NHL - Penguins help

[Grav]

sorry if in wrong section but...

from Wales

really want to get into this sport, whats the best way to do so? Is it easy to get into?

Do they have a gamepass type thing? Who are the top teams?

Im drawn towards the Pittsburgh Penguins for obvious reasons, any info on them?

When is the season played? how does the draft work?

Any kind of info greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Vis]

Originally Posted by Grav

sorry if in wrong section but...

from Wales

really want to get into this sport, whats the best way to do so? Is it easy to get into?

Do they have a gamepass type thing? Who are the top teams?

Im drawn towards the Pittsburgh Penguins for obvious reasons, any info on them?

When is the season played? how does the draft work?

Any kind of info greatly appreciated

Thanks

Hurry up. The LA Kings will win the cup tonight starting at 8 EST

[SCMom]

Hi Grav!

Been a hockey and Pens fan since I was 4 ('84), and it was easier for me to get into than it was for me to get into football lol...so I would say yes, it's easy to like. But that's obviously different given people's tastes.

Best way to get into it is to know the basic rules first (positions, how the lines work, icing, offsides, penalties, etc. etc.). This will obviously make the game easier to follow.

Here's a few good sites to start with the basics of the game.

http://www.ehow.com/how-to_4845444_l...cs-hockey.html
http://proicehockey.about.com/od/lea...ing_hockey.htm

From NHL.com

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26369

Rulebook:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=27011

The draft works much in the same way that the NFL draft works. The entry draft will be June 22-23 in Pittsburgh. For more on the draft, read here....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL_Entry_Draft

The start of the pre-season is in late September, regular season beginning in early October, and the ending in mid April...with the playoffs running until early June. Each team plays 82 games with a week off for the All Star game (and depending on whether or not they allow NHL players to play in the Olympics, they take extra time off for that as well).

For the past few years or so, they've also been having different teams playing regular season games over in Europe. Last year the games were in Berlin, Stockholm and Helsinki.

This year the start of the season may be contingent on a new CBA being negotiated, as the one negotiated between the owners and NHLPA in 2005 will expire on September 15, 2012. This also affects the games that would have been played in Europe, which were cancelled due to uncertainty surrounding the NHL's collective bargaining agreement.

To watch the games online (w/o using a streaming site of course), you can sign up for NHL Gamecenter. It's reasonably priced, considering you can watch all games from every team, and up to 4 games at one time (on one screen). They have a decent mobile app that goes with it too. They don't have a price set for it right now, because it's no longer available to sign up for, but it'll be back up for the next season. Here's the site for it....https://gamecenter.nhl.com/nhlgc/sec...&nav-video-gcl

For info on the Pens themselves, you can check out their NHL.com site...http://penguins.nhl.com/?navid=nav-teamnav-pit Or just google them, there's tons of info if you're looking for something specific.

Hope this helps, and hope you're able to get into the sport and the Pens! If you have any other questions, just ask!