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Hey Ice Hockey Fans !!!!! Deal?
- Thread starter Motokid
- Start date
Doug Johnson
kickbox
Since you're such a fan, I thought you'd enjoy this
The story has made the rounds a few times and goes something like this: little Darcy Tucker is playing minor hockey one day and lies on the ice faking an injury after getting hit. On the way home, his father starts giving it to him and they get into it and the elder Tucker kicks the kid out of the car and makes him walk home alone at night in the dead of the northern Alberta winter.
Sort of gives you a perspective on why, pound-for-pound, inch-for-inch, Tucker is considered one of the toughest players in the NHL. Also sort of makes you wonder what exactly was going through Glen Tucker's head at the time.
Not exactly true, the younger Tucker says. He acknowledges everything leading up to him getting kicked out of the car, but that's where the line between truth and exaggeration starts getting blurred.
"He stopped about 100 feet up the road and I walked up to the car and he told me to get in," Tucker said with a laugh.
Undoubtedly, however, being the son of a cattle farmer in Castor, Alta., has helped forge Tucker into the resilient player he has become at the NHL level. Sporting 20 stitches over his left eye after being run into the boards by Atlanta defenceman Andy Sutton on Friday night, Tucker went into the corners with reckless abandon the next evening against the Canadiens and had his face pushed into the glass by Montreal defenceman Mike Komisarek on the first shift of the game. Instead of wilting, Tucker went at the Canadiens harder and took his hits, even dished out a few of his own.
His spirited style of play has meshed well with that of his new linemates, off-season acquisitions Jason Allison and Jeff O'Neill. After a slow start for Tucker and the others, the three have combined for nine of the Maple Leafs' 27 goals and provided coach Pat Quinn with a reliable scoring line in the absence of captain Mats Sundin.
In many ways, their attributes make for an almost perfect line — almost perfect because Allison and Tucker are minus players at the moment. Allison is the undisputed puck carrier and set-up man, O'Neill is the trigger man with an ability to find open ice and Tucker digs pucks out of the corners and creates havoc by playing a physical game — sometimes a little too physical for Quinn's liking.
"He has always been willing to accept all kinds of abuse to do the job that he thought he needed to do," Quinn said. "There are guys on other teams who don't like going back to get the puck because Darcy might be pounding them, so they kind of show great respect for him. And then he takes ones that I wish he wouldn't take sometimes. He's courageous, he's tough and I'm glad we have him."
Tucker's competitiveness is undoubtedly his most prominent attribute, but it also sometimes overshadows an underrated skill level. Not only has Tucker scored 20 or more goals three times in his NHL career, he had seasons of 140 and 137 points in his last two years of junior hockey with the Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.
"I'm not the fastest and I don't have the hardest shot, but I think I'm one of those guys who does everything quite well," Tucker said. "I've always thought that I'm a pretty good hockey player, not just a hard-working guy. I think I'm an above-average player. I can play on a lot of teams' top two lines or I can play the third-line role just as well.
"I'm not picky, I just want to play hockey."
That Tucker just wanted to play hockey made last year excruciating for him. His troubles were compounded by the fact that, back in Castor, Glen Tucker was also having a rough go of it. Owner of a farm with 300 head of cattle, Tucker was feeling the effects of the United States' ban on Canadian beef because of mad cow disease.
"It was a pretty tough year for both of us," Tucker said. "But things are starting to look up for us now."
The story has made the rounds a few times and goes something like this: little Darcy Tucker is playing minor hockey one day and lies on the ice faking an injury after getting hit. On the way home, his father starts giving it to him and they get into it and the elder Tucker kicks the kid out of the car and makes him walk home alone at night in the dead of the northern Alberta winter.
Sort of gives you a perspective on why, pound-for-pound, inch-for-inch, Tucker is considered one of the toughest players in the NHL. Also sort of makes you wonder what exactly was going through Glen Tucker's head at the time.
Not exactly true, the younger Tucker says. He acknowledges everything leading up to him getting kicked out of the car, but that's where the line between truth and exaggeration starts getting blurred.
"He stopped about 100 feet up the road and I walked up to the car and he told me to get in," Tucker said with a laugh.
Undoubtedly, however, being the son of a cattle farmer in Castor, Alta., has helped forge Tucker into the resilient player he has become at the NHL level. Sporting 20 stitches over his left eye after being run into the boards by Atlanta defenceman Andy Sutton on Friday night, Tucker went into the corners with reckless abandon the next evening against the Canadiens and had his face pushed into the glass by Montreal defenceman Mike Komisarek on the first shift of the game. Instead of wilting, Tucker went at the Canadiens harder and took his hits, even dished out a few of his own.
His spirited style of play has meshed well with that of his new linemates, off-season acquisitions Jason Allison and Jeff O'Neill. After a slow start for Tucker and the others, the three have combined for nine of the Maple Leafs' 27 goals and provided coach Pat Quinn with a reliable scoring line in the absence of captain Mats Sundin.
In many ways, their attributes make for an almost perfect line — almost perfect because Allison and Tucker are minus players at the moment. Allison is the undisputed puck carrier and set-up man, O'Neill is the trigger man with an ability to find open ice and Tucker digs pucks out of the corners and creates havoc by playing a physical game — sometimes a little too physical for Quinn's liking.
"He has always been willing to accept all kinds of abuse to do the job that he thought he needed to do," Quinn said. "There are guys on other teams who don't like going back to get the puck because Darcy might be pounding them, so they kind of show great respect for him. And then he takes ones that I wish he wouldn't take sometimes. He's courageous, he's tough and I'm glad we have him."
Tucker's competitiveness is undoubtedly his most prominent attribute, but it also sometimes overshadows an underrated skill level. Not only has Tucker scored 20 or more goals three times in his NHL career, he had seasons of 140 and 137 points in his last two years of junior hockey with the Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers.
"I'm not the fastest and I don't have the hardest shot, but I think I'm one of those guys who does everything quite well," Tucker said. "I've always thought that I'm a pretty good hockey player, not just a hard-working guy. I think I'm an above-average player. I can play on a lot of teams' top two lines or I can play the third-line role just as well.
"I'm not picky, I just want to play hockey."
That Tucker just wanted to play hockey made last year excruciating for him. His troubles were compounded by the fact that, back in Castor, Glen Tucker was also having a rough go of it. Owner of a farm with 300 head of cattle, Tucker was feeling the effects of the United States' ban on Canadian beef because of mad cow disease.
"It was a pretty tough year for both of us," Tucker said. "But things are starting to look up for us now."
scooter13
Member
Before I make my comment on Darcy Tucker, let me set a few things straight. I don't hate him as a player. I am a fan of a team in the Western Conference, so I have not seen his play disturb my team. I do however know quite a few Flyers' fans living here outside of Philly. I also know a couple of Islanders' fans. All of them dislike Tucker.
My thoughts? Tucker is a fierce competitor, and I respect him of that. But he does appear to embellish his reaction when hit. Heck, I was just watching the Leafs and Canes the other night and he did it. That's just the way it appears he plays. Obviously there are times when it is truly pain and injury, like when that idiot from the Thrashers hit him. (And why are the Thrashers starting to play like the Charlestown Chiefs lately?) Can't fake that.
I can see him as an aggravating player that you love to hate. But for those Tucker detractors, what if he was on your team? I know I changed my tune about Chris Chelios once he started wearing the Winged Wheel.
My thoughts? Tucker is a fierce competitor, and I respect him of that. But he does appear to embellish his reaction when hit. Heck, I was just watching the Leafs and Canes the other night and he did it. That's just the way it appears he plays. Obviously there are times when it is truly pain and injury, like when that idiot from the Thrashers hit him. (And why are the Thrashers starting to play like the Charlestown Chiefs lately?) Can't fake that.
I can see him as an aggravating player that you love to hate. But for those Tucker detractors, what if he was on your team? I know I changed my tune about Chris Chelios once he started wearing the Winged Wheel.
Motokid
New Member
Look, when Tucker is actually playing hockey he's tough and good at what he does. No team would not want to have that. He scores goals and contributes to the team. No doubt, and no question.
What he also does is act, embellish, fake, and in my mind "cheat" to get a penalty called, or at least get a game stoppage when clearly he's not actually hurt. This is disgraceful and for that I would not want him on any team that I follow and cheer for. I've seen him "act" completely unconscious on more than one occasion only to be back on the ice in under a minute. I think he deserves all the negative feedback he gets. He takes taking a dive to new levels.
I missed all but about 10 minutes of the Leafs/Flyers on Saturday (OCT. 22nd)...glad to see the Flyers beat 'em on the Leafs home ice. Series (between the Flyers and the suckyety-suck Maple leafs) is even now at one win apiece....Once Matts Sundin returns will prove to be the real test.
What he also does is act, embellish, fake, and in my mind "cheat" to get a penalty called, or at least get a game stoppage when clearly he's not actually hurt. This is disgraceful and for that I would not want him on any team that I follow and cheer for. I've seen him "act" completely unconscious on more than one occasion only to be back on the ice in under a minute. I think he deserves all the negative feedback he gets. He takes taking a dive to new levels.
I missed all but about 10 minutes of the Leafs/Flyers on Saturday (OCT. 22nd)...glad to see the Flyers beat 'em on the Leafs home ice. Series (between the Flyers and the suckyety-suck Maple leafs) is even now at one win apiece....Once Matts Sundin returns will prove to be the real test.
scooter13
Member
Good timing Moto. I saw him come in, too.
So we have our first major trade of the season. Or I should say "in-season." Sergei Fedorov has been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Good move for the Jackets. They need the offensive help, even if Fedorov doesn't produce like he used to.
So we have our first major trade of the season. Or I should say "in-season." Sergei Fedorov has been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Good move for the Jackets. They need the offensive help, even if Fedorov doesn't produce like he used to.
scooter13
Member
Yes, actually I did miss the last two periods and OT. I cover some of the Red Wings games for a web site, so I was watching them look terrible against the Flames last night.
The Flyers are still looking strong. Hard to defend against opening up the offense like that (being that in the old NHL, that would have been a two-line pass).
The Flyers are still looking strong. Hard to defend against opening up the offense like that (being that in the old NHL, that would have been a two-line pass).
Robert
Active Member
scooter13
Member
Robert said:
Yeah, I saw it live. Was watching the game courtesy Center Ice. It was freakin' scary. Didn't know who it was, or even if it was a player. When they were showing them performing CPR, you could see a red jersey, but of course it could have been a fan that fell. The good thing was that the commentators were really good about it. They weren't speculating, and they weren't saying who it was until an official for the Wings told them. The thing is though that many believe it wasn't a seizure, and was an actual heart problem. Considering he was already diagnosed with a minor problem, this could be a bad sign that it was more serious.
And just to answer an earlier question about who I write for, it's DetroitHockey.Net, a Red Wings fan site.
Doug Johnson
kickbox
Another Darcy Tucker update.
"Tucker has a six-game point streak intact, having posted three goals and four assists during the tear."
"Tucker has a six-game point streak intact, having posted three goals and four assists during the tear."
Motokid
New Member
Well. March is here. Playoffs not far around the corner.
All the games start to matter now.
My poor Flyers have gone south in the last month. Can't string together more than two good games without having 3 or 4 really bad ones.
I'm beginning to accept another early golf season for the black and orange.
What's up with those Maple Leafs, Detroit, Vancouver....
How's the west shaking out?
All the games start to matter now.
My poor Flyers have gone south in the last month. Can't string together more than two good games without having 3 or 4 really bad ones.
I'm beginning to accept another early golf season for the black and orange.
What's up with those Maple Leafs, Detroit, Vancouver....
How's the west shaking out?
Ell
Well-Known Member
Moto, the Flyers look in pretty good shape. They're a good 11 points up on 8th place Montreal. So unless they completely tank in the latter part of the season, they should make the playoffs.
The West is a completely different matter. Only 6 points separate the teams in 3rd to 8th place and another 3 and 6 respectively for 9th and 10th spot. Really, it's going to be a battle right down to the wire, with every point important.
The West is a completely different matter. Only 6 points separate the teams in 3rd to 8th place and another 3 and 6 respectively for 9th and 10th spot. Really, it's going to be a battle right down to the wire, with every point important.
Robert
Active Member
Boom Boom Geoffrion died from stomach cancer
In case you haven't seen this...
Habs legend Boom Boom Geoffrion dead at 75
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=158150&hubname=nhl
The Habs are scheduled to retire his jersey tonight.
Rest in peace Boom Boom.
In case you haven't seen this...
Habs legend Boom Boom Geoffrion dead at 75
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=158150&hubname=nhl
The Habs are scheduled to retire his jersey tonight.
Rest in peace Boom Boom.