2009-10 NHL Thread

You realise you're our hockey idiot savant, right?
I had one look and figured 50, maybe

 

Lundqvist lets in two horrible goals including one in OT and the Leafs win.

In a post game interview, CBC forgets to bleep out King Henrik's "fucking horrible goal" comment.

I know I'm a Leafs looser fanboi but I tell you, this will be a playoff team next year.

I'll put money on it. Well, a loonie or, in Double J's case, a Super Burger

 

For Burkie's sake they better be.

 

Two of the hottest teams, Wings and Predators, in the league take a 0-0 tie into the shootout tonight. And the shootout is decided in the 11th round by a defenseman, Niklas Kronwall.


Wings now 11-2-1 after the All-Star break. Predators are 10-3-1 (I think).

 

I stopped watching most of the Leafs games back around November. We'd watch a period and then when they were down 2-0 (as per usual) we turned the games off.

They're an entirely different team now--the youngest in the NHL--and every kid is playing for a spot next year unlike years past when the played out the string.

I am cautiously optimistic.

 

As much as I have enjoyed the Leafs downfall, it pains me to say it that the league is better off when they are a worthwhile team -- same with Baseball and the Yankees, NBA and the Lakers, NFL and the Cowboys.

But as per my previous post, how much patience will there be for Burke and Wilson if they don't make the playoffs in 2010-11? especially with Burke putting all his eggs in one basket in the Kessel deal. They are better than when he took over from JFJ, but that's not saying a whole lot, more of an indictment on how far they had fallen. But with Burke being trumpeted as the franchise's saviour two years ago, three years (if they fall short next year) without the post season will be hard to swallow.

 

Sorry, I'm not sure you watch the Leafs that much.

They didn't put all their eggs in a basket with the Kessel deal who has turned out to be exactly what Burke wanted: a top six forward who can score. Burke also screwed Calgary with the Phaneuf deal. The Flames, coincidentally, are going to miss the playoffs but hey, they got a whole bunch of old lazy Leafs--Stajan and White to name two.

And you can only start judging Burke from this year--he had nothing to do with the team when he took over.

Just remember: Kaberle is the only player left from the pre-Burke days.

 

I'm cautiously optimistic too, but I'll wait until next year before I really consider climbing back onto the bandwagon.

The arrogance of MLSE has just proven too much for me to able to get over it overnight.

I will say this, though, and Damien Cox has already pointed it out - at least the bean counters are leaving Burke alone to run his own show. Twice in the last 20 years, the ownership has given the GM a free hand, and each of those GMs ended up with two conference final appearances.

 

As resident hockey idiot savant, 73/90 ain't good enough, dammit. That's only 81 per cent.

 

Hockey fans should be aware that Pat Burns, former coach of the Habs, Leafs, Bruins and Devils, is not long for this world.

He survived colon and liver cancer, but it has returned and is now in his lungs.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/letters/Burns+lends+helping+hand/2732594/story.html

He is in declining health and doctors will tell you he's gone past his expiry date. But he ignored his doctor's orders this week and flew here from his home outside Tampa. Yesterday, he joined Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several other dignitaries to announce plans for a new arena in this Eastern Townships hamlet that sits on the Canada-U.S. border. It will be named the Pat Burns Arena.

"This honour was something that was unexpected in my life," said a gaunt Burns, adding that he didn't expect to live long enough to see the opening of the facility in 2011.

"I hope this committee is going to go on and realize the project. I've told myself and my kids that when you look back, you don't cry because it's over, you're happy because it happened and this is happening.

Burns is the only man ever to win the Jack Adams Award three times as the top coach in the NHL, and he won it with three different teams - Montreal, Toronto and Boston.

He won a Stanley Cup in 2003 with the Devils, and there is now a campaign on Facebook to induct him into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He's certainly a deserving candidate.

Hopefully this link works for the Facebook group - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=108020299222767&ref=nf

Godspeed, Coach. :'(

 

On a lighter note, does anybody check out the BLOG! called Down Goes Brown?

There's some pretty funny stuff here, like this NHL on NBC promotion introducing American audiences to Canadian teams. The best bit has to do with the, um, Winnipeg Jets.

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2010/03/nbc-nhl.html

Here we have Gary Bettman's hacked Gmail account, featuring such notes as this one from Bill Daly: "FW: Forwarding this message I got from a Nigerian prince. Seems legit. New TB owner?"

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2010/02/hacked-gary-bettmans-gmail-account.html

Also take note of this entry, "Signs your teammates are trying to kill you":

• Eklund just reported that your teammates are definitely not trying to kill you.

• Your name is Vesa Toskala.

• Whenever you ask someone for a lift home, they say "I'm not heading in that direction, but maybe you can get a ride with Dany."

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2009/12/signs-your-teammates-are-trying-to-kill.html

 

Yeah, I imagine all those teacher pension fund guys are scared shitless of Burke. I think the biggest problem recently has been that jock sniffer Larry Tannenbaurm.

If you haven't, you should read "Leafs (Abomi)Nation" by Michael Grange & Dave Feschuk. They package everything we knew about the Leafs fall from grace since the Conn Smythe era in one terrific book.