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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/14/2008 8:11:23 AM | """...If you think the Flames put in a crappy performance, you'd hafta use foul language describing the Oilers ........EXHIBITION ..."""
The hi's and lo's of a young squad. Still pumped up probably about Cogliano's latest feat and they were still probably just abuzzing in the dressing room about the stick and the gloves thing going to the Hall.
Have to reset. That was mac-T's most important job going into last nights tilt. Looks like he didn't get it done. Can't keep thinking about last nights game when you're in another one tonight. That's probably all that happened there. Mind you, Av's are a team that a lot of clubs can take lessons from about not using injuries as an excuse. They're missing key players and Quenneville hasn't had a full starting lineup all season.
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"""...payed to play or not,if your hearts not in it the team is done..."""
I think of last years utter collapse by the Oilers after moving Captain Canada. So this holds true here. That trade though ripped the heart out of the whole town though i would guess, not just the club itself.
Winning does go beyond skill level agreed. There's a lot of different things that go into a club winning. And there is not and never has been a tool to properly measure a man's heart. If i've said that once, I've said it. Give me a hardworking grunt that works like a dog over a skilled Coney island hot dog like Jason Spazza any day of the week. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and Spazza is anything but tough mentally. Murray made three smart deals picking up Commodore, Lapointe and Stillman. Sens for a decade now have proven to be total wimp-outs come playoff time, when, the going gets tough. They like running up scores in October and November and baffling their fans into believing their a championship calibre hockey club when they're nothing but imposters. This year's squad with the new additions and with Murray taking the hard line and icing Emery is going to be a club to watch in the playoffs now.
Murray doubled or possibly tripled the load of heart in that dressing room from just Mike Fisher and possibly Alfie, to now 5 guys with heart...and Stillman having played with Gerber two seasons ago helps settle Gerber back down. He must have felt like he was in a zoo all year with this baboon Emery in the locker room.
I said when Cliffy dealt away our theoretical muscle and size in Belak, Gill and Kilger that this team would bond and start playing some serious hockey and they have responded well. Sometimes you just have to challenge your players to prove you wrong...and assess whether they really do have any heart.
Initially it looked like Cliffy was saying to the nontradable fab5, Ok, You want to stay, you can stay till the end of the season, but you'll have no one watching your backs out there.
But the reality of it was that Belak was taking up roster space. He really wasn't being used by Maurice at all, let alone properly. Gill to me was a bust since the day we got him. Customs obviously wouldn't allow the real Hal Gill to join the Leafs two years ago and we got something more resmbling a 6'7" 250 pound Lady Byng candidate for a defenceman that we thought was going to rock some heads. Truth is, his departure has allowed Colliaicovo to bloom here late this season, and if he stays healthy long enough, he will justify Fergusons faith in the kid. He's been playing very well since Gills departure opened up more playing time for him.
And Kilger well, what can you say? Nobody seems to know where he is despite a plethora of internet rumours about him and he's now been suspended by the club that gave us a draft pick for him.
So if it's being insinuated that Leafs management doesn't care about winning I would think that's not an accurate assessment. Ferguson for all his faults wasn't trying not to win. He brought in Bell, Toskala and Blake to a squad that missed the playoffs by one point. When they appeared they were going to miss because of very sloppy and lazy play (which I put on the coach Paul Maurice as his responsibility to fix), then management went and canned the GM and brought in a guy to retool again a franchise. So it's not that management isn't trying to win even though a lot of leaf fans may feel this way.
Besides, management manages, they don't actually play. I've seen teams win in spite of lousy management and poor decisions in the business world. And i've also seen less talented business teams completely outperform for years at a stretch, much better rosters. habs are a perfect example of that this year. If i had a salesman that couldn't get his heart into it because of how he felt about upper management, he was given his walking papers. On the spot. It's a creepy meatball mentality successful businesses don't tolerate. Oh if only this and oh if only that.It's just too convenient an excuse for blaming management for your errors on ice.
Personally what i see half of leaf nation doing here is what I used to call "building a better moustrap". Oh if the leafs don't get Stamkos they're finished for the next few years, and oh, if only they'd finished in the last 5, we'd be winners next year. That's just horsesh.it. They've already built their bandaids for next year because of the team winnning a lot of games coming down the stretch this year. If that isn't stinkin' thinkin', then i don't know what is. This club has underachieved all year. Not because they're full of lousy personnell. Every team has a guy or two that management would like to move. They've underachieved because they've beaten themselves so many nights. Good teams don't beat themselves. And good coaches know this and don't allow it to continue throughout the season.
