Hey Everyone,

The NHL Regular season starts tomorrow October 1st so I thought I'd see if there are any hockey fans in the FOG.

I am born and raised 4 hours from Vancouver BC so I've always been a Canucks fan.  They certainly haven't been the best team in the last few years, and have been miserable in the playoffs.  Their preseason went very well so I'm hoping for good things this season.

Even more than an NHL fan, I'm more of a WHL/CHLfan.  The Western Hockey League is part of the Canadian Hockey League and is the premier Major Junior Hockey league in Canada.  Our Kelowna Rockets made it all the way to the National Championship Memorial Cup last year, only to lose in the finals.  They have been an excellent team the last 10 years including making it to 3 straight Memorial Cups in 2003, 2004, and 2005.  We have seasons tickets and they have been great to watch since they moved to Kelowna in 1995.

Which teams do you cheer for?

Thanks,

Chad

Pens....

Repeat...

Best,
Todd

I think that the Pens can do it again. They definitely had an uphill battle last year and was just about written off mid-season. And, as much as it troubles me to say, I think that the Pens have a better chance of repeating in hockey than the Steelers have in football.

But, last year sure was great for Pittsburgh sports!!!

I believe that 94 and it was one of the most exciting series I've ever watched. All offense with end to end rushes all game long, every game and remember all of the goal posts that were hit in that series.

The Rockets used to be my favorite team.... until they moved to Kelowna.   

They were originally the Tacoma Rockets.  Made for a great I-5 corridor match up with Portland and Seattle.  I have also seen the Rockets play in Victoria, when the Cougars where still playing there, as well as Kamloops, Saskatoon, Brandon, Prince Albert, Medicine Hat, Regina, Tri-Cities, Portland, and Spokane.  I think one year, I only missed 12 games, and those were all away games.

And yes Chad, I have seen the Rockets play in Kelwona as well.  In their old barn. 

Does Bruce Hamilton still own the Rockets?  He isn't very well liked here.

Now that the Seattle Thunderbirds have moved to Kent, WA and still kept their Seattle name, it is like a 15 minute drive for me and I don't have to deal with Seattle's traffic.  I still am having a problem cheering for them since I am an original Rockets fan.  I don't know what will happen when I see the Rockets play the T-birds this year.  Will probably break out the black and teal jersey for that game. 

In the NHL, I usually cheer more for the players than the team, although I follow the Canucks.  Beautiful arena.  Be interesting to see how the Sedin brother do this year.

I haven't seen any of the old Rockets in the NHL lately.  Last one I saw was Vaclav Varada I think.  You ever see Dale Puritan?

So yes.  There are some hockey fans here.


Leland





 

Double yoi  ....I wonder if many people get the reference. Here's a moment of silence for Myron Cope, creator of the 'Terrible Towel'.

OK. No, I haven't given up on the Steelers. When Troy comes back, the defense will be back up to snuff...and we shouldn't see anymore 4th quarter debacles like the past two weeks.

Though, I don't have much confidence in a run game this year. But like last year, they can win without a dominant run game. Sweed needs to be cut.

If 9 and 7 is good enough to make the wild card, then we are good. It is hard for me to say it, but this just might be Baltimore's year to represent the AFC.

Rey

You have to love Myron....  And to think that Pitt would not even play Joe Flacko and I doubt the guy they had playing in his place is even in the NFL...yet alone a starter.  As a Pitt Alumni I should remember who that is but I can't...getting to be a long time ago since Marino and I were there....class of '83.

Best,
Todd

Av's retired Joe Sakic's number last night, they had to send him off with a win.

I am one of those (very) long suffering Toronto Maple Leafs fans.   

Sorry to hear that Frank!!! I feel sorry for the Leaf fans as I know what it is like to cheer for a losing team. I grew up on the prairies and was a Sask RoughRider fan since I was 5. They have never really had a "winning" season over that time period. Got my fingers crossed they can win the big game on Sunday  

For those that are not familiar with Canadian Football we have our Championship game on Sunday.  It is caled the Grey Cup and it has been going on for 97 years. One of the oldest Trophies in the world. Had a chance to touch it and thought it was pretty cool!

Dan Clermont

I just joined this forum today.  I am a photographer who happens to shoot a bunch of hockey, and I shoot quite often at the Wings' game's...........  Here are several from Wednesday's game which the Blackhawks' won 3-0.  Detroit has a lot of injuries currently, but we should start to get players back shortly.  All teams have to play through their injuries..........

Nice shots, for sure!

I don't take the time to watch the games, though if I find myself in front of the set when a game comes on, I love it.

I much rather play than watch, by far.  Usually play 2-3 games a week (had to ease off... last season was 4-5 per week! -sigh-)  Considering that I'm in Phoenix, it's surprising that we have such a big group of rec-league players.  Nine surfaces in the valley and they are all booked solid.

Forrest.....  Thanks for the welcome.  Yes I just bought the TS75 plunge cut saw and 2- MFT Tables, plus the Guide rail accessory kit.  I work as a photographer doing pro sports at night and my day job is a general contractor building cabinets and remodel work since home building collasped several years ago.  My woodworking goes back 25+ years.  I have been looking at Festool for about a year now and decided to take the plunge yesterday when a friend of mine had me stop by his store and try out the track setup.  I will be able to use this very much on job sites very frequently.

