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Hockey Fans?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:21 am
by Hiker
Any hockey fans on MM? The Hiker family are huge hockey fans. It was great to see Peter Forsberg play last night for the Avalanche, he's one of my all time favorite players. Looks like the Avs have a great shot of going deep into the playoffs. We are also huge fans of Colorado College Tigers and have have season tickets at the World Arena. Currently CC is ranked #4 in D-1 and University of Denver is ranked #6. Colorado College is hosting the NCAA West regionals this year and DU is hosting the Frozen Four is in Denver at the Pepsi Center.

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:38 am
by NH Hunter
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.

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:14 pm
by Hiker
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.

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:24 pm
by NH Hunter
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. (???)

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:25 pm
by bigbuck92
RedWings fan here!!! Just never able to watch there games. grrrrrr

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:58 am
by zatarain6
the avs look like they are getting serious about the playoffs . reuniting some of the old avs again .

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:00 am
by Hiker
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?

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:59 am
by NH Hunter
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.

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:57 pm
by wbird
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

Re: Hockey Fans?

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:44 pm
by Hiker
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?