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There's more to hockey than the NHL! Post in this thread about any and all hockey that is not the NHL or American college hockey. There are tons of leagues in Europe, with the best being the predominantly Russian league, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The Swedish Hockey League (SHL, formerly SEL) and the SM-liiga in Finland are both also very good and many NHLers from Western Europe played in those leagues before coming over to North America. Switzerland's National League A (NLA) has produced fewer big name players but was a popular destination for NHLers during the lockouts. In North America, the American Hockey Leage (AHL) is the level of professional hockey below the NHL, and each NHL team has an AHL affiliate to which they can assign players. Below that are the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League but they have a California division now so they dropped the full name) and Central Hockey League. And of course, there's the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) which is the main player development league in North America. It is composed of three leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Despite their names and the name of the overall organisation, the WHL and OHL have teams in the USA as well as Canada. In the US, college hockey is also a major route for development, with most players playing in the USHL or a Canadian Junior A league before they go to college. Anyone who has played in the CHL is ineligible to play in college because the NCAA does not consider it to be a purely amateur league. There is a separate thread for college hockey here. And you know who else plays hockey? Women! US college hockey is the most prominent stage (other than international competitions) for women's hockey. There is also a small professional Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). NEW -- There is a new pan-European Champions Hockey League (thanks to Kennel for this section).   This is the most ambitious pan-European club competition in a while. The last attempt (also known as CHL) folded after just one year when Gazprom canceled their funding. This iteration is a direct continuation of the European Trophy which was a fairly large tournament but was barely marketed at all and never attracted a huge following. Concept -44 teams from 12 countries including 26 founding members and 18 teams based on their success in domestic leagues -Group stage with 11 groups and 6 games/team -Group winners and the five best group runners-up will qualify for the playoffs Good +More competitive games +Most of the best teams from Western Europe + some interesting exotic clubs +The founding members have guaranteed the funding for three years Bad -Most (66%) of the group stage games are played during the preseason -Probably unprofitable for the most teams -Several "undeserved" teams because the founding members have a guaranteed entry spot -No KHL teams Other league-specific information: KHL  Russia is pretty into hockey. They've had aspirations to create a pan-Europe league to rival the NHL, but for now they have the KHL. Originating from the Russian Superleague, the league has expanded beyond Russia with teams in Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Ukraine and Finland. Prominent ex-NHLers include Alexander Radulov (CKSA Moscow) and Ilya Kovalchuk (SKA Saint Petersburg). Some Russian prospects take their time moving over to North America from the KHL. Changes for 2014-2015: Joining the league are Jokerit Helsinki, HC Sochi and Lada Togliatti. HC Donbass will not play in the league this season due to the political instability in Ukraine, while Lev Praha and Spartak Moscow will not play because of financial problems. Official website: http://en.khl.ru/ AHL  Map from 2013-2014 The main "minor league" of the NHL. Each NHL team has a AHL affiliate and if your favourite player just got sent down, this is probably where he's playing now. Some NHL teams own and control their AHL teams while others have partnerships. Some players in the AHL are not affiliated with NHL teams and are on AHL-only contracts. The winner of the AHL playoffs, which are structured like those of the NHL except for a best-of-five first round, is awarded the Calder Cup. 2014-2015 AHL schedule Changes for 2014-2015: Adirondack Phantoms moved to Allentown PA and became the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Abbotsford Heat moved to Glen Falls and became the Adirondack Flames. Furthermore, the A continues to be a rules laboratory. Most notable are overtime, helmets, and fighting. -Overtime is now 7 minutes long with the first 3 minutes being 4-on-4 and then the last 4 being 3 on 3. If a penalty is assessed, the team with the power play will have a 4 on 3 man advantage. Shootouts will now be three players (like the NHL) instead of five. -A player who accrues two fighting majors (or three regular majors) in a game will get an automatic game misconduct. -Finally, a player will be assessed a minor penalty if their helmet comes off during play and they do not immediately exit or put their helmet back on. (thanks Heaf) Official website: http://theahl.com/ CHL The main prospect development league in North America, the CHL is composed of three leagues. Each league holds its own NHL-style playoffs with the winners of each league along with the host city playing in the prestigious Memorial Cup tournament. The CHL is considered a "major junior" league and is sometimes referred to this way. Players in the CHL are aged 16-20 (with an occasional 15 year old permitted in the OHL via "exceptional player status"). 