Quake3World

Believe it or not, the first Finnish goalie winning the Cup is a big deal for Finnish NHL fans.

I'm not really a Hawks fan, but since my Flames sucked ass this year, I picked Chicago to win it all because of Niemi's strong play. It's great seeing such a classy guy rise from obscurity into the record books.

As for the Sharks, I think there's some major retooling in store. With Blake retiring, rumours say Pavelski will get the 'C'. Is Thornton's regular season prowess worth the playoff failures? Marleau was the only guy who showed up against the Hawks, so one has to wonder. You also need to get rid of Nabokov. Maybe trade for Huet?

hockey seems like it has a closer knit community than other sports, so I think it's a valid question, but have you played with anyone that's gone pro?

I remember watching a North Dakota college hockey game with some friends from there and it was really cool hearing stories about them playing with the guys we were watching from when they were younger. Granted that was on a college level, but I know you're still playing competitively at 21, so it must be at a high level...do you ever see people you've played with/against on pro teams?

I don't play at a high level, that ship has long sailed for me. I quit playing at 15 because the costs were too much. I bought used gear a couple years ago and started playing shinny with a group of regulars. I started playing competitively this past year and bought a brand new set of gear a couple months ago. Also played in a tourney last month, but lost 5-4 in the championship game

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There were a mix of pro/semi-pro guys in the group I played with this past season. Jeremy Williams and Steve Downie used to play with the same group a few years ago, apparently Downie was a complete prick
We also had a couple guys whose fathers were part of the '61 Hawks and '67 Leafs respectively. Rest of the players were mostly current and former Juniors.

Also played some shinny with Matt Stajan's younger cousin when I was a teen.

goalie lol

pressure position. goalies get a lot of blame when they lose but not as much recognition when they win. unless it's a real low scoring game.