Aptn Stanleycup Classics!
- Thread starter Van-Can
- Start date
Watched some of the game the other night. Not overly impressed to tell you the truth. The game itself was more wide open, but I just found it ... lacking.
I heard about it from the Canucks message board...just thought I'd pass it on. I wouldn't mind seeing Howe, Sawchuck etc. in action, so I'll tune in next week.
#66
Registered User
APTN is an Aboriginal network, so I'm guessing most of their classic hockey games will involve marquee Aboriginal players, whose Aboriginal heritage is prominent, celebrated or well-known. In this case, Leafs captain George Armstrong was very, very well known for his roots. Nicknamed The Chief.
Anytime we get to watch old-time hockey, it's a good thing.
Anytime we get to watch old-time hockey, it's a good thing.
According to what I was told, APTN showing these games uncut and in their entirety are a one time thing. So, you may want to not miss any of the games that they will air, if you like that sort of thing.
I can understand you feeling that you are missing something when watching the old games, if you are not from that era.
I always said that you just don't watch a game with your eyes, you experience it with your emotions. Back then, the excitement of a game like that to the fans would be much more intense compared to fans watching the games today. Its hard to explain, but there were true rivalries then, you had much more of an emotional attachment to your team. You didn't see the team play as much as you would today, so every game was special.
Make no mistake, the games were hard fought and exciting. There was plenty of skill and intensity.
I don't want to get into the discussion of how players today could skate better etc. That is not the point at all and there can be no comparisons because of a lot of factors that can't be properly analysed.
The point is, did the fans back then have an emotional attachment to their team and were lifted out of their seats when great plays were made. No doubt about it.
I always said that you just don't watch a game with your eyes, you experience it with your emotions. Back then, the excitement of a game like that to the fans would be much more intense compared to fans watching the games today. Its hard to explain, but there were true rivalries then, you had much more of an emotional attachment to your team. You didn't see the team play as much as you would today, so every game was special.
Make no mistake, the games were hard fought and exciting. There was plenty of skill and intensity.
I don't want to get into the discussion of how players today could skate better etc. That is not the point at all and there can be no comparisons because of a lot of factors that can't be properly analysed.
The point is, did the fans back then have an emotional attachment to their team and were lifted out of their seats when great plays were made. No doubt about it.
Nope sorry. I do watch hockey with my eyes, atleast as much, if not more than with my heart. The product on the ice, was not what I was led to believe, I would be seeing. The players, who were legends I've heard about, were all far superior in the stories of any over 50 hockey fan I've ever listened to, than they were on the ice the other night.
I see, but you can't base things on one game and I really believe that if you weren't around to appreciate the hockey and the emotions at that time, then of course, you might not be able to appreciate the hockey being played then.
I could write pages of how emotional the games were and how intense the rivalries were, but it would not help. You HAD to experience it first hand at the time.
Its just like someone writing a book on the 1972 Summit Series. Unless they lived through it, they couldn't possibly have captured the true emotions.
You could watch that old game and many others and you still wouldn't be able to truly appreciate the game or the players back then. Too many things are different- even the presentation of the game on TV.
Of course, reading or hearing about the legends gives you images of how great they were. And if you don't see them at their best in a single game, it doesn't mean they were not great players.
I could watch plenty of games today where I see supposed great players do nothing in a particular game.
I could write pages of how emotional the games were and how intense the rivalries were, but it would not help. You HAD to experience it first hand at the time.
Its just like someone writing a book on the 1972 Summit Series. Unless they lived through it, they couldn't possibly have captured the true emotions.
You could watch that old game and many others and you still wouldn't be able to truly appreciate the game or the players back then. Too many things are different- even the presentation of the game on TV.
Of course, reading or hearing about the legends gives you images of how great they were. And if you don't see them at their best in a single game, it doesn't mean they were not great players.
I could watch plenty of games today where I see supposed great players do nothing in a particular game.
How true. But could you watch, what was supposed to be, basically an all-star game featuring some of the all-time greats of the game and not be impressed. It's not that the players weren't good, but the way everyone talks about the old-time hockey, and with the number of all-time greats in the game, I just thought I was going to see a barn-burner of a game. Ya, know like a game between Calgary and Edmonton in the 80's. What I got was a game with less skill, and physical play than what's in the current league.
I just expected more.
I think we take for granted the way the game has changed. More Physical play, better positioning and possibly most important, the slapshot. Watching a guy rush down the wing only to take a weak 30-40mph wrister is depressing.
Yes, and of course, there is a lot of embellishment of stories regarding players of the past. You might have noticed that I like to disprove often told stories that really never happened that way.
