Puck!
Oh hockey season hockey season hockey season. The old saying always goes that you don't know what you're missing until it's gone... but the day that it comes back again, no one makes old sayings about that. It's such a lovely feeling. To watch my Devils completely obliterate the (VERY offensive and awesome) Penguins was fantastic on the first night of games. The first period alone demonstrated why Martin Brodeur is clearly the best goalie in the league. Unfortunately for the Penguins, once the Devils took off on the scoreboard in the first period there was no coming back and their complete lack of defense badly showed.
It's hard to cheer against Thibault1 in goal but it's was even harder to see him fall back into old habits as he stood slumped in the net, all confidence gone, after the third and then fourth goals in the second period. He's always going to be one of those goalies with fantastic possibilities but he gets so down mentally after a few goals he basically gives in. Tonight he looked so small in the net compared to the force that is Marty Brodeur. Hopefully he finds his place amongst the Penguins. It will be quite the challenge for him as he's got very little defense in front of him to help. Maybe he'll finally learn to stop giving up those rebounds as there will be no one in front to help him clear away the puck.
The new rules seem to make the game highly entertaining. Players are flying around the rink faster than ever. The breakaways that come with the elimination of the two line rule in particular are thrilling. I don't so much notice the extra ice in the offensive zone but that might come with time. I'm not sure how long it will take for the players to become accustomed to the newly enforced interference and obstruction rules but right now the penalties seem to be non-stop in every game. I'm iffy on the shootouts. Having witnessed a few now I realize how it can be exciting for some hockey fans but to me they seem un-necessary. I don't know what was wrong with tie games in the first place. For some reason not having a winner to a sporting event probably seems unAmerican to some people. Well, like football2 this isn't an American sport and shouldn't be treated as such. It's unfair to all involved that hockey is a team sport and the winner can come down to individuals. On a good note though, if we were having an all star game this year (which we aren't) it would improve the goalies performance in similar events.
1 Now with Pittsburgh and the namesake of my puppy.
2 The real football, where your foot kicks a ball and your hands aren't allowed to touch it.