Permanent NHL Free For All Thread

[joelcairo]

we'll be seeing an X next to the Leafs name in the standings. :lol:

Right you are, as usual G1GBallday.

The wretched Leafs are now ALREADY officially and mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this season...just as they were in:

2014, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Why not 2005? Simple: no hockey that year.

The ONLY year the Leafs made the playoffs since that hockeyless year (2004-2005 season) was the shortened 48 game season in 2012-2013.

Remove that shortened season and here is how the Leafs ended up in league standings:

2015 - 27th so far
2014 - 23rd
2012 - 26th
2011 - 22nd
2010 - 29th
2009 - 24th
2008 - 24th
2007 - 18th
2006 - 18th

Now I know what some of you are saying: Gee the Leafs did GREAT in 2006 and 2007 - EIGHTEENTH twice, wow, for the LEAFS that's "FANTASTIC, just fantastic".

Well, yeah, but sadly for Leaf fans the Burke era (never making the playoffs, finishing 24th, 29th, 22nd, and 26th during his 4 years) and the Nonis era meant no more finishes as "high" as 18th (except of course for the miracle of the 48 game season...when the year ended too quickly for the Leafs to have their traditional annual collapse).

Maybe Burke's record with the Leafs (129-135-42) explains why their average finish was 25th in the 4 years he was GM.

"Thank you Mr. Burke." "Thank you Mr. Nonis."

 

[anon_vlad]

You can do it, Phyllis!

There is an extremely frequent poster whose signature includes the fantastic statement that Phil Kessel is an all-star. In fairness to the former, he didn't specify in which hockey league nor if he means a Maple Leaf All Star.

The bearded lady (with apologies to ladies everywhere) is only one goal against away from leading the entire 750 player NHL in plus/minus rating (of course, from below). This achievement cannot be ascribed only to playing for a wretched team as only two other TO players even made the bottom 10.

If the Leafs do win the draft lottery, Phyllis can take aside McDavid and truthfully tell him that he did more than anyone else on the team to maximize TO's probability of acquiring him.

 

[joelcairo]

Great Article, in Case Anyone Missed It:

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl...ches-but-who-should-the-leafs-keep/ar-BBikpbf

 

[november]

I agree joelcairo it is a great article, thanks for sharing with us.

 

[joelcairo]

My sources tell me the Leafs suck.

P.S.: My sources tell me this is nothing new, since the Leafs have sucked for the last 48 years.

 

[joelcairo]

Congrats to "Phil "the thrill" Kessel" on his performance in yet another Leaf loss (this latest one 4-1 to the Canucks).

With the aid of the MINUS 2 he recorded in this game, the "merging superstar" and "future Hall of Famer" is now an astonishing MINUS 32 on the season.

How good is that? It's good enough to rank him 845th out of 847 NHL players so far this season.

The only players beneath him are Rasmus Ristolainen of the Sabres at minus 33 and Nail Yakupov of the Oilers at minus 34.

Go Phil Go! You CAN catch those two guys:thumb:

I posted the above on March 14.

Tonight (March 19), a mere 5 days later, the Leafs lost another game 4-1, this time to San Jose (at home in Toronto).

But more importantly Phil proved that my faith in him was justified: he WAS up to the challenge and he DID succeed!

CONGRATULATIONS MR. KESSEL:thumb:

With the MINUS 3 you recorded in this game, you are now officially the worst plus-minus player in the entire NHL, with a MINUS 35 at this point in the season.

You are ranked 853rd out of 853 players who have suited up this season- bravo! You are at MINUS 35, and your closest competition is at minus 33. That is a 3way tie between Ristolainen, Yakupov and your roommate Tyler Bozak,

As an added bonus, the big Leaf line of Phil, Tyler and JVR is now exactly at a combined MINUS 100 after 72 games (Phil at MINUS 35, Tyler at MINUS 33, JVR at MINUS 32). Cool!

"Thank you Mr. Burke." "Thank you Mr. Nonis."

(I think I STILL hear Randy laughing.)

 

[anon_vlad]

Congratulations, Philomena!

Congratulations are in order for the bearded lady (with apologies to ladies everywhere) for having finally become the most generous NHL player - in net goals allowed to the opposition.

Yes, Phat Phil, at -35, courtesy of his -3 tonight, has now the worst plus/minus of any of the 750 NHL players. One would think that the worst in that regard would be riding buses in the minors, but Phyllis enjoys all the perks of the NHL + a top salary + a long term contract. Only in TO, you say? He even has fans who think he is an all star!

