Thought I'd better start this rather than taking over the NFL thread with it :lol:

At Wembley?? I went to that too! :o :lol:

'Twas a pre-season warm up, that's why they weren't really going for it. Didn't stop me baying for blood, though :lol:

Finished 6-4 I seem to remember :unsure:

The first Knights game I went to we were late for the start of the first period. We walked in at rink level and two players were beating the crap out of each other about 10 feet away from us :lol:

:thumbsup: Good idea Steve :lol:

That sounds about right, don't remember much (too drunk :lol: ). Mainly remember East 17 doing the in between period entertainment(?????) and Jason Priestley giving the Man of Match awards :lol:


I love the fights :lol:

Which UK team do you follow, Carla? :)

Followed Solihull Barons (the most hated team in the UK :lol: ) during the 80's and 90's then they changed to the Solihull Blaze. So now it's Coventry Blaze :lol: :thumbsup:

Been watching Ice Hockey and playing (not anymore) since I was 4. My dad used to watch the Brighton Tigers a long time ago :lol:

I got into it around 1990 when I got a hockey game for my Megadrive :lol:

Then I watched the Winter Olympics and I was hooked :thumbsup:

The Winter Olympics are great, the only time the sport gets decent coverage in this country :thumbsup:

It is the sort of sport that you get hooked on as it's so fast moving and bone crunching plus if you go to a game you are always close to the action (players actually hear your insults :lol: )

Yeah, it used to be the only time it was on tv. I think Five have done a brilliant job these past few years, though, with the NHL. Two games a week, plus highlights of others, plus Powerweek :yahoo:

The thing that always strikes me with the NHL is, beyond the hitting and the fights, the skill that these guys have when they're moving at such speed, possibly even going backwards, is phenomenal :thumbsup:

Oh yes, I can skate like that :whistling: :lol:

Five have done a good job :thumbsup: but it's always on so late and I forget about it :( Sky used to show British Superleague years ago but don't anymore and ITV did a couple of features on British teams a few years ago. Was supposed to lead to more regular coverage but they changed their minds :mad:

I always recorded the shows and then watched them over the next couple of nights :thumbsup:

I hope they're going to cover this season, can't find any sort of confirmation on their website :shrug:

Think I might email them :ponder:

I've never watched the NHL, but got quite into hockey for a couple of years watching the London Knights. I love watching hockey at the Winter Olympics though.

You should give it a go if it's on this season, it's great :thumbsup:

I'm sure it'll be on five, when does the season run from?

It starts in a couple of weeks and runs through to May/June time :)

If they follow their old pattern, they'll start off with one game a week while the baseball's still going, then they'll have a game on Sunday and Wednesday until the basball starts again, when they move it to Tuesday and Wednesday :)

i was a voluntary for the 1992 olympic games ... 2 weeks of ice hockey ..... from the worse (or not great team) to the best (canada/russie)

An Ice Hockey thread what a Great idea :thumbsup: I'm a Big Newcastle Vipers fan who have just join the Elite Ice Hockey League. It looks as though we final got a team that will last as previous Newcastle teams like the Cobras, River Kings and The Jesters have all gone under due to lack of money but the Vipers have new owner last year so it look as though will be here for a while :thumbsup:

I still have a lot to learn about the game, like some of the rules so in anyone can help out it would be good.

I'm quite good on the NHL rules, but there are some differences between them an the UK. Any in particular? If I can't answer I'm sure Carla will be able to :)

Newcastle Vipers :thumbsup: Does Michael Tasker :wub: still play for them. I love him :lol: And Shaun Johnson. These are two very good British players.

As for rules is there anything in particular you wanted to know, Joe?

I dunno about Joe, but could someone explain when icing is called? :shrug:

Right, let's see if I can explain this to you so you can understand :ponder:

Icing is called when a player, in his own half, shoots the puck down the ice and it crosses the opposition's goal line, without anyone else touching it. The only times it isn't an icing is when the team is short handed (player in the penalty box), a goal is scored or the puck goes through the goal crease (the semi circle in front of the goal).

Does that make sense :lol:

thanks Carla - great explanation :thumbsup:

Hi Carla, so Icing means you can't score a goal from inside your own half? How does the offside rule and the Two Line pass w**k?

Yes Michael Tasker and Shaun Johnson are still player for the Vipers

I'm going to confuse things a bit, mainly in case anyone decides to watch the NHL this season, which I hope you do!