20 year olds are considered "overage" and limited to 3 per team while teams may not play more than 4 15 or 16 year olds. Age for CHL purposes is based on the calendar year so for the 2013-2014 season, a 20 year old is any player born in 1993. This contrasts with the NHL where draft eligibility is determined by age on September 15. Each CHL league has an annual draft of bantam-aged players within their regions and the leagues hold a combined import draft for players from outside North America who may wish to play in the CHL. Teams are limited to 2 import players. WHL  The WHL includes 22 teams in four Canadian provinces and two American states. The WHL holds the CHL rights to players from the four western provinces, all three territories, the American Pacific Northwest and other designated states west of the Mississippi River. The winner of the WHL playoffs is awarded the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Official website: http://www.whl.ca/ OHL  The OHL is composed of 20 teams, located in the Canadian province of Ontario and the American states of Michigan and Pennsylvania. The winner of the OHL playoffs is awarded the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Official website: http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/ QMJHL  Also called "the Q", the QMJHL is the only CHL league with no American teams (although there used to be one in Maine). The QMJHL has 18 teams, based in Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The league has CHL rights to players from these provinces as well as Newfoundland and New England. The winner of the QMJHL playoffs is awarded the President's Cup. The league is known for high scores and a style of hockey which prioritises offense. Pity the goalies. Official website: http://theqmjhl.ca/ F.A.Q. Sounds cool! How can I watch? The best way is in person. Minor hockey is cheap and you can probably get decent seats for $10-$15. Check your local team's Twitter or Facebook for additional promotions (e.g. my local WHL team has a limited number of seats on sale on Mondays for $5). But if you don't live near a team, or want to keep up with their away games, the best way to keep up is radio. Yes, that's still a thing. Most if not all of these teams have all their games broadcast by a local radio station, and radio is almost universally available to stream (legally!) for free online with no restrictions on location. Sure, this means you can't see the games to judge your team's precious prospects with your own eyes, but radio commentating is very thorough and hearing the players' names to know who has been involved in the play gives a pretty good idea of who has played well. Hockey Webcasts is a fairly comprehensive source to stream radio for almost every North American team from the NHL, AHL, ECHL, WHL, OHL, and QMJHL. If your team is missing, check the official league page or team website. The AHL, WHL, OHL and QMJHL all have sites like NHL Gamecenter Live where you can watch the games online. However, they are expensive and the quality tends to be pretty bad, with the video often just being a low-res feed of whatever goes up on the jumbotron. On occasion, games are televised locally in which case you might be able to find them on your favourite illegal streaming site. All KHL games are streamed through onhockey.ru, but they happen in the middle of the (North American) night and are in Russian, so that may or may not be your thing. Why can't my team's hot prospect play in the AHL if he doesn't make the NHL team? You can blame the NHL/CHL Agreement, a.k.a. why Infidel Castro didn't get to see Seth Jones play in Milwaukee. Somewhere around 60% of all NHL players played in the CHL, making it the main pool from which the NHL drafts its players. To prevent NHL teams from taking their best players and immediately sending them to one of their minor league affiliates, the NHL and CHL made an agreement. If a player was drafted from a CHL team, they have to either be 20 years old by Dec. 31 (i.e. overage) or have played four years in the CHL in order to play in the AHL. Otherwise, the player must be sent back to the CHL team that has their rights. Note that this only applies to players drafted from the CHL, not players drafted from European leagues or the NCAA, even if they go on to play in the CHL after the draft. toe knee hand fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Oct 21, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 02:36
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 19:38 |
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I picked up the KHL/AHL changes, added the European Champions League and updated the NCAA links to the new thread. Is there anything else new for 2014-2015? e: also I again forgot about the Hockey thread tag so used the NHL one. Hand Knit? toe knee hand fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 02:38
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League wise it looks solid and a good OP. So now lets talk about how much we all hate the London Knights and question Milano's choice to play in the OHL instead of Boston College. Oh and the Spitfires traded basically every pick they own for the next 3 years to Niagara for Logan Brown yesterday.
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Aug 28, 2014 03:57
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==The new teams in KHL 2013-14== Lada Togliatti Played in KHL 2008-10, allowed to rejoin after they got a modern arena.  HC Sochi A new team in the olympics host city.  Jokerit Helsinki The greatest Finnish hockey team (some fools might disagree).  ==Not participating in 2014–2015== Lev Prague The last year's runner-up lost reportedly 50 million dollars in two years and folded. A big hit for KHL's reputation but it was going to happen sooner or later. Donbass Donetsk The situation in East Ukraine is too hot for hockey. Spartak Moscow A tradional team but couldn't attract spectators. --- In general there seems to be lots of financial troubles and the Ukrainian crisis has made the things worse. We'll see how it goes. --- I've been one of the main organizers for the Jokerit fan club for seven years and followed this team since early 90s + spent this summer researching team's history, so I might be able to do some effort posts/answer questions if there's an interest.
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Aug 28, 2014 04:04
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toe knee hand posted:I picked up the KHL/AHL changes, added the European Champions League and updated the NCAA links to the new thread. Is there anything else new for 2014-2015? The AHL just released their schedule today! Furthermore, the A continues to be a rules laboratory. Most notably are Overtime, helmets, and fighting. Overtime is now 7 minutes long with the first 3 minutes being 4-on-4 and then the last 4 being 3 on 3. If a penalty is assessed, the team with the power play will have a 4 on 3 man advantage. Shootouts will now be three players (like the NHL) instead of five. A player who accrues two fighting majors (or three regular majors) in a game will get an automatic game misconduct. Finally, a player will be assessed a minor penalty if their helmet comes off during play and they do not immediately exit or put their helmet back on.
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Aug 28, 2014 05:08
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A brief look at the Oilers-Related teams AHL: Oklahoma City Barons  Current Head Coach: Todd Nelson First season: 2010-2011 The Barons are the latest Oilers AHL franchise, being resurrected from the messy corpse Roadrunners which stopped playing in like, 2005. Todd Nelson has been the OKC head coach for all four years of existance, making the playoffs every year (and making it to the conference finals twice). Notable players who spent time in OKC prior to their NHL debut include Jeff Petry, Martin Marincin, Oscar Klefbom, Mark Arcobello, Justin Schultz (where he won the AHL version of the Norris, in 34 games played). There's going to be a slew of prospects turning pro and going to OKC this year as well. F Mitch Moroz, F Bogdan Yakimov, F Jujhar Khaira, and D Dillion Simpson are all prospects of note who will be turning pro with the Barons next year. Second and third year pros to keep an eye on include D David Musil, D Brandon Davidson, D Martin Gernat, and G Laurent Brossoit. ECHL: Bakersfield Condors  Current Head Coach: Jean-Francois Houle First season: 1995-1996 I know pretty much nothing about the players on the Condors, but by all accounts they are a fun team to watch who do goofy stuff like this. Also, their first head coach was one of Wayne's brothers, Keith Gretzky. Oilers bought the Conders last year, but let them continue on doing their thing, which is for the best of everyone involved. Brossoit backstopped them to a conference finals appearance last year, losing to the Alaska Aces. WHL: Edmonton Oil Kings  Current Head Coach: Steve Hamilton First season: 2007-2008 Another team owned by Rexall Sports. The reigning Memorial Cup champions after beating Guelph this year. Oil Kings have been the best team in the East in the WHL over the last three years, getting 50 wins and making it to the WHL Final each of those three years. Every time they faced Portland in the Final, winning twice (2012, 2014) and losing in 2013. Derek Laxdal was the head coach for the last four years, who got a job with the AHL Texas Stars this year, so this year will be former assistant coach Hamilton's first. Players you're likely to see in the AHL/NHL soon: Curtis Lazar (Ottawa 1st), Henrik Samuelsson (Phoenix 1st), Griffin Reinhart (NYI 1st), Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh 2nd).
