Forgot about hating the home team. I know people who have tickets to Panthers games just to root for them to lose.

I actually used to like the Panthers back in the day when they had Beezer in goal in the mid-90s, but nowadays they are just above the rank of being a team among the ones I dislike. Beezer was from Detroit, right?! He was simply in a class of his own along with Roy and Hasek.

Excuse me (I should have specified), I meant NC Panthers...I forgot about the Florida Panthers. Not sure on Beezer. I suppose everyone has their own reasons for liking/disliking a team. I was just going on the general population. But, I realize that there are special circumstances.

Yep, he's from the eastside, ie Grosse Pointe Woods ... me and my brothers used to skate with/against him and his brothers before John got serious and went the the NHL, .

I concur ... I respect/like the more talented athletes on another team, but when it comes to picking a favorite, I always go with the 'home' team ie Detroit, regardless. It's a regional thing. That's what I enjoy about all the World Cups (in any sport) and international play, it's all about the 'home' team & if the U.S. isn't in it, like in the recent Euro 2012, you just root for the country of your heritage, ... simple.

Not me, I know for sure I have Polish, German, and Irish heritage; along with several others which I do not remember. But I didn't care enough to pay attention to the cup lol. I couldn't tell you who won (Italy?)

Spain won, and made history. But, I have to say that this year's EURO was really good in regards to the level of entertainment the games provided. I don't ever remember watching as many games as I did this time around, whether it be the EURO or the World Cup. There wasn't even a single 0-0 game until the quarter finals, which is rare at this level and in these competitions.

I really don't enjoy soccer that much, and the only time I care to watch it is during these big tournaments or if the final of the Champions League is on the TV.

Next time around they're going to expand the EUROs to include 24 teams instead of the 16 they have now, so Finland might actually get into the 2016 EUROs, since they've been mere minutes away from getting into the 16 team tournament in the past.

Mind you, at precent, the EUROs are the highest quality tournament for national teams in the world, because there aren't really any weak teams in those 16, which isn't the case f.e. in the World Cup where there are quotas for different regions of the world. But, with the expansion, I think the overall quality will drop while more countries are able to partake in the tournament.

I don't watch a lot of soccer, but got to see quite a few of these games and was surprised at how every game really was a quality contest ... I was disappointed when I heard the announcers talking about the new format because like every other sport venue, they're going to saturate the number of teams in order to increase the fanbase/revenues ... unfortunately, it also lowers the quality on the field, but I guess I can look forward to seeing Finland get in there ... seen plenty of the Finnish hockey team, but don't ever recall seeing the soccer team play.

Sharks hire Larry Robinson to be their associate coach.

Sharks


Exactly what the Sharks needed, Robinson will help their D get better and while he was not directly responsible for the Devils' great PK - he was also involved with it, so he might be able fix the Sharks' PK woes.

Definitely the best move the Sharks have made this offseason.

And the RedWings hire Lidström as their Europe based scout - big surprise he stays with the RW organization.