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Post by CentreHice on Feb 2, 2015 11:35:55 GMT -5
This one's making the rounds….  |
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Post by Polarice on Feb 2, 2015 12:48:48 GMT -5
Rumor floating around that Rob Blake could be the Leafs next GM.
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Post by CentreHice on Feb 2, 2015 13:03:15 GMT -5
Rumor floating around that Rob Blake could be the Leafs next GM. Perfect....zero experience.....other than GM of Canada's Mens' World Ice Hockey team in 2014. And that's just a selection process. No cap management/trades/development involved. |
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Post by franko on Feb 2, 2015 13:33:09 GMT -5
Rumor floating around that Rob Blake could be the Leafs next GM. I thought that maybe they'd be bringing him for his experience on D |
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Post by seventeen on Feb 2, 2015 13:37:09 GMT -5
Had to bring up Coach's Corner on You Tube today ... wanted to see what he had to say about the fallen RCMP officer and it turned out to be another nice tribute ... wouldn't mind seeing a few more celebrities promote our fallen in uniform ... Cheers. Maybe Don could have his own show, on respecting what police and our soldiers do for us. Win/win. He stays on tv, but is off hockey telecasts, doing something worthwhile, but is not on hockey telecasts and is still earning his pay, but is not on Hockey telecasts. |
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Post by seventeen on Feb 2, 2015 13:40:54 GMT -5
Rumor floating around that Rob Blake could be the Leafs next GM. Perfect....zero experience.....other than GM of Canada's Mens' World Ice Hockey team in 2014. And that's just a selection process. No cap management/trades/development involved. He's the assistant GM to Lombardi. Being an assistant in a winning organization automatically gives you some cachet (Yzerman, Bergevin, Nill). It may not be a bad choice. Depends. Some assistants contribute to the winning, others are window dressing. |
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Post by CentreHice on Feb 2, 2015 14:13:19 GMT -5
Sorry....missed that part of his CV.
Thanks seventeen. Still pretty green, though, in terms of overseeing the rebuilding of the centre of the universe.
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Post by seventeen on Feb 2, 2015 15:35:08 GMT -5
Sorry....missed that part of his CV. Thanks seventeen. Still pretty green, though, in terms of overseeing the rebuilding of the centre of the universe. Yeah but he has star power. It points out the philosophical differences between Geoff Molson and the evil partnership of Bell and Rogers. The latter two want the packaging to be right and if the content is good too, all the better. Molson wanted the content to be right and if the packaging was ok, all the better. |
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Post by CentreHice on Feb 3, 2015 23:03:27 GMT -5
Leafs down 2-0 in Nashville....make it 3-2 in the third period....and lose 4-3 in regulation.
10th straight L.
It's now definitely lottery time for them.
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Post by CentreHice on Feb 6, 2015 20:25:50 GMT -5
Devils up 3-0 on the Leafs near the end of the second period.
Shots are 20-11 for Toronto....but Mike Johnson said the quality scoring chances are about 8-4 for Jersey.
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Post by CentreHice on Feb 6, 2015 21:27:28 GMT -5
4-1 (empty net) Devils final.
Elias with his 400th goal...all with New Jersey.
Leafs set a franchise record with their 11th straight loss.
Listening to their post-game show on TSN1050....
Jeff O'Neill's basic comment:
There's nothing to analyze. It's the same thing game after game. They're terrible. Garbage.
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Post by Skilly on Feb 7, 2015 12:05:26 GMT -5
I'm going to be at tonight's Leafs game, this has become the official song of our trip!
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Post by 24in93 on Feb 7, 2015 12:34:34 GMT -5
I'm going to be at tonight's Leafs game, this has become the official song of our trip! Tonight's game is being dubbed 'The Toilet Bowl'. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 9, 2015 14:57:31 GMT -5
David Clarkson was a healthy scratch on Saturday and only has two points in his last 17 games. I still remember all the "savior" hoopla when he was signed to that ridiculous contract (a.k.a. taking a hometown discount by the Toronna media).
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Post by franko on Feb 9, 2015 15:31:34 GMT -5
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Post by blny on Feb 9, 2015 15:32:34 GMT -5
Re clarkson, I had to look on hf. 75 pages of comments the day of his signing there through two days after it. Almost 2000 posts lol. I couldn't be bothered to read it all, but there were some from the offing that saw it as the mistake it was.
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Post by Skilly on Feb 9, 2015 21:50:53 GMT -5
I was at this game. I have to say the ACC was the quietest arena ive ever watched a sporting event at .... Even my Leaf fan friends said they'll never return because there is absolutely no atmosphere. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Feb 10, 2015 10:04:06 GMT -5
I was at this game. I have to say the ACC was the quietest arena ive ever watched a sporting event at .... Even my Leaf fan friends said they'll never return because there is absolutely no atmosphere. And I thought Ottawa was quiet ... Cheers. |
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Post by 24in93 on Feb 10, 2015 18:44:35 GMT -5
I was at this game. I have to say the ACC was the quietest arena ive ever watched a sporting event at .... Even my Leaf fan friends said they'll never return because there is absolutely no atmosphere. Ha I was offered tickets to that game for free. I politely turned them down. |
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Post by jkr on Feb 10, 2015 21:30:44 GMT -5
I was at this game. I have to say the ACC was the quietest arena ive ever watched a sporting event at .... Even my Leaf fan friends said they'll never return because there is absolutely no atmosphere. Ha I was offered tickets to that game for free. I politely turned them down. You should have asked for cash & the tickets.  |
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Post by Skilly on Feb 11, 2015 11:44:42 GMT -5
I was at this game. I have to say the ACC was the quietest arena ive ever watched a sporting event at .... Even my Leaf fan friends said they'll never return because there is absolutely no atmosphere. Ha I was offered tickets to that game for free. I politely turned them down. Only reason I flew all the way from Newfoundland was because the tickets were free ... on the other hand, even though I hate NBA basketball, I saw two Raptor games (Nets and Spurs) and paid for those ($70 and $225 respectively). That was a much better atmosphere |
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Post by Polarice on Feb 11, 2015 11:51:41 GMT -5
Ha I was offered tickets to that game for free. I politely turned them down. Only reason I flew all the way from Newfoundland was because the tickets were free ... on the other hand, even though I hate NBA basketball, I saw two Raptor games (Nets and Spurs) and paid for those ($70 and $225 respectively). That was a much better atmosphere Raptor games are really fun to go see, I highly recommend it!! |
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Post by franko on Feb 11, 2015 11:57:37 GMT -5
love the comment from Horachek: ''The give a ---- meter needs to be higher.''
Kessel: 12 minutes, -4.
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Post by CentreHice on Feb 12, 2015 12:38:35 GMT -5
No surprise….but it's official. Shanahan has received the OK from MLSE to blow it up. Kessel and Phaneuf NOT in the plans. Pie-in-the-sky with the McDavid and Babcock mentions. 3-5 years of more growing pains. And even then, there's no guarantee. Scorch The EarthSo, what now?
First, a new, intense focus on the draft. Everyone in the league talks a good game about drafting your way to success, but there are still more than a few who don’t really believe it. They prefer to trade, which brings instant gratification and, if it works, ends up making you look smarter.
This was the point of hiring former London Knights GM Mark Hunter as an executive. Most took it as a challenge to Mr. Nonis. Instead, Mr. Hunter brings something few top people in the NHL can claim – a deep and nuanced understanding of the best 14-, 15- and 16-year-old players in the world. Along with assistant GM Kyle Dubas, Mr. Hunter is here to mine the draft over the next three years.
Second, Connor McDavid. The Leafs sit sixth from the bottom. If the season ended today, that would represent a 7.5-per-cent draft-lotto shot at the generational talent from Newmarket, Ont. A few days ago, Mr. McDavid told The Toronto Sun’s Mike Zeisberger that ending up on the Leafs “would be a dream come true.”
It’s not at all likely, but until it’s certain one way or the other, Mr. McDavid will haunt the Leafs’ dreams.
You can’t ask a team to tank. Professional athletes aren’t built to do it. But no one in management is bothered by the roster’s decline into despair. Quite the opposite. Having taken the decision to start fresh, this is spinning out swimmingly.
Then, Mike Babcock. The best coach in the NHL still hasn’t re-signed with Detroit. People who know Mr. Babcock say one important thing about him – he badly wants to succeed in the most difficult, high-stakes circumstances. That would be Toronto. He could probably win now in a city such as San Jose. But why would he care?
There’s also the allegiance he feels to fellow coaches. Moving to hockey’s most lucrative market would make Mr. Babcock far and away the highest-paid coach in league history, a rising tide that floats all salary boats.
Next, the teardown. This is a controlled demolition, and it won’t happen quickly. The most likely players to leave before the March 2 trade deadline are Daniel Winnik and Mike Santorelli. They’re cheap, durable and many teams want them as playoff rentals. Removing that pair also has the salutary side effect of making the Leafs worse, aiding their dive into a deep draft. You could trade Dion Phaneuf tomorrow, but there’s a sizable risk of getting back someone who makes you better right now. That would be counterproductive.
This season has allowed management to identify a new core of players it wants to keep – Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Jonathan Bernier, William Nylander. Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk are still considered valuable because of their youth. There are some favourites, but no one – not even a budding star such as Mr. Rielly – is untouchable.
It won’t happen until summer, but Mr. Phaneuf and Mr. Kessel are not in the plan. The goal now is extracting as much value as possible for them. That translates either to young players who are high-ceiling projects and draft picks.
It’s still a risk. The Edmonton Oilers haven’t been able to manage it. Chicago suffered through several miserable years before the Blackhawks could make it work.
Starting over is no guarantee of success. But everyone at every level has finally accepted that the other way – the way the Leafs have been trying for more than a decade – only promises mediocrity and disappointment. The real difficulty is in keeping on the hard road down, which eventually leads back up. |
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Post by blny on Feb 12, 2015 13:09:36 GMT -5
They can blow all the sunshine up Mark Hunter's butt they want. A successfully built junior program is an entirely different animal. While some junior eligible players are drafted by more than one league, he's largely 'mining' strictly in Ontario with a much lesser focus on other regions in Canada, the USA, or overseas. Hunter has A LOT to prove about his ability to wade through much deeper water to find the 'right' pieces.
So far, the only proper decision they've made is to buy into the concept that they need to start from scratch. The club has NEVER done that. EVER. Don't give me this '3-5 more years of growing pains' crap. They've never stripped it down to the studs and rebuilt. It remains to be seen whether or not they have the right people in place. Shanahan, the face, has zero experience. He spends a couple of years as a puppet in NYC. One could argue that he's a Rogers puppet now. Time will tell. Shanny certainly doesn't have personal experience of going through a rebuild either. You'd have to go back to his season in Hartford to find the last time when he was on a bottom feeder - and the Whalers weren't 'rebuilding'.
They're 2-12-1 in their last 15 games. The Sabres are 2-12. It's likely too late to catch either Edmonton or Buffalo in the standings. All they can do is increase the odds in their favor. So much of this draft is about McDavid and Eichel. I have little knowledge of the others, except to say that it's apparently a deep draft. It would appear that either of the top 2 are as sure a thing as you can expect. After that, who knows. We'll see how they do. I'm not overly convinced that they've assembled the necessary pieces off the ice to properly do the on the ice part.
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Post by franko on Feb 12, 2015 13:10:07 GMT -5
No surprise….but it's official. Shanahan has received the OK from MLSE to blow it up. Kessel and Phaneuf NOT in the plans. Pie-in-the-sky with the McDavid and Babcock mentions. 3-5 years of more growing pains. And even then, there's no guarantee. I wonder if there'll be a 50th anniversary celebration in 2017? |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Feb 12, 2015 13:11:57 GMT -5
"The Score" is also reporting that both Kessel and Phaneuf may not be part of the rebuild (I'd provide a link but the servers here at work won't load the page) ... where to start ... most successful teams build from the goal, out ... will be interesting to see who Shanahan brings in as a talent scout ... imagine where we'd be without Trevor Timmons ... we're playing them Saturday night and I suspect that will be no easy game ...
Cheers.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Feb 12, 2015 13:15:17 GMT -5
They can blow all the sunshine up Mark Hunter's butt they want. A successfully built junior program is an entirely different animal. While some junior eligible players are drafted by more than one league, he's largely 'mining' strictly in Ontario with a much lesser focus on other regions in Canada, the USA, or overseas. Hunter has A LOT to prove about his ability to wade through much deeper water to find the 'right' pieces. So far, the only proper decision they've made is to buy into the concept that they need to start from scratch. The club has NEVER done that. EVER. Don't give me this '3-5 more years of growing pains' crap. They've never stripped it down to the studs and rebuilt. It remains to be seen whether or not they have the right people in place. Shanahan, the face, has zero experience. He spends a couple of years as a puppet in NYC. One could argue that he's a Rogers puppet now. Time will tell. Shanny certainly doesn't have personal experience of going through a rebuild either. You'd have to go back to his season in Hartford to find the last time when he was on a bottom feeder - and the Whalers weren't 'rebuilding'. They're 2-12-1 in their last 15 games. The Sabres are 2-12. It's likely too late to catch either Edmonton or Buffalo in the standings. All they can do is increase the odds in their favor. So much of this draft is about McDavid and Eichel. I have little knowledge of the others, except to say that it's apparently a deep draft. It would appear that either of the top 2 are as sure a thing as you can expect. After that, who knows. We'll see how they do. I'm not overly convinced that they've assembled the necessary pieces off the ice to properly do the on the ice part. I don't know if either of the Hunters would want to leave London ... Dale Hunter bolted right back there just as soon as Washington's season ended ... they have a model junior franchise in London and the Hunters are the reason for that success ... will Nonis be hanging around ... will Paul MacLean be given a shot behind the bench ... a lot of questions to be answered and a lot of positions both on and off the ice to be considered ... Cheers. |
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Post by franko on Feb 12, 2015 13:15:44 GMT -5
as puke-invoking as it sounds, I may have to quietly hope (cheering is out of the question) that the Leafs win a few games here and there -- especially against those we are battling against for play-off positioning.
it really doesn't bother me to hear people say that they'd never cheer for the Habs, because there are teams that I will never cheer for either.
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Post by blny on Feb 12, 2015 13:18:55 GMT -5
They can blow all the sunshine up Mark Hunter's butt they want. A successfully built junior program is an entirely different animal. While some junior eligible players are drafted by more than one league, he's largely 'mining' strictly in Ontario with a much lesser focus on other regions in Canada, the USA, or overseas. Hunter has A LOT to prove about his ability to wade through much deeper water to find the 'right' pieces. So far, the only proper decision they've made is to buy into the concept that they need to start from scratch. The club has NEVER done that. EVER. Don't give me this '3-5 more years of growing pains' crap. They've never stripped it down to the studs and rebuilt. It remains to be seen whether or not they have the right people in place. Shanahan, the face, has zero experience. He spends a couple of years as a puppet in NYC. One could argue that he's a Rogers puppet now. Time will tell. Shanny certainly doesn't have personal experience of going through a rebuild either. You'd have to go back to his season in Hartford to find the last time when he was on a bottom feeder - and the Whalers weren't 'rebuilding'. They're 2-12-1 in their last 15 games. The Sabres are 2-12. It's likely too late to catch either Edmonton or Buffalo in the standings. All they can do is increase the odds in their favor. So much of this draft is about McDavid and Eichel. I have little knowledge of the others, except to say that it's apparently a deep draft. It would appear that either of the top 2 are as sure a thing as you can expect. After that, who knows. We'll see how they do. I'm not overly convinced that they've assembled the necessary pieces off the ice to properly do the on the ice part. I don't know if either of the Hunters would want to leave London ... Dale Hunter bolted right back there just as soon as Washington's season ended ... they have a model junior franchise in London and the Hunters are the reason for that success ... will Nonis be hanging around ... will Paul MacLean be given a shot behind the bench ... a lot of questions to be answered and a lot of positions both on and off the ice to be considered ... Cheers. Which begs the question. How much success can you have when your key guy is a part timer? |
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