2014 / 2015 Official NHL Thread

[Doc Holliday]

.... the Leafs will need to make some major player personnel changes and develop/draft players better!

Not necessarily. The Leafs were a playoffs team when they fired Randy Carlyle last January. Whether this is a testament to Carlyle's greatness as a coach or maybe the players simply gave up under Peter Horacek, we will never really know.

So don't be fooled by their record. Horacek practically drove himself out of the NHL during his tenure as Leafs coach and in February it became well known around the league that they had decided to go for a rebuild and all their players were available and would be traded as the season would reach its end. They were literally out of the playoffs by February and it must have been very demoralizing to the players and very difficult to keep motivated.

You've heard it here first:

THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS NEXT SEASON.

 

[joelcairo]

Kudos to the Leafs for grabbing the best coach available. They can afford it and are willing to spend some of their billions, so why not? At least they're not as cheap as Mike Illitch, who could have signed Babcock anytime he wanted. But he's cheap! :lol:

Mike Illitch is the best owner in sports. It had nothing to do with being "cheap", it had EVERYTHING to do with intelligence. The Leafs - who have clearly lacked intelligence since 1967 - followed their usual "strategy" (ha ha!) of seeing a big name and then throwing ludicrous sums of money at it and offering it a ridiculously long contract. Well that "strategy" (ha ha!) did NOT work with Burke, Kessel, Phaneuf, Komisarek, Clarkson, Lupul, and many, many others - which is WHY the Leafs 1) failed to make the playoffs more than ONCE in over a decade, 2) failed to win a Cup...or even make it to the freakin' finals since 1967 (the ONLY Original 6 team that can lay claim to this humiliating fact), 3)failed to EVER win more than 2 rounds in the playoffs, 4) failed to win even a SINGLE round in the playoffs in over a decade.

It also explains why the Leafs are paying over $30 million to a player who will never play again...and they KNEW this when they traded Clarkson for him!

Kenny Holland played the game perfectly. For public relations, he said that he hoped Babcock would stay with Detroit...but he didn't really want Babcock to stay. That's why he "only" offered 4 mill a year and "only" for 5 years. He knew that Babcock would be offered more by total losers like the Sabres and Leafs (the ONLY 2 teams dumb enough to do so), and he knew that Babcock's greed, ego, and lack of loyalty would cause him to go to one of the losers. If Kenny had WANTED Babcock to stay, he would have offered him what the loser teams did - but he actually DIDN'T want Babcock to stay. Like me, Kenny was wise enough to see that it's time for Jeff Blashill to move up and take over. Babcock is a good coach, but like all coaches he eventually wore out his welcome and the players started tuning him out. (Maybe this was also because of the fact that he didn't make the best use of his personnel the past season.)

Please note that Kenny gave PERMISSION for other teams to talk to Babcock...but he REFUSED to give them permission to talk to Blashill!

Kenny got rid of a coach well past his expiry date, set the stage in motion for a younger and more modern coach, AND picked up a draft pick from the Leafs, who have always been famous for squandering their picks. (Hello Tyler Seguin.)

Gotta love it! Another miracle by the second best GM of all time!

 

[joelcairo]

Well, Edmonton can't be any worse than they've been over the past 20 years.

Edmonton has made it to the Finals in the past 20 years. The Leafs haven't done so in the last 48!

 

[joelcairo]

You should stick to making comments about your crappy European team in Detroit, my dear friend. With Datsyuk and Zetterberg on their last NHL legs, and with the best coach in hockey finally gone from that North American garbage dump a.k.a. Detroit, tough times are ahead for the Red Wings.

Really? Will this prediction be as accurate as the one you made 2 seasons ago when you said the Wings would not make the playoffs for the next 5 years? In case you're unaware, they already made them the first 2 of those 5 (and, as we all know, the past 24 consecutive).

By the way, when he was in Detroit, I don't remember you calling him "the best coach in hockey". In fact, the very DAY BEFORE he joined the Leafs, you stated in this thread that there were better coaches. I guess when he became a Leaf something magically happened...at least in YOUR mind.

Love your new phrase "In Babs We Trust". I remember it USED to be "In Burke we trust". How'd THAT one work out? Oh yeah, Burke's Leafs had 4 pathetic seasons (even worse than his predecessor John Ferguson Jr.), never made the playoffs, and then Burkie was fired. But at least YOU trusted him:thumb:

 

[joelcairo]

Bitter, bitter, bitter........i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Wrong (as usual). Not bitter; LOVING it! A great new coach to rejuvenate the youthful Wings and a LOT of laughs to look forward to (as usual) with the Leafs. LOVE IT!

 

[joelcairo]

Red Wings: No more Cups for at least another 50 years. I also predict that within 20 years, there will no longer be an NHL hockey team in Detroit, one of the worse places to live in North America. The team will have relocated to greener pastures.

Ha ha ha. Another of the famous and pointless Holliday predictions. If these ones are as "successful" (ha ha) as all your others, the future is looking GREAT for the Wings!

By the way, speaking of predictions, how did the Sens do against the Habs in round 1? Did you win "a lot" of money? Have you planned your summer trip to Italy yet?

 

[joelcairo]

just wondering who babcock will choose as a gm? I know usually the gm pick up a coach but this is toronto

Yes, the land of ass-backward.

 

[joelcairo]

Good choice shanahan the guy who fired randy carlyle to replace him by even worst. the same who just give 50 millions for 8 years to a coach who did not take his team past the second round in the last 4 years excellent choice.

:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

 

[joelcairo]

Babs is the best coach in the world and his legacy will be defined by his tenure in Toronto.

