This is the thread for the season for the NHL. Feel free to post comments about games, goals, injuries, suspensions, trades and so on....

Please keep player flaming to a minimum. I don't really care if you love or hate Crosby or Ovechkin or any other player. I want to take about more than just a few "star" players in this thread.

So yeah, which team(s) do you cheer for?
Who do you think is going to make the playoffs, or not make the playoffs?
Who do you think is going to win the Stanley Cup?

Or, feel free to ask your own question about a player or team or anything else you can think of!

Well my favorite team is the The Penguins! They are my favorite not based on stats or anything but just because I think that penguins are cool.

They're a solid team. I don't know if they'll be good enough to go for another cup or not.... because I think Malkin isn't trying as hard as he used to.... but you never know. Philly went to the cup finals last year and I would not have guessed them to go that far.

Although it seems this year, so far, that teams I'm expecting to do well aren't and teams that I thought were going to be bad have done pretty well. I like that honestly

bah... I resurrect this thread because I made it

So, the season is half over.... is anyone surprised at where their favorite team is at? Anything else worth mentioning is nice.... any replies on any topic regarding the NHL would be nice

I wish that the Pens would stay at the top and quit dropping down to fourth or fifth all the damn time. Also, not happy with some of the really bad calls I have seen from refs in the past few games, as my ranting on Facebook will attest.

And what the hell was up with the Winter Classic? Where were we that night?! That was so frustrating!

But yeah, not liking that both Sid and Geno are out right now, but we seem to be handling ourselves better now that others are taking up the slack and proving that our team is more than just it's top two players.

I am sad that my other teams are not doing so well... okay, Coyotes are doing good right now, but wtf San Jose and Los Angeles? I mean, Sharks were dumb enough to let Nabby walk away so they deserve it, but the Kings should be doing WAY better than they are. They are a good team, and they have the chance to go huge but they are blowing it.

I have no sympathy for you. At last your favorite teams haven't spent most of the season at 14th overall in the West

Although, they did just jump to 11th with their 3rd win in a row tonight. But that isn't likely to last.... at least they got out of 14th for a while

The winter classic is so stupid. Sure it's "fun" but there was far too much emphasis put on that game.

All I really hope is that someone takes out Philly this year before they get to the finals. I do not want to see them get back there 2 years in a row.... unless they lose in the finals again... that might be okay

Hey, Calgary gets the Heritage Classic at least... I am sure that can help them pull up.

And I am so with you on the Flyers going down, I do NOT want to deal with them during the playoffs. Though watching them lose is really fun, but I want the Pens to get it again... I think it would be awesome if the did a repeat of 2009 with the Steelers winning the Superbowl and Penguins getting the Stanley Cup.

And it sounds like Nabokov got suspended by the league for not reporting to the Islanders. I really don't want him going to Detroit... the only thing worse would be him going to Philly.

he won't go to philly cause philly doesn't need him. Detroit does. Osgood is out for surgery for several weeks and howard is playing hurt... not badly hurt but a little hurt.

I'm not sad that someone else picked him up though. I don't want Detroit winning either. I would love to see 2 unlikely teams get there again. Have someone win who hasn't won in a while.

That is why I wouldn't mind seeing him go to a team like the Islanders, who also have their two main goalies injured.

but the islanders aren't going to benefit all that much from Nabokov. He's a 1 year deal and they are 18 points out of a playoff spot. Not impossible but so unlikely that it's not worth it. I don't blame him for not showing up. I wouldn't want to sign with a team 2nd in their conference to then be picked up on waivers by the 14th place team.

True, but at the same time rules are rules and he should have known that he couldn't wiggle out of them. Besides, what happened to him wanting to go back home? How much money did Detroit offer him, anyway?

So, I got to go to my first ever Penguins game... against the New York Islanders, ironically.

First, I just have to say that I love the Consol Energy Center. For hockey it is a WAY better venue than the Staples Center could ever hope to be! We were up in section 201 and we still had an amazing view of the ice, and the benches, and everything else.

