Tag Archives: Winter Classic

Toronto Maple Leafs

2013-2014 Toronto Maple Leafs

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It has been a season full of ups and downs for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs started the season off pretty good and didnt look like the were doing too bad, in fact they were looking like the 2012-2013 Leafs. The ones that made the playoffs. The Leafs were healthy than and didnt have any affecting injuries. Than David Bolland got injured after a game against the Vancouver Canucks where Matt Kassian’s skate cut his leg, similar to Erik Karlsson’s injury that kept him out for most of the season, but not as serious as Karlsson’s. Bolland was a key player on the team but the Leafs stood up and didn’t let that get in their way, as they continued to fight their way through and look like another playoff bound team. Than Tyler Bozak got injured. His injury was a big one to us because he was our #1 center and he could win a lot of our faceoffs, not to mention the crazy chemistry he has with Phil Kessel. Than they starter to look like they were out of gas and didn’t play so well, they went 1-7 once in fact. This wasn’t good for them because this was the time where HBO 24/7 came in.

24/7 is the show where they go behind the scenes of both teams that play at the Winter Classic, which are the Leafs and Red Wings. A lot of Leafs fans got to see how the buds lived their lives and how they were in the locker room. They were not so good during this program as they won about 3 games while the spotlight was on them. Than the Winter Classic came in, the Leafs and Red Wings were finally getting ready to square off. And the scene could not have been any better. It was a perfect snowy afternoon in Detroit as the two teams took to battle. This one looked like it was going to overtime or shootout from the beginning, which is what happened. And this is when Tyler Bozak made an impact in his first game back. He was the one that scored the shootout winner to end an amazing game. From this point the Leafs looked better than before. They started playing like they really wanted it and won games. They even beat the Boston Bruins. The Bruins that sent them out of Boston in a horrible way in last years playoffs. As of right now, January 22nd. They have just defeated the Colorado Avalanche and are on a 6 game winning streak, looking to make it 7 games when they face the Dallas Stars in their next game.

Every Leaf fan can agree that we have a good team that can make it far in the playoffs. Even though we are young, our young players are the one that make an impact. The players like Jake Gardiner, Morgan Reilly, and Nazem Kadri. The list can go on but those are some key players. And even with some of our older players like Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, and James Van Reimsdyk. And don’t forget our captain Dion Phaneuf that has been great for us. Our goalies have been in an awkward situation. Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer are both playing like #1 goalies but we all know that only one of them is the Leafs’ starter. And a lot of people are pointing out Jonathan Bernier as the starter. He is the newly acquired Quebec goalie from the LA Kings that we got, and we gave up Ben Scrivens, Matt Frattin, and some picks.

Hopefully the Leafs can continue like they are playing right now and make the playoffs, because Toronto strives off of the Leafs and playoff hockey. Hockey is a game of skill and determination, and every Leaf fan will find out how much of that skill and determination the Leafs are using, come playoff time.

On a side note, this was my first article for Bored Hockey Fan. I would greatly appreciate if you guys could leave your honest opinion and any helpful criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and look forward to my next articles!

Hockey Media

NHL 14 Demo – Thoughts and Points

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For those who havent played it/downloaded it, the NHL 14 playable demo was released recently, and in it, contained three game modes. Play Now, which consisted of playing the third period (and overtime/shootout if needed), between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks. NHL ’94 Anniversary mode, which contains the third period between the Bruins/Blackhawks, and Hockey Ultimate Team, which contains you receiving a random pack, and facing off in a tournament against the Halifax Mooseheads, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Team Canada respectively.

A quick analysis on each, possibly detailing what the retail version of NHL 14 could be all about.

NHL ’94 Anniversary mode should be available to play online multiplayer. It is only there as a replacement for the Winter Classic, which wasn’t played due to the lockout. This mode would be more fun being able to play online, as I feel the mode just wont be enough purely as offline single player/multiplayer. NHL ’94 mode is more than fun, and even the beginner would be able to do well in this mode, as opposed to needing to do tricks and dekes in order to be successful in other modes.

Ultimate Team from what I saw, seems to be fairly similar to the NHL ’13 model, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it would be a lot better if they re-introduced permanent training to your players.

Play Now was just a normal game, giving you the chance to show off the new fighting mechanic, the new dekes, and everything else you can think of. The fighting mechanic is 1000% better than previous editions, although they seem to happen a lot more regularly than even a real-life NHL game, which can be bothersome, and just like Madden and FIFA, the game’s looks are tweaked to look better, but the overall feel is pretty much the same as last year’s edition.

General

2013-14 Season Schedule Released

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With the announcement of NHL players being able to compete in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the NHL released the schedule for the upcoming 2013-13 NHL season. This season will include the Winter Classic, which was cancelled last season due to the lockout, but will include the two teams that were meant to play in the Winter Classic, the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Also included are five more outdoor games as well as the Winter Classic. Ottawa and Vancouver will contest the 2014 Tim Horton’s NHL Heritage Classic, and the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series will be four matchups, involving the Anaheim Ducks against the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium, New York Rangers versus New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers versus New York Islanders, both taking place in Yankee Stadium and Pittsburgh Penguins vs Chicago Blackhawks at Soldier Field.

There will be a break from Feb 9-25, to make way for the Winter Olympics, where the majority of NHL players will be taking part.

