are a much more established brand in hockey, surely it would make more sense to go with that.
Lots of talk about adverts on jerseys too but it seems to be a lot of internet talk right now. I can't see many fans appreciating that one.

McDavid
The kid knows his stuff, watching any of his highlight goals from the otters shows why was the 1st pick. All reports from the Oilers camp show promise with their current roster all reacting positively to him. May be just PR but we will have to see what he does over the course of this season. I personally can't see him living up to the hype in his rookie year.

Kessel
Did NOT see that one coming. Kessel moving to the Penguins is going to be pretty big. He is a superstar without question and put up impressive numbers last season whilst playing for a relatively poor Leafs front line. Pairing this guy up with one of the best playmakers in the game (Crosby) is sure to see a very formidable line one and special teams line from the Penguins.
They might even beat the Flyers this season too...

Voracek
An 8 year lock up contract for him on his breakout season is a good idea on paper but it was going to go two ways really. They had to pay him that much but also couldn't go above Girou's contract either.
Considering the cap hit his contract has had, Hextall has been smashing out some top level team management now getting some other promising players like Couturier on long and cheap contracts to compensate. Flyers have some depth now. If we don't make the playoffs at least this season then I just don't know.

Daniel Briere Retires
The guy was obviously pretty well regarded. played pretty much everywhere worth noting and showed himself as a valuable asset in every post season campaign he was a part of.

Winter Classic
Bruins vs Habs

Bruins lacking Defence
Well, lets be honest. I know they have been 'rebuilding' but what exactly is that team doing at the moment. Does anybody else know?

Patty Kane
So the dude has been accused of rape. Police investigation under way, no charges currently against him. Got booted off the front of the NHL16 game cover and removed from most of the Bauer marketing stuff too. Innocent until proven guilty I guess, but I am not sure why a multi millionaire, stanley cup winning professional athlete would need to do that.
It could massively hurt the Blackhawks title defence whatever the outcome.

Vegas & Quebec Franchise Rumours.
Both areas have submitted and proceeded to phase 2 of this process. Although I think the west perhaps needs another franchise, I can't help but think that vegas is not really a hockey market and would struggle for attendance. Quebec on the other hand would do much better in my view.
 
Yeah I am up for watching some storm games this season, albeit in the slightly less impressive setting. It used to be immense watching it at the MEN arena.

Gamecenter had a bit of an issue with a class action lawsuit or something last year due to blackout coverage disputes or something. I didn't really understand as it doesn't apply to us really but I know there were problems.

I can imagine GCL will be on offer this year though as it is likely to be one of the largest revenue streams for the NHL.


xGBHxPegasus said:
Defo looking forward to the season and getting the Ducks 3rd jersey which is rumored to be orange (which will look much better with a Ducks logo on it ;) )
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Its ok to be wrong :p

that said, the Duck 3rd this year does look pretty cool. never been a fan of their black jerseys, their purple and green jersey was easily their best. good to see them using the original logo again.
 
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Banzai_Joe said:
Hi, i don't play, my lad does.
Played at Nottingham since he was 7. Had 3 seasons in Sheffield under Rocket Ron Shudra then back to Nottingham.
He's 17 now, played for England u14's and this years England u17's
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ah yeah I remember you saying now from last years thread. meanwhile I took up Ice last month in addition to all the Inline that I do. 4 hours of rec hockey ice time. I cant stop at all but my stickhandling saves me. :p

LoopyOrc said:
Hoping Kessel will be lethal this season sitting on a line with Sid!
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I think it is safe to say that there will be a lot of goals coming from that lineup.

just checked and he has 25 goals and 36 assists from last season. I think the question of Sid feeding Kessel the goals will be answered but more to the point, Kessel feeding Sid will be the most dangerous thing. Crosby is a bugger for rebounds and if Kessel misses then you can bet your bottom dollar that Sid will be cleaning up those missed opportunities.
 
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dr_volki said:
who do you play for? should get a game organized :cool:
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just playing rec with Telford Spartans because theyre closest to me. I'm a beginner so its just a case of getting ice time when I can.

I play inline for Hitmen in the WIHL
 
I'm about to drop some serious cash when Bauer release the roller hockey version of their 1x skates. Only justified by the frequency that I play. My Ice skates are some second hand cheapo jobbies I got off eBay.

I started off playing inline again with about £400 worth of kit
From there I have added bits of kit intended for ice. It can be do e cheaper if you're on a budget. I was lucky as a kid as my dad lives in the states so gear was much cheaper over there. Wouldn't like to pay for a kid to play though. Forever growing out of kit...

Now I get most of my stuff from hockeymonkey as its loads cheaper than UK stores.

It's not the cheapest sport to play. Especially when you factor in breakables like sticks, travel and rink time.
 
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I know I don't need £500+ skates. I like playing hockey and for once I want to own some top of the range skates. I have no other justification than that really.

I think you can get away with cheap everything but there is a huge difference in a £50 stick and a £200 stick. I started back with a cheapo Nexus which was ok. I recently got the new 1x stick and the difference is night and day. accuracy, release, puck feel. its hard to quantify until you use both back to back. I occasionally take my cheap nexus sticks out for a shift and my shooting is very inconsistent.

my only advice would be to avoid buying sticks from anyone but a main dealer as I got stung with a counterfeit 1x originally. Felt fine for a few sessions and it was really light and whippy as described above but snapped very quickly. I emailed Bauer who confirmed it wasn't legit. Got the money back through paypal but wouldn't risk another ebay deal on a stick again.



also...
 