If i've said it once, i've said it. Put a Mike Keenan, a Pat Burns, or a Sutter behind that leaf bench and this club would have rolled thru 8-4-1 records like they did in february right from Game One back in October. If a club can play like that for one month they can play like that for 6 months. That would have parlayed itself into 107 points. The first twenty games are just as important in the standings as the last 20 games are. That's where the leafs missed the boat this year, and we're not sure they've entirely missed it yet.
Show me on paper how the Bruins, the Canes, the Flyers, the Sabres, the Habs are better rosters than this leafs roster. I'm not buying it. Hell only two clubs have put up 40 plus shots on the Devils this year and they were both by the leafs last week. Only two clubs have pumped 50 plus shots at a club this year and both times it was the leafs agin the Flyers. Two nights ago, and back in january when Downie suckerpunched Jason Blake.
These maekno's that write in the toronto papers that this club needs to be blown up need their heads examined. Do a brain scan on these guys and see if the tests come up negative. i'm sure the tests will find nothing.
There's a difference between a lousy club, and a club that plays lousy. One should be blown up. The other has to have professional coaching. A good coach can make all the difference in the world.
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/14/2008 8:59:15 AM | When a coach sits his best players down the stretch it is tanking.
When a GM sell off valuable assets to gain younger new assets its called rebuilding. And that is smart.
When teams want to rebuild they dump older star players to get more in return.
There are many examples in all the major sports of this happening.
The Detroit Tigers in baseball stockpiled picks.
The Philadelphia Flyers last year in hockey.
It happens all the time.
For the most part the best players are at the top of the draft.
Chicago with Kane and Toews is a perfect example.
Dale McCourt had a terrific junior career but their have been many far better than him.
McCourt also had a couple of good years in Detroit.
Keep deluding yourself Sly this is terrible Leaf team.
When was the last time they made the playoffs. Blow it up to rebuild it.
This franchise has been a mess(on ice) since Harold Ballard stole it. The NHL should assume it and run it properly. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/14/2008 9:41:49 AM | Alan trammell took the blame as manager of the Tiggers in 05 for poor clubhouse atmosphere. Jimmy Leyland turned around and almost accomplished with detroit the next year what he had accomplished in Florida. Miracle maker of men award winner for sure.
The franchise hasn't been a mess since the Ballard days. 4 Final 4 appearances from 93 to 02 dispels that myth quite easily thank you.
Yes it does happen all the time that teams rebuld large chunks of their organization thru the draft. but no team has ever won solely thru the draft. Not Anaheim, not Detroit, not Jersey, not Carolina, not even the Islanders who came closest. They still didn't win nuthing till they traded away one of their first round building blocks in Billy Harris for Butchy Goring.
Show me a dominant club in this parity ravaged NHL. There isn't one. A Gm has 4 recruiting sources to build a club from. The draft, free agency, the waiver wire, and trades. Lamorello and Holland have the most success over the last decade, and yes they draft well, but they never draft near the top. They won Cups with astute trades. Scott Stevens, Jamie Langenbrunner, Nieuwendyk for example. Detroit has been buying the Cup for years with Hull, Hasek, Chelios as examples. Wings haven't had a sniff of the Finals since the cap. Neither have the Devils for that matter.
Few picked Tampa and Calgary to go to the Cup 3 years ago. Even fewer picked a Carolina Oiler matchup two years ago. If these franchises are models of how to build, how come they missed the playoffs the next year?
Because parity in salary doesn't allow clubs to build up pseudo-dynasties. Clubs take their shot and then slide back to join the masses the next year.
The difference between winning and losing is narrower than ever. One more win per month is the difference between a contender and being a club that everyone thinks should be blown up. Delude yourself all you want that the Red Wings are more than they are, but they haven't done squat since Yzerman and Shanahan left town ~ veterans that come with veteran leadership. Veterans carry you to the Cup.
Youth is the way the league seems to want to go. Funny thing is, leafs have just as many of their own draft picks in their present lineup as any other club. Probably more than most actually. Wings have 2 d-men that they drafted. leafs have 3. Leafs have more forwards on their roster that came thru the draft than the Wings have. Go thru all the rosters and you'll see there's not a lot of difference in the numbers between rosters on who's trying to develop from within.
