Hockey Fans?

Heck yeah! Now you're talkin'. I'm a Sabres fan but will watch just about any hockey, NHL, AHL, IHL, College. I went to Clarkson and we had a good team when I went there. A couple of the guys from there went to the NHL..Dave Taylor, Todd Marchant, Colin Patterson plus a few more. I have never been to the Frozen Four though I should have gone several times as it's close to where I live often enough. Boston is not far and they had it in Lake Placid when I live in VT. Just watched the Sabres beat the Flyers last night. They gave away their last game at home against the Flyers. I went to a Bruin's game last year but it's not the same as going to a game for "your" team. Sabres are on the bubble for the playoffs and gained points on the Flyers who are right in front of them. The Sabres are not the powerhouse they were last year. They've lost a lot of good players. They just traded Brian Campbell. When I lived in VT, John LeClaire's parents owned the Sherwin Williams paint store in town. He grew up and played hockey for the local high school there.

NH Hunter,
I should have asked you before if you liked hockey, afterall the NE has a ton of D-1 teams and a bunch of NHL teams. Clarkson just came out and played Colorado College at the World Arena. We went to the Saturday night game. CC was really hot that weekend and swept CCT but I know Clarkson is a good team http://www.uscho.com/standings/. Congrats on winning the ECAC. Who knows we might meet again in the playoffs. CC & CCT are old programs with a ton of history. CC is celebrating their 70th year of College hockey this year. We haven't won the National Championship since 1957. We have been banging on the door for the last 10 years or so and reached the frozen four a few times. We lost to Michigan in OT in the Championship game in 1996. CC plays DU this weekend at a home and home series. They are true arch rivals and play well against each other. NH swept CC at the beginning of the year, only sweep we have had this year and it's really hurting our PWR rankings. I would like for CC to face them in the playoffs this year, our freshman netminder from Highlands Ranch, CO is really starting to shine, http://www.uscho.com/stats/. Next time you come out hunting, we should try to go to a game while you're here. I remember when Ryan Miller played for Michigan State, he's a good netminder with lots of potential. Watching the Avs last night was great, the Hejduk, Sakic & Forsberg line was on fire. They haven't played in 4-5 years but you wouldn't know it last night. They read each other so well and know where each other will be, so they make many blind passes. Jose Theodore has been playing better and might be able to get us to the big dance. I love this time of year, with playoff hockey, the hunting draws and spring around the corner.

Winning the ECAC isn't as big a deal as it used to be before the ECAC/Hockey East split but it's still pretty good. We used to have a big rivalry with RPI and St. Lawrence. A lot of fun to go to those games. Strange to see RPI at the bottom of the standings. They were always really tough when I was in school. I live about 45 minutes from UNH but haven't made it up there for a game. I was going to go to Harvard to watch the Clarkson game but was out of town that weekend so that didn't pan out either. I've mostly been watching it on TV. The good thing around here is there's almost always two games on a night with all the local colleges, VS Channel and the Bruins on NESN. We get BC, BU, UNH, Harvard coverage as a minimum. There's a lot of strong programs around here. A few of my friends are U of Maine paper science grads so they were pretty happy when the Black Bears won. Clarkson has changed a lot since I went there. They built a new arena that's much bigger than the old one. Completely different atmosphere. I went over there a few years after I graduated and watched the Red Army team kick their butts in an exhibition game. It was close until the Ruskies decided they wanted to play after they got roughed up a couple times. After that it was all over. They left the Golden Knights in the dust. (???)

RedWings fan here!!! Just never able to watch there games. grrrrrr

the avs look like they are getting serious about the playoffs . reuniting some of the old avs again .

"zatarain6" wrote:the avs look like they are getting serious about the playoffs . reuniting some of the old avs again .

Yes it sure does. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone get healthy. It's great to have Foote back as well.

NH, Whose hosting the eastern regionals this year?