Secondly, shut-out victory, 3-0! It was awesome! The players were great, and Johnson was on fire the whole game, such great saves! Could not believe the amount of penalties that Rupp and the Islanders #28 got though... was it 4 and 3, respectively? Good fight between them by the way.

Then there was the tripping incident in the last 16 seconds of the game that resulted in the goalie fight. Watching Johnson stand up for a team mate and lay DiPietro out with one punch was just amazing. I got a picture of him cocking back for another hit after they were on the ground... gonna have to see how blurry that one came out.

So the fight resulted in Johnson being pulled for fighting and Fleury finishing out the last 16 seconds of the game. I am under the understanding that this means Johnson doesn't get the shut-out credit because he didn't finish out the game? I am not 100% sure, but I think he should.

So all in all, an amazing night. The only thing that might have been cooler would have been if Nabokov had decided to play for the Islanders and then I would have got to see an awesome goalie battle... but oh well, I am totally happy with what I got!

Dear Flyers, Red Wings & Capitals fans,

I hereby take back my declaration of of undying hatred of your teams. Your players are far more noble than any member of the New York Islanders. Detroit, please take Nabokov with my blessing, the Islanders do not deserve him. I have never been so disgusted in my life. This was not a hockey game tonight, it was an embarrassment to the NHL. Thank you.

Elara : I agree.... just cause they're in 14th place (or whatever spot near the bottom) doesn't excuse what that team did. I really hope the league takes into account that they instigated everything during this game and deals out more punishment to them.

My two favorite teams are the Philidelphia Flyers and the New Jersey Devils mostly because I grew up watching them.

geeogree : Martin (Islanders, not the Pens Martin... gods that gets confusing) deserves a suspension of at least 10 games, though I say more.

All of this s*** was because DiPietro picked a damn fight and lost, and because Talbot got a hit on one of their guys back in the 2/2 game. They did not come to play tonight, they came with a vendetta and that was obvious. I think the majority of the team should be penalized, I think multiple players need to be suspended, I think that Goddard should have his suspension for leaving the bench either tossed out or reduced, and I think that the refs should be punished for letting the situation get that bad... I mean it was SO obvious what they were doing and they should have known that and not let the fights continue!

I mean, yeah, the Pens fought too, but they were fighting back and coming to the aid of their team mates. Did you see how many times they went after Talbot? It was the man's birthday for god's sake!

And people were complaining that Johnson wasn't pulled fast enough... they put in Fleury when they had no other choice because they KNEW that was how the Islanders were gonna play tonight. Look how fast they went after him, we cannot afford to have Flower get hurt on top of everything else.

This game tonight... if you can even call it that, was a disgrace. The Islanders were a good team once, but not anymore. They are an embarrassment to the club and the league and their fans should be ashamed of them! Some of the fans were saying it was just "Old Time Hockey" but it wasn't, it was a disgrace and even back in the old days no team would have acted that dishonorably!

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=552570

well, looks like the suspensions were handed out.

Godard got 10 games because he jumped off the bench. No surprise there.... that's automatic.

2 Islander players are gone for a while. Gillies got 9 games and Martin got 4. The Islanders team as a whole got fined $100,000 for allowing things to get out of hand as much as it did. This is about is good as could be expected considering how things went down. Only the 3rd/4th line guys got punished.... no surprise there.

That is bulls***, Martin should have got WAY more than four games! Lemieux issued a statement afterward, calling the NHL out for failing to send a strong message that such actions are unacceptable. He called Friday's game a travesty and says that he needs to re-think if he wants to be a part of the NHL if this is a reflection of the state of the league.

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=552602

are you surprised though? Jumping over the bench gets an automatic 10 games.... but trying to injure someone gets 4? I agree it's a joke.

Yeah, I mean he would have gotten more if he had connected and I think that is wrong. He was TRYING to connect, and he shouldn't get less because Talbot ducked at the last second, the intent was the same and the only difference should be that he didn't get brought up on assault charges.