NHL 2010-2011 Regular Season

[Jesse James]

I figured since the pre-season has kicked off, it's time to start the new regular season thread... 

Console Energy Center (Igloo 2?) opened tonight.  What a monumental occassion for me.  I'm going to be very sad to see the Civic Arena go.  I'm already planning to buy a chair or two, if they go for sale.  They're talking about putting some of the stainless steel dome parts into the ceiling of the new building as decoration.

The Penguins looked sharp...  err, well they sounded sharp anyway as it wasn't televised tonight.  a 5-1 win over Detroit.  Osgood looked like **** though too.

The Penguins are stacked and will have some interesting cuts to make.  Jordan Staal's going to miss the opener because of a nagging issue from last year's playoff loss to Montreal.  Hopefully he'll be back soon because he's a monster of a player, and fast becoming one of my favorites.  Crosby left the game early with a minor hip flexure, nothing serious, but didn't want him playing with it for no purpose.

I'd like to get to one game this year at the new arena.  That's my goal...  Well, that and Winter Classic tickets.  Not counting on the latter though. 

Fantastic work at the new arena though.  I guess the boards are a little lively though, but they're just settling in and finding the little nuances of it out right now.  The goalies are saying the boards are similar to Detroit's in some ways.

Bill Guerrin is on a try-out-basis with Philly.  I'm bummed about that because he's a great guy, and got involved in charity and stuff here locally immediately, and wanted very badly to stay because his family loved it here.  I'm just bummed he's not been brought back.

Anyway, hockey is here!  Yay.

Oh, and one of the funny kinks they have to work out at the arena is the horn was pumped directly into the mic, so when a period came to a close this booming loud horn would go off full tilt.  Mike Lange and Phil Bourque were cracking up about it and I guess Lange took over and was turnign the volume down.

[Morgbug]

Console Energy Center (Igloo 2?) opened tonight.  What a monumental occassion for me.  I'm going to be very sad to see the Civic Arena go. 

1. At least you still have a team.  We had the Hawks and Bolts play here last night.  Great game, not quite a sellout (~14,000).

2. Sad to see an old arena go but in most respects the new arena will be much better.  We went through the same thing and there are only two things I miss from the old barn - legroom and the trough.  The legroom issue isn't huge as most stadiums/arenas I've been in have relatively little leg room for me anyway, so I'm used to being uncomfortable.  The trough thing is more of an issue though.  While admitting it's someone barbaric it remains effective and most guys really don't give a crap about privacy.  When they built our new arena they made a concerted effort to put in more women's washrooms.  This is a good thing given the tremendous lineups outside the women's washrooms in the old barn.  What they failed to realize is that the lineups outside the women's washrooms weren't due to an overall lack of facilities, it was simply the use pattern (i.e. the private stalls) necessary.  So while in the old building there were about the same number of washrooms for both men and women the throughput was dramatically different.  Now in the new building there are about twice as many washrooms for women as men in an effort to address the old problem.  The result worked.  Sort of.  Women are quite happy (and smug now too) about the situation in the new arena.  Men on the other hand, not so much.  The overall number of washrooms went down and the barbaric trough went away meaning the lineups are horrendous.  It obviously won't change but the problem is quite funny as long as you aren't drinking beer. 

[JesseVader08]

I really thought Taylor Hall was going to be a monster on the ice, but he's barely been a squeak so far.  He must be having a tough time adjusting to the big league.

[Jeff]

Something tells me one Jesse(Vader08) was very pleased by last night's game, while another Jesse( James) was probably pretty disgusted with his club for the same game. 

[Jesse James]

I'm disgusted with the Penguins for the season.  One game is just a drop in the bucket. 

Our defensive breakdowns are pathetic and stuff a peewee team does, our goaltending is a joke from Fleury anymore, and the offense comes and goes.  It's about the only place there is a bright spot.  I think Bylsma better be worried about his job because nothing's changing for him right now, and he doesn't appear to be doing much different.  injuries haven't helped of course, and Staal is still out which people grossly underestimate his importance to the team (we effectively don't have a solid 3rd line without him).

Even if he comes back though, he's been touted as moving up to the 2nd line...  So will the defensive struggles change?

Goligoski makes some of the most retarded defensive mistakes I've ever seen too.  pinching when he shouldn't, taking risks when all you have to do is hold your lead for a period...  Dumb.

And special teams play...  good god.   

[Jesse James]

I thought I'd just mention that the Winter Classic is rolling around here, and they're talking a lot about postponement, or possibly cancellation, because it will (of all things) go up into the 50's the day of the game and possible rain/thunderstorms (more the rain/storms are the issue than the temps obviously).  We've had temps in the teens and, at best, 20's now for a long time...  week of the Winter Classic and temps are going to skyrocket for this time of year.  Go figure. 

The deal is supposedly postponing till 8 if it's not doable at 1...  If not doable at 8 Friday night, then postponing till Sunday afternoon, then Sunday evening I guess, and then I think they're looking at just cancellation I believe and holding it later in the year at Console.  I'm not positive on that though, but heard something along those lines on the local news.

[Morgbug]

Jesse,
I was curious about Pittsburgh weather so I checked out the weather network and it pretty much confirmed what I'd thought from the time they announced the game there:  it's a pretty dicey call really.  The long term (30 year) average is for temperatures during the day to be above zero.  Not a lot, but were I not someone named Bettman I probably wouldn't have tried to push the game that far south.  Not a knock on Pittsburgh at all, a great sports city and a super hockey city with a long history but an outdoor game down there strikes me as an iffy call. 

