Nhl thread

[El Kabong]

I was a big Toronto fan when I was a kid, back in those Gilmore/Potvin/Clark days when we had their farm team playing here (St. John's Maple Leafs). Then they could never build a good team around Mats Sundin, who had to carry that shit team on his back for over a decade. Yeesh.

I think a lot of guys just fold under the pressure of playing in Toronto. Hockey press and fans are brutal in Canada, but it's a whole different level in Toronto and Montreal. I still think they're making a huge mistake giving up on Phil Kessel. He's such an explosive offensive force. Not his fault the team stinks.

Sundin was just a STUD, but in those days the competition was massive! Toronto was in the Western Conference in the 1990's where they had: Detroit with the Red Line, Dallas with Modano, Chicago with Roenick & Chelios, Canucks with Bure and the Courtnalls, St. Louis with Brett Hull & CuJo....and then you had the switch to the Eastern Conference in the late 90's early 2000's and that's when the East started getting tougher and deeper.

I agree they are giving up on Kessel too early, but guys who have issues in the locker room might benefit from a change of scenery.

Lupul, Phaneuf, and Robidas as a leadership trio fail to impress me as players and as actual leaders. I think Dion is a good player, he's tough, he's someone that can lead through his style of play, but I believe his style of play could be enhanced if he had a guy demanding greatness of him, guys like who he plays with on team Canada....but then again he couldn't even make the Olympic team with Canada and that's extremely disappointing for a guy like him. You see his contemporaries Ovi and Cros both doing great things and he's seemingly stuck in a mire in Toronto. I