Thanks Brice.........   That was an awesome series last year and I will post some shots from last years finals that were taken by my friend the team photographer of the Wings', but until I do.........  here are several from the year before........  you guy's did the same thing to us that we did to you......  Won the cup on our ice!!!!  I have been photographing Pro sports for about 5 yrs and I really enjoy shooting hockey the most.  Congrats on your Stanley cup win it was well earned............  If we can get our injuries under control maybe we will meet again in the near future.....  I also know the Penguins team photog also, he lives in Michigan......

Great photos Tom!  And welcome to the Forum!  Please keep posting pictures as often as you want!  Who doesn't love looking at pictures!

Chad

Just saw this and thought I would add a note. I am a huge Wings fan. Grew up in the Detroit area (now in the east coast) playing hockey including making rinks in the yard - good old dad would have me out there in 5 degree weather with a hose spraying it down. Let me tell you shoveling the driveway and THEN the yard was not a lot of fun, but worth it when you ended up skating outside all day every day. When I was a kid the Wings were awful, the Dead Things era, but I stuck with it and it paid off that's for sure. If you combine skill, stats with attitude and composure, nobody in hockey compares to Steve Yzerman. From Yzerman to Lidstrom to Datsyuk today, the Wings have a knack for finding absurdly skilled players who are at the same time, never whiney, bratty or self entitled (okay, there was Federov). I know people hate the wings and think they are "the yankees of the NHL" but they didn't just go out and write checks to win. A lot of teams, in any sport, can learn how to run an organization from the Red Wings.

Like me, he (probably) wasn't alive when they played.....

I don't believe anyone on the planet has signed as many autographs as Gordie Howe. Even today, at any event or hockey game there is a loooonnnng line of folks during intermissions patiently waiting for him to sign his name. Always gracious.

There is a story a local sportswriter shared when Gordie retired (the first time). A nurse was on her way home late at night and had a flat on one Detroit's poorly lit expressways and in a very rough part of the city. She sat in her car for a moment and was pretty terrified of even getting out. Lights came up behind her and a fellow knocked on her window to see if he could help. He changed the tire and got here on her way. She had no idea who he was and he didn't bother to tell her. She only realized it later when Gordie's face was all over the TV due to his pending retirement. She called the sportscaster to share her story. All I can say is pity the poor soul who might have tried to mug that good Samaritan.   

As a Canadian male, you feel obligated to love hockey.  While I will still watch some of the playoffs some years, and some of the tournaments also, I have really disliked the level of fighting in the game.  When the game matters, there's hardly any fighting, so the argument that it is a part of hockey is BS imo. 

The other day I was reading in the paper that they predict that as an adult participation sport, curling will one day surpass hockey in Canada as our baby boomer population ages.

Yep being a Kiwi Canucks fan sure was pretty to watch the Sens in the basement last night as well!! 4-2 Vancouver

Get out of town!!! No way LOL.

I love hockey and watch way too much of it. Need a TV in my shop or something I can hang around my neck so I can watch games while I work.

I like curling and think it is an easier sport for all people to play as you don't need to know how to skate or handle a puck.

I grew up on the prairies where everyone curls and bonspiels are held every second weekend so it is very popular and a great community builder. Just don't think it will surpass hockey in Canada

Dan Clermont

Curling may be fun but I have a hard time thinking of it as a sport anymore than I could think of bowling, shuffleboard or darts as sports. 

I love playing hockey but I don't get much enjoyment from watching it.  I much prefer watching the NFL or NBA to the NHL.

Dan, note that Kevin said adult participation sport not  most popular sport.  I expect that already more adults particiapte in curling than in ice hockey in Canada.  I am quite typical of such adults, having stopped palying hockey masy yearws ago, but still curling from time to time.
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I've never curled, but it is definitely a sport imo.  Admittedly, it is amazing sometimes what the sports channels try to pass off as a sport nowadays.  I get annoyed when I see "Poker" being colour coded in whatever TV listing I may be using as a "sport", and although I love darts, I know it's not a sport either.  Now bowling is hardly a parlour game.  Why wouldn't that be a sport? 

I could argue that soccer (or football as it's known over the pond) is not a sport, but a form of acting rather than a sport as it has evolved over the last few decades.  Just can't watch a "sport" with so much diving and mama crying any moreso than watching a sport with excessive levels of uneccesary violence, such as the fighting in hockey.  At least in hockey, when the games matter such as in the playoffs, the fighting minimizes whereas in soccer, the bigger the game, the "sport" diminishes to the "acting" on the pitch.

As a young teenager watching McCarty whip on lemeiux made me a fan forever, along with
the smooth as silk Stevey Y was always a great watch.  My moms family lives in Canada
And obviously had an influance in my growing up loving the game. When I was little and started
  skating with those 2 bladed skates on the pond, we had 2 right handed stick and my older bros got those, I
got the lefty stick, I'm not lefty at anything but hockey, played all through high school that way to.

Oh ya, GO WINGS  

 

Leaving the rather arrogant assumption that I have never curled slide, why is that ? Because curling can be difficult ? Because it can be tiring ?  As far as I am concerned, any activity where at the recreational level alcohol consumption is considered almost mandatory is not a sport.

I would submit that any criteria that would classify curling as sport would also so classify darts, shuffleboard, foosball, marbles, "Pop-a-shot", pinball, various card games like "Speed" and any number of video games.  All of these meet another poster's advanced definition of sport requiring "physical exertion" and are governed by a set of rules.   Does this mean "Guitar Hero" is a sport ? How about speed-eating ?

Just because an activity may be tiring (though judging by the profiles of many championship curlers, an athletic physique is not a determining prerequisite), and difficult to achieve at the highest level does not - IMHO - make it a sport.