Now it's official. Press conference with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and all. Winnipeg got an NHL franchise again. Definitely a far better market than Atlanta. I just hope they finally get some actually decent hockey going with this franchise, though I'm going to miss those 8 points the Flyers picked up almost every season.
I'm really looking to see how they are going to realign the divisions and conferences with this.
I heard they were supposed to become the Manitoba Moose and inherit that name from the AHL club playing in Winnipeg. This is possible because True North now owns both the Thrashers and the Manitoba Moose AHL club. This is somewhat interesting because in the summer of 2010 the same thing happened in the AHL, when the Albany River Rats were sold off to the guy who owned the ECHL team Charlotte Checkers. The River Rats moved to Charlotte, became the Charlotte Checkers and play in the AHL, while the ECHL Checkers went defunct.
(For those a little bit confused, the hierarchy of professional hockey in North America is NHL > AHL > ECHL, with the NHL having farm team affiliates in the AHL and ECHL, and AHL teams having farm team affiliates in the ECHL).
Anyway, True North supposedly wants to make them the Moose because it is a brand that they own and have already invested in. However, there is a big sentiment among fans that they should be the fans. Some fans oppose that notion though, because it is a different franchise and the team that used to be the Jets is still (for some godforsaken reason) in Phoenix.
FUN FACTS - There are more Canadians playing for the Bruins than for the Canucks. 22 Canadians on the Bruins(with four Americans, two Russians, and one each for the Finns, Germans, Slovakian, and Czechoslovakians), and 15 for the Canucks(With Six Americans, Five swedes, along with a German, a Dane, a Finn, a German and a Russian).
Don't you know? All that matters is the team name! Anyway, so far we're in a tie. Considering how badly the Bruins beat the Canuks in the last two games, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's game.
So, Nucks or Bruins? I guess it all comes down to Luongo.
I think Canucks will win because home ice and Luongo will turn it on. I want the Bruins to win because original six. However, I wouldn't mind Canucks winning. It's always more fun to watch home ice win the cup to see the people lose their shit.
I'm from Vancouver so I want the Canucks to win and I'm about 70-30 on them winning tonight.
However, I think the Bruins deserve to win:
1. they've set the tone for the whole series (ie: dirty) 2. they're better at playing dirty 3. They've killed the Nuck's power play 4. The Canucks are terrible dive artists 5. There isn't 10 min of footage of Bruins fucking up empty net goals 6. Mr. Cross Bar is the only reason they haven't won already
Editor’s note:Due to a scheduling error that is too complicated to explain here, this analysis of Wednesday night's game seven between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins had to be published twelve hours early. If the game hasn’t happened yet, please close your browser now and come back tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.
So here we are. After a six-month season, four rounds of playoffs, and seven gruelling games, the NHL has crowned its champion. The Stanley Cup has been awarded. One fan base is devastated, while another will celebrate late into the night.
In the moments after a thrilling game seven, I’d like to take a moment to address you directly, fans of the winning team.
It seems like only yesterday that your team was struggling through a first round series against your bitter rivals who historically dominate you in the playoffs. But you survived, just barely, thanks to an overtime goal in game seven. Remember the excitement when the winning goal was scored, by that particular player? Little did we know the controversy that awaited them weeks later.
Your team waltzed through the second round against Peter Forsberg’s old team, then beat that non-traditional warm weather team in the conference finals. And there you were, back in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in a generation. Who can forget that last time you played for Lord Stanley’s mug, back in the early 90s? I bet you can still picture your team competing furiously, proudly representing those black and yellowish-gold uniforms that they wore then and perhaps still do, before finally going down to a bitter defeat. Damn you, Mark Messier!
But a generation later you were back, and this time the opportunity would not be wasted. It wasn’t easy. It was a vicious series, in which your team persevered despite several sickening cheapshots by the opposing team. You endured your team being taunted with immature finger waves. You watched devastating hits on Nathan Horton and Mason Raymond, 50% of which you thought were unquestionably dirty. The entire hockey world outside of your particular city was united against your team, you told us, incessantly. And let’s not even mention those shameless homer announcers on the other team’s broadcast.
And then game seven. The series had seen it all, from overtime thrillers to lopsided blowouts to everything in between, and game seven certainly fit into one of those categories. All eyes were on Roberto Luongo. Many thought he would rise to the occasion while others thought he would crumble, and in the end we now know they were right. Without question, this game will be his defining legacy.
The end of the game must seem like a blur to you now. There was that goal scored by that one guy, and then that big hit with that other guy, then that other thing done by some other guy, and then the Conn Smythe won by Tim Thomas.
And then, the magic moment you’d been waiting on for four long decades, give or take a year. What fan among you will ever forget the sight of Gary Bettman passing the Stanley Cup into the waiting arms of good old #33? And who says Europeans can’t make great captains? Certainly not anyone who has had the pleasure of watching your team’s leader, a truly unique talent. He certainly is one- or at the very most two-of-a-kind.
And now it’s all over but the riot cleanup. Your boys are champions. A Stanley Cup banner will be raised in your arena next year. After an agonizing, debilitating, gut-wrenching test of your endurance as a fan, it was all worth it.
But at least you’re not like those fans of the other team. Imagine how devastated they must feel right now. Serves them right, those losers. Thank god you have nothing in common with them
Comments
I'm really looking to see how they are going to realign the divisions and conferences with this.
(For those a little bit confused, the hierarchy of professional hockey in North America is NHL > AHL > ECHL, with the NHL having farm team affiliates in the AHL and ECHL, and AHL teams having farm team affiliates in the ECHL).
Anyway, True North supposedly wants to make them the Moose because it is a brand that they own and have already invested in. However, there is a big sentiment among fans that they should be the fans. Some fans oppose that notion though, because it is a different franchise and the team that used to be the Jets is still (for some godforsaken reason) in Phoenix.
22 Canadians on the Bruins(with four Americans, two Russians, and one each for the Finns, Germans, Slovakian, and Czechoslovakians), and 15 for the Canucks(With Six Americans, Five swedes, along with a German, a Dane, a Finn, a German and a Russian).
Anyway, so far we're in a tie. Considering how badly the Bruins beat the Canuks in the last two games, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's game.
However, I think the Bruins deserve to win:
1. they've set the tone for the whole series (ie: dirty)
2. they're better at playing dirty
3. They've killed the Nuck's power play
4. The Canucks are terrible dive artists
5. There isn't 10 min of footage of Bruins fucking up empty net goals
6. Mr. Cross Bar is the only reason they haven't won already
If you're not in Canada, then there are ways around region locking.
#BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH
Of course, according to Scott, sports riots only happen in Philadelphia.
Haters Gotta Hate.