For Nhl hockey fans

[Blaze]

Tonight is the night of Patrick Roy's Habs jersey retirement in Montreal ..


Ciao:AOK:

Blazes

[just strum]

I saw him in a fight on the Jerry Springer Show. No wait, that was a hockey game.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[R_of_G]

Patrick Roy is my single favorite hockey player of all time. I am not a Canadiens' fan but I have always been a fan of the sport as a whole and particularly the goaltender position and Patrick Roy is the greatest goaltender I have ever seen play the game. I know it's a subjective and potentially endless debate as to whether he is the greatest ever, but I know he's the greatest to play that position in my lifetime. Getting to see him play was a real treat.

[marnold]

Since I am a Red Wings fan I hate him with every fiber of my body, but it's a respectful hate, not a "your name is Sean Avery" hate. (For further clarification: Roy and Forsberg = respectful hate, Claude Lemiuex = just plain hate, Sakic = couldn't hate the man if I tried--he is Colorado's Stevie Y.) The fights you saw Strummy were Vernon v. Roy and the rematch Ozzie v. Roy. MAN, those Wings/Avs games were the thing of legend.

I'm glad that there's been a cooling of tensions between him and the Habs. You may recall that the drilling he took at the hands of the Wings is what made him demand to the GM (who was sitting by the bench) that he be traded.

My favorite Roy quote is when Brett Hull was talking smack about him (prior to Hully winning a Cup with the Wings in '02) and he said in his outrageous French accent, "Tell him I can't hear him because I have my Stanley Cup rings in my ears." Classic.

*Update* Mea culpa. My memory was incorrect. The tiff was not with Brett Hull but with Jeremy Roenick. As a matter of fact, here's a clip!
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[just strum]

My favorite Roy quote is when Brett Hull was talking smack about him (prior to Hully winning a Cup with the Wings in '02) and he said in his outrageous French accent, "Tell him I can't hear him because I have my Stanley Cup rings in my ears." Classic.

I'm clueless about this sport, but I can appreciate that comment.

[marnold]

And we have Vernon v. Roy (my favorite part of this clip is that the fight starts with "The Professor" Igor Larionov of all people giving Forsberg the "Noogies of Doom")
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And Osgood v. Roy
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[Blaze]

Since I am a Red Wings fan I hate him with every fiber of my body, but it's a respectful hate

Same thing for me ,i was a Nordiques fan beein a Quebec resident .Just like we use to say here , '' I even hate his children ''.Quebec vs Montreal rivalry at that time was epic.Good old days..


Blazes

[just strum]

I don't get why the fighting is so prominent in that sport. Football and basketball probably have more contact, but fights are few and far between. The announces call the game as if it was Ali and Joe Frazer on ice. http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/auroraohio/Smiley/scratchhead.gif

[R_of_G]

I'm glad that there's been a cooling of tensions between him and the Habs. You may recall that the drilling he took at the hands of the Wings is what made him demand to the GM (who was sitting by the bench) that he be traded.

I remember watching that game and not understanding why on earth the coach (who I believe was Mario Tremblay) was leaving Roy out there. The Wings were clearly dominating the Habs and there was no reason to leave a future Hall of Famer out there to be embarrassed bc his overmatched team couldn't play defense in front of him. My dad and I were getting mad for Roy and then when he came off and started telling off the coach and GM we started applauding. If I remember correctly, what he said to the GM as he passed by was something to the effect of "that was the last game I will ever play for this team." I was glad he went on to have such a brilliant run in Colorado, but I will always think of him as a Hab, and like you I am glad to see he and the organization have made their peace.


Football and basketball probably have more contact

I've gotta watch whatever basketball league you're watching. :rotflmao:

Seriously though, NBA basketball results in significantly less fights than any other sport because the penalties are MUCH more severe after the Kermit Washington incident in 1977. Fights in the NBA were fairly commonplace in the 1970's until Washington literally knocked out Rudy Tomjanovich leaving him unconscious and bleeding in the middle of the floor. He was suspended for 60 days (26 games). Tomjanovich also successfully sued the Lakers (Washington's team) for several million dollars. The league has imposed incredibly stiff penalties ever since. It's why even when there is an altercation in the NBA now it is almost always pushing and shoving and almost never involves punches being thrown.

With football, I think the amount of protective equipment pretty much prevents a lot of fighting. I mean, how much damage can you really do when you can't even hit a guy in the face?

[marnold]

Nice article on ESPN about him.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3717953&name=nhl