Zdeno Chara, Quietly Still a Top Pair D at age 42

[Chardo]

Quietly?

 

[NyQuil]

I think around 10 years ago the league wanted to crack down on the obstruction stuff but started seeing dmen getting killed so its slowly evolved back to the way it was.

Well, the original crackdown was on stick checking and hooking. You don't see that as much anymore because it's easy to see and call. At the time, you were perfectly in your rights to take your stick and just hook on for dear life.

I remembering being taught in youth hockey to hook the side of someone's waist with the blade of your stick to "let him know that you're there".

McCabe did it all the time and it was called "the can opener" as if it were a legitimate way to play defence. A lot of guys coming up in that time period struggled when the crackdown occurred because they'd learned under those circumstances. Wade Redden is one of those guys IMO.

Now, one of the little twists in his career earlier in the 2000s was his much-discussed propensity for slowing down opposing forwards with a move that became known as the “can-opener”.

McCabe would slide his stick in between the legs of opposing players and, at precisely the right moment, turn to ensure the players would get caught up in his stick. Most Leafs fans will remember that such was his skill in deploying this tactic, the league actually stepped in and began calling that particular move a penalty.

Vintage Leaf Memories - Michael Langlois: Ex-Leaf Bryan McCabe didn’t invent the “can-opener”—remembering Leaf legend Carl Brewer

Defencemen have adapted and now it's really more about body position and forcing guys wide.

Once the puck is gone, technically you shouldn't be engaging or touching someone but that 2 seconds or whatever that you have is pretty hard to enforce.

 

[BruinsBtn]

This is why Leaf fans think he's interfering with people. Their idiot announcers are gaslighting them on plays that aren't remotely interference.

 

[NyQuil]

This is why Leaf fans think he's interfering with people. Their idiot announcers are gaslighting them on plays that aren't remotely interference.

LOL, that sounds like Dean Brown, Ottawa's announcer.

Obviously we were out of the playoffs so they needed help for the other playoff games.

Dean sees a lot of phantom calls for the other team.

He also uses verbs like "checks", "handles", "muscles" for Ottawa players and "interferes", "hooks", "slashes" for the other team.

He's a homer but more subtle than some. He will however, get loud for the opposition goals as much as Senators goals, and give opposing players their due credit.

EDIT: Well I guess it wasn't, whoops. Turned up the volume a bit and listened again.

 

[BruinsBtn]

LOL, that sounds like Dean Brown, Ottawa's announcer.

Obviously we were out of the playoffs so they needed help for the other playoff games.

That's Hughson/Simpson

 

[NyQuil]

That's Hughson/Simpson

You know, I've listened again and you're right. My mistake.

Still, unlikely that Leaf fans were watching a Bruins-Hurricanes game, so I'm not sure what that proves.

You'd have a better argument showing it happening in a Leafs game.

 

[SniperHF]

Some pro-tips for the future:
1. A poster who is a fan of a team, like say the Toronto Maple Leafs, may in fact reference their own team in a conversation about a topic because they are most familiar with that team. I'm a Coyotes fan, I do this with the Coyotes all the time. It's how most fans think. It's okay.

2. If a fan does this, you DON'T HAVE TO turn the thread into a protracted debate about #1. Not every minor self referential point needs to be debated for 2 pages.