The icing rule in the NHL is only slightly different. Again, it applies if a player clears the puck from his own half to beyond the goal line of the opposing team. Icing is then called once a member of the opposing team touches the puck. If a player from the side shooting the puck down the ice plays the puck before it is touched by an opposing player it is not icing, providing the player was onside.

As far as offside goes (I hope Carla will point out the differences from the NHL again :thumbsup: ), the puck has to cross the blue line into the defensive zone before any member of the attacking team does so. If the attacker crosses the blue line before the puck then offside is called. This rule only applies if both his skates have broken the line.

There are some rule changes coming into effect this season which are being introduced to encourage attacking play. One of them affects the offside rule, in that a player in an offside position can now return to the blue line and and touch it to get back onside. I'm really not sure how well that's going to w**k.

Also, the two-line pass has been made legal, which I think could be great, should make the game even more exciting :thumbsup:

Best of all, there will no longer be any tied games - a shootout will follow overtime (this only applies to the regular season - in the play-offs they keep playing 20 minute OT periods until someone scores) :thumbsup:

That's how I understood it :)

Ice Hockey rules are very confusing :shrug: :lol:

The offside rule is the same in both countries :thumbsup:

They keep changing the icing rule, years ago the defending team had to touch the puck for it to be called and then they changed it so you didn't. They changed it back and then back again :lol: Got to the point where I would ask what it was at the beginning of the season :lol:

The Two-line pass has been made legal worldwide. Was changed a few years ago in Europe and now everywhere is the same. Does make a real difference, much more attacking and open :thumbsup:


Just had a email from Channel Five. They have put a bid in for the upcoming NHL season but don't know yet if they have got it but they are hopeful :)

When is The NHL due to start again? I'm a right in saying the whole of last season cancelled because of a dispute between the players and the league over wages :ponder:

Yep, there was a lockout last season. It's back this year, starting October 5th. The Red Wings open up with a double-header against the St Louis Blues (booooooooooo! Hate the Blues :lol: ). I'm a bit worried about Detroit this season, they've let a lot of players go over the past year, Brett Hull, Steve Thomas, Dominic Hasek, Curtis Joseph :ermm:

At least Stevie Y is still there :thumbsup:

Carla, I got that email too:

Can't believe they haven't sorted it out yet :shrug:

I know, thought they would've had it sorted by now.

Hi Steve I take your a Red Wings fan, I used to know a bit about NHL but lost touch the last couple of years I'm looking to get back to it are LA Kings still going because I know American sports teams move about bit. I was a big Kings fan! Just bought Gretzky NHL for PSP :thumbsup:

Yes, the Kings are still going. Gretzky is now the head coach at Phoenix. What's the game like? :)

Yes, big Wings fan. That all started when I used to watch Xena. Lucy Lawless sang the anthem at a Wings game once. At least, I think it was only once - she had a bit of an "accident" :lol:

Steve Yzerman's been my favourite player ever since :thumbsup:

So are you a Lucy Lawless fan? or did you just find her accident funny what was it by the way?

The game is great but it hard even on the Rookie difficult level but then again I'm not much of a gamer :lol: Is there a good website for NHL? Any word on the Lockout?

is he ever! :lol:

:lol: I was a big Xena fan at the time. The "accident", she threw her arm up while she was singing the anthem and popped out of her star-spangly dress :o :innocent: :whistling:

Good websites are nhl.com and espn.com, they both have details of the new agreements that were made to end the lockout :)

Hmm, just been having a look around the NASN website. If Five fail to come through with decent coverage this season I may subscribe :ponder:

Any idea how much it is to subscribe, Steve? :ponder: It's a channel I've thought about for a while but never bothered with :)

It's £10.99 a month, with a £5 start-up fee. Not cheap <_<

They show 5 live games a week, plus more delayed and Hockey Night Canada. I could almost justify the price for all that, I'd be watching it all the time :lol:

That is quite expensive. Think I'll have to give it a miss for a while :(

I would probably be watching it all the time also, drive the kids mad :lol:

If it turns out that the Wings' first game is on live I'm in :lol:

They show the All Star weekend too :thumbsup:

My ex-boss just came back from a business trip to Canada and he brought me back a Canucks t-shirt :thumbsup:

I hope he's not expecting me to change alliegance though :snooty: :lol:

How cool :thumbsup: I used to have an real Edmonton Oilers shirt with Wayne Gretzky's name and number on but it got "lost" when I moved house, along with a few others valuables :( We couldn't prove a thing :damnyou:

Shame :(

Nothing better than having number 99 on your back :thumbsup:

Unless it's "Yzerman" and "19" of course :snooty: :lol: