Game Thread: NHL Games - 3-19-15

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Johnny Gaudreau is now leading the rookie scoring race.

 

[forty_three]

so 43, looking at the fist canucks goal..... are you going to make me say it?

Yeah. Go ahead.

Mark Dano 3 points
Now where did you get that draft pick from?

Still not even, but he helps.

Next year, the prospect of him, Wennberg and Bjorkstrand being a line makes me positively giddy.

The Jackets did a behind the scenes at the draft thing the year they got Dano (and Wennberg and Rychel). They had a camera at the draft table and when that pick came up the Jackets' phone rang.

Jarmo picked up and said "Hello?" *pause a second* "No. We're making that pick" *click*

A moment later he was asked who called and what was offered. He had no idea. That's how bad he wanted to pick Dano.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

1) I didn't take any offense Pix.

2) Ottawa, with their useless management at the time, may have indeed tanked unnecessarily. They sucked and it was so obvious that they were the worst team in the league. Nonetheless I could see management at that time jeopardizing all that by "tanking".

No matter, this is a far cry, IMO, from what established franchises like the Oilers, Leafs and Coyotes have pulled this year. Its a a disgrace and I really hope that the lottery goes to one of the teams that battled to the end.

What did the Coyotes, Oilers and Leafs pull? They built a team poorly, they didn't set out to tank.

This narrative keeps getting tossed around in here and it's almost as if peoples' memories only extend 2 months back. Also, you neglect to mention the Sabres who clearly set out to be the worst team in the league.

And I don't think Ottawa had to tank that year. I went to many of those games and that team was so bad it was unfathomable.

And then you say this, as if it's okay when your team builds a bad roster and then winds up with a high pick but when other teams do it it's a travesty.

Fuck all tankers and their fans

And then you say this. Well, I won't white out my response because i'm not a gutless shit: Fuck you. It's one thing being happy with your team's success; it's another being a douchebag to other teams' fans. No fucking fan of a team doing terrible is happy right now; there's a difference between making the best of a bad situation and hoping your team does poorly on purpose. The fact you suddenly see yourself as perched on some moral high ground because your team got hot at the right time is pathetic. I sincerely hope that if the Leafs only win 3 more games this season they are all against the Sens. I will celebrate as if they just made the playoffs themselves.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

What did the Coyotes, Oilers and Leafs pull? They built a team poorly, they didn't set out to tank.

The Leafs have stuck with a coach who is obviously out of his depth and done nothing to rectify a huge collapse, other than suspending their best centreman. They traded a top 4 defenseman for no immediate hepl (outside of Jokinene who they dumped)

The Oilers have done nothing to address their glaring weaknesses outside of trading pone of their only top 6 wingers with any competitive nature.

The Coyotes have been just run of the mill tankers. Dumping players for futures. They've been out of it from the get go though and haven't done anything outrageous.

This narrative keeps getting tossed around in here and it's almost as if peoples' memories only extend 2 months back. Also, you neglect to mention the Sabres who clearly set out to be the worst team in the league.

The Sabres were an omission. Oops. Trading their only decent NHL goalies was pretty blatant.

And then you say this, as if it's okay when your team builds a bad roster and then winds up with a high pick but when other teams do it it's a travesty.

LOL. What team had they built? They were a first year expansion team. Again, this is a far cry being the team with the biggest budget in the league that has finished in the lottery 9 of the last 10 years.

And then you say this. Well, I won't white out my response because i'm not a gutless shit: Fuck you. It's one thing being happy with your team's success; 1)it's another being a douchebag to other teams' fans. 2) No fucking fan of a team doing terrible is happy right now; there's a difference between making the best of a bad situation and hoping your team does poorly on purpose. The fact you suddenly see yourself as perched on some moral high ground because your team got hot at the right time is pathetic. I sincerely hope that if the Leafs only win 3 more games this season they are all against the Sens. I will celebrate as if they just made the playoffs themselves.

1) That's rich considering the source. Why don't you talk about how the Sabres fans will get carjacked on the way to the game or how shitty of a place Winnipeg is.

2) You (since you seem to have made this personal) routinely make posts hoping for your team to lose and now you say that you aren't happy when they lose. Hypocritical much? It's you and fans like that make me despise the tanking theme around the league this year. Watching a game and hoping your team loses is spineless garbage. I know the players won't tank, so why would fans cheer for losses? Why even follow the sport? Just fuck off and go play bingo if all you care about is winning some lottery-style numbers game.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

The Leafs have stuck with a coach who is obviously out of his depth and done nothing to rectify a huge collapse, other than suspending their best centreman. They traded a top 4 defenseman for no immediate hepl (outside of Jokinene who they dumped)

The Oilers have done nothing to address their glaring weaknesses outside of trading pone of their only top 6 wingers with any competitive nature.

The Coyotes have been just run of the mill tankers. Dumping players for futures. They've been out of it from the get go though and haven't done anything outrageous.

Like I said, doing a shitty job of building a team is not akin to purposely building a terrible team, like the Sabres did.

LOL. What team had they built? They were a first year expansion team. Again, this is a far cry being the team with the biggest budget in the league that has finished in the lottery 9 of the last 10 years.

Right here, you basically admit the Leafs aren't tanking on purpose, which is actually a sad truth more than it is something to be happy about. A true tank team wouldn't be spending to the cap. They're just run like dog shit. Do you actually believe anybody here has been a happy Leaf fan?

1) That's rich considering the source. Why don't you talk about how the Sabres fans will get carjacked on the way to the game or how shitty of a place Winnipeg is.

2) You (since you seem to have made this personal) routinely make posts hoping for your team to lose and now you say that you aren't happy when they lose. Hypocritical much? It's you and fans like that make me despise the tanking theme around the league this year. Watching a game and hoping your team loses is spineless garbage. I know the players won't tank, so why would fans cheer for losses? Why even follow the sport? Just fuck off and go play bingo if all you care about is winning some lottery-style numbers game.

1) If someone comes out of the woodwork and says "fuck Toronto", as he did, and that person happens to live in Buffalo of all places, don't hold me responsible for what comes next. Further, that has nothing to do with laughing at others for the teams they cheer for. Don't think I've ever been guilty of that in my life - although I continually get shit sometimes when making comments about other teams' success (or lack thereof) because I'm a Leaf fan, as if that somehow automatically makes me unqualified to discuss hockey. I have no time for that and I have never laid that on someone else no matter how heated a discussion has gotten.

2) Like I said, there's a difference between hoping for your team to lose and making the best of a bad situation. You say you know the players won't tank, but have you seen the fucking Leafs since NYD? They've, no bullshit, won 6 games in 2015. Out of 35. There is one young player on the team worth a shit. The goalies are both godawful. This isn't the Sens who have traded stars for picks and youngsters and drafted well and found a goalie out of nowhere who kept them in games. This is hopelessness, the end result of years of terrible decision-making that never had any other possible outcome. I cheered for my team as hard as anybody, including on Hoop, earlier in the season. They won 10 straight in December. They finished the year with a SO win over the B's that left them 7 back of the league's best record. Why the fuck would I be hoping for a tank at that point?

Nobody is happy with this team. I hate that a third of my life has been spent watching the Leafs be absolutely miserable, especially when they had at least been in the conversation of contention for so much of my life until the past decade. This right now, this isn't us being terrible fans, this is us being hopeful. Hopeful that something good is coming finally after a fucking decade of futility. I don't apologize for that, and I don't appreciate having my passion for the sport or dedication to the well-being of my team being questioned. I spent far too many nights at the ACC cheering for my team even when they would lose games to the Islanders when they were in the gutter or to Boston when they were waiting on their stars to develop to stand for that.

 

[BGDave]

Wow. Just saw this thread. FWIW, there is no way anyone can accuse TOR, ARI, or EDM of tanking this year. Tanking means throwing away basically the entire season. Each of those 3 teams had aspirations of much more in October, it just didnt go well. And I will not accuse any team of "tanking" if in mid-Feb they realize they (1) wont make the playoffs, and (2) decide to trade some short-term assets for long-term improvements. That is just good management.

Remember, even if a team "tanks" and throws every one of their 82 games, they still only had a 20% chance at McDavid.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Like I said, doing a shitty job of building a team is not akin to purposely building a terrible team, like the Sabres did.







Right here, you basically admit the Leafs aren't tanking on purpose, which is actually a sad truth more than it is something to be happy about. A true tank team wouldn't be spending to the cap. They're just run like dog shit. Do you actually believe anybody here has been a happy Leaf fan?