 

[joelcairo]

Hi AV - I see that great minds think alike:thumb:

Too bad we haven't heard from our good friends the Leaf supporters lately, isn't it? They seem to be posting a little less frequently since Randy left. Can't imagine why.

 

[joelcairo]

I'm very happy that I have not bought any shares of Koolaid since Randy was fired. I haven't checked but I strongly suspect sales have plummeted since then.

 

[Special K]

How bad are things for the Leafs? This bad...http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/729216 13 year sell out string, OVAH!

 

[joelcairo]

How bad are things for the Leafs? 13 year sell out string, OVAH!

Yes, and deservedly so - thanks for posting this fact SK.

After their latest loss tonight (Monday), the Leafs have lost 6 consecutive regulation-time games. They are 1-8-1 (3 points of a possible 20) in their last 10 games. They are 6-27-3 (15 points of a possible 72) in 2015.

Despite the fact that they are proudly sitting in 27th place with 3 teams below them, it is clear that they have been by far the absolute worst team in the NHL since Carlyle's firing.

They have been a failure for the past 48 years and they have been the worst, most gutless, and most embarrassing team in ALL professional sports for many of those 48 years.

FINALLY, even Leaf fans are beginning to realize just how pathetic their squad is - as evidenced by the lack of hockey posts from Leaf supporters who were previously all over the hockey threads with boasts about their favorite team. True, those posts and boasts were invariably premature, inaccurate, unfactual and irrelevant - but at least the Leaf supporters believed in what they were saying (even if events ALWAYS ended up proving them to be wrong). Now, however, even the most rabid Koolaid drinkers have learned that there is NOTHING they can say to defend the wretched sad sack team in Hogtown.

 

[joelcairo]

Congratulations to Joffrey Lupul!


Yes, with his assist tonight on the lone Leaf goal in yet another loss, our hero Joffrey scored his first point in 18 games.

Well done Joffrey:thumb:

 

[joelcairo]

Quote from a dissatisfied Wild fan after his team's victory over the Leafs tonight:

"Wild are very lucky they weren't playing a hockey team otherwise they would have lost badly."

 

[anon_vlad]

The Bearded Lady's Marvelous Improvement

Did anyone notice that Phil (The Pill) Kessel has been +0 for two consecutive games?

He has gone from being worse than useless to merely useless.

He no longer can claim to be the sole leader (from the bottom, of course) of the plus/minus rankings. He is now tied with Ristolainen and definitely threatened by two other Leafs. Happily, his team lost those two games, so nobody can say that he has cost his team in its quest for McSaviour.

 

[G1GBallday]

Don't worry Leaf fans, the well respected Shanny will fix everything.

http://www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-15-worst-locker-room-cancers-in-nhl-history/?view=all

Things got ugly in the locker room with Shanahan demanding a trade and Keenan saying Shanahan was “half the player he thought he was.”

But it wasn’t just Shanahan’s rift with Keenan that was destroying the Blues’ locker room, it was also his affair with teammate Craig Janney’s wife. Yeah, that can put a crimp in a team’s locker room atmosphere. Shanahan eventually married Janney’s wife – after Janney divorced her, of course

 

[joelcairo]

http://www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-15-worst-locker-room-cancers-in-nhl-history/?view=all

Thanks, G1GBallday, for the link to this very interesting article. Well worth checking out.

Worthy of note is that SIX of the 15 players identified as "cancers" are, or have been, members of the Leafs - one (Shanny) as an executive, the other 5 as players:

#15 - Shanny
#11 - Lindros
#10 - "Captain Canada" (sic) - oops, sorry, I mean Dion Phaneuf
#9 - Little Dougie Gilmour
#6 - The Entertainer, Eddie Shack (gotta admit: one of the VERY FEW Leafs that I actually enjoyed watching)
# 3 - Corson

 

[joelcairo]

The Leafs have PROUDLY announced that they will not be raising prices for the 2015-2016 season.

Gee - how VERY thoughtful of them.

