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Post by blaise on Mar 3, 2004 19:57:25 GMT -5
tsn reports:
The New York Rangers have parted ways with one of the franchise's most celebrated players, trading veteran defenceman Brian Leetch to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Maxim Kondratiev, Jarkko Immonen and draft picks, pending a trade call with the NHL, TSN has learned.
Hi Blaise. I started a thread on this on the non-Habs related hockey board, the wrong board. Just ignore the other thread guys. Thanks.
Dis
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Post by franko on Mar 3, 2004 20:07:03 GMT -5
The Leafs keep their tradition going:
They get older.
They spend draft picks (do they have any left?).
They spend money.
Their defense is offensive (read that any way you want).
They will continue to rely on goaltending to get them anywhere in the playoffs.
The "trade panels" for next Tuesday had better have lots of coffee handy, because that's all that's going to keep them away -- there wpn't be any players left to trade! May as well move the deadline up a week or two.
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Post by jkr on Mar 3, 2004 20:17:46 GMT -5
I heard on the FAN590 tonight from a NY reporter that the leafs had really "stepped up" for Leetch. Apparently the competition was Dallas. Wow, 2 players and multiple picks for a guy that turns 36 today and makes 6 million next year.
Two points come to mind. Kelly Hrudey really blasted Leetch on HNIC last week as a defensively lazy player.
The other - Ranger fans should be calling for Sather's head. Leetch was probably one of the all time greats in Ranger history. Now the situation is such a mess after 4 years that Leetch could keep playing for several more years and it still won't be fixed.
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Post by jkr on Mar 3, 2004 20:49:08 GMT -5
I just heard a little more about this. The leafs get Leetch & a conditional pick. The Rangers get the two players plus a 1st in 2004 & a second in 2005.
They gave up their 2nd in 2004 for Wesley last year so it looks like they have nothing until the 3rd round.
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Post by Skilly on Mar 3, 2004 21:21:42 GMT -5
Drats.
Kondratiev was a bust. He was so bad down here on the farm thatthey shipped him home to Russia a couple of months ago citing "homesickness". But Shedden in an interview here once said "He makes way too many bonehead mistakes" Wow ...I thought I was harsh when I asked him one time (my season tickets are next to the bench) after he came off the ice after making 4 giveaways on one shift if "Kondratiev was Russian for useless?"
Immonen I was certainly looking forward to seeing him next year. He is suppose to be a decent player. But so were a host of other Leaf prospects.
I am still trying to figure out how a Leetch is suppose to help the Leafs with their defense, and their PK. (aren't those the things they were crying over for the past couple of weeks?)
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Post by Marvin on Mar 3, 2004 22:02:25 GMT -5
Thanks TSN for showing how unbiased you are. I sign on the page and I'm hit in the face with a poll asking how far will the Leafs go with Leetch. Give me ******* break! How come we weren't given the same poll when the Habs got Kovalev or when the Bruins got Gonchar, or for that matter when the Senators got Bondra.
I am so fed up with this pro-Toronto coverage - and I live in Calgary!!!!!
Marvin
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Post by jkr on Mar 3, 2004 23:06:37 GMT -5
Thanks TSN for showing how unbiased you are. I sign on the page and I'm hit in the face with a poll asking how far will the Leafs go with Leetch. Give me ******* break! How come we weren't given the same poll when the Habs got Kovalev or when the Bruins got Gonchar, or for that matter when the Senators got Bondra. I am so fed up with this pro-Toronto coverage - and I live in Calgary!!!!! Marvin Agree completely. They couldn't stop talking aout it. And what's with McGuire " I'd love to see the leafs get Witt". Give me a break. The worst is Healy. About 2 weeks ago he was raving about Gonchar. The power play is so important, he's the best PP Dman, bla bla bla. The leafs have to make a pitch for him. No mention of Leetch. Well now that the leafs have missed out on Gonchar Healy baldly states that Leetch was his first choice all along. How stupid does he think the viewers are? |
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Post by Marvin on Mar 3, 2004 23:23:11 GMT -5
...and if that's not enough, "Headline Sports", uh sorry I mean "Toronto Sports" had to have a panel analyzing the Leetch trade, with comments from Domi and Sather. What's with these Toronto-centric sports stations? Do all they think that everyone outside of Ontario is a Leafs follower? At least I've taught my 5 1/2 yr old son and 2 1/2 yr old daughter to say "Toronto BLAH!"
Marvin
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Post by AH on Mar 4, 2004 12:54:56 GMT -5
Let's be honest ... Immonen was crap. Leaf fans were ejaculating over this guy because he had ONE good pre-season game in Europe.
As for Kondra, the guy beat out Colo for a job with the big club. He will be a player. The first and the second pick is par for the course for this team.
All those futures and they still are not a clinch to get out of the FIRST round. That franchise is really going to pay dearly after the CBA is agreed upon.
I, for one, can't wait.
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Post by blny on Mar 4, 2004 13:48:04 GMT -5
Seems like a lot to pay for a 36 year old defensive liability. That's par for the course in Leafland though. Maybe it's all a ploy to make Belfour a shoe-in for the Hart Trophy. God knows Eddie's job just got a lot more difficult.
The Leafs have three good puck movers already in Kaberle, McCabe, and Pilar. Pilar has actually looked good of late. Instead of getting help for Belfour, they get another soft defenceman, who's more a 4th forward than anything else. I think that Leetch is a great player, but he isn't the help they needed. The Leafs should have gone after Witt or Gauthier.
Ferguson was pressured into making a move because everyone else did. That's the wrong reason to make a trade.
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Post by CentreHice on Mar 4, 2004 14:55:40 GMT -5
Everybody in Leafland (MOJO Radio) ecstatic over this deal. Bill Watters, Jeff Marek, the call-ins....."the time is now....and Leetch puts the Leafs over the top" blah blah blah......
In realistic terms...he is an excellent passer and a good PP QB but other than that, at 36, he isn't tough in front of the net, and he can be manhandled along the boards. He's an upgrade offensively...but he doesn't help their defensive woes. I've seen Leetch many times digging the puck out of his net after he was soft in front.
My hope is that McCabe tanks with jealousy when the Norris Trophy, Stanley Cup winning all-star, future Hall of Famer keeps getting all the press.
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Post by seventeen on Mar 5, 2004 1:35:51 GMT -5
I think they'll pair him with Belak, breaking up the Dumb and Dumber duo (almost anyone with Belak fits that mold). Leetch will help, at least until his ankle gives out, roughly in game 3 of round 1.
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