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Aug 29, 2014 17:45
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ECHL: Toledo Walleye poo poo primary logo  less poo poo secondary logo  NHL Affiliate: Red Wings AHL Affiliate: Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach: Derek Lalonde - Entering 1st year The Walleye are a somewhat new program. The last ECHL program in town was the Toledo Storm, and the franchise was suspended for a couple years as the old Toledo Sports Arena was demolished and the new Huntington Center was built. Storm games were known for having more fights in the stands than on the ice, which already had plenty. Also for a logo so amazingly  that it was voted I think twice as worst in all sports.  The Walleye showed up in 2009 and have proceeded to do nothing of really any consequence. They've made 2 playoff appearances and were eliminated quickly. I'll grant being relatively new and, for a while, feeding two teams (they were affiliated both with the Red Wings and Blackhawks up until last year) doesn't help matters, but the team never seemed to gel. Last year resulted in the strange mid-season firing of long time coach Nick Vitucci, who had coached back to the Storm days. Last year was particularly rough as the Red Wings were hammered by injuries, which caused plenty of call-ups through the system and left basically nothing in Toledo. All that being said, the games are still pretty fun to attend because Huntington Center is a really nice arena.   Huntington seats 8,000 and is best described as "too big to be small, too small to be big". Every seat is a good one and games aren't too expensive. General admission is around $14. Food is basic arena fare but does also include walleye sandwiches, which are pretty good. The same family that owns the Toledo Mud Hens own the Walleye, and while they ended up going way too far out of their way to make the program family-friendly to the point of being a Saturday morning cartoon, the staff do go out of their way to make sure people have a good time. It's also a fantastic place for concerts and they usually get some pretty good acts.
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Sep 3, 2014 19:34
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Condors reveal their first specialty jersey of the year
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Sep 3, 2014 19:55
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fits posted:Condors reveal their first specialty jersey of the year hahaha hell yes TOledo's doing a Cosby Sweater jersey this year
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Sep 3, 2014 20:05
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Sep 3, 2014 21:37
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didn't the denver cutthroats fold?
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Sep 3, 2014 21:58
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a false posted:didn't the denver cutthroats fold? They're dormant, coming back in 2015
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Sep 3, 2014 22:08
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Hurry up ECHL and buy out the Central Hockey League so I never get confused when reading CHL again, thank you.
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Sep 3, 2014 22:18
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7lip posted:Hurry up ECHL and buy out the Central Hockey League so I never get confused when reading CHL again, thank you. Don't worry, the Euros in the Champions Hockey League have stepped in to assist.
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Sep 4, 2014 02:59
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Pleads and 7lip are narrating a conversation I had with myself last week.
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Sep 4, 2014 03:35
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Pleads posted:Don't worry, the Euros in the Champions Hockey League have stepped in to assist. Just wait until they become the European Championship Hockey League (ECHL)
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Sep 4, 2014 04:06
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Is this the DEL Grizzly Adams Appreciation Station?
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Sep 4, 2014 04:40
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Pleads posted:Don't worry, the Euros in the Champions Hockey League have stepped in to assist. But they don't matter in the slightest, so whatever. 
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Sep 4, 2014 13:32
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A bunch of champion league games are on right now, go geneva eagles!
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Sep 4, 2014 19:03
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N: Tappara lost to the Stavanger Oilers 2-1 after the shootout last night in the CHL. V: Hahaha, Tappara lost to the loving Stavanger Oilers.
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Sep 5, 2014 07:14
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(sorry for a huge gif) (lovely defence but anyway...) I just love this KHL poo poo. I've been following the Finnish league for nearly 25 years but after the 90's the entertainment level has dropped year after year. This is probably the first time I actually enjoy the random regular season games since 1997 (well there were some great games when we had Karlsson during the lock-out but they were special). Jokerit has one win and one OT-loss after two games.
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Sep 7, 2014 00:48
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that #27 there for jokerit is linus omark, if you were wondering
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Sep 7, 2014 05:58
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Hope to be spending more time in this thread this season. I'll be working for an ECHL team for 2013-14. I'll try to share any cool details or stories (that I am allowed to) along the way.
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Sep 7, 2014 06:40
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pavel buchnevich off to a ppg start this season  also jonathan cheechoo scored a hat trick the other night
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Sep 7, 2014 07:29
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Eisbaren fans keep that tempo going the whole game, wow. A metro German club loves bass, shock and awe there.