Maybe it's because:

1. Since the start of 2015 they have indisputably been the absolute worst and most gutless team in the entire NHL.
2. As SK has pointed out, their long streak of sellouts has ENDED, as fans are finally seeing the light about what an unbelievably bad franchise this is.
3. Contempt for the Leafs is at an all-time high. They have been the most hated team in every other city for decades...and they are now also loathed even in Toronto. This can be illustrated by listening to talk shows, reading things on the Net, reading any TO newspaper, reading hockey articles anywhere, or just plain counting the Leaf jerseys thrown on the ice by disgusted EX-fans.
4. They've made the playoffs just once in over a decade, That once was in a shortened season..and they capped it by being eliminated in the first round suffering the most epic and cowardly defeat EVER in a game seven.
5. They haven't made the Finals since 1967.
6. They have NEVER won more than 2 rounds of a playoff series.
7. Their BEST player is....drum roll please...PHIL KESSEL (!) and their "captain" is...give me some loud organ music if you can....DION PHANEUF!

P.S. They ALREADY have the HIGHEST prices in the league!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ballsamic]

Last Saturday, CBC did not show the leafs game on national tv for the first time in four decades. The ratings were dropping and the dismal play by the

leafs gave the CBC no choice but to play the Montreal Canadiens game which to me was a smart move. However, they will show the leafs game

this Saturday against the Senators, only because, you guest it, the Senators.

CBC also had a poll, as to, who was Canada's team. Interesting note, they excluded both the Oilers and the leafs because of their inept

season and team performance this season. Of course, Montreal Canadiens came out on top and rightfully so.

The thought that some leaf fans think that failure will bring reward, as in, Mike Babcock and McDavid is mind boggling but, of course, it

doesn't surprise me.

Fans are throwing leaf sweaters on the ice, the tickets that are available, are selling for halve price. They are not even interested in watching them on tv.

Season ticket holders are not even coming to the games.

I even read that a leaf fan bets against his (and I use the term loosely) beloved team and then goes online and brags about it. Now that's

what you call loyalty.

From the leafs past history, in rebuilding their franchise, they will be lucky to even make the playoffs for another decade.

Winning a Stanley Cup, in OUR lifetime, not likely.

 

[joelcairo]

The thought that some leaf fans think that failure will bring reward, as in, Mike Babcock and McDavid is mind boggling but, of course, it

doesn't surprise me.

As usual Ballsamic your entire post was completely accurate.

The entire post was brilliant but I quoted my favorite part. The Leafs will NOT get McDavid - thank Heaven! That would be a disaster for hockey fans everywhere and would also destroy any chance the kid had for having a good career even BEFORE he played his first NHL game. Leafland is where careers go to die and players - even promising ones - go to rot.

Leaf fans are just TOO funny: for years they have praised EVERY move that was made ("Burke will lead us to the Promised Land. Phaneuf is Captain Canada. Kessel has become a great two-way player and is a future Hall of Famer. I LOVE the Clarkson signing. Dave Bolland is a WINNER. Colton Orr is not just tough but has a lot of skill. Carter Ashton could be the real deal. Big Game Bernier is a stud. Reimer and Bernier are a great team, both # 1 goalies in this league. Carlyle isworth 5 to 10 extra points every season because he's such a great coach. Why did they choose Carey Price for Team Canada - it should have been Big Game Bernier. This is now Burke's team and the YOUNG Leafs have a GREAT future. Please do NOT trade Versteeg. Colby Armstrong is the type of player every team needs. Jake Gardiner has a world of talent. Thank you Mr. Burke. Thank you Mr. Nonis." And on...and on...and ON.

And now? I wonder if Leaf fans STILL believe in all those things they said. If so, I have one question for them: With all those GREAT moves...what the HELL happened?

 

[anon_vlad]

Phil is back in the saddle.

The interesting thing is that the current 6 (and probably soon 7) game losing streak of the Leafs wasn't considered worthy of notice of most commentators. I believe that a CHL team could probably win more than the 15% of its games that TO has this year against NHL opponents. It would be wonderful for the game (but not for the business) of hockey if the worst 3 or 4 teams in the NHL were dropped to a lower league and the top teams in that lower league were promoted. I think it is ridiculous that team failure is rewarded by increasing the probability of getting the top picks and individual success is punished - the top hockey players get stuck playing for the poorly managed teams.

The bearded lady (apologies to ladies everywhere) is already -3 with a few minutes left. It looks like Phil will regain his rightful place at the bottom of the plus/minus standings. Some players get into the All Star game and later the Hall of Fame by having MVP seasons. According to TO fans, Phil will achieve these lofty goals by making his team the worst in the entire NHL when he is on the ice.

Incidentally, I had to edit this post as Phil was on for yet another goal against as I was writing.