Leafs aren't that far off. One win a month. I'm sure we don't need to look up Kevin Costner's little soliloquy from Bull Durham about the difference between a 300 hitter and a 200 hitter. One foul ball a week that lands fair instead of foul over 6 months is the difference.
Same with the NHL. One really lousy ref call a month, or one pertinint injury, or one missed open net, or one more power play goal. Hope is the magic ingredient in sports and in life. I hope the Leafs run table here and then put the boards to have these other wimpy east clubs to shut up all the fairweather naysayers. I hope they even make it to the Final so I'm wrong about Maurice.
Kaos, let me ask you something. Did you predict the Colorado Rockies were dead in the water in September like millions of other baseball fans? Did they listen to the press telling them they have no chance? Did you foresee the Giants putting it all together at zero hour and go on a roll to take down one of the greatest football teams ever put together? That's what sports is all about. That's why you play the game. 6 blown third period leads in the first two dozen games is all the difference in the standings. That's all it takes to get the raspberries out and have everyone yelling and screaming to blow a club up.
Everyone and their uncle including me was calling for Eli Mannings head on a block with 3 games left in their season. I was wrong. So too right now are all these folks saying this leaf team is lousy. Tell that to the Flyers. If the leafs are lousy, what does that make the 8th place club that was just seriously manhandled and badly outplayed?
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/14/2008 9:41:24 PM | If the leafs are lousy, what does that make the 8th place club that was just seriously manhandled and badly outplayed?
hey,L.A one a game against detroit this year.dam good team those kings. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/15/2008 9:41:54 AM | Hull, Hasek and Chellios were not on the first 2 cup teams. When those three came to Detroit not many other Teams wanted them and they came to Detroit for less than there original teams.
The myth that Detroit bought cups is silly. The wings simply scout and draft better than most clubs. Its not the quantity of the picks on their roster its the Quality.
Thats why Toronto is awful even with their lousy regular seasons and subsequent high picks they have not drafted well. The franchise has been a mess since 67 a couple of average years does not overcome the on ice joke that the Maple Leafs have become.
Bottom line the Flyers are an up and coming team and the Leafs are floundering once again.
As for making other predictions I actually make very few... but anyone with hockey sense could tell at the beginning of the year that the Leafs were a non-playoff team, as I did.
I understand that their leader will sit out tonight...hmmm. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/15/2008 12:02:45 PM | "...but anyone with hockey sense could tell at the beginning of the year that the Leafs were a non-playoff team, as I did."
Virtually every hockey writer around had them as a playoff team in their pre-season predictions. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/15/2008 12:25:51 PM | ^^^"""...Virtually every hockey writer around had them as a playoff team in their pre-season predictions..."""
Eureka. Someone that gets it. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/15/2008 8:45:18 PM | ^^^^^
Well yeah... but that just goes to prove that virtually every hockey writer around was wrong  | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/15/2008 9:10:08 PM | """...virtually every hockey writer around was wrong..."""
Or they were proved wrong in kind of the same way OJ was proven innocent.
We handled ourselves quite well despite only getting one point out of the first two games of the season against the Sens. That was my measuring stick for a couple of reasons. One obviously they were, for better or worse, Eastern Conference champs last year, and two, they had hammered the p1ss out of us in the Battle of Ontario for two years. Just brutal scores over those two years.. We carried the play to the Sens those two games and it was Gerber that got them the points. I thought this team would be there at the end after watching those two games. Same way we carried the play against the Devils in all four games this year and could just as easily have swept them as them us, so...Apart from a usual once a month blowout to somebody, they generally carried the play to the opposition most nights this season except for there ventures thru the pacific Div..
They never closed the deal most nights when they should have. It's just too competitive a league to allow a team the luxury of beating themselves. Bottom line.
I think it's a hex from Dave Keon myself. I never seen a team find new ways to screw up the ends of games like this season ever.
I've been thru all this stuff before so we won't get into it, but all in all I'm disappointed as i'm sure are probably millions of leaf supporters. They really underachieved for the roster that was there on paper.
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Buffalo seems to perplex them again. Man have they come out flat against that club this year. Lindy Ruff does a pretty good job over there every year even though I can't stand him.
Marty Brodeur picks up his 40th win tonight. The guy's like a machine. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/15/2008 9:16:45 PM | Or they were proved wrong in kind of the same way OJ was proven innocent.
Good one ... although technically, OJ was never proven innocent.
"Not guilty" and "innocent" are two very different animals.
At any rate, why wouldn't the writers pick the Leafs to make the playoffs this year? The missed the post-season on the last day of the season last year, then added not only a 40-goal scorer in Blake, but also a bonafide starting goalie in Toskala. Should have been enough to get in.
I didn't see a single sports writer pick the Leafs to miss the playoffs, but I saw an awful lot of them say Montreal wasn't going to get in. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/16/2008 8:44:45 AM | | I remember most hockey people predicting no playoffs for Leafs. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/16/2008 9:41:07 AM | I should clarify ... most CANADIAN sports writers had the Leafs making it. You live in Detroit don't you kaos? That could make a lot of difference, if you're reading American publications.
For instance, Sports Illustrated, admittedly the only American publication that I ever read, did put the Leafs to miss the playoffs (10th overall) but I take that with a grain of salt, considering they had the Rangers, Senators and Penguins to finish 1-2-3 in the East, which is impossible. (NY and Pitt are in same division).
They also had the Habs finishing 14th, Boston finishing dead last and Tamp Bay making the playoffs.
In the West they had the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks finishing 1-2, again an impossible finish, which goes to show you exactly how much attention the pre-eminent American sports publication pays to hockey.
With Sports Illustrated, just like with virtually every print publication in the US, NHL hockey is considered the least attractive of all beats. It's the one you are assigned when you first start at a newspaper and are still biding your time for a "real" sports beat. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/16/2008 6:48:13 PM | I don't live in Detroit.
And I did not say sports writers.
I said hockey people. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/16/2008 7:44:48 PM | Those up and coming Flyers are now winless in 4 after getting pasted by the Crosbyless Pens today. Flyers no sooner get Richards back then Hatcher is gone now for the season, and poossibly Umberger for 3 weeks. Maybe next year for philly. Too bad. i feel real bad for them.
Caps win with Federov and Huet playing key roles, Panthers tied a franchise record with their 7 th stariaght win, and the Sabres missing 4 defenceman pick up 4 points over the weekend.
2 points separate 4 clubs for 8 th with 9 to play in the East. Panthers have 8 left. Caps go on the road for 6 now.
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"""... I said hockey people..."""
Which hockey people?
Murray thought after his club was outplayed the first two games of the season that Leafs would be in the playoff mix. Or is Bryan Murray a hockey people?
They underachieved. Bottom line. They played the first 50, 55 games of the season like a bunch of Bart Simpsons. There's 5 20, possibly 30, goal scorers on that club, but only two showed up on the scoresheets this year. You were right about Wellwood though way back at the start of the season. He was lazy on his rehab and it shows out there. He's too wimpy for the big leagues.
But others didn't live up to expectations either. Bell, Blake, Tucker, Ponygirl, Steen and Stajan. That 5, plus Wellwood should have easily doubled the numbers they're on pace for. Bell's year was a complete writeoff. Tucker and Blake only woke up about 5-6 weeks ago. Steen, Stajan and Ponygirl are still waiting for the starter's gun to go off. Antropov after 8 years of waiting finally showed up. When the team showed up they played with anybody except in the Pacific.
They have a coach that accepts losing way too easy and seems to be able to come up with new rationales and justifications every night. Last night it was because of the three somewhat soft minors called early in the game. Apparently that set the leafs off their game (rolls eyes). Now so the story goes, they had just been thru two games of brawling with the Flyers and apparently last night was a "pillow fight". I don't get this guy at all. He's half the problem here. He goes on every night and talks about how Steen and these guys are starting to get some chemistry. FFS. There's 9 games left and he's being happy that Steen and Ponygirl are finally getting some chemistry.
Anyway, i don't want to keep talkin' about these guys. They ticked me right off with that lamea.ss effort last night. Sabres playing back to back games with a squad full of Rochester callups missing 4 regular D-men and we can't get any traffic in front again. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/16/2008 8:03:47 PM | "I don't live in Detroit.
And I did not say sports writers.
I said hockey people."
Well excuuuuuuuse me!
But if you want to get snippy, I never said you said hockey writers.... I was the one who said hockey writers. And considering that they actually get paid for their opinions, I'd hazard a guess that they know a little more about the ins and outs of the NHL than your "hockey people".
So tell me Kaos, who are these all-knowing hockey "people" you speak of? Your beer league buddies? Fellow Leafs haters? | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 6:40:30 AM | Prairie.. You should try watching HNIC, TSN, Sportsnet or listening to the Fan in Toronto. The hockey analysts on those were the ones predicting an early golf season for the Leaf Stagnation.
Bottom line last Sept I said no playoffs for the Leafs and I was right. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 8:47:13 AM | | the leafs will under achieve until they roll up there sleaves and start developing a system from the minors up.this involves management coaches and scouts.when you think of the leafs what do you think of?are they built on speed?no.are they built on defence?no.hard working?.no.it seems to me for years they have been throwing darts at a board and praying. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 8:54:59 AM | | Interesting. Don Cherry did a piece on the last Coaches Corner where he ripped into the Leafs a bit for not drafting Cogliano. Apparently, they picked some "skinny goaltender" instead. He said it this kind of consistent bungling that has the Leafs in the situation they are now. The worst part is that he is from Toronto and they knew he had great potential even years ago. Oh well, I want to thank the Leafs organization for that oversight! | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 9:13:01 AM | """...Prairie.. You should try watching HNIC, TSN, Sportsnet or listening to the Fan in Toronto. The hockey analysts on those were the ones predicting an early golf season for the Leaf Stagnation..."""
That's bullshit kaos. The only guy on the fan that picked the leafs out of it was Macowan and he slags the leafs non stop and has for years. He slags the jays, the Argos and any other toronto sports team. Makes you wonder why he has a radio show in Toronto. Oh that's right, to stir up controversy and get ratings.
Of all the TSN prognosticators, only Macquire felt the leafs would not make up the one point they missed out last year by. They all had the Habs finishing 13th, the devils not in the playoff picture, and the Bruins dead last.
As for the Hockey News, which is the periodical you most often cite as your source, I'm curious why you didn't include them in your little diatribe. Oh i know why. it's because their two leading hockey writers both picked them to make the playoffs. Not that I pay attention to anything this clown Proteau writes, but here's they're forecasts.
Hockey News had the Habs 13th and the Leafs finishing 3rd in the division behind Ottawa and Buffalo.
"""... 8. Toronto:
Erratic Leafs again will be life-and-death for playoffs. Early home stretch determines GM Ferguson's future.
Best possible conference finish: 6th in East
Worst Case Scenario: 12th in East..."""
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/10090-Screen-Shots-The-final-picks.html
Buddy there also picked Washington 3rd, Atlanta 4th, the Devils 9th, Canes 11th, Habs 15th, Bruins 14th
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"""...Toronto
Can the Leafs' best players stay healthy? Can the defense perform consistently? Is Vesa Toskala a true No. 1 goalie? Can free agent signee Jason Blake approach 40 goals again? Are the young Leafs ready to take on a leading role? Is there enough scoring depth up front?
There's no shortage of questions surrounding Toronto, but the playoffs are within reach if the answers go their way. They've shown an ability to play well when their best players are out with injury; the trick is to play that way when everyone's healthy. They won't be lacking for motivation; Toronto hasn't made the playoffs since 2004 ? and this might be the last kick at the can for longtime captain Mats Sundin.
Florida
The Panthers, who haven't seen the playoffs since 2000, didn't add a lot in the off-season. But they did bring in one key component in goalie Tomas Vokoun...Florida also has put together impressive runs in the late stages of the past two seasons; basically, sneaking back into the outer fringes of the playoff race long after they were left for dead. A winning streak in late March this season should lead to games in late April.
Boston...New coach Claude Julien will demand the most from his charges; problem is, that just won't be enough."""
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/9848-From-The-Point-Fringe-festival.html
So again, the question is: "Which hockey people are you referring to?"
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ticktock:"...Interesting. Don Cherry did a piece on..."""
And you and him are both absolutely right. Even with all the low draft picks, the leafs still suck at drafting. That's the part that needs to be sorely overhauled. Every night i see the Leafs and think the picture's not quite right. This is the Toronto Maple Leafs. The mecca of canadian hockey. And our starting lineup sounds like Kubina, Kaberle, Antropov, Ponikarovsky and Sundin. Soon it's to be replaced by names like Steen, Strallman, Tlusty and a whole bunch of other half milers. Give me some guys that sound like hockey players...Pronger, Carter, Richards, Perry, Gagner etc. Why the hell can't we draft canadian kids the way the rest of the league does? That's one of the problems with this club. They're in the hearland in the middle of southern Ontario where more draft picks come out of than any other source in the world and the leafs keep ignoring their own backyard and keep reaching for these stiffs like Ponygirl, and Tlusty. I mean come on. Our toughest guy is Antropov??? Bad joke man. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 9:31:11 AM |
Give me some guys that sound like hockey players...Pronger, Carter, Richards, Perry, Gagner etc. Why the hell can't we draft canadian kids the way the rest of the league does?
