Some thoughts on HN in C

[Radnine]

With my fishing season being over, and the fish snagging season being the only game in town until the ice comes, I thought that I would make this post.

Please feel free to comment, pro or con. I hate the way that I feel (why can't I just watch a game and not think it to death?) and would love to have someone convince me that I am wrong. Because I can't seem to exercise my right to not watch.

 

- When Don Cherry is busy patting himself on the back by showing past video clips, how come he never shows the clips where he predicts that the Leafs will make the playoffs every year? How does someone that knows hockey soooo well, get that wrong every year?

- Mike Milbury is a bully. He just shouts down anyone that has an opinion different than his and seems to have a loathing for anyone that hasn't "played the game", which is most of the people that he is on the Hot Stove Lounge with. And Ron McLean has been relegated to peace keeper and behind kisser to keep Milbury from running rough shod over everyone. You need to have Healy on (the hot stove) to at least counter-act Milbury on occasion.

- The CBC in general (and Don Cherry in particular) are at least partially responsible for the woeful state of the Leafs because they have propagated the notion that we are watching really good hockey, and if we don't think so it is because we don't know anything.

 

Please help,

Jim

[HTHM]

Jim,

It is JUST entertainment, it has nothing to do with your actual life. Apart from a smile and a good feeling, how will your life be affected by the TML winning the cup? They have no direct effect on anything that is truly important.

[dave524]

With my fishing season being over, and the fish snagging season being the only game in town until the ice comes, I thought that I would make this post.

Please feel free to comment, pro or con. I hate the way that I feel (why can't I just watch a game and not think it to death?) and would love to have someone convince me that I am wrong. Because I can't seem to exercise my right to not watch.

 

 

Hockey rant edited

 

The hockey rant may have some validity , but your assessment of the fishing currently available is way off.

[JohnF]

I think Cherry is there to amuse the folks who used to be hooked on WWF or whatever it was called, the kind who delighted in seeing bombastic narcissists strut around in their steroid induced glory and over the top finery. Don just doesn't use the roids, apparently.

 

Milbury is there for the edge. I find him kind of off-putting much of the time but he's a foil to the others who just know hockey and talk straight up about it. We're conditioned to expect controversy and aggression in our entertainment or we assume it can't be good.

 

A good hockey game can happen in lots of ways. One team's style of play will ultimately set the tone for the game unless the teams have identical game plans. Imagine two teams determined to simply trap. I like to see the different ways the teams use their various players' strengths. Granted, high scoring games are exciting, but some of the best hockey is close checking. It's always interesting to see how each team tries to transition and open up ice. Some are very quick and bomb the long fast breakout pass while others stop the play, set up, then probe for holes in the other team's defence. Toronto tends to use more of the latter. They turn and turn again in their own end before finally getting to the other blue line. But it seemed to work against Detroit last night. The other thing Toronto doesn't use is the big man to get low in the slot. Maybe that's what Detroit was missing last night.

 

As for "good hockey", no one wants to watch a close checking game which is probably the most demanding skill-wise. We all want to see goals. Ironically we also want to see every player be 100% perfect. The two can't co-exist.

 

It's the variety of possible outcomes that makes hockey fun to watch. It's pretty tough to anticipate all the possible variables each night - bouncy pucks, players down with the flu, the possibility of key player injuries, bad boards, the subjectivity of line calls and penalties, even the line matchups that happen, or don't.

 

JF

[John]

Jim, I think we need to put things into perspective. HNIC, Cherry, McLean, Milbury etc....really doesn't have a lot to do with the game itself. It's reality TV put on for those that revel in that kind of stuff. Do what I do, watch the game and turn off the intermission between periods. Better yet, start watching youth and junior games if you want to see some exciting hockey from those who really want to be there playing the game that they love............

 

Don't sweat the small stuff!