DATES OF IMPORTANCE

Training Camp Opens — Wednesday, Sept. 11 2013

Exhibition Games Begin — Friday, Sept. 13

Regular Season Opens — Tuesday, Oct. 1

Hall of Fame Game — Friday, Nov. 8

Christmas Break — Tuesday, Dec. 24 – Thursday, Dec. 26

2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic — Tuesday, Jan. 1 2014

Hockey Day In Canada — Saturday, Jan. 18

NHL Stadium Series — Ducks @ Kings — Saturday, Jan. 25

NHL Stadium Series — Rangers @ Devils — Sunday, Jan. 26

NHL Stadium Series — Rangers @ Islanders — Wednesday, Jan. 29

NHL Stadium Series — Penguins @ Blackhawks — Saturday, March 1

2014 Tim Horton’s NHL Heritage Classic — Senators @ Canucks — Sunday, March 2

Olympic Break — Sunday, Feb. 9 – Tuesday, Feb. 25

Last Day of Regular Season — Sunday, Apr. 13

Stanley Cup Playoffs Begin — Wednesday, Apr. 16

For full schedule details, including team by team schedules, visit NHL.com.

Hockey Media

Bad Hockey Media presents.. NHL 12

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The sequel to one of the greatest games of all time (NHL 94), has returned! This time with legends! For the first time since retirement, you can play as such greats as Wayne Gretzky, Jeremy Roenick, Patrick Waaaaahhhh, Chris Chelios and Mario Lemieux. Play as them in the all-new Be A Legend mode, (which is Be A Pro mode, but rather than use a created player, you use a legend) and they can be placed in any team you wish. Have you ever wanted Super Mario as a Chicago Blackhawk? Or Gordie Howe scoring goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Or Gretzky back playing for the Oilers? All this can happen. However, don’t play as Roenick, and send him to the Dallas Stars to play. After just four games of the regular season, JR had 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists), and 25 PIM (mostly due to a game-misconduct I received five minutes into one game), and yet this was more than enough reason for the Stars management to send him down to the second line, because I wasn’t good enough. I knew the Stars hated star centres in the past (see Richards, Brad), but this is ridiculous.

However, with that saying, there isn’t really much wrong with this game. The gameplay is more refined, so it plays like a real hockey game. Players now jostle in front of the net for that tap-in or vital block. Goalies can now fight, be it Goalie on Goalie, or Goalie vs Skater. The Winter Classic is modelled to look just like the real thing. The commentary is still the same however, with Gary Thorne (who can also be heard on MLB 2K11), and Bill Clement, saying the same old things they used to, with a few minor differences. The arenas still don’t really feel like the actual arenas. I know it says that the Stars play at the American Airlines Center, and that the Buffalo Sabres play out of the Brett Hull Memorial Arena, but it just doesn’t feel like the arenas. The music played before, during and after the game isn’t the same as that played in real-life. They made an effort to fix this stuff for Madden 12 (even though that sucked), why couldn’t they do it for NHL 12?

The controls are similar to NHL 11, so fans of previous incarnations will find it easy to play. However, the CPU has been amped up a little, so you’ll find it a little harder to smash teams 10-0. The same leagues from NHL 11 are still in the game, and the national teams still aren’t licensed, which is a shame, because it would be fun playing in the KHL (which is Russia’s #1 Hockey League), especially considering the tragicness of the plane crash that killed pretty much the entire team of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, which included former NHL stars Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei and Karlis Skrastins. It would be a good way to honour that side, by being able to play as them in the game, maybe EA will add that side in, as a bonus for NHL 13, as a memorial.

The graphics improve each year, with the legends looking like their real-life prime counterparts. The breaking of the glass is a nice new feature, in which you can now break the glass, with the opponent’s head. The gameplay is as slick as an ice-hockey game can get, it’s seamless regardless of which mode you play. The lifespan is long, with Be A GM, Be A Pro, Be A Legend, Hockey Ultimate Team (which is my favourite mode, where else can I have a second line of Derek Roy, Joe Thornton and Paul Stastny), plus the EA Sports Hockey League returns for those fans of playing online.

Even if you own NHL 11, buy this game. It may not be the game NHL 11 was, but it’s the closest thing you’re gonna get to it.

Flashback Friday, PUCK YOU!

PUCK YOU! Season 3, Episode 2, Part 2 (repost)

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While the 2012 NHL Lockout is underway, every Friday will be known as “Flashback Friday.” On this day of the week, a classic installment of PUCK YOU! will be released for your enjoyment.

This was originally published on Dec 30, 2011

Hello hockey fans! PUCK YOU! has returned to wrap up the second half this our second installment of the season. The only way we could be more efficient, is to pull off an “Ilya Kovalchuk” and somehow find a way to give Carolina Hurricane goalie Cam Ward a free statistical goal…
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Flashback Friday, PUCK YOU!

PUCK YOU! Season 3, Episode 2, Part 1 (repost)

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While the 2012 NHL Lockout is underway, every Friday will be known as “Flashback Friday.” On this day of the week, a classic installment of PUCK YOU! will be released for your enjoyment.

This was originally published on Dec 28, 2011

Hello hockey fans! PUCK YOU! has returned for another installment! We are about 1/3 of the way into the 2011 – 2012 NHL season, and it is time to address what hockey fans think about a number of issues and events that have occurred. It’s going to be controversial, as always, and as exciting as watching a bunch of 9 year old kids from Kazakhstan brawl!
Click below for part one of this installment of PUCK YOU!. Part 2 will be online on Friday, December 30, 2011.
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