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OT: 2021 NHL Regular Season Thread

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Zap, I know that is said about a number of guys over the years in most sports. If I was on a team, and in the trenches, I’m sure I’d think the same. But I’m not. As a general hockey fan, to me, his antics just seem anachronistic.

Meh, I do remember the rough and tumble 70s fondly. Maybe I’m getting soft with old age.
We traded for the most hated, supposedly locker room cancerous malcontent, universally hated player in the National league in 1979....Bill Madlock.
Stargell and Parker told the front office to bring him here, we’ll straighten him out...they did
 
Much better but he still gets outmuscled but he has an assist on the first three Devils goals this year and in both OTs he might have been the best player on the ice for both teams.
He's actually been the hitter a couple of times, but when he's the hittee he does go flying.

I think he's been OK thus far. The points? A couple secondaries in there. He has looked good in OT with the added space which is expected. I don't think he's been bad, I think he, like a lot of guys are still looking to find their flow, but I'm expecting a lot more.
 
Off topic but, I just could not tell if the Flordia Panthers had a cap on their fans attending against the Blackhawks. The scene of empty sections looked so normal for them. Can't wait til Tuesday night.
 
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He's actually been the hitter a couple of times, but when he's the hittee he does go flying.

I think he's been OK thus far. The points? A couple secondaries in there. He has looked good in OT with the added space which is expected. I don't think he's been bad, I think he, like a lot of guys are still looking to find their flow, but I'm expecting a lot more.
Wayne Gretzky was 170 pounds soaking wet, same with Denis Savard and Patrick Kane when they were rookies.
How come they never seemed to go flying?
Different era?
 
Wayne Gretzky was 170 pounds soaking wet, same with Denis Savard and Patrick Kane when they were rookies.
How come they never seemed to go flying?
Different era?

How many games did you really watch from their rookie years?

But I think it was an unwritten rule not to hit Gretzky hard, plus you had to answer to Marty McSorley if you did.
 
How many games did you really watch from their rookie years?

But I think it was an unwritten rule not to hit Gretzky hard, plus you had to answer to Marty McSorley if you did.
If you think the great tough players like Trottier, Tonelli, Nysrom, Clarke, Graves, O’Reilly etc were afraid of anyone I beg to differ, they’d hit anyone, but couldn’t catch those guys
 
If you think the great tough players like Trottier, Tonelli, Nysrom, Clarke, Graves, O’Reilly etc were afraid of anyone I beg to differ, they’d hit anyone, but couldn’t catch those guys
That wasn't what I was saying, but for every one of those guys you mentioned there was probably 5 who might think twice. So that reduces the odds.

But I also do think that no one wanted Gretzky hurt at the height of his prime, he helped put money in everyone's pockets.

Gretzky also had a knack of knowing where the puck was going so he was always two steps ahead of everyone. His dad was responsible for that, when Grets was young his dad would put him in front of the TV to watch games, he would also give him a writing pad made out like a hockey rink and a pencil, he would watch the game and without looking down follow the puck. Brilliant.

But Savard no one could touch, he was fantastic, man was he fun to watch.
 
That wasn't what I was saying, but for every one of those guys you mentioned there was probably 5 who might think twice. So that reduces the odds.

But I also do think that no one wanted Gretzky hurt at the height of his prime, he helped put money in everyone's pockets.

Gretzky also had a knack of knowing where the puck was going so he was always two steps ahead of everyone. His dad was responsible for that, when Grets was young his dad would put him in front of the TV to watch games, he would also give him a writing pad made out like a hockey rink and a pencil, he would watch the game and without looking down follow the puck. Brilliant.

But Savard no one could touch, he was fantastic, man was he fun to watch.
I can assure you no opposition player was concerned with the health of Gretzky.
You think Bill Guerin was worried about hurting Gretzky?
They can’t catch Kane or Barzal either
 
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I can assure you no opposition player was concerned with the health of Gretzky.
You think Bill Guerin was worried about hurting Gretzky?
They can’t catch Kane or Barzal either
I'm not saying Gretzky isn't slippery and can't avoid hits, few were better, but I've always heard rumblings that you didn't line up to cream him, I did find this:

Many NHL players struggle with deciding when to retire, but for Wayne Gretzky, the time to hang up the skates became clear when opponents would warn "The Great One" before hitting him.

"I got hit -- I didn't get hit as much as people probably wanted me to get hit, especially on the opposing teams, " Gretzky said Thursday night during an appearance on the TBS show "Conan." "But I knew it was time to retire when I was playing my last year, and people I was playing against, before they would hit me, they would scream my name, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, something's not right about this.'"

The Great One retired after the 1998-99 season as a member of the New York Rangers.

Even though opponents wanted to play physical with Gretzky and knock him off his game, guys crossing the line and taking runs at him was rare. The players knew Gretzky was the driving force in the sport's enormous increase in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after he was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings on Aug. 9, 1988.



But I also did find this:

In the years since, a myth has developed that McCreary never played in the NHL after this particular game. More specifically, it’s been claimed that he was blackballed for daring to hit the slightly-built Gretzky when he was off-limits for such abuse. The problem is that despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, this gets repeated far too frequently as fact.

I do not know the exact origin of this myth. I know it’s on an early Don Cherry video from the Rock ‘Em Sock’Em Hockey series, but I cannot definitively say that Cherry is the source of it. However, given his widespread audience and his credibility as someone connected to the “inside game”, I’d argue that Cherry has been responsible for disseminating this to more people than anyone.



And thanks to to the second link it reminded me where I did hear this from - Don Cherry.
 
I'm not saying Gretzky isn't slippery and can't avoid hits, few were better, but I've always heard rumblings that you didn't line up to cream him, I did find this:

Many NHL players struggle with deciding when to retire, but for Wayne Gretzky, the time to hang up the skates became clear when opponents would warn "The Great One" before hitting him.

"I got hit -- I didn't get hit as much as people probably wanted me to get hit, especially on the opposing teams, " Gretzky said Thursday night during an appearance on the TBS show "Conan." "But I knew it was time to retire when I was playing my last year, and people I was playing against, before they would hit me, they would scream my name, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, something's not right about this.'"

The Great One retired after the 1998-99 season as a member of the New York Rangers.

Even though opponents wanted to play physical with Gretzky and knock him off his game, guys crossing the line and taking runs at him was rare. The players knew Gretzky was the driving force in the sport's enormous increase in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after he was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings on Aug. 9, 1988.



But I also did find this:

In the years since, a myth has developed that McCreary never played in the NHL after this particular game. More specifically, it’s been claimed that he was blackballed for daring to hit the slightly-built Gretzky when he was off-limits for such abuse. The problem is that despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, this gets repeated far too frequently as fact.

I do not know the exact origin of this myth. I know it’s on an early Don Cherry video from the Rock ‘Em Sock’Em Hockey series, but I cannot definitively say that Cherry is the source of it. However, given his widespread audience and his credibility as someone connected to the “inside game”, I’d argue that Cherry has been responsible for disseminating this to more people than anyone.



And thanks to to the second link it reminded me where I did hear this from - Don Cherry.
Wow, that second article is really interesting. I love stuff like that - thanks.
 
No player that any GM or coach thinks can help them is going to get blackballed or anything else, just for hitting a guy.
Great players build up the reverence factor, which I agree does come into play, but not before years of earning that “gift”
No pitcher would dare throw at Willie Stargell, no D linemen would bury Namath.
There’s not a chance in hell a 19 year old or young Gretzky was off limits.
If you attempt to hit the NY Rangers Gretzky you’ve got a big problem
 
No player that any GM or coach thinks can help them is going to get blackballed or anything else, just for hitting a guy.
Great players build up the reverence factor, which I agree does come into play, but not before years of earning that “gift”
No pitcher would dare throw at Willie Stargell, no D linemen would bury Namath.
There’s not a chance in hell a 19 year old or young Gretzky was off limits.
If you attempt to hit the NY Rangers Gretzky you’ve got a big problem
Wait a minute, is this about Jack Hughes? I totally missed that part, sorry lol.

You did say rookies, that's why it didn't connect. I'm not too worried about his size, I think he's tougher than he appears.
 
Wait a minute, is this about Jack Hughes? I totally missed that part, sorry lol.

You did say rookies, that's why it didn't connect. I'm not too worried about his size, I think he's tougher than he appears.
My point is, with all that speed and elusiveness, why does he even get hit.
Johnny Hockey Gaudreau is 5-9 150.
Is he taking hits all over the ice?
 
My point is, with all that speed and elusiveness, why does he even get hit.
Johnny Hockey Gaudreau is 5-9 150.
Is he taking hits all over the ice?
I think I seem him get hit hard once so far this season. Always possible I missed the others. But some people have that sixth sense of knowing when the hit is coming, two former Dolphins QBs could be a example of this, Dan Marino always had an uncanny presence in the pocket, he knew when he was about to get hit while keeping his eyes downfield and would do a nifty side step that was enough to avoid getting hit and still get the pass off, on the other hand Ryan Tannehill never knows when its coming, never seems to sense it and always gets creamed.

Something as simple as presence could be the explanation.
 
I think I seem him get hit hard once so far this season. Always possible I missed the others. But some people have that sixth sense of knowing when the hit is coming, two former Dolphins QBs could be a example of this, Dan Marino always had an uncanny presence in the pocket, he knew when he was about to get hit while keeping his eyes downfield and would do a nifty side step that was enough to avoid getting hit and still get the pass off, on the other hand Ryan Tannehill never knows when its coming, never seems to sense it and always gets creamed.

Something as simple as presence could be the explanation.
That 6th sense is vital element in the great player package.
It also includes eyes seemingly in the back of your head....let’s hope Jack has it.
Quinn is amazing, he definitely has it.
 
That 6th sense is vital element in the great player package.
It also includes eyes seemingly in the back of your head....let’s hope Jack has it.
Quinn is amazing, he definitely has it.
There is a third brother coming through in next years draft, Luke.
 
Luke is a very good LHD. Has a good chance at being one of the top picks in the draft.
 
@WhiteBus, watching the Flyers/Sabres game on NBCSN and see what you’re talking about...the ads behind the bench. Gotta be because no fans, right?
 
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