The jets D continually gets caught roaming, making poor decisions, and giving away free pizzas. How Hainsey, Oduya, and Jones ever made it to the NHL is beyond me.

MONEY LINES – 28% ON PATS – 72% ON
GIANTS

The Serious Big Money Line players are hammering
the Giants. It has been as high as 81% in the first week.

POINT SPREAD – 44% ON PATS – 56% ON
GIANTS

Earlier in the week the spread line had as high as
66% wagering on the Giants.

OVER/UNDER – 53% OVER – 47% UNDER

The Over line has been leading all week with 67%
taking over when the lines opened.

The General consensus is that the betting public is
backing the N.Y. Giants.

MY PREDICTION ON THE PROPOSITION

SUPER BOWL XLVI – NEW YORK GIANTS 30 – New
England Patriots 24

Don’t get me wrong–I LOVE hockey and it’s the most exciting sport to watch in the world but I have to admit that the state of the game itself, allegedly being faster and better, is nearly beyond repair. The countless changes to the rules to try and speed up the game, reduce injury and free up the skaters has brought on easily as many problems as it has solutions. I love the comment about the equipment. I actually remember Don Cherry saying the same thing on HNIC probably 5 years ago. When I played hockey the equipment was padding–it was soft, save for the shin guards and the jock. In the golden age of hockey it was the same way. The stick check and the red line need to be looked at again. Putting a stick on a player doesn’t really do any harm to the flow of the game. It slows players down, sure, but it also brings awareness and prevention to blind-side hits. I agree that hooking is hooking but every time the stick touches the hands or body of the player the whistle blows (in theory–let’s not dive into the inconsistency of officiating). Let the stick check return and watch the blind hits disappear. That second player that rushes in on the trolly tracks can be obstructed/slowed a little and it doesn’t destroy the game. All of these rule changes and game play changes have removed the enforcer from the game. That player is sorely missed as they played a HUGE role in what I call the golden age–the years of Gretzky, Lemieux, Selanne (rookie), Jagr, Messier. No one messed with Gretzky because if you did, McSorely was going to knock the snot out of your team’s star. The enforcers kept the game in check on the ice. The NHL had no need for a full time watchdog or to stretch the responsibility of the disciplinarian. 

Shanny played in that same golden age and some of his fellow teammates did too–he knows what it was like. No one is envious of his position but you could argue that, when given that big of a stick to swing perhaps it ought to be put to use in other areas. Sadly, there is little chance that we’ll ever see the NHL play the kind of hockey that some of us grew up and fell in love with.

We’ll never see 50 goals in 50 games (61 in 50 is the record). We’ll never see 150 point seasons, much less the 215 point record. No one will ever surpass the all-time points record of 2856. The only player that would have had a chance, in my opinion, was Crosby–and that’s only if he played in that same golden age of hockey. Yes, Ovechkin is a goal scorer (when he’s on his game) and the Sedin twins have consistently bagged nearly 100+ each per season, along with the likes of Stamkos, Iginla, St Louis–the list goes on; but I think it’s safe to say that the record books can be closed in this department. As fans, we get excited to see any player net 50 goals in a season–forget 50 games. The last time anyone came close (unofficially achieving it) was ’93-’94 with Cam Neely. We’re coming up on 20 years ago, folks. 

This just isn’t the NHL that we remember.