Comedy gold out of Edmonton

[dash]

Just give the Cup to the Oil, they are unstoppable.

Stamkos: McDavid is better than me

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Edmonton parade boner is at Everest-height levels.

If he has a good first month, it'll be at fucking International Space Station levels.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Was there this much hype for Gretzky?

 

[dash]

Was there this much hype for Gretzky?

Gretzky was pre-intertubes and social media, so no.

 

[forty_three]

Was there this much hype for Gretzky?

Yes and no.

It was well known what he was long before he turned pro. But there wasn't the constant, instant echo chamber of the NHL Marketing department screaming into the internet.

A few others have had the hype too. Mario, Eric Lindros and Crosby especially. Sport savers, each one.

But it seems like the hype for Crosby and McDavid is so much worse because everyone with a keyboard can offer their expert opinions. And we hear about it every fucking day.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I think part of it was Gretzky was never drafted right? I don't know how he ended up in Edmonton, but I always thought it was fishy.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Is the hype bothering people? I mean, the kid's a fucking gamer. I don't read nor am I exposed to Edmonton media because I have all my teeth and don't own a pickup truck, but as long as you're avoiding the nutbag Oilers fans/fanwriters I haven't been too bothered by the McDavid hype.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

A few others have had the hype too. Mario, Eric Lindros and Crosby especially. Sport savers, each one.

To be fair, at least ability-wise, the hype on all 3 of them were more than justified.

 

[dash]

Is the hype bothering people? I mean, the kid's a fucking gamer. I don't read nor am I exposed to Edmonton media because I have all my teeth and don't own a pickup truck, but as long as you're avoiding the nutbag Oilers fans/fanwriters I haven't been too bothered by the McDavid hype.

The hype doesn't bother me near as much as much as the smug, arrogant, obnoxious Oilers fans who believe that they deserve to have McDavid fall into their laps.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

The hype doesn't bother me near as much as much as the smug, arrogant, obnoxious Oilers fans who believe that they deserve to have McDavid fall into their laps.

I wouldn't worry about it dash. Hall, Nugent Hopkins, Yakupov haven't worked out the way they hoped. If there's one team that can lose with McDavid it's the Oilers.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I wouldn't worry about it dash. Hall, Nugent Hopkins, Yakupov haven't worked out the way they hoped. If there's one team that can lose with McDavid it's the Oilers.

If you told me that 2 of the 3 players you named were in the top 5% of NHLers, I'd agree. They haven't been the Oilers' problem.

 

[forty_three]

Is the hype bothering people? I mean, the kid's a fucking gamer. I don't read nor am I exposed to Edmonton media because I have all my teeth and don't own a pickup truck, but as long as you're avoiding the nutbag Oilers fans/fanwriters I haven't been too bothered by the McDavid hype.

The thing about it that always annoys me is that the league latches onto one guy at the exclusion of all others. And this year especially there are others who deserve attention and promotion.

There are a lot of great stories in the NHL, some really upstanding citizens. But all we hear is Crosby, Crosby, Crosby, Kane (for the wrong reasons), Crosby and McDavid, McDavid, McDavid. Gets old.

To be fair, at least ability-wise, the hype on all 3 of them were more than justified.

Absolutely.

I rather enjoyed the Lindros thing. The league wanted to crawl up his backside and then he did something that the league hated. I found it kind of funny. I always liked him. Yes, he was a brat, but he was an entertaining brat.

 

[dash]

It's funny, as more time passes, I appreciate Eric Lindros more and more. It's not his fault he had overbearing parents and a dingleberry for a GM.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

If you told me that 2 of the 3 players you named were in the top 5% of NHLers, I'd agree. They haven't been the Oilers' problem.

Nugent Hopkins is the best player on the Oilers. They should have drafted Seguin instead of Hall. Always take the Center over the Winger.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

It's funny, as more time passes, I appreciate Eric Lindros more and more. It's not his fault he had overbearing parents and a dingleberry for a GM.

Lindros was amazing. Even with the concussions I was still crushed when he wasn't traded to the Leafs.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Lindros was amazing. Even with the concussions I was still crushed when he wasn't traded to the Leafs.

At the end of the day the Flyers made a bad trade. They could have had Forsberg & Ricci at Center. I'm not saying they would have won the Cup, but their chances would have been better than with Lindros.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

At the end of the day the Flyers made a bad trade. They could have had Forsberg & Ricci at Center. I'm not saying they would have won the Cup, but their chances would have been better than with Lindros.

Eh. I always thought the hubbub about that deal was blown out of proportion - sure, Forsberg was better than Lindros but the Flyers weren't hampered because they didn't have Forsberg in lieu of Lindros. They compensated for Ricci with other players.

They still needed a fucking goalie, though.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I think part of it was Gretzky was never drafted right? I don't know how he ended up in Edmonton, but I always thought it was fishy.

If you don't know what happened, how can you have an opinion on what happened?

Gretzky signed with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers at age 17, basically because he didn't see the value of going back to a junior league he'd already dominated and scoring 5 points a game while having to dodge everyone trying to cheap shot him and break his legs pretty much every single time he was on the ice. He was then traded to the Oilers because of financial problems in Indianapolis. When the Oilers (and 3 others) joined the NHL they were allowed to keep only 2 players and 2 goalies, and after some argument about whether or not he should even be eligible to be kept rather than just forcing him to enter the draft in what would have been his NHL draft year anyway, the Oilers kept Gretzky as one of their 4 protected players.

 

[forty_three]

At the end of the day the Flyers made a bad trade. They could have had Forsberg & Ricci at Center. I'm not saying they would have won the Cup, but their chances would have been better than with Lindros.

Until Clarke started calling Forsberg gutless, questioning everything he did on and off the ice and "encouraging" him to play hurt.

Forsberg's career would have probably only been like six years under Clarkie.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Until Clarke started calling Forsberg gutless, questioning everything he did on and off the ice and "encouraging" him to play hurt.

Forsberg's career would have probably only been like six years under Clarkie.

As opposed to the 10 half seasons that Forsberg actually played?

Forsberg might not have lasted a fortnight under Clarke. I had some beers with Bobby in an Ottawa bar one night. He is as pure an asshole as you would want to meet. Kind of impressive actually.