I will say that the Game 1 of the 1964 finals wasn't one of the most exciting games of the time. The Leafs had just come off an emotional upset of the Montreal Canadiens in game 7 of the semis and seemed to have a let down.
The game was different for sure back then and it was a tight checking league. You will never see anything close to an 80's Oilers-Flames game back in the 60's. You could watch 100 games of the 60's and not find that. It was just a different game.
But I remember watching that game on TV at the time and the anticipation of waiting for the game to start and the excitement that I experienced watching that game was very, very real to me and many others as well. I just can't get that enthusiastic about watching hockey today - despite the speed of the game and all the other benefits
Like I said, you had to be there to fully appreciate it.
I will say that the Game 1 of the 1964 finals wasn't one of the most exciting games of the time. The Leafs had just come off an emotional upset of the Montreal Canadiens in game 7 of the semis and seemed to have a let down.
The game was different for sure back then and it was a tight checking league. You will never see anything close to an 80's Oilers-Flames game back in the 60's. You could watch 100 games of the 60's and not find that. It was just a different game.
But I remember watching that game on TV at the time and the anticipation of waiting for the game to start and the excitement that I experienced watching that game was very, very real to me and many others as well. I just can't get that enthusiastic about watching hockey today - despite the speed of the game and all the other benefits
Like I said, you had to be there to fully appreciate it.
Watched last night's game and enjoyed it immensely. Grew up in northern Quebec before cable and had never seen an English HNIC braodcast in it's entirety before.
Turns out it was the Bobby Baun broken leg game. Left on a stretcher and got his oot filled with anaesthetic and went back for the OT. Was interviewed after the game and said he figured it was just a pinched nerve, even though he heard it crack just before he collapsed.
Loved the lack of commercials and seeing Mikita, Topazzini, Boomer and Harry Howell between periods. coincidentally enough Mr. Topazzini celebrated his 75th this week.
Next Saturday, the last game Leafs fans can point to with pride. Can't wait. Wonder if it'll be in colour.
Turns out it was the Bobby Baun broken leg game. Left on a stretcher and got his oot filled with anaesthetic and went back for the OT. Was interviewed after the game and said he figured it was just a pinched nerve, even though he heard it crack just before he collapsed.
Loved the lack of commercials and seeing Mikita, Topazzini, Boomer and Harry Howell between periods. coincidentally enough Mr. Topazzini celebrated his 75th this week.
Next Saturday, the last game Leafs fans can point to with pride. Can't wait. Wonder if it'll be in colour.
I had the chance to spend some time with Bobby Baun at a resort north of Toronto a couple of summers back. What amazed me was that he was not bigger. I remember watching him on TV growing up and the crunching checks he delivered. Nearly every description of him on TV and in the media was prefaced with "Hard Rock" Bobby Baun.
I talked to him about the broken leg game and he told me that he took a snap shot from Gordie Howe on what today would be termed the high ankle area and he told me he did hear it crack. When they took him to the clinic in the Olympia he refused to have his skate boot removed and had them put in the freezing right through the sock and skate boot.
What to me was even more amazing was that he would play Game Seven two nights later in Toronto to win the Cup and never missed a shift. He told me he spent the next 2 1/2 months with his leg in a cast.
He was very easy to talk with and he was great telling stories about the Leafs glory years. He talked about Tim Horton and the "Horton Bear Hug" where Horton would just grab a player's forearms and clamp him to the player's side thus effectively ending any fight before it got started. In his opinion the three strongest players he ever saw were Tim Horton, Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull with an honourable mention to Marcel Bonin and there was not much to choose between any of them. Bonin was wrestler and his nickname was "L'ours de Joliette" - "the bear of Joliette." which derives from his sometimes wrestling partners in the off-seasons - bears.
The one thing Bobby Baun would like to see??? His old defense partner Carl Brewer in the HHOF. He thinks Brewer did more for the players and the game than he is given credit for - including cutting the palms out of his gloves - the better grab onto an opposing player's sweater if need be.
BTW Baun is now almost completely deaf in both ears and wears custom designed hearing aids from Widex - both have the maple leaf on them with one in red and one in blue. He happily will take them out ans show them to all and sundry. He has been a spokesperson for Widex and often speaks on hearing loss across Canada.
http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_hea...hannel_id=165&channel_id=165&relation_id=8144
Growing up with 3 male siblings and my father...all I ever heard was the love they had for their rival teams, Toronto and Detroit. I called them up to watch this game, and they all sat glued to their seats, like the "good old days"!
