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Well it doesn't seem like there are a lotta posts about sports here and even less about hockey. But here it goes anyways....
Firstly, I'd like to say, congrats to Tampa Bay. They were the better team and deserve to win.
But more importantly, I'd like to say we (all of calgary) are proud of our Flames and appreciate the effort they put in. They really ignited the spirit of this city and hopefully it'll continue in the upcoming years.
Hasdy
PS - And this is coming from a guy who didn't even like hockey that much. Posts: 30 | Registered: Nov 2003
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The flames put in a pretty dismal effort except for the latter half of the third period in game 7. They just seemed really, really tired. *sigh* We all knew that they needed to win it all at home, and despite dominating the game Tampa found some way to win. And hats off to them for it.
But it was an entertaining series, and a great run. I'm glad there was something exciting to watch considering there probably won't be a season next year. I wonder if it'll do to hockey what it did to baseball? Ah well, hopefully some sort of revenue sharing/salary cap gets put into place. The players have to see that it's destroying the game.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I was caught up in their run when Gelinas won the first series in overtime. It brought back great memories of my Canes run to the Cup Final two years ago. I was happy to see Tampa win (instead of a big budget team), but my heart was with the Flames. Iginla and St Louis are the two most exciting players to watch in the game today. Great final series. Let's just hope there is hockey next season.
Posts: 115 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I would have liked to see the Flames win, simply because when I was growing up the Salt Lake minor league hockey team was associated with the Flames. So I had marginally more interest in them than in other NHL teams.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I don't think professional hockey can survive what baseball went through. Baseball barely survived it, and it was the "national pastime."
-o-
I have no hockey loyalties (except for despising the Panthers), so I enjoyed jumping on the Lightning bandwagon. I hope they can work through their issues, because I would love to drive over to Tampa and catch a few games.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I think you're right, Icarus. So many teams are already on the brink of disaster that if the fans start abandoning the game in even more droves than they already are the professional game will crash and burn.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I swear I already posted in here but I must of killed the window before posting.
Anyway, let me try that again....
I greatly enjoyed this SC Championship series. I was rooting most of the way through more for a 7-game series than for either team in particular, but I was leaning slightly towards Tampa, if for no other reason than to see Andreychuk finally get his name inscribed on the Cup.
I really hope the NHLPA and the owners take their CBA talks seriously over the next few months. Aside from the occasional tennis grand slam, hockey is pretty much the only sport I follow, but I'm completely addicted to it. If the end of September rolls around, and there's no training camp starting in Nationwide Arena, I'm liable to need counseling.
I actually didn't encounter NHL hockey until about a year and a half ago. After buying some discounted tickets to a Blue Jackets through my employer in the mid-2002-03 season, I ended up getting tickets for another 6 or 7 games before the season ended, including a desperate drive downtown to see if there might be some tickets available for the last game of the season even though none were showing up on TicketMaster.com.
That was followed up with season tickets for this past season -- upper deck, 2nd row, center ice. I had a BLAST all season long. Rick Nash showing me what he could do on the ice every night, and about mid-way through the season Nicolai Zherdev made his debut, and literally caused jaws to drop with the way he handles a puck. Columbus may not be a traditional hockey market, but you sure can't tell that from the atmosphere in Nationwide Arena.
Posts: 159 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I wonder how the Canadians feel to lose hockey, they're main sport to Florida of all places! FL rocks!
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Nah, not bitter at all really. They're both hard working teams with cheap players. And, more importantly, they both have the same number of Canadians (actually, I think Tampa has one more)
But Florida is a terrible place for hockey. They really need to find a way to make ice that doesn't turn to goo after 5 minutes of playing. Cutting the season back from 80+ games is a good start.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Canada has a ton of great players. I look at the roster for the World Cup of Hockey that's coming up in August, and I can't help but think that Team Canada has a distinct advantage over most of the others. I'm pretty excited that the training facility for Team USA is going to be right here in Columbus, and we'll be treated to a couple of pre-tournament games featuring Team USA vs. Team Canada and Team Russia. I expect both will be highly entertaining matches.
Since I'm not holding my breath on a new CBA resolution before then, I'm afraid that may be the last hockey I'll get to see for a good while.
Posts: 159 | Registered: Jun 2004
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(actually, I think Tampa has one more) 
