Canuck

I'm not quite sure what you mean, and I'm not trying to be facetious, but would that 'route' mean icing the best possible team that gives Hockey Canada the best chance at a gold medal? I think last year's squad did quite fine, wouldn't you agree?

Oh gawwd. Here we go again

Wait no more, here I am! Trust me, between our enthusibrated (get it? - enthusiastic and inebriated, all in one word...hahahaa) fans and a roster with the mission of seek and destory, that sally wasn't hearing anything over the ringing in his ears. Half-checking at World Juniors? Now I've heard it all.

I've been to the MTS Centre as well (for a concert), and its an absolutely beautiful venue. Although, IMO, about 10 years too late, eh? For the record, Goren now leads the AHL playoffs in goals and is just one point off the scoring lead.

UH-ohhhh...Canadian beer smack. Actually, I agree with you; I'm not the biggest Molson fan, but keep in mind you tried Molson that was likely brewed south of the border. There is a noticeable difference in taste, much like when you order a Coors Light in Canada. Molson is indeed overrated; I prefer Labatt's Blue, but the best - if you can track it down somewhere - is Kokanee. MMMMMM....talking beer on a hockey message board. I just got a warm fuzzy.

Winnipeg Sun article on Lee Goren: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/AHL/2005/05/04/1025295.html

Typical of us. Keeping the American man down.

Want some AMERICAN cheese with your whine?

I guess the parallel I was trying to make was that of a senior goalie with an established track record putting the team ahead of himself during a season in which the team was making a championship run. Fedorov, you imply that it is different because Toby wasn't playing well, but if I'm not mistaken, the Sioux were ranked No. 1 in the country even before Kvalevog gave way to Schweitzer.

Quite reminiscent of the situation in 1997 when senior Toby Kvalevog stepped aside for freshman Aaron Schweitzer without causing any waves. In fact, I recall Dean Blais on several occasions noting how important Kvalevog's willingness to mentor Schweitzer was in the team winning the national title that year.

That was listed incorrectly. Spring ball starts on Wednesday. Just so nobody heads out today to watch an empty field.

Same reason Lee Goren and - I THINK - T.J. Caig were forced to sit out one year.

Yes. Him and Paul Shaffer.

No, but there have been a few Saturday nights at the ol' watering hole where I thought I had all the answers to the lockout.

I love the thought process. We've screwed with the livelihoods of enough adults (ticket-takers, concessions, ushers, etc.), how about we do the same with hundreds of teenagers!?

I can't say for sure, but the surgery Robbie Bina had sounds awfully similar to the procedure done on quite a number of professional wrestlers (please, spare me from the wrestling flaming) in recent years, almost all of whom resumed their careers after about a year of rehab.

Along the lines of what Sicatoka is trying to explain - Move your feet, not your stick.

Some might say you'd make a good head of officials.

Then change the rule book. Because until that happens, everything you mentioned, while maybe a part of hockey, is against the rules! The bottom line is call the game according to the rule book. Make it black and white. If the game is called according to the rules, it removes all of this garbage of players not knowing what they can and can't get away with. Consistent officiating will ultimately result in a more consistently enjoyable game.

As long as Minnesota Duluth's season ends with a loss, I'm a happy fan.

I sure hope you mean south of the border. I'm partial to Bob Cole (CBC HNIC), Chris Cuthbert (formerly of CBC HNIC) and Paul Romaniuk (formerly of TSN). I would definitely agree that Thorne, while a little too easily excitable at times, is far and away the best of the ESPN play-by-play bunch.

I'm with PCM. Because it is such a high-speed game, the onus is on the players to be aware of their actions at all times, whether it's checking from behind, high sticking, etc. It comes down to four simple words: Respect for your opponent.

I respectfully disagree. You are correct - many times these things are unavoidable, particularly when a player turns his back at the last possible split second. However, that was not the case in this instance. Bina clearly had his back fully turned and was in a complete vulnerable position and Paukovich hit him at near-full speed. It would be awfully presumptuous for us to claim Paukovich intended to do harm to Robbie. Nobody wants to see an opponent in the hospital with a career-threatening injury. However, checking from behind is checking from behind. No matter what the intentions were of the offending player, the bottom line is he viciously hit an opponent from behind and may have ended his career. Two minutes and one relatively meaningless game do not suffice.

Please keep in mind that EVERYTHING is called at the international level and that draws an equal amount of ire from the fans who follow it closely. You'll see many more "tickey tack" calls made, particularly by European officials. Many times it makes it next to impossible to play an honest-but-physical style without falling into penalty trouble. Having said that, there has to be some sort of middle ground. Clutching and grabbing is one thing;as frustrating as it is to have to watch, it doesn't put anybody's career - or even life - on the line. When Zach Parise is mugged in the corner and there's no call, that is frustrating to no end. When somebody nearly loses their ability to walk and a two-minute minor and one-game suspension are all that result, well, that is completely unacceptable.

I'm not sure exactly how relevant this is to this particular thread, but I was listening to PA and Dubay this morning (why, I'll never know) and Jeff Dubay actually said the following (paraphrase): "I don't give a CRAP what team comes back and wins a third-place game. We don't know the motivation for each team. We all know that the Gophers were dealing with several issues for that game." There are so many things I could say about this statement, yet I kind of feel like the idiocy speaks for itself.