"Hockey's a funny game. You have to prove yourself every shift, every game. It's not up to anybody else. You have to take pride in yourself." - Paul Coffee
"Goals live on the other side of obstacles and challenges. Be relentless in pursuit of those goals, especially in the face of obstacles. Along the way, make no excuses and place no blame." - Ray Bourque
"You've got to love what you're doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap, or the soreness, or all the aches and pains and continue to play for a long, long time." - Gordie Howe "Mr.Hockey" This is the truth about hockey. You need to depend on yourself for you to play good, look good, and make yourself better. You can depend on your teammates to make good plays. But not to make you into a true hockey player. And that does not mean playing pro hockey, it means doing your best, staying positive, protecting your team, and most of all, having fun.
After all those years of training, putting multiple hours of each day into hockey, you finally get your chance. Your chance to conquer the championship. The Stanley Cup. To some people it just seems to be a big cup. But to hockey players, it is a dream, a fantasy, a lifestyle. We are close to the end of the season now, and each team is giving every last drop of energy to even have a chance, to lift that cup above their head, crowning them as champions.
We are in the semi-finals in the NHL season. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the Boston Bruins in the East, and The Chicago Blackhawks vs. the Los Angeles Kings in the West. Our predictions are that the Penguins will beat the Bruins in Game 7, as they now are down 2-0 in the best of 7 game series. Also, we think the Blackhawks will take out the Kings in 5 games, as they are winning the best of 7 series 2-1.
We think in the Final, with the Blackhawks and Penguins, the Blackhawks will win in 7 games. The 7th game, if it does get to there, will be in Pittsurgh as they are the higher seeded team. Jerome Iginla will still be a virgin to holding the Stanley Cup above his head, cheering as loud as he can, as he knows all his training has paid off.
All 4 teams still competing do deserve the victory, but of course only one will. A few games, the teams have been off their game, mostly performing better at home. Some changes have been made to their starting lineups.
The Kings' Mike Richards did not play their last game to due injury, forcing Jeff Carter to play center on the first line, and the rest of the team to step up their game. The Penguins have decided to play who I think is the more superior goalie, Marc Andre-Fleury, because Thomas Vokoun had to be pulled for his poor play last game. The Blackhawks and the Bruins both have been playing quite well, but a change in intensity is needed. More battling for loose pucks, better one-on-ones.
This video is of the greatest Stanley Cup Game 7 Finals. You will see that the players seem to be moving faster, playing more determined, and putting everything they have into the championship. They all know what they had to go through to make it to where they are.
Now you can see, how much this means to these men. They dedicate their life to be in that position, and they finally get where they want to be.
This is what they dream of. This is generations of superstars, raising the cup above their heads, to crown themselves champions. Many dream of this, only a few reach it.
I know, tons of people have stated what they think about headshots and how they can be stopped. They are illegal, they are dirty, they are disrespectful, and more than anything, they are painful. And that we can tell you from our years of playing hockey. They need to stop, players need to injured much less. But how?
Marc Savard after being victim to a dirty headshot.
Our opinion on these hits, are that it is completely the individual who is making the check to make sure it is clean, and in no way injures the other player. This is hard to do, of course there will be coincidental injuries where the player gets hit oddly, and jams a wrist, or pops out a shoulder. But with every headshot made, the player giving the hit knows exactly what he is doing. He knows how he can prevent himself from hurting an individual, but still he delivers a huge hit to the head.
So really, how are they to stop? Some opinions have been get better helmets to prevent concussions, some have been saying longer suspensions for these hits, some even saying players should have their own career ended, being thrown out of the NHL. Getting better helmets will not help, unless players want to be carrying 10 pounds of padding around on their head and even then there could still be concussions. Longer suspensions still leaves other players making the same hits, and when the accused player is unsuspended, he goes and does the same thing not too much later. Being thrown out of the NHL is completely unnecessary. These players in the NHL are all very talented, and deserve to be there, but with this behavior, maybe they should be kicked out.
We cannot say that our opinion is correct, but for sure we can say that this issue needs to be solved. So our theory is that it is up to the players to make headshots stop happening. They know what they are doing when they hit, and there is nothing else we can do.
Hockey is great, but it does have its major issues, and this is one of them. Us as fans, we cannot do anything about it, it is up to the players, and other people are trying too hard to fix something that for them, is not fixable.
Just like this movie shows, fans love goons. Goons get their team going, they get the fans mad, or excited. They hit, they fight, they sacrifice their bodies to protect the all stars of their teams.
The movie Goon.
The goons that will be in this top 5 may not be players you know, as they are all retired now, but if you have the chance, search them up and watch some of their footage. They are crazy. Very strong, very physical men.
Number 5. Terry (Bloody) O'Reilly. Dirty. Dangerous. Disturbed. “Bloody” O’Reilly did not follow the rules of the NHL. If he wanted to do something, he was going to do it. He spent a good chunk of this career protecting Ray Bourque while his 6 ft 1 inch, 200 pound frame racked up over 2,000 penalty minutes. In a famous 1979 post game brawl (fight), O’Reilly climbed over the glass into the crowd after a guy who somehow got a hockey stick and attempted to spear him with it. Heck of a hockey player. Heck of a goon.
Number 4. Joey Kocur. 6 feet tall, 220 pounds - One half of the very famous “Bruise Brothers,” Kocur may have had the most powerful right hand in NHL history. That right hand has broken orbital bones, noses and at least 10 hockey helmets. Expect to get injured challenging this guy as players have suffered concussions fighting Kocur with their helmets on.
Number 3. Dave Shultz. 6 ft 1 inch, 195 pounds - A key member of the “Broad Street Bullies” of the 1970’s, Shultz’s aggressiveness earned him the name “Hammer.” He holds the record for penalty minutes in a single season with 472 and was the first fighter to ever wear boxing straps in hockey fights which eventually were banned. Funny enough, he got his ego fed to him when he looked like a novice against a much smaller and older Tim Horton.
Number 2. Bob Probert. The heavyweight champion of the 1990’s, no question, Probert was the second half of the “Bruise Brothers.” Players tried to take his belt on many occasions and after losing, they would try and lose again to this 6 ft 3 inches, 230 pound goon. He has fought everyone at least once including taking on Grimson 13 times. Red Wing teammate Keith Primeau was one of the few that stood his ground against Probert during a fight at a team practice.
Probert was involved in 283 NHL fights and how many he won is very opinionated, though I am sure around 210 of them are convincing wins. He was big, mean and let his fists do all the talking.
And number 1. The biggest goon to ever live. Tiger Williams. At 5 ft, 11 inches tall and 200 pounds, Tiger Williams is our godfather of NHL goons. This guy sat in the penalty box for 4421 minutes or almost 74 hours; more than anybody else in history. Williams tallied over 300 penalty minutes in a season six times and over 250 penalty minutes, ten times. These are the penalties that the referees caught; Williams was incredibly dirty behind the scenes.
Many will say, there is no point in playing hockey, we strongly disagree. Kids and teenagers are taking time out of their day, their vacation time, social encounters, and even family gatherings just to train in an attempt to make it big. So what do you think? Is it a waste of time? A risk worth taking? Is hockey important enough to sacrifice your childhood?
We say yes. Why? Well that is easy. If you love hockey enough just like us, you will know that every moment you step on the ice, hit the weights, or score a goal, the satisfaction is so great, your sacrifice doesn't seem like a sacrifice. It feels like something you want to keep doing. That you would rather be playing hockey than be with friends, and even sometimes family.
Yes, we love our family. But, we also love hockey. After the season is over, or your career has ended, then there is time to be with those special people in your life. While you have hockey with you, your teammates are your family. You sweat and bleed for them, you take hit, beatings, bruises, to protect them, and that is what people say a waste of time is?
Hockey forms lifetime bonds, that will never go away. Even after your teammates are gone, you will never forget them, and they will be with you forever. In a way, hockey is in our blood, and we are not going to throw that away, just because someone tells us it is a waste of your childhood.
If hockey really was a waste of time, why would so many people love it? Sure it takes up hundreds of hours, but it is all time you enjoy spending, so no, it is not a waste of time. People can have their own opinions, and we respect that. But we know our opinion is correct.
Today's top 5 will be of the players with the nicest hockey hair ever. This includes everything, slicked back, mullet, mustache, and everything in between.
At number 5, we have Patrick Kane with his mullet. Racing stripes on the side, short on top, and long in the back. He plays for the Chicago Blackhawks, and is known not only for his mullet, but also for his dangles as you saw in our last top 5.
At number 4 we have Mike Commodore of the Carolina Hurricanes. He is known as an enforcer, making huge hits every game, and his afro and beard make watching him all worth while.
Now at number 3, we have Scott Hartnell, straight out of Regina, Saskatchewan. Known for the hair, the beard, scoring, hitting, and fighting.
Number 2. Lanny McDonald. An old timer. Still rocking the mustache 15+ years after his NHL reign. It was so good, people would go to, or watch his games, just for the stache.
And last, and certainly the best hair out there. At number 1. Jaromir Jagr. A great player, in top 15 scoring of all time. And still playing today.
We hope you enjoyed today's top 5. To rap this one up, here is the biggest disaster hockey hair that should have been cut off years ago.
Hello, today we are going to do our first top 5. We will be telling you who we think the top 5 danglers are in the NHL. Danglers are the players who have quick hands, nice moves, and put the puck where he wants it.
5: Patrick Kane. Chicago Blackhawks #88
4. Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh Penguins #71
3. Sidney Crosby. Pittsburgh Penguins #87
2. Alexander Ovechkin. Washington Capitals #8
1. Pavel Datsyuk. Detroit Redwings #13
And to rap this up, just for some extra entertainment, we want to show you the greatest bench brawl of all time.