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dr_volki said:
how good is your skating? top of the range skates come with a lot stiffer boot than others.
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Its perhaps the strongest part of my game if I am being honest. My current skates are quite stiff already [Mission AC4 *fit like a Bauer Supreme] but the fit isnt great and there is a lot of empty space around my foot in the boot which isn't there in my vapour ice skates.

I have had a lot of success with www.monkeysports.uk recently. got my ice shorts from there for £45. They were £80 in puckstop.
Their delivery times are decent and their stick prices are loads cheaper than in the UK. everywhere seems to have an easton sale on at the moment so youre probably in luck.


Banzai_Joe said:
Laddo uses the Total series of sticks; TotalOne and TotalSupreme. Tends to use a 87 flex on a backstrom curve iirc. He also has a 105 flex supreme which we got for £100 instead of £240, but its never even touched the ice in 2 seasons. :eek:
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bloody hell, I'm 6ft and 85kg and I use an 87 flex, I dont think id be able to flex a 105.

Tried an 87 flex Supreme MX3 and the blade felt very soft and the stick didnt load up how I wanted it to. I think the low kick point sticks suit my shots much better than these mid kickpont sticks. I used to use an Easton 'Z Bubble' when I was a kid so that is probably where the low kickpoint preference comes from.
 
Ev0 said:
Need some new wheels at the moment and so tempted to just get a new pair :)
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Labeda addictions. they are expensive but they are easily the best I have used. When you are in the states, grab some of the Addiction signatures if you can. they are slightly grippier. cant get them over here.

Banzai_Joe said:
Well, bugger! :mad:
My lad decides to tell me last night that he needs new gloves......and cage.
He'll be 18 in January so he needs a visor as well. He has to use a cage when playing for u18s, but a visor when playing for u20s and ENL.
Doubt i'll get much change from £200. :rolleyes:
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hockeymonkey is your friend.

bauer HDO visor is £73 on puckstop. £43 on hockeymonkey.
cheapest bauer cage on puckstop is £32. £23 on hockeymonkey.

The Supreme gloves I am eyeing up are £170 on puckstop. £120 on hockeymonkey.

The price differences are laughable really. Puckstop don't even try to be competitive as they dont have a direct competitor in the UK so they just try and make fat margin.

That said, I will probably pick up my skates from there as I want to try a few pairs on to get the best fit and their range is huge.
 
NHL 16 game thread in the console section. I'm ps4 and rjkoneill if anyone wants to add me.

I want to try and make a few Manchester storm/ notts panthers games this year. Anyone been to watch the storm yet?

Looking forward to October, the info coming out of a lot of training camps so far looks very interesting. Especially from the teams who have had shakeups on the rosters this off season.
 
How is everyone watching this year?
not had any indication when GCL will be available yet but I have been considering trying HockeyStreams this year. mainly to avoid having to mess around bypassing blackouts.

anyone else use that service?
 
I saw that GCL mail on reddit too but havent had a mail myself to renew. Perhaps because I got my sub through google play.

Will just have to keep an eye out I think. Did some reading into hockeystreams and really cant be bothered with it now so just going to go with GCL again and use adfreetime to get round blackouts
 
Just tried to watch some pre season games on GCL. Getting very bad stuttering at all quality levels. What's going on? Anyone else getting the same?

edit* tried it again at work this morning. same problems. very odd.

edit2* same story on a colleagues computer and a different browser.
 
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xGBHxPegasus said:
Was that live or recorded?
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It seems to have got better now, none of them have been live, i just wanted to catch up on what has been going on.

I contacted CGL support and they told me [after fobbing me off several times] that they are just doing testing feeds and that I shouldn't be able to watch pre season games anyway. morons.

for anyone wanting to watch some great hockey, the Wild vs Jets game was immense. 8-1 or something with some insane hockey going on.

Furyus said:
anyone know if there is a hockey team in bristol or anything? I'd love to give it ago, I'm pretty decent on the ice.
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http://www.eiharec.co.uk/team_list.php

that is a list of all the registered recreational teams in the UK. find the closest one and join up. That's how I started playing Ice Hockey.
 
I see the referees have had a lovely off season. the jackass officiating the Rangers Flyers pre season game made a shocking 'hooking' call and gave the rangers a penalty shot.
[it was a stick lift which is perfectly legal btw]

trying not to be salty about it but its hard not to when Voracek was blatantly tripped at the other end of the ice moments prior...

not many days left until the season starts now. very exciting times.
 
also, for your entertainment:

Big G and some scrub tier player called Bobby Ryan having a good chirp at eachother here.
 
Vanquish-Storm said:
How strange - mine was PayPal but I thought it was going down to or something this year.

Still worth it tbh.
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meh, its not like I wont get my moneys worth out of it. Will have to look into it for next season but its not that much of a big deal. As far as I'm concerned the service is worth it.

Think I will take out an Adfreetime sub as well to get around blackouts. unless anyone has any other suggestions?
 
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