People/things you are nostalgic about that might raise an eyebrow

[DJ Man]

When they used to paint "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" near the blue lines during the 80's

I still remember this: as a little kid, circa 1962, I attended a game at Chicago Stadium on Christmas Eve (or Christmas evening) and the crowd was asked to sing "Silent Night" while the organist played.

Now, you've got a crowd that's, what, 98% male, and everybody over 12 is smoking (to judge from the atmosphere in the place), it must have sounded terrible, but we did get through it.

Hard to imagine that happening these days.

 

[blood gin]

I still remember this: as a little kid, circa 1962, I attended a game at Chicago Stadium on Christmas Eve (or Christmas evening) and the crowd was asked to sing "Silent Night" while the organist played.

Now, you've got a crowd that's, what, 98% male, and everybody over 12 is smoking (to judge from the atmosphere in the place), it must have sounded terrible, but we did get through it.

Hard to imagine that happening these days.

No, because there is a segment of the population who would get very frothing at the mouth offended at this and cause a lot of commotion.

 

[blood gin]

Before it seemed college football and basketball took over, ESPN used to have games on all the time, with great coverage. The late Tom Mees was stellar in how he relayed the game to both diehard and casual fans. Not necessarily something that might raise an eyebrow, but worth mentioning.
Looking forward to the old sportschannel games with Stan "the Maven" Fischler (retiring soon) and his hockey gossip and trade rumors when not many other sources were available.

The amazing thing about Fischlers retirement is that even at his age of 85 nobody saw it coming. Fischler is actually an original New York/Brooklyn Americans fan. Not many people still alive who has seen that team play in person, but Stan's one of them

Over the course of his life he has established a massive network of connections with top hockey brass. Owners and GM's would leak to him for decades.

The Americans have a weird ending as they never actually folded. They simply suspended operations and were to resume after the conclusion of WW2. The league then didn't allow them to re-enter and simply "retired" the team.

 

[The Panther]

I liked the look of the old net with no padding and how loose hanging it was. I loved how the twine would whip back and bulge after goals.

I so agree. I always thought it looked way cooler when the twine used to bulge a lot when a puck went in. Nowadays, it's more like firing a puck into an iron cage.

 

[blood gin]

I so agree. I always thought it looked way cooler when the twine used to bulge a lot when a puck went in. Nowadays, it's more like firing a puck into an iron cage.

I liked the old net style as well. The Art Ross B Net. Some people called it the M net. The one that included the pointy metal piece that would eventually have to go after impaling Mark Howe

 

[Cold Medicine]

.... I miss Dominion Stores. ... way better than Loblaws, Safeway, IGA etc.... Damn you Conrad Black....

.... Also miss.... square or rectangular goalie creases.... if you cant protect yourself, make room, shouldnt be out there.... and.... move the frickin red line goal line BACK to where it was already as no, no there will not be another Wayne Gretzky so cut it out already.... taking away real estate out front of the net with bigger, faster players.... ya, that makes a whole lotta sense.

One of the rule changes after the lockout was that the goal line was moved back to 11' from the end boards.

 

[Killion]

One of the rule changes after the lockout was that the goal line was moved back to 11' from the end boards.

Ah yes, so it was. Thanks for reminding me.... Memory almost full.

 

[DJ Man]

No, because there is a segment of the population who would get very frothing at the mouth offended at this and cause a lot of commotion.

But consider what the crowd at this time (early 1960s) and place (a great melting-pot city) must have been: Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans; and Polish-Americans, Czechoslovakian-Americans (and hyphenated-folk from other "captive nations" behind that Iron Curtain), and a few Cuban refugees, and Anglican and French-Canadian transplants ...

The management didn't anticipate any protest, and I don't recall any.

 

[SealsFan]

You guys have covered just about everything I would have posted! I'll see if I can add anything that hasn't been mentioned.

A time when an organ was the only music heard in the arena. I can't stand the deafening blasts of a 10-second snippet of a rock song over the PA at every break in the action. This along with the swirling spotlights and over-the-top presentation when the home team takes the ice, like something out of pro wrestling.

A time when a TV broadcast was about the game, not about the cameramen, the editors and the graphics, and look how clever we are with our technology, zooming and panning in and out with rapid-fire scene changes and seizure-inducing graphics, along with that "whooosh" sound when they're switching to a replay...

 

[Killion]

You guys have covered just about everything I would have posted! I'll see if I can add anything that hasn't been mentioned.

A time when an organ was the only music heard in the arena. I can't stand the deafening blasts of a 10-second snippet of a rock song over the PA at every break in the action. This along with the swirling spotlights and over-the-top presentation when the home team takes the ice, like something out of pro wrestling.

A time when a TV broadcast was about the game, not about the cameramen, the editors and the graphics, and look how clever we are with our technology, zooming and panning in and out with rapid-fire scene changes and seizure-inducing graphics, along with that "whooosh" sound when they're switching to a replay...