RPI is hosting this year in Albany, NY. Looks like Clarkson is only ranked 8th right now in Div 1. The ECAC doesn't have the level of competition, on average, that it used to....no respect. UNH is doing nicely in Hockey East. My nephew is going there now for civil engineering. He was a standout high school all-star in northern VT but wasn't recruited out of high school. If he went to a smaller, less known college he would have had a good chance to play college hockey but there's no way he could have played at UNH.

Hockey and hunting, those are my vice's.
I coach the local high school , play a couple of nights a week, and travel to play in 3-4 tournaments a year.
Any pro game I'll watch, but you got to love CSN for all the college games.
-wbird

Today it's really tough to jump from HS straight into D-1, let alone a scholarship. The USHL is becoming the major feeder system into D-1. It gives the kids a lot more experience, 2 more years of size and muscle and some great coaching. The guys that I see come straight into D-1 from HS really struggle for a year or two. It's great to see all of the D-1 kids that are getting drafted into the NHL. The oldtime NHL'rs don't like the college kids aka "schoolboys" and still favor the major junior route but they too are finally figuring out this is the future, like it or not. Every year D-1 boys are getting more and more of the NHL draft. If a guy is really good, he can usually get a free ride through college and then if he doesn't make it to the NHL or AHL, he can fall back onto his degree. In the major juniors, if they don't make it to the NHL or AHL, they usually don't have a whole lot to fall back on.
wbird, you pretty much nailed my two hobbies too, LOL! Trapping would be up there too, if these treehuggers didn't get it outlawed here back in 92. I'm glad that you coach and play. My sons play and I do on occation, not as much as I use to due to a car wreck that fractured my pelvis bad. One good hip check and I might not be hunting either or be wheelchair bound, so I skate some with my boys but no contact. I miss playing, it sure kept me in shape for hunting and hiking. CSTV is great, I hope they stick around, as I hear they might go bye bye. What state are you in?

"Hiker" wrote: The guys that I see come straight into D-1 from HS really struggle for a year or two...... The oldtime NHL'rs don't like the college kids aka "schoolboys" and still favor the major junior route but they too are finally figuring out this is the future, like it or not. ........... If a guy is really good, he can usually get a free ride through college and then if he doesn't make it to the NHL or AHL, he can fall back onto his degree........ In the major juniors, if they don't make it to the NHL or AHL, they usually don't have a whole lot to fall back on.

John LeClaire did OK going from HS to D1..... lol .....his problem was going from D1 to the Habs....he didn't fight enough for their liking so they sent him down to the minors, toughened him up a little, then he did OK. They finally figured out he could shoot and skate, then he was much better. They wanted him as an enforcer...what a waste.

A lot of the players going into the D1 schools around here end up coming out of prep schools, Northwood Prep among others with strong hockey programs.

Colin Patterson was in my Calc III classs, supposedly, as I never saw him in class. He left Clarkson before graduating to play for Calgary, then came back and finished his degree during the summer. Here's a link to his stats. They have the chronology wrong as he didn't graduate before he started playing for the Flames but he did eventually graduate, unlike so many that leave school early.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11259

Second link describing his return to complete his degree.

http://www.clarksonathletics.com//Sports/gen/2005/HOFPatterson.asp

Wow, I have a lot more hair than him and I'm at least five years older. :))

BIG Redwings fan here. Live in Michigan, so we get to see most of the games. We also go to watch the local high schools, city league guys, and the minor league teams in Toledo.

Well we just got back from watching Michigan State and Colorado College. CC dominated almost every area of the game but came up short..3-1. Notre Dame upset UNH earlier. So both underdogs won the first round of the west regionals. Colorado still has University of Denver and Air Force in the tourney, so we will be pulling for them to make it to the Pepsi Center in Denver for the Frozen Four. NH Congrats to Clarkson. Just in case you missed it, they beat Saint Cloud State 2-1.

.....but lost to Michigan U.....