It was great to see a game from the 60's and the "big names" in action, that I heard so much about growing up. I loved that raw footage in black and white.
It was great to see a game from the 60's and the "big names" in action, that I heard so much about growing up. I loved that raw footage in black and white.
Although the May 2, 1967 final Cup game was originally televised in colour, it was preserved only on b&w kinescopes.
Actually, the earliest complete televised CBC game that is preserved in colour is the April 19, 1975 - Philly at Toronto. And that game is missing the intermissions.
Actually, the earliest complete televised CBC game that is preserved in colour is the April 19, 1975 - Philly at Toronto. And that game is missing the intermissions.
Towmater14
Registered User
I watched the game, but this is exactly why I laugh when people say that Gordie Howe was better then Wayne Gretzky, IMO not even same ball park. Hockey has evolved hugely since those days. The skill set that the player had back then you could probably compare to Junior A hockey nowadays. No knock on the pasts greats, just todays hockey is just so good.
Gordie Howe was in his mid-30's in this game. Gretzky was noticeably slowed down in his mid-30's as well.
Yeah, the game today is so much better - the trap, shoot the puck in and chase it, prearranged fights, goaltenders built like lacrosse goalies, penalty after penalty, goals only scored from scrambles, players fraternizing before games, overpaid and whining players, players too lazy to skate so they hook and hold and so on.
Tell me again why the game is so great today? A lot of people in the States are staying away in droves. Hockey has evolved - but into what?
Yeah, the game today is so much better - the trap, shoot the puck in and chase it, prearranged fights, goaltenders built like lacrosse goalies, penalty after penalty, goals only scored from scrambles, players fraternizing before games, overpaid and whining players, players too lazy to skate so they hook and hold and so on.
Tell me again why the game is so great today? A lot of people in the States are staying away in droves. Hockey has evolved - but into what?
Towmater14
Registered User
I am not necessarily talking about the game as a whole rather then the skill level. I would put all the greats back then against any team in the NHL now a days and it would be a blowout for today’s team and if you think otherwise well... I guess you are just fooling yourself. Sure back then the players had heart and they played it for the love of the game and so on but the overall talent was pretty minimal.
My point is that you just can't compare the players from 70's and prior to the modern day athlete. If you are going to have a team of 60's stars play against present day players, then you have to find a way to level the playing field - training, nutrition, equipment etc.
It can't be done.
Of course the players today appear more skilled but they have all the advantages. (and the game presentation now as opposed to then helps too). Put old Tack skates on these players for one example and see how they skate.
You would somehow have to figure out what Gordie Howe would play like if he had the same training, nutrition, skates, sticks etc. that are used today.
Besides, with all due respect, what qualifications do you have to be able to judge the skills and abilities of players from the 60's and the state of the game then? I'm assuming you didn't watch the decade live on TV or at the NHL rinks. Watching one game on tv is hardly enough to really know.
You had to have experienced being a fan at the time - anticipation of the upcoming games, the heated rivalries, the Bobby Hull end to end rushes and more. I'll tell you that there was just as much excitement watching a game then as now, maybe more. The game today needs a lot of help to become exciting again and the crackdown that started this past season was very necessary.
It burns me to read about how great the game is today when it really isn't. The players are supposedly so skilled but you very rarely see them able to use their skills. Besides, having Europeans and players from the States really add to the skill level. Take them away and see how good the hockey would be. The NHL in the 60's didn't have the luxury of using the skilled Europeans at the time.
You just can't fairly compare the players of then and now.
It can't be done.
Of course the players today appear more skilled but they have all the advantages. (and the game presentation now as opposed to then helps too). Put old Tack skates on these players for one example and see how they skate.
You would somehow have to figure out what Gordie Howe would play like if he had the same training, nutrition, skates, sticks etc. that are used today.
Besides, with all due respect, what qualifications do you have to be able to judge the skills and abilities of players from the 60's and the state of the game then? I'm assuming you didn't watch the decade live on TV or at the NHL rinks. Watching one game on tv is hardly enough to really know.
You had to have experienced being a fan at the time - anticipation of the upcoming games, the heated rivalries, the Bobby Hull end to end rushes and more. I'll tell you that there was just as much excitement watching a game then as now, maybe more. The game today needs a lot of help to become exciting again and the crackdown that started this past season was very necessary.
It burns me to read about how great the game is today when it really isn't. The players are supposedly so skilled but you very rarely see them able to use their skills. Besides, having Europeans and players from the States really add to the skill level. Take them away and see how good the hockey would be. The NHL in the 60's didn't have the luxury of using the skilled Europeans at the time.
You just can't fairly compare the players of then and now.
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