Yeah.... the whole "Game Presentation" nonsense.... not just the music, but the idiotic inflatables (Sharks for eg) out of which teams enter the ice... light shows... fireworks.... "Meat Draws"... "brought to you by Piggly Wiggly", Safeway or whomever.... just on & on & on. Gone completely overboard with the technology, special effects. Inundated, overwhelmed with aural & visual commercial messaging. And for that your paying anywhere from $50 ~ $500 or more? Talk about having it both ways, the League & owners having their bread buttered on both sides. I gave up my Seasons Tickets in Vancouver years ago, appalled at the crass over-commercialization & nonsense of yet another Cold Play, AC/DC or whatever number assailing all senses of decorum. Its completely out of all control. Buildings absolutely papered wall~wall, ice surface to rafters with sponsor I.D.... music, tinnitus causing decibel levels.... seizure inducing LED displays & visual effects.... If thats all people have ever known then really, what a shame. Born too late. Less is more. You walked into Boston Garden, Maple Leaf Gardens, MSG, the old Chicago Stadium, the Olympia, Montreal Forum... it was like walking into a Church. Magical. Mannered. No distractions from the game & players. To even think it all needed "enhancement" of any kind... no. No way.

 

[SealsFan]

Amen, Killion.

 

[GuineaPig]

What's worse is that the presentation is so overbearing, but at the same time just awful... like it was decided by a committee of rich executives in their 50s. Everything is super sterile and safe. And priced high enough so none of the riff raff off the street get in and threaten to bring a little energy into the building.

I've seen a bunch of matches of the German 2nd tier league, and the crowd atmosphere there has been far better than any NHL game I've been to

 

[whatname]

I miss cherrypickers that would would hardly go back inside his team's zone. Are there any players still like that? Or do they get cut at training camps now?

 

[BenchBrawl]

No helmet for me, and that's even if I was too young to remember the 70s.I saw some players without helmet, but not a lot.

Still, it was just much better like that.

I miss a whole lot more about hockey than strictly the NHL.I miss seeing kids playing hockey in the streets.I miss hockey being really important and not just one option among many other forms of entertainment.Just feel like hockey meant more to my surroundings in the 90s.

I miss hockey cards.I miss the high points total of the late 80s and early 90s, but maybe I just miss Gretzky and Lemieux.

I miss Montreal being relevent.I miss seeing a lot of quebecois players in the league (I know there's still many, but not what it used to be).

 

[mbhhofr]

The oooos and awwwws of a 0-0 tie game.

 

[Killion]

The oooos and awwwws of a 0-0 tie game.

... yep.... thats another.... guess they feel were not allowed
to have nice things huh?.... .... also.... single Ref, 2 Linesmen....

 

[MarkStone]

Yeah.... the whole "Game Presentation" nonsense.... not just the music, but the idiotic inflatables (Sharks for eg) out of which teams enter the ice... light shows... fireworks.... "Meat Draws"... "brought to you by Piggly Wiggly", Safeway or whomever.... just on & on & on. Gone completely overboard with the technology, special effects. Inundated, overwhelmed with aural & visual commercial messaging. And for that your paying anywhere from $50 ~ $500 or more? Talk about having it both ways, the League & owners having their bread buttered on both sides. I gave up my Seasons Tickets in Vancouver years ago, appalled at the crass over-commercialization & nonsense of yet another Cold Play, AC/DC or whatever number assailing all senses of decorum. Its completely out of all control. Buildings absolutely papered wall~wall, ice surface to rafters with sponsor I.D.... music, tinnitus causing decibel levels.... seizure inducing LED displays & visual effects.... If thats all people have ever known then really, what a shame. Born too late. Less is more. You walked into Boston Garden, Maple Leaf Gardens, MSG, the old Chicago Stadium, the Olympia, Montreal Forum... it was like walking into a Church. Magical. Mannered. No distractions from the game & players. To even think it all needed "enhancement" of any kind... no. No way.

I agree with all of this but with that being said..."Chelsea Dagger" just works.

 

[The Panther]

I miss Montreal having a significant number of French players.

I miss the Nordiques.

I miss Edmonton and Calgary regularly meeting in the playoffs. (Hasn't happened for 27 years, which makes a lot of sense. Thanks, NHL!)

I miss NHL players actually thinking independently and not just toeing the NHLPA line.

Most of all, I miss slapshots from the wings going in the net.

 

[Iapyi]

I miss Montreal having a significant number of French players.

I miss the Nordiques.

I miss Edmonton and Calgary regularly meeting in the playoffs. (Hasn't happened for 27 years, which makes a lot of sense. Thanks, NHL!)

I miss NHL players actually thinking independently and not just toeing the NHLPA line.

Most of all, I miss slapshots from the wings going in the net.

I think the only French player that ever played on Montreal was Christobal Huet, there has only been 5 French players who have ever made the NHL.

 

[VanIslander]

I miss the Soviet Union.

The communist state created such a great 'bad guy' for versus NHL confrontations.

The World Cup and NHL participation in the Olympics have never quite brought us back to that level of anticipation, intensity and excitement over hockey.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

I miss the villain/entertainers.

Hasn't been one for awhile.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I miss being able to buy 30+ packs of hockey cards and 700+ card sets. And them being cheap. Now it's $6-$12 a pack for 3-5 cards. So what if I can get a card with a piece of jersey on it that's signed? It was for fun, not to hopefully make some money.

 

[Eisen]

I miss the Soviet Union.

The communist state created such a great 'bad guy' for versus NHL confrontations.

The World Cup and NHL participation in the Olympics have never quite brought us back to that level of anticipation, intensity and excitement over hockey.

I miss the way the Soviets played.

 

[The Panther]

I think the only French player that ever played on Montreal was Christobal Huet, there has only been 5 French players who have ever made the NHL.

In the English language, the word "French" is both a language and a nationality.

 

[Iapyi]

In the English language, the word "French" is both a language and a nationality.

Who doesn't know that? Montreal has only had one French player on their team.