All-Purpose Hockey Thread III

Yes, please remember Ottawa in 2001.

Beat Leafs every game in regulation and then Leafs swept them in four in the first round.

Buffalo won 5 out of the 8 games this year. Hardly overpowering.

Oh, and don't forget the Oilers from last year.

The old "its a brand new season" isn't a cliche. It IS a brand new seasonl.

Leafs can wear the Sabres down. Sabres proved they can't handle the giant line of Antropov, Sundin and Poni.

Would the Leafs be underdogs? Yup.

Can they beat the Sabres? Yup.

 

well, anyone can beat anyone, but your reasoning is typical of Leafs fans: Cross your fingers, hope they make the playoffs, and then, hell, they can win a Cup!
Its that kind of thinking that makes Ontario's teachers wealthy

 

And part of the problem for the Leafs ongoing mediocrity is that fans and media aren't demanding enough. Sure, they're under a microscope in the Centre of the Universe, but make the playoffs, and everything is great! Make the semfinals, as they did in the Gilmour era, and they're hailed as heroes, by fans and fawning media, even when they fall two rounds short.
They should be demanding more, not slapping them on the back just for getting in.

 

EE,
You said if the Leafs made the playoffs, they didn't have a chance against Buffalo, which is plainly not true--as their regular season record indicates. Admittedly, they'd have to play above their heads--like they've been playing for the last week. But I wouldn't summarily dismiss them either--or the Rangers or the Canadiens if one of them ends up in 8th.

As history has proven, 8th place teams regularly knock off the first place teams.

I have no illusions about the Leafs. They've got Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberle and a bunch of guys who for the most part are all replaceable. Their goaltending has been mediocre to horrible but worse of all, inconsistent.

I''ve followed the team for oh, almost half a century, and I have had no illusions whatsoever since 1967. .

Ownership since Ballard took over has been cynical and greedy. The teachers are wealthy because MLSE packs the place every night and can charge whatever the hell they want.

And Huntsie, MLSE doesn't give two shits what the fans think at all. Hockey is only a part of their empire--hell, they're building condos by the ACC and using the Leafs brand to sell them.

 

I only hope the hockey gods will come through and that the Rangers, Leafs and Canadiens will be the final three playoff teams in the East -- places where they actually know or care what the Stanley Cup looks like (although they probably remember it as a much tinier trophy in Leaf-Land). The team that ends up with the sixth seed, look out for them -- I'd bet the ranch on them to win the first round against Atl or TB.

 

I think the people of Tampa Bay know what the Stanley Cup looks like. Are some people's memories that short?

 

Exactly, that's for me and the other Thrashers fans to do.

I LOLed when I heard that DiPietro's hurt and Mike Dunham is going to have to close out the season. I remember how well that went for us last season. Must-win game. Against the lowly Capitals. And Dunham allows five goals on 28 shots and we lose 6-4.

BURN IN HELL MIKE DUNHAM.

 

Bobblehead nixed the Summit Series idea proposed by Tretiak

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=202021&hubname=

He's an idiot for doing so. This would spark interest from the baby boomers who saw it, people our age who have heard it about and own the DVDs and younger folks who need to hear about the great series.

Not too mention, this day and age, the hockey would be good.

 

SueMe, I respectfully disagre. I'm glad they killed this idea.

I don't know if you were around in '72 but you could never recreate the zeitgeist of that tournament now.


Back then the Soviet Union was still a closed off world and they were the enemy.
We laughed at their equipment, someone who scouted Tretiak said he was a Junior B goalie at best. Early predictions were that we would take all 8 games and run the scores up to double digits.

As the tournament went on, it became more and more violent and more and more intense.

We see Russian players all the time now. We play them in the Olympics, the World Cup and the World Juniors.

Someone said (I think it was Eric D from the Globe) that it would probably be like watching 8 All-Star Games.

Nope. Glad it got nixed.

 

Good point on the "no-defence, eight-all-star-games" take.

But, I have to admit, I enjoy international hockey more than NHL hockey.

And, if Russia keeps up with its supposed "Cold War intel" the US has accused it of lately, there may be some fire.

I wasn't around in the 1970s. But I have the DVDs, and I LOVE them.

 

I have the DVD's too. Great stuff or what?

I still think Phil Esposito's interview with CTV was one of the great sports speeches of all time.

You have to remember after the Vancouver game, the Canadians were booed off the ice.

 

I think his speech is priceless. It's so real, emotional, angry. It's just awesome. Gives me goosebumps. I think I'll go watch it now - seriously!

And I guess that's what I was getting at, there are so many people who don't even know about it, including Americans, whose country has the majority of the NHL franchises.

Here's the speech:

with Espos' comments.

Here's another, leading in with the boos: