I am tired of hearing the term the new NHL. I have been a hockey fan since I was a little kid. I remember spending Saturday nights watching hockey night in Canada. My first favorite team growing up was the Buffalo Sabers. I loved watching the French connection. Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin. These guys were great especially Pereault. He could skate like the wind.
I first must admit that when the NHL locked out the players in 2004. I was one of the people who said I did not care if they came back. What I did say was I did not care about how much money they make. The more important factor for me was that they fix the game. In my mind the game was broken before the lockout. The clutching, grabbing and interference in the game was not allowing the skilled players to perform. Since they have come back from the lockout the game is so much better. Crosby is making plays like Gretzky did in the eighties. Gretzky is the all time leader of assists for making passes to everyone one the team. He also made a lot of passes out of dump luck. He would throw the puck towards the net knowing that someone was heading there. I am pretty sure Gretzky was hoping that the pass made it to its destination. I have heard so many TV and radio colour commentators in the past ten years say the coaches would tell the players not to through the puck in front of the net unless they knew for sure that it was going to get to the other player. This year I have seen Crosby and others, make passes when they are not even looking at the net. These passes are going past the defensemen, getting through to the forwards who are turning them into goals. This is a great thing. We are now seeing all the skills of the best players in the league. This is not the new NHL. In my opinion it is the old NHL and I love it.
Welcome back Hockey
I first must admit that when the NHL locked out the players in 2004. I was one of the people who said I did not care if they came back. What I did say was I did not care about how much money they make. The more important factor for me was that they fix the game. In my mind the game was broken before the lockout. The clutching, grabbing and interference in the game was not allowing the skilled players to perform. Since they have come back from the lockout the game is so much better. Crosby is making plays like Gretzky did in the eighties. Gretzky is the all time leader of assists for making passes to everyone one the team. He also made a lot of passes out of dump luck. He would throw the puck towards the net knowing that someone was heading there. I am pretty sure Gretzky was hoping that the pass made it to its destination. I have heard so many TV and radio colour commentators in the past ten years say the coaches would tell the players not to through the puck in front of the net unless they knew for sure that it was going to get to the other player. This year I have seen Crosby and others, make passes when they are not even looking at the net. These passes are going past the defensemen, getting through to the forwards who are turning them into goals. This is a great thing. We are now seeing all the skills of the best players in the league. This is not the new NHL. In my opinion it is the old NHL and I love it.
Welcome back Hockey
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