Yes Sly, you are correct. I believe that is exactly what Cherry was getting at when he was looking at all the woes in the Leaf organization and mocking them for not picking Cogliano. I think he even went to the extent of saying something like: "why would you pick him? He's Canadian. The horror." | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 9:46:14 AM | It's true. And grapes has been harping on it all year. He solo'd out the Russians back in November on the bench that were drinking water and cleaning their visors down in Phoenix while Tucker was trying to kickstart the leafs into action the night they got pathetically humiliated by the Coyotes. The rest of the leafs were banging their sticks against the boards to pay tribute to tucker's scrap even though he got his clock cleaned. meanwhile i don't think Antropov or Ponygirl even knew a fight had just taken place.
The team doesn't play like a team, and that spells leadership issues. Whether they need a stronger coach that forces the team to bond in spite of the coach, like Keenan or Bowman do, I don't know. But it's just a collection of some 20 players wearing the same uniform every night. They're not a team by any stretch of the imagination. Toskala got the snow in the eyes treatment Saturday night from a Sabre forward and one of the leafs kindly asked the Sabre to please not do that. Domi, or a Jason Smith, a Commodore or a Komisarek would have run the guys head thru the boards for doing it.
They just don't fight for one another and haven't since Roberts and Domi moved on 3 years ago. | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 9:52:06 AM | Sly "diatribe"? Really Sly the lengthy posts of yours and Prairies are the only diatribes on this forum.
Thank you also for confirming my statements that all those hockey pundits predicted another hapless season for the Leafs.
It wasn't difficult.
Windsor Spitfires finish their season on a strong note. Tied with the Greyhounds for first. 2nd due to wins. The leadership of Mickey Renaud carried over for this inspired team after his death. Lets hope they have a long run to the Memorial Cup.
Meanwhile Mats Sundin sits out the biggest game of the year in Leaf Stagnation.
Toronto Maple Leafs Celebrating Mediocrity Since 1967! | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 10:12:59 AM | "Bottom line last Sept I said no playoffs for the Leafs and I was right."
You sure you didn't just copy and paste from Wikipedia, then claim it as your own? | |
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/17/2008 4:44:48 PM | """..."diatribe"? Really ... the lengthy posts of yours and Prairies are the only diatribes on this forum..."""
Sorry my little red wings fan, but, f.y.i. kaos, you're confusing the word diatribe with the phrase 'lengthy diatribe'. Had you come back with a comment regarding lengthy diatribes, you would have been correct. However, as per bitter criticism, or bitter abusive denunciations of the Leafs, yes, you have engaged in a diatribe. An unproven one on your part still, but a diatribe nonetheless:
the origin of the current sense of diatribe, "a bitter criticism."
... "discourse, short ethical treatise or lecture, debate, argument."
n. A bitter, abusive denunciation.
noun a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism:
noun thunderous verbal attack
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diatribe
I would say that pretty much sums up your contributions to this thread when the ugly subject of the illustrious blue and white comes up....sharply abusive....denunciations...
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As for your proof, either way, you can't do it. If you're going to hitchhike off the few guys that did pick the Leafs out of the playoff mix, then you also have to admit that these very same guys also picked the Bruins finishing in the cellar, the habs 13th, the devils not making it etc. etc. It's proof of only the fact that your so-called "hockey people" know about as little as the rest of us when it comes to making predictions.
Good luck to your Spitfires. (They'll probably last longer than the two weeks your Wings will). Revenue Canada called. Apparently half of them were supposed to start making their CPP payments bigger once half of them turned 50.
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| Hockey anyone?
Posted: 3/18/2008 8:27:36 AM | Terrible hockey story last night from the college ranks. Leafs John Pohl's kid brother:
"""...Minnesota hockey player in intensive care.
Tom Pohl a hockey player for the University of Minnesota is in intensive care in a Rochester hospital after being injured in a game on Sunday night.
Pohl, brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Pohl, was elbowed by Jason Wiley of the Mankato State Mavericks, while falling he lost his helmet and hit his head off the boards. He sustained a skull fracture and was bleeding in his brain. He had surgery at St. Marys Hospital and the doctors were able to stop the bleeding.
