Nhl

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Not sure if there are many on here who follow the NHL, but my Montreal Canadiens just went through to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since '93.

In some ways their run has been similar to ours in 2016. They're a team of veterans in defence with lots of promising young players in centre and attack. They came into the playoffs as the lowest seed having lots of injuries towards the end of the season. But everyone got healthy at the right time just before the playoffs started. No-one gave them a chance in the first series against Toronto. They went down 3-1 in the best of 7 series and ended up winning 4-3. No-one gave them a chance in the next series but they swept the Winnipeg Jets in the next round. They have now just beaten this seasons best team in the semis and, coincidentally, it was against the NHL's latest expansion team.

Oh and their colours are red, white and blue. So get behind them!

[boydogs]

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Lots of similarities there! Hope they go all the way

[SonofScray]

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Going to take something special to comeback from here in the series. I’m a Bruins fan, but believe it or not, am right behind the Habs here. Tampa are annoying me.

Side note: have you read The Game by Ken Dryden? One of my favourite sports books.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

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Going to take something special to comeback from here in the series. I’m a Bruins fan, but believe it or not, am right behind the Habs here. Tampa are annoying me.

Side note: have you read The Game by Ken Dryden? One of my favourite sports books.

Yeah it's been a disappointing series from the Habs. They've regressed a bit to their regular season form. Too many silly mistakes in defence and Tampa have just been too good and punished us each time. Just hope we don't get swept now. It is what it is but it's quite frustrating we haven't brought our playoff standard to this series. It could have been interesting if so. Tampa have lucked out and seen our worst for 3 games.

Tampa annoy me too. They found a loophole to go over the salary cap, but credit to them. Nothing illegal in it.

I haven't read it no. Will look into it.

[aker39]

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Bruins and Kings coming for a preseason game in Melbourne

[Dogs 24/7]

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Bruins and Kings coming for a preseason game in Melbourne

I watch a bit of this, I intend to go.

[SonofScray]

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Season has kicked off.

Media frenzy over Bedard has been significant, and the kid looks every bit the star.

I think the league has gone through a real shift in playing styles recently, and it's an absolute joy to watch in a lot of ways.

Bruins off to a great start again.

[SonofScray]

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Vegas set a record for best start to a season by defending Stanley Cup champions.

Bruins v Kings featured a good old fashioned punch up, which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but the two boys turned back the clock.

[GVGjr]

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How impressive and skillful is this?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1715907529463525754

[SonofScray]

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Bont’s partner N Brenning is playing for the Melbourne Ice women’s team in our national league, the AWIHL and starting to have a real impact. Regularly finding the goal and a big presence on the ice. She’s a really strong skater and very athletic.

[Grantysghost]

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Bont’s partner N Brenning is playing for the Melbourne Ice women’s team in our national league, the AWIHL and starting to have a real impact. Regularly finding the goal and a big presence on the ice. She’s a really strong skater and very athletic.

Canadian?

[SonofScray]

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Canadian?

I believe so.

The scene here is ex pat Canadians, a few crazy Eastern Europeans, 2 old swedes, a bunch of staunch old fellas from when Footscray had its own rink and 90s kids who loved Mighty Ducks.

[mjp]

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The scene here is ex pat Canadians, a few crazy Eastern Europeans, 2 old swedes, a bunch of staunch old fellas from when Footscray had its own rink and 90s kids who loved Mighty Ducks.

There's an arena not far from me where you can eat American BBQ with a view of the ice...and the entertainment value of completely out of shape blokes trying to smash into one another while nominally chasing a black disc around the ice all whilst eating buffalo wings is quite literally off the charts.

[SonofScray]

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There's an arena not far from me where you can eat American BBQ with a view of the ice...and the entertainment value of completely out of shape blokes trying to smash into one another while nominally chasing a black disc around the ice all whilst eating buffalo wings is quite literally off the charts.

You've just described my teammates and I in explicit detail!

[SonofScray]

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Couple of Ice Hockey events coming up in town.

Melbourne Ice Women are in the finals of the AWIHL held at O’Brien Icehouse next weekend. Top spot was on the line for 3 of the top 4 teams in the final round. Ice dropped both games to fall to 3rd after dominating the season early.

A good opportunity to have a look at the game at the top level of the women’s system here.


THEN

a fortnight from now we have International Test Ice Hockey. Trans Tasman Series : AUS V NZ.

A very rare thing to have international games on home soil in a system where matches are usually played in tournaments overseas. IHA are aiming to make this event a real big feature of the sports calendar and a way to kick off the men’s season in winter. Expect AUS to win but you are guaranteed a lot of action and physical play.