Edited November 8, 2009 by John

[uglyfish]

its all in good fun. its no different than watching any other talk show out there! u have good guys, bad guys, opinions, and arguments going back and forth. don sherry is the kind of guy u either love or hate... there is no happy medium. but, he is a smart hockey man, and knows what hes talkin about. he has a love for the game and his country like no other. milbury is a bully, he was when he played, he is now. thats his personality. but he again, knows the game. i love watchin coaches corner... its usually the best entertainment of the nite. (last nites game being an exception lol) the leafs are in good shape, them making the playoffs is not a stretch the assume. they have a good team, and in past years when cherry predicted they would make it, they have a good shot, unfortunately we had toskola and therefore no hope or prayer. now we have a good goalie, toskola where he belong, on the bench, and a team that is starting to come together.

 

now, if we could elimate the real problem, gary bettman, and his bonehead ideas... take the game back to the way it belongs, allow players to PLAY. get rid of his stupid obstructyion crap, kill the silly shootout, play 5 on 5 OT, tie is 1 point each, loss is NO points and hockey will be fun again!

[JohnF]

Jim, I think we need to put things into perspective. HNIC, Cherry, McLean, Milbury etc....really doesn't have a lot to do with the game itself. It's reality TV put on for those that revel in that kind of stuff. Do what I do, watch the game and turn off the intermission between periods. Better yet, start watching youth and junior games if you want to see some exciting hockey from those who really want to be there playing the game that they love............

 

Don't sweat the small stuff!

 

I like Cherry's segment. It's a perfect time to pee and get a fresh beer without missing anything on tv.

 

JF

[yakpiker]

I watch regular season hockey with the volume turned down while browsing the internet. It's all been said once you've played and watched enough hockey over the years.

 

Things get interesting in the playoffs depending on how your team is doing.

[John]

I like Cherry's segment. It's a perfect time to pee and get a fresh beer without missing anything on tv.

 

JF

 

You can go a whole period without having to go pee?

[jediangler]

I like Ron McLean. Milbury was better with a shoe than he ever was with a stick and was probably the worst GM in recent hockey history. Healy was an average back-up goalie at best and Cherry is a clown. He coached the greatest team in Bruins history and couldn't win a cup. I'd like to see more of P.J. Stock and Kelly Hrudy and less of Milbury and Healy. I like the addition of Kevin Weekes on the late games but he is the only one of these guys I ever actually played hockey with, so maybe I'b biased.

[Radnine]

Thanks to all that replied.

The overwhelming sentiment seems to be that I need to relax and quit getting so worked up about nothing and I think that it is sound advice. And probably applies to more than HNinC.

Now, If I could just stop worrying about steelheaders and those goofy reels........

Jim

[JohnF]

You can go a whole period without having to go pee?

 

Sure I can, at least after refilling the empty bottle. I hate to miss any of the action. My wife gets a little grossed out but she has a tv in the bedroom she can watch if she's gonna be delicate.

 

JF

[John]

Sure I can, at least after refilling the empty bottle. I hate to miss any of the action. My wife gets a little grossed out but she has a tv in the bedroom she can watch if she's gonna be delicate.

 

JF

 

[anders]

I like Milburry....i think he brings a good edge to it and really is the only one, other that PJ Stock on air that has played at a high level and can get us the point of view that we need...not what the media wants us to hear. Milburry on the hot stove on Saturday was great i thought...telling us like it is and leave the checking alone, and that the media and fairies of the game should let it go. Milburry and Maclean are a much better duo than Maclean and Cherry...although i like Don, it is time for him to go, i do like his tributes to the soldiers, however, his constant patting of his own back, Jim, your right...enough is enough, show us some of you bad predictions!

 

We have to take it all with a grain of salt though...those statues (other than Milburry and Maclean) on the hot stove are being paid remember to voice the changes to the general public to get them on board. If you cant watch with a grain of salt, then do what yakpiker does and turn down the volume and watch the game, without the biases.

 

Just my 2 pennies