Funny, but you never called him the best coach in the world before! In fact, the VERY DAY BEFORE he joined the Leafs you posted here that you were happy Shanny hadn't gone overboard in trying to get him. You and your buddy made fun of him for years, posting pictures of Al Pacino from Dick Tracy, insulting Babcock's face, calling him "The Cock" or "The Big Cock", etc., etc....but as SOON as he signed with the Leafs he magically became "the best coach in the world".

You know, I ALSO remember you praising Burke, Nonis, Carlyle, Kessel, Phaneuf, CLARKSON (!!), Carter Freakin' Ashton (!!!), Versteeg, and many others WHEN they were Leafs! Curiously, in spite of all these saviors (ha ha)the sad sack Leafs have continuously ROTTED for 48 years ...and ESPECIALLY for the last 10 when these "saviors" were in Hogtown!

No WONDER Leaf ownership has laughed its way to the bank for the past half century while continually putting the worst possible product on the ice and charging the highest prices in the league for a team repeatedly voted thw worst in ALL of professional sports: all they have to do is throw some money at some new "savior" and then watch their Koolaid drinkers start to plan a parade. It's hilarious...and I'm really looking forward to more great comedy from this inept franchise and its gullible fans!

But you ARE right about one thing: Babcock's legacy WILL be defined by his tenure in Toronto. The TARNISH has already started to develop. In the future, the common opinion will be "We THOUGHT he was a great coach..but that was only because of the fine teams he was blessed with in Anaheim, Detroit, and the World's. When he was handed a pile of shit in Toronto he couldn't do any better than Randy Carlyle...although in fairness he did do better than the great Peter Horachek." As the good doctor would say, "Mark my words."

 

[joelcairo]

Lol...... listening to Leafs Lunch just now, a fan posted something like Babcock is like a modern day Clint Eastwood with his grit and confidence.... good comparison :thumb:

Yes, very good comparison: They're both old and they both have their best days in the past...but - give them credit: they're both multimillionaires.

 

[joelcairo]

Babs cautioned in his presser that it is gonna take time to do what he intends to do.

No freakin' kidding!

Babcock is very wise to ALREADY start deflating expectations. The man's not an idiot: he KNOWS the Leafs stink...but he's got his 50 million so what does he care?

 

[joelcairo]

I agree. I'm counting on the money i've put on the Rangers in order to plan my next Mtl trip.

Good luck. At least Montreal is less expensive than Italy.

 

[joelcairo]

You've heard it here first:

THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS NEXT SEASON.

Yeah, we've heard "a lot" here first. Once in a blue moon some of it even came true. Five per cent or so. If you throw enough shit at a wall, some of it might even stick once in a while...a LONG while.

 

[joelcairo]

Also I like that Shanahan is not going crazy to sign Babs. I think he is the wrong guy to lead the rebuild in TO.

From May 19th.

Then...SUDDENLY on May 20th : Babcock magically became "the best coach in the world." Pretty damned impressive OVERNIGHT improvement!

 

[joelcairo]

Toronto may have signed Babcock, but realized his contract demands didn't merit the return. Terry Pegula also made it known he'd overbid everyone & give the Big Cock all he wanted. How do you expect him to bring passion to his coaching when it's obvious he's only in it for the money??

Many teams realized he's no better than the likes of Hitchcock, McLellan & even Therrien. Heck, some believed he was heading to Philly until Hextall surprised everyone and hired a college hockey no-name named Hakstol. And let's be honest: Big Cock hasn't really done much in Detroit over the past 8 years and that team certainly isn't ready to contend for the Cup for another 5 years or more.

Congrats to Mike Babcock! Apparently on May 19th he was nothing but a "Big Cock" who was no better than many other coaches. But MAGICALLY on May 20th he became the greatest thing since sliced bread. Color me impressed!

Meanwhile, those poor, poor Wings: On May 19th it looked like they would not "contend for the Cup for another 5 years or more" but NOW we are told it will not be for at least FIFTY years. Aw shit, my team just lost 45 years in only a couple of days - talk about hard luck...ASSUMING of course that the good doctor's crystal ball is finally working. But if that's the case why has it never worked in the past?

 

[joelcairo]

With 50 million he can buy a few new marbles, oh wait you mean brains? I think he is smarter than any of us and todays contract proves that!

Actually, I think it just proves that he's smarter than Shanny and Leaf ownership.

 

[Sol Tee Nutz]

In the Edmonton news it looks like Chiarelli & McLellan realise that the Oilers are in dire need of an elite goaltender and a couple of solid defensemen, something MacT & Lowe could not come to grasp with, they even blasted Mac.T about his past goalie picks..
There will be some trading but the nucleus " should " not change too much.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Oh-oh....someone is on his way to having another 'epic' meltdown again......:lol:

p.s. Iggy, you were right again!

 

[Doc Holliday]

In the Edmonton news it looks like Chiarelli & McLellan realise that the Oilers are in dire need of an elite goaltender and a couple of solid defensemen, something MacT & Lowe could not come to grasp with, they even blasted Mac.T about his past goalie picks..
There will be some trading but the nucleus " should " not change too much.

One rumour circulating is that Ottawa could send them Robin Lehner & Chris Philips.

 

[joelcairo]

Oh-oh....someone is on his way to having another 'epic' meltdown again......:lol:

p.s. Iggy, you were right again!

Congrats Doc - you'll soon hit 13,000 posts. Just imagine how high your total would be with the thousands of others that you've deleted over the years. Truly an EPIC achievement on your part. Color me impressed again:thumb: