NHL 2010/2011

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Rumours swirling around that Mike Modano is going to sign with Detroit. I know it's his hometown team, but that just seems so very terribly wrong.

[Cactus Drags]

Don't do it Mike!

Christ, this has been the duellst fucking offseason ever. I know the Avs are never massive FA spenders, but Christ, they're not even at the floor yet.

[caucasianheat]

Modano to Detroit is sounding increasingly less like a rumour, apparently he confirmed it to a Dallas paper via text. Modano probably has more natural skill and experience than anybody in Detroit's bottom six and he still has something left at forty. It's too bad he doesn't get the storybook ending of playing with one transplanted franchise his whole career, but it seems more and more like he, Lehtinen and Turco were all pretty much shoved out. That's not really how you want to retire.

[Toe]

Modano still has a little left. He wasn't terrible last season. I think he can be a big help for the Red Wings.

[Cactus Drags]

I don't want anyone helping those fuckwads

[caucasianheat]

Agreed (with Toe), he's developed a pretty strong defensive game and still has a knack for distributing the puck. Detroit needs better secondary scoring and I suspect Helm, Eaves, Miller and others will benefit from playing with someone of Modano's skill level. All of Detroit's bottom six vets are pretty scrappy but don't get the job done offensively.

edit: I grew up across the river from 'Hackeytown,' nobody hates the Red Wings more than I do.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

I don't want anyone helping those fuckwads

See Plubby, this is how an Avs fan is supposed to react whenever the Red Wings come up.

[Toe]

You have to love Colton Orr!

[The Sultan of Swank]

Not sure how I feel about a Habs/Flames heritage classic game. I know the last 2 All Canada finals were these two teams (Calgary is actually the only visiting team to win the Stanley Cup at the Forum). Montreal already had one of these games, and it was pretty incredible if only for the conditions.

I would have preferred Edm/Cgy or if Montreal were to be in one again than Montreal/Toronto at Molson Stadium(I understand that the league wouldnt ever allow an outdoor game to be played in front of only 25000 people, but if you've ever been to the stadium, it's one of the most gorgeous views).

Also, to steal a like from Dave Stubbs from the Montreal Gazette. The Calgary jerseys for the game look like they're playing for Ronald McDonald.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Ha, Toskalol is going to sign with Farjestad in the Swedish Elite League. As long as Jonas doesn't need a pig heart and can save shots taken by the goal judge at the opposite side of the rink, I'm happy with the swap.

[Toe]

Toskala was terrible. Having a full season of Giggy and Gustavvson will be a huge improvement.

[Enter Blue Guy]

Vesa is probably a better fit in the Swiss league. He models his playing style after their cheese.

[Ruki]

The biggest free agent of the year is now a free agent again! Yay!

The Arbitrator sides with the NHL, rejects Kovi's contract.

[Plubby]

Freeagentmania 2: Kovi Boogaloo!

[Ruki]

The NHL is now looking into other teams who have tried to bypass the cap....Vancouver (Luongo), Chicago (Hossa), Flyers (Pronger), Boston (Savard). If what I heard is correct, they could lose draft picks or be fined cash. What would happen to those draft picks?

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Presumably they'd just get taken out and everybody else would move up a spot.

[The Sultan of Swank]

So I've been taking summer courses, and one of them is about Hockey.

Our prof put it to us today, that Stanley Cup successes and failures aside the Toronto Maple Leafs have the worst history of the Original 6 teams and while the fans of the Leafs will cheer for anything, they don't have a rich history like the other 5 teams.

I don't agree with the statement, and keep in mind I'm taking this course in St. Catharines, Ontario and not in Montreal.

He was suggesting that this is because Toronto has never had the best player in the game on their team, and that they've never been able to keep their star players from start to finish in their careers. He used Sittler, Sundin, Clarke and Gilmour as examples.

I thought that regarless of their huge drought, you could easily argue for either Toronto or Montreal as the best team of the pre-expansion era, as both teams essentially owned a decade or more of hockey, so there's a ton of history in those teams, but he was talking more about how like... Detroit has legendary players, and stories about Howe, Lindsey, Sawchuk and Yzerman, Boston has Esposito, Orr and Bourque(even if he bolted in his last year) Chicago has Hull and Mikita, New York has Richter and Lester Patrick, Montreal has Richard, Beliveau, Vezina etc...

Agree or disagree with the statement?

Do you feel Toronto had the single best player in the league at any point?

Who would you say is the best Leaf for Life of all time?

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

To say the Leafs have the worst history of the original six is dumb in my opinion, but they're certainly not nearly as close to the top as people in Southern Ontario like to think. Montreal is first by a mile, Detroit second, and Toronto and Boston fighting for third (the Rangers and Hawks sucked too hard for too long).

Keeping players their entire career is a bit of a poor yardstick though...NOBODY does it. Even from your list, I can spot Esposito, Sawchuk, Howe, Bourque, and Hull as moving around off the top of my head, and I suspect a couple of the other older guys did as well. Montreal had an advantage in this area because they were the Francophone team (later one of two, but trades between the Habs and Nords weren't exactly common for obvious reasons), so the Francophone players would have a comfort factor there that they wouldn't have anywhere else. A lifelong Leaf wouldn't be as out of place in Detroit or Boston as a lifelong Francophone Hab.

Also didn't help that the Leafs spent a good chunk of time under the ownership of Ballard, who would send any successful player out of town basically because there was a chance they'd get more media attention than he did.

Greatest Leaf for life, even though as I've said it's not really that important a distinction? George Armstrong's a hard name to argue with. 21 years with the team, over a decade as captain, seven all-star appearances and in the HOF. Turk Broda was a good goalie and is also in the HOF. Teeder Kennedy's another one. Yes they're going back a bit, but if you're allowed to use Lester Patrick, there's really no problem with these guys.

[Plubby]

"Worst History" is so subjective as well. If he is going to define worst history with those parameters I could define "Worst team in the league" as "team to be most shut out in a playoff scenario by an awful goalie like Michael Leighton" and claim that Montreal is the worst...which is doing them a massive disservice when you look at the Islanders or Oilers.

[Toe]

Weren't the Blackhawks used in the early days by the Red Wings to hold players until they needed them? I'm pretty sure they were owned by the same people. I believe Jack Adams traded Ted Lindsay to the Hawks to punish him for trying to form a player's union.

I would think that Montreal clearly is the most storied franchise, but after them it has to be Toronto. When the league was growing, Toronto was the team kids all across Canada grew up with on the radio. I do agree that they have never had that #1 player in the league, but a lot of teams can say the same thing. Until expansion, the best player in the NHL was almost always on Montreal or named Orr.

I'd say, out of the Original Six, Chicago is the weakest. All six teams have a lot to be proud of though, so I think this is a dumb thing to be arguing about.

Best overall Leaf? To me, it will always be Mats Sundin, but that is because I'm biased to the modern era. People forget that the Leafs did have a lot of playoff success under Mats, but they just missed getting to the final level.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Toe