Hockey of the 80s for me. I don't care if it was slower, it was more fun for me to watch an era of players displaying their creativity without necessarily worrying about the fall-out from each and every little mistake or risk taken. Not a big fan of the 55 mins out of every 60 spent playing chip and chase tennis through the neutral zone these days, with about 4 of the remaining 5 minutes actually showcasing the skills today's top players have.
I liked the first couple years after the last lockout the best. Last year definitely had hockey trending back towards a trap-like, predominantly defensive game, which is not as fun to watch.
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"Trust me I'm an expert, I watched 13 rangers games on NHL center Ice this year through streaming." -Starburst
"I don't even understand what the point of all this arguing is. Are you guys hoping that the other side is going to have an epiphany and go 'Oh, OH! You're right, we ARE going to lose this series!'" -Crease
Maybe its nostalgia, and memories of watching Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night with my old man as a kid, collecting hockey cards and filling out sticker books, and knowing every player in the league, but for me its '80s hockey quite easily.
Sure the game isn't open and as goal filled anymore, but I'm definitively not a fan of goaltending back then. So many of the "great" saves then could've been easily made had the goalie been on the butterfly, and of course the amount of stupid shots that became goals was astounding.
Not to mention systems, coaching and all that jazz. Today feels like every player plays with a purpose every time and is seemingly on the right place more often than not, specially defensively. The relative "bore" of the dump and chase is mitigated by the moments of great cycling.
It also bothers me how many balls-out brawls took place. I think today's fighting level is okay, sometimes watching the 80's tape you would think the players had the temper of beer leaguers.
Career .882 save percentage and he was considered one of the very best of his era. Thanks for proving my point.
He wore normal gear.Give Smith the oversized goalie gear they wear today and he'd be in the .920 and above easily.
Not so hard to stop the puck when the equipment does all the work. Stand there and let the puck hit you because the gear covers most of the net.
Real skill there.
He wore normal gear.Give Smith the oversized goalie gear they wear today and he'd be in the .920 and above easily.
Not so hard to stop the puck when the equipment does all the work. Stand there and let the puck hit you because the gear covers most of the net.
Real skill there.
That's a lame excuse used to give the dark age of goaltending a free pass. Goalies from the 20's-60's and into the 70's wore even smaller equipment and gave up far less goals than Smith, Fuhr, or other goalies from the 80's.
He wore normal gear.Give Smith the oversized goalie gear they wear today and he'd be in the .920 and above easily.
Not so hard to stop the puck when the equipment does all the work. Stand there and let the puck hit you because the gear covers most of the net.
Real skill there.
Yay, another "goalies don't move their limbs" thread
