2010-11 Regular Season Discussion

[Phil The Thrill]

One point behind Buffalo, and Four Points out. I can't believe this. I would be impressed by this season if we even finished 9th or 10th.

 

[LeafsFan4Life]

One point behind Buffalo, and Four Points out. I can't believe this. I would be impressed by this season if we even finished 9th or 10th.

3 points out. 4 points from 7th. What a fucken game.

 

[Lake Louise]

Wings lost 3-1 to the Sharks. Holmstrom had the only goal for us. Joey Mac in goal.

 

[Gtown81]

with Gaborik out and Buffalo being really hot I really see us competiting against the Rangers and Canes for a playoff spot

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Guess who has the best fans?

Which NHL team has the best fans? I guess we’ll have to define what “best” means first.
To me, best means a fan base that has always been there in some way, no matter the terrible teams or terrible owners they’ve had to endure. And I’m not necessarily talking about pure attendance numbers as a large barometer for this award.
The old Colorado Rockies of the 1970s and early ‘80s had terrible attendance, but many players from that era still talk about how loud seven or eight thousand people could sound inside the old McNichols Sports Arena. Same goes for fans of the Atlanta Flames at the old Omni.
But there’s no question that continued high attendance numbers have to count highly in this list. But not for all of it, and consider this something of a personalized list, not at all scientific. People might be wondering where the Detroit Red Wings’ fans are on the list, for instance.
But, come on, it’s pretty easy to sell out most nights with teams they’ve had in the last 20 years. In the early 1980s, when the team stunk, owner Mike Ilitch had to give a car away every night to get fans in the building. We need to see how Detroit fans do when/if the team ever goes bad again.
Detroit fans are great and all – and I mean that – but this is my list:
5. Los Angeles Kings – Surprised? Me too, actually. I bought into the same stereotype as everyone else, that the L.A. market had to be awful for NHL hockey and the sport in general. All that sun and all that apathy and all.
But it’s not the case. The Los Angeles Kings have some of the most rabid fans in the game, truly voracious in their appetite for all things Kings. (They experienced a playoff round -- see video last year after a lengthy drought.)
Let me tell you a little story: a few years ago I’m sitting in the stands/makeshift press box of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, covering the annual Kings-Avalanche “Frozen Fury” preseason game there, when a loud voice cried out, “There’s that Colorado guy who wrote something bad about the Kings.”
In just a few seconds, a mob of people in black Kings sweaters descended around my seat and let me verbally have it, and not just in a drunken, profane way – though there was some of that. These people really wanted to debate me about something I’d said about the Kings, and how the team was looking for the coming year.
Security had to be called over, but I’ll never forget the passion in their voices about the Kings.
Despite many horrible teams in their history and some shyster owners, attendance has always been pretty respectable in L.A. To all the Canadian and U.S. hockey columnists who want to take the predictably easy cheap shot at L.A. as a hockey town: don’t say I didn’t warn you.
4. Vancouver Canucks – It’s just a rabid hockey town, period. A big reason why, of course, is the lack of any other big-time professional team (sorry B.C. Lions).
The media in Vancouver is a voracious beast, parceling every scrap of info it can get on the beloved Canucks to a rapt public.
Canucks games are a lot of fun to attend, too, though the team has been embarrassed a couple of times by drunken louts (including the many who booed the American national anthem in a 2001 playoff series with Colorado, and many idiots following the Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident).
But for the most part, Canucks fans are smart, loyal people who love, love, love their team. Maybe no other city thirsts for a Stanley Cup more than Vancouver, with only two trips to the Cup round in a history that dates to 1970.
If the Canucks ever win it – and the current team has the best chance of any in its history – the parade through the crammed city interior is going to be insane.
3. Philadelphia Flyers – Ask a lot of players around the league, and they list Philadelphia as one of their favorite places to play, even as visitors.
Flyers fans might have as much or more pure knowledge of the game as any American city. They’ve always been blessed with a hard-working, entertaining media presence, something that can make a real difference in how fans get into their team. One need only go to Phoenix, where they’ve got another great team there this season, but play in total apathy thanks in no small part, I believe, from its biggest daily newspaper that doesn’t even travel with the team.
Anyone who was there for the last Stanley Cup Final (see video) will not forget how great the fans were in Philly -- and Chicago, too. They make a real difference for their team.
2. Montreal Canadiens – Every single night, 21,000-plus fill the Bell Centre. Appetite for all things Habs knows no bounds.
They used to have a well-deserved rap for snobbery, who didn’t fully appreciate the many great teams in front of them. The city put out proclamations that the Stanley Cup parade would take "the usual route" in the 1970s, and so on. A kind of malaise probably did set in during the mid-to-late 1990s with the fan base, after Patrick Roy had been traded and there was pure disillusion for a while. But everything has been restored to proper levels of mania.
Turn on the radio in Montreal any time of the day and you are absolutely guaranteed to hear some talk of the Canadiens, right down to heated, passionate debates about who should be playing on the fourth line.
It’s wonderful.
1. Toronto Maple Leafs – OK, so this makes it three out of the top five being from Canadian markets. But come on, it’s the right call.
Toronto is No. 1 because no matter how bad the team is, it’s a guaranteed sellout. It’s just insane, the love of the Leafs there and throughout North America.
Four – FOUR – daily newspapers based in Toronto cover every single second of this team. The team has its own TV network. Anytime ANY trade rumor involving a Leafs player is put out there, that website goes bazonkers with traffic.
Even through all the terrible Harold Ballard teams and the weird moves of the last few years that have kept them out of the playoffs, the Leafs just keep selling out every night. When they get good again, look out.

http://www.versus.com/blogs/nhl-expert-opinions/maple-leafs-fans-are-best-in-nhl/

 

[Rios15]

Obviously the Leafs have the best fans lol.

 

[The Guid]

It'd be pretty disappointing if it wasn't Toronto

 

[NV]

Rangers snap the losing streak with a 4-1 win over Ottawa, needed that one.

 

[playmaker7]

Pens lose in OT...wtf again

 

[Phil The Thrill]

I know you love what Grabovski did to you guys Wednesday night.

 

[playmaker7]

I know you love what Grabovski did to you guys Wednesday night.

Grabovski is a ho

I hope Sergei Kostitsyn puts him in his place one day

 

[snipezo]

Nucks haven't been playing great hockey lately. Their scoring has gone down. Not good.

 

[NV]

Maybe the Rangers will actually beat Philly tomorrow?

 

[playmaker7]

Those Bruins are getting it tonight =P

 

[Mr.Baller]

Huge win for the habs tonight over Tampa !

 

[Star King3]

I swear that TO will make it, they are playing so well, even with the loss.

 

[habsman56]

Great win by Montreal tonight. Really important game, and some key guys showed up, especially Gomez, who had a very strong game.

 

[Star King3]

Did you just say Gomez and Good Game in the same sentence without Didn't have in the middle?

 

[playmaker7]

Pens are 6-0 when Dustin Jeffrey scores a goal and 8-0 when he notches a point

Dustin Jeffrey is a franchise player

 

[NV]

And the Rangers smack the Flyers 7-0. 4 goals for Callahan, his first career hat trick and Lundqvist recorded his league leading 9th shutout. Also good to see Gaborik back even though he didn't find the score sheet.