Wiley was given a major penalty for a hit to the head and was disqualified from the game."""
http://www.tsn.ca/ncaa/news_story/?ID=232264&hubname=
Hope he comes out of it OK.
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On a more cheerful note, here's a listing of the top defencemen ever:
"""10. Al MacInnis
Though he won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman just once, MacInnis will always be remembered for his howitzer slap shot that could beat any goalie from the blue-line and his ability to put up points from the back end. MacInnis scored 340 goals and had 1,274 points over his career with the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues, including a 103-point season in 1990-91. MacInnis also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, while leading the Flames to the Stanley Cup in 1989 and was solid in his own end throughout his career.
9. Chris Chelios
Still playing at age 46, Chelios started his career in 1984 and won his first Norris Trophy in 1989 with the Montreal Canadiens. He won it again in 1993 and 1996 with the Chicago Blackhawks and has managed 12 more seasons, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings. He entered play this week with 945 career points and remains as hard-nosed as any blue-liner, even if he has lost a step or two.
8. Larry Robinson
Big Bird had one of the finest combinations of size and skill ever to grace the NHL ice surface. The Montreal Canadiens blue-liner was 6-foot-4, 225 pounds during his heyday and still had the grace and soft hands of a speedy centreman. He scored 208 goals and had 958 points in his career and won the Norris Trophy twice. He also helped the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1977.
7. Denis Potvin
Potvin was the NHL career leader in goals (310) and points (1,052) when he retired in 1988 and won the Norris Trophy three times while leading the New York Islanders to four Stanley Cups. Potvin was an exceptional talent at both ends of the ice and was a leader of one of the greatest dynasties of the modern NHL era.
6. Paul Coffey
As fine a skater as there has ever been in the NHL, Coffey had the wheels to join almost every rush without completely abandoning his defensive responsibilities. His shot, savvy and playmaking ability made him a star offensive blue-liner (he's second all-time among defencemen and 11th overall with 1,531 career points), but what really set him apart was his talent for putting the puck in the net. Coffey scored 396 career goals, including an incredible 48 with the Edmonton Oilers in 1985-86. Coffey won the Norris Trophy three times.
5. Eddie Shore
The poster boy for "old-time hockey," Shore was no offensive star (284 points in 550 NHL games), but he was famous for his crushing bodychecks and his intimidating disposition. He also popularized the end-to-end rushes which became trademarks of so many other great rearguards in later years. A tough defensive defenceman would rarely be recognized in today's NHL, but Shore won four Hart Trophies as the NHL MVP (there was no Norris Trophy at the time) with the Boston Bruins during the 1930s.
4. Nicklas Lidstrom
The slick Swede, who will almost certainly win his sixth Norris Trophy this season, has been the backbone of the Detroit Red Wings for 15 seasons and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all at age 37. Lidstrom has 927 career points heading into this week's action and remains the heart and soul of a Red Wings team that is head and shoulders above every other team in the league this regular season. He has been on three Stanley Cup champions, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2002.
3. Ray Bourque
The all-time leading scorer among defencemen, Bourque had 1,570 points (10th best among all players in NHL history) during his remarkable career and won the Norris Trophy five times. An unparalleled player in terms of combining offensive numbers and defensive skills, Bourque was the heart and soul of the Boston Bruins for 20 seasons, although it took a trade to the Colorado Avalanche in his final season to finally get his name on the Stanley Cup.
2. Doug Harvey
An NHL first-team all-star 10 times and a seven-time winner of the Norris Trophy, Harvey was a dominant player, who carried the puck beautifully, quarterbacked the power play and was a brick wall in his own zone. Harvey was one of the game's great shot blockers and an intimidator who could handle even the NHL's toughest forwards in the 1950s. He had 540 career points (452 assists) and was a key factor in the Montreal Canadiens winning the 1953 Stanley Cup as well as five straight titles from 1956-60.
1. Bobby Orr
You expected someone different perhaps? We think not. The Bruins star not only won eight Norris Trophies, three Hart Trophies as NHL MVP and two Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer, he also had an uncanny ability to completely control a game from the back end and make end-to-end rushes seem like child's play. He scored 270 goals and had 915 points in 657 games before his career was cut short by knee injuries. He led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy both times. Many people would rank him either No. 1 or No. 2 (with Wayne Gretzky being the other) on the all-time list of NHL players - let alone defencemen. """
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Top10/2008/03/17/5028881-sun.html
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