1) If someone comes out of the woodwork and says "fuck Toronto", as he did, and that person happens to live in Buffalo of all places, don't hold me responsible for what comes next. Further, that has nothing to do with laughing at others for the teams they cheer for. Don't think I've ever been guilty of that in my life - although I continually get shit sometimes when making comments about other teams' success (or lack thereof) because I'm a Leaf fan, as if that somehow automatically makes me unqualified to discuss hockey. I have no time for that and I have never laid that on someone else no matter how heated a discussion has gotten.

2) Like I said, there's a difference between hoping for your team to lose and making the best of a bad situation. You say you know the players won't tank, but have you seen the fucking Leafs since NYD? They've, no bullshit, won 6 games in 2015. Out of 35. There is one young player on the team worth a shit. The goalies are both godawful. This isn't the Sens who have traded stars for picks and youngsters and drafted well and found a goalie out of nowhere who kept them in games. This is hopelessness, the end result of years of terrible decision-making that never had any other possible outcome. I cheered for my team as hard as anybody, including on Hoop, earlier in the season. They won 10 straight in December. They finished the year with a SO win over the B's that left them 7 back of the league's best record. Why the fuck would I be hoping for a tank at that point?

Nobody is happy with this team. I hate that a third of my life has been spent watching the Leafs be absolutely miserable, especially when they had at least been in the conversation of contention for so much of my life until the past decade. This right now, this isn't us being terrible fans, this is us being hopeful. Hopeful that something good is coming finally after a fucking decade of futility. I don't apologize for that, and I don't appreciate having my passion for the sport or dedication to the well-being of my team being questioned. I spent far too many nights at the ACC cheering for my team even when they would lose games to the Islanders when they were in the gutter or to Boston when they were waiting on their stars to develop to stand for that.

First off, who's laughing at anybody for being a fan of a team? I'm against fans that are loving the tank.


Second: Did our first conflict not involve you doing JUST THAT?

I said that Ottawa's forward depth might surprise this year and you posted an emoticon deriding that sentiment? Nothing else but a laugh. Pretty laugh-like.

Is that NOT mocking someone? Not quite laughing at fans of other teams but pretty close.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Wow. Just saw this thread. FWIW, there is no way anyone can accuse TOR, ARI, or EDM of tanking this year. Tanking means throwing away basically the entire season. Each of those 3 teams had aspirations of much more in October, it just didnt go well. And I will not accuse any team of "tanking" if in mid-Feb they realize they (1) wont make the playoffs, and (2) decide to trade some short-term assets for long-term improvements. That is just good management.

Remember, even if a team "tanks" and throws every one of their 82 games, they still only had a 20% chance at McDavid.

I hear ya Dave.

But the fact that the Leafs have let an inexperienced coach go down this road, this far, is suspicious. As i said earlier the players won't tank but the management team in toronto has led them down that path, IMO.

 

[BGDave]

I hear ya Dave.

But the fact that the Leafs have let an inexperienced coach go down this road, this far, is suspicious. As i said earlier the players won't tank but the management team in toronto has led them down that path, IMO.

Watching the debacle that is the Leafs this year, I would not accuse the players of tanking, but they are not definitely guilty of mentally checking out. For over a month, the players act like they would rather be playing golf or fisihing ASAP. Although Peter Horachek is not the long term coach (oxymoron alert) for the Leafs, I would not call him inexperienced. He spent years with Trotz, and did put in some time behind the Panther bench.

My problem with the Leafs this year is this. When the going got tough, they fell apart like a house of cards. The room needs an infusion of leadership BADLY. That, a solid goalie, and McDavid will fix a lot in Leafland.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

First off, who's laughing at anybody for being a fan of a team? I'm against fans that are loving the tank.


Second: Did our first conflict not involve you doing JUST THAT?

I said that Ottawa's forward depth might surprise this year and you posted an emoticon deriding that sentiment? Nothing else but a laugh. Pretty laugh-like.

Is that NOT mocking someone? Not quite laughing at fans of other teams but pretty close.

Yes because as a Leaf fan I enjoy the Leaf-Sens rivalry and was doing some pre-season teasing. Sue me? It's a bit of a stretch to equate that to saying "fuck all teams that tank and their fans".