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Sep 7, 2014 15:55
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MaoistBanker posted:Hope to be spending more time in this thread this season. I'll be working for an ECHL team for 2013-14. I'll try to share any cool details or stories (that I am allowed to) along the way. What are you going to be doing?
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Sep 7, 2014 16:03
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DOOMocrat posted:Eisbaren fans keep that tempo going the whole game, wow. A metro German club loves bass, shock and awe there. Eisbaren fans are incredible. The only arena I've been in as an away fan where the intensity came close was Lugano- they keep their ultras in a cage at the north end of the stadium. They get a bad rep but are really cool and generous guys if you're not a rival, we just climbed over to party with them when we played them in '03.
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Sep 7, 2014 17:15
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MaoistBanker posted:Hope to be spending more time in this thread this season. I'll be working for an ECHL team for 2013-14. I'll try to share any cool details or stories (that I am allowed to) along the way. Spread our influence. Let us control them from within.
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Sep 7, 2014 18:04
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Hand Knit posted:Spread our influence. Let us control them from within. I dont think even SAS could save Kingston from fate. 
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Sep 8, 2014 00:09
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Hockles posted:What are you going to be doing? What don't we do? The front office staff of an ECHL team is approximately 20% the size of an NHL team. I'm basically somewhat involved in everything that is not specifically hockey operations
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Sep 8, 2014 02:33
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Interesting. I also am employed by a minor league hockey team. Off-Ice Official for the Lake Erie Monsters. Which means I do stats for the team, such as +/-, Time on Ice, Shots, LeagueStat (database that updates the AHL website in realtime things that happen during games), and even things like Timekeeper or goal judge.
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Sep 8, 2014 02:45
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I went to the first game of the Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) season tonight, after a couple years watching WHL stuff, and... Neither team was really that good. It ended up being an exciting 3-2 shootout win, but for long stretches of the game neither team seemed able to competently skate, pass, or shoot. I am definitely not spoiled because the Saskatoon Blades were pretty bad last year, but I feel that Blades team would have destroyed either team on the ice tonight. The Halifax Mooseheads are in town tomorrow night and if they maintain any semblance of their former powerhouse team I can't imagine it goes well for the Islanders. That said, holy gently caress is it great that I can watch hockey again.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:52
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Oil Kings are only on their last preseason game tonight and don't have their home opener until next weekend 
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Sep 13, 2014 02:56
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fits posted:Oil Kings are only on their last preseason game tonight and don't have their home opener until next weekend OHL season doesnt start until the 24th, Colts first game is the 25th. Going off the preseason game I saw, the Colts look like hot garbage right now with all the guys they lost this offseason. Come back Ekblad. 
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Sep 13, 2014 03:14
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fits posted:Oil Kings are only on their last preseason game tonight and don't have their home opener until next weekend Blades last preseason game at home right now, 1-1 2nd int. Next Saturday home opener... Then an immediate roadie, I think home game no2 is Oct 6th or something like that. E: Pleads, Gui Gino, and I are in the season tickets book I think 3 or 4 times this year I forgot to take photos before we stashed them in the car. 7lip fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Sep 13, 2014 |
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Sep 13, 2014 03:31
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holy poo poo has anyone seen the medvescak zagreb [KHL] lineup? it's like an AHL all-star team:
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Sep 15, 2014 10:42
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Noted Croatian Mark Dekanich.
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Sep 15, 2014 14:31
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I see someone gave Anthony Stewart another chance to wash out of the KHL.
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Sep 15, 2014 15:53
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Another AHL All-Star just joined up in Zagreb, Aaron Palushaj. Palushaj was a decent prospect in the Habs organization before being sent on waivers and joining the Avs. He played with the Charlotte Checkers last season and scored 58 points. Guess he didn't want an AHL gig. As far as that Zagreb roster, it's made that way. It made a lot of sense when Mark French, the Hershey Bears former head coach, lead them last year. He's now the bench boss in Calgary. Guess the have Chuck Weber in Zagreb now and he was previously with the San Antonio Rampage.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:08
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Croatia is beautiful and cheap, they are having a very good time I'd say.
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Sep 15, 2014 21:17
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