I don't really know enough about east coast weather either but while they managed to pull it off in Boston, I'd think most of those cities would be iffy as well.  Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, possibly even Columbus (though a few of those are questionable hockey cities) would be reasonable sites in my mind, along with most Canadian cities (wouldn't even consider Vancouver because the weather is likely too warm) strike me as the best locations, weather-wise, even though they may not be Bettman's idea of marketing successes. 

I just can't say I'm going to be surprised if the game is moved indoors or cancelled.  It was a silly place to put it. 

[Jesse James]

Well our temps this time of year are almost always perfect for this really.  It's a freak thing that the weather's going to 50.  It's really unheard of.  However Ig uess the temps aren't the problem because of the system they use, it's the rain and/or storms more than anything, and that's the really freaky weather.  There's a steady rain Saturday I guess till sometime in the afternoon.  They're thinking it'll get pushed back.

Our weather really isn't any different than Buffalo's though they usually get a little more snow than us due to the lake.  Columbus is basically exactly like we are...  Usually whatever the cities like Chicago get, we get shortly after.  I think a lot of this is due to the storm that moved up the East Coast, which was obviously a freak thing itself, and is changing things for us now as well.

Any other year, it'd be perfect...  This year, it's just questionable.  They're saying now they'll get the game in Saturday, it'll just be a matter of whether it's early/on time, or later...  I think 8 they said.

Believe me though, Pittsburgh's rarely this warm or rainy in Dec./Jan.  It's usually just snow, temps in the 20's - 30's, and just sort of bleak here.  It's probably one of the biggest gripes anyone who lives here has, really.  The weather does suck.  And it's always humid in the Summer for an extended period of time too.

[Paul]

I enjoy the concept of this game (and watching it from the comfort of my climate controlled house, we will have the A/C on) it is just the execution that seems iffy.

Quietly, the Stars are doing decent this season too, last night's game notwithstanding.

[Jesse James]

Sissy.    its funny but i reCall the snow in buffalo was as big a problem as rain i guess.  the players werent happy with the conditions of the ice there. 

The only gripe I would make is that Pitt has had one and they should have done a TorOnto/Montreal or Western Canadian team vs. East Canadian team.  Its great for Pitt obviously and having these two teams play makes sense, but its too soon for us again. IMO. 

[Jeff]

Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, possibly even Columbus...  ...would be reasonable sites in my mind, along with most Canadian cities...

 

Or is St. Paul considered a Canadian city now?

[Morgbug]

Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, possibly even Columbus...  ...would be reasonable sites in my mind, along with most Canadian cities...

 

Or is St. Paul considered a Canadian city now?

Well duh.  You've seen the snow.  You guys are a bunch of socialists.  Minnesota charges the same price for Scotch Whisky as Canada does; much more than California.  How much more Canadian do you want to be? 

Believe me though, Pittsburgh's rarely this warm or rainy in Dec./Jan.  It's usually just snow, temps in the 20's - 30's, and just sort of bleak here.  It's probably one of the biggest gripes anyone who lives here has, really.  The weather does suck.  And it's always humid in the Summer for an extended period of time too.

It was the above freezing stuff I was thinking of.  I guess they can manage the ice well enough for an afternoon above freezing but your historical high temp is about 4 degrees above freezing.  Being an average to me that means you've got better than average odds of being warm enough to melt ice. 

But you got the game because of Pittsburgh's profile with Crosby and that's a good enough reason for me.  Plus like I said Pittsburgh is a hockey town.  But obviously you need both of those else you end up with Jeff's dilemma.  MSP is low profile for the U.S. and Bettman probably considers it part of Canada.  Couple that with a lack of a big star name and they aren't likely to get the game in spite of MN basically being as hockey mad as Canada. We probably have more outdoor rinks than MN but I'd be surprised if MB has more people playing hockey.  A reflection of population base, though I suspect on a per capita basis we'd kick thar ass

[Jesse James]

That's what I was saying though, that being in the 30's is considered ideal (this is according to the NHL facilities people).  They didn't seem to think freezing temps were a necessity at all, just not heavy rains...  Which it sounds like the game may get pushed back because of that.  I guess whatever their outdoor rink system is, they don't need 32 or less for it to work well and actually seem to prefer it not be down in the 20's or below "for the crowd's sake"...  Buffalo was fun though, but I forget what it was there.  Low 20's maybe?

Anyway, that's been on the news so much here the last week it's the only reason I mention it...  Their facilities guys weren't even concerned about temps going to the 50's, but there's a big push of rain coming I guess.

I guess at worst it'll be later in the evening Saturday, rather than 1, which is fine by me.  I hate the 1 o'clock time anyway.  I always hated afternoon games.  I think they could successfully hold one in Washington really, if they wanted to, and they're almost always warmer than we are, so long as really wet weather holds off.

I still think another team should've gotten the WC this year though...  I guess there's maybe some rush to get Ovie and Crosby together in one, but I think they really should spread it out some more.  I'm still just glad because it's so good for the city.   I hope they spread the love with the WC's around though, regardless.  With the season Dallas is having, it owuld've been interesting to see Dallas in Detroit for a game.

[I Am Sith]

Usually whatever the cities like Chicago get, we get shortly after.

Just figured that I'd mention it's 50 in the Chicago-land area at the moment and the rain should be ending in the next hour or two.  The forecast for tomorrow is a high of 24 with 20-30 mph winds.  Hopefully that will get to you sooner rather than later and the game can still be played as planned.

[Jesse James]

Nah, 50's tomorrow in the morning and into evening 40's.    Like I said, what you get, we get about a day later.  Then dropping down steadily later Saturday into Sunday, and frigid again next week I think.