Maybe next year. Clarkson was the #1 seed in the ECAC tournament and lost to #8 Colgate. Yet another upset. Time to get out their golf clubs.

I watched the Sabres beat the Bruins last night. They need to win out and have Philly, Boston or the Rangers collapse to make the playoffs. It will be the second time in history that the President's Trophy winner won't make the playoffs the following year if they can't find their way to the playoffs.

Hiker,
Sorry, I somehow have been skipping this thread?
I live in western Massachusetts.
Sorry about the car wreck, I would have to give it up as well if it meant the chance of
not being able to enjoy the rest of my life "playing" with my family.:thumb
wbird

Looks like it's going to be Michigan vs. Notre Dame and North Dakota vs. Boston College for the Frozen Four in Denver. We went to the West regionals as a family, my kids turned down a few days on the ski slopes with Nana and Papa so they could go... :thumb, they were blessed with some great games. Notre Dame looked really good and deserved to win it. ND's coach really impressed us, he knows hockey and had them playing the perfect system for their opponents. My wife and I plan on going to the Frozen Four in Denver.
I'd like to see the Sabres get in. Chris Drury and Briere would have been huge for them this year and I am sure they're sorely missed. The Avs only have 2 games left and also needs to win out, so they don't have to face Detroit or San Jose in the first round but then again who knows....it's a new season come playoffs. I love this time of year..... 10sign:

I am nothing more than a casual fan but this does strike a cord with me. I just came back from a week in Brantford, Ontario Canada and I was blown away by the level of hockey culture. You big fans would be in hockey heaven with 24/7 hockey talk television, ESPN that has mere blurbs on NCAA tourney, football etc as the undertag to all hocky all the time (except for the world womens Curling championships) Nationally primetime broadcast of little league hockey championships and on and on and on.

Anyway, I am going to award the unofficial Muley Madness hocky fan crown to the first to answer "What is Brantford, Ontario famous for?"

I have an uncle from Buffalo, NY and as kids he brought my brother and I full hockey outfits, gollie stuff, sticks, pads, skates, old leather helmets, gloves and so on.... I know we were the only kids around that had any hockey stuff. Good memories, I will have to see if I can find that stuff at mom and dads.

Birthplace of Wayne Gretsky. :thumb

Hiker gets the crown!
You can't help but find Gretsky tributes everywhere you go in Brantford and if you look real hard you might also notice a footnote that it was also the home to Alexander Graham Bell. Poor Alex probably would have never believed he would live in the shadow of a hockey player.

Hiker is all over it. :not-worthy I was gonna say Tim Horton's Doughnuts. lol

I lived along the border for a good chunk of my life so I know what you're talking about. We were always able to pick up CBC and other Canadian broadcasts. Hockey Night in Canada, eh?

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is the best, Don Cherry is a funny guy. He cracks me up and I enjoy his personality. He use to coach our Colorado Rockies before they moved to NJ and became the Devils. That is funny that you mentioned Tim Hortons....I just googled them yesterday to see if they had one nearby on our trip to Ohio and the midwest next month. Ohio has a ton of them and I wanted my kids to experience the coffee and donuts. Looks like the Avs have at least locked up a #7 seed. It is so great to have Peter Forsberg & Adam Foote back.

Southwind, that's strange that AG Bell would be in Gretsky's shadow. lol

You gotta take them to Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons is bigger in Canada than Starbucks is in the US. It is truly an Institution. I think I might have been the only guy in Canada that drank my coffee black.

My bride and I went to the semi-finals of the frozen four. Boston College spanked North Dakota and Notre Dame upset Michigan in OT. I am impressed with Notre Dames coach, Jeff Jackson. That man knows hockey and how to shut down their opponent. We plan on going to the final tonight but first I owe the Mrs. a nice dinner out. We have been watching the NHL playoffs too. Wow! some great games so far.
Southwind, Yes we are excited about stopping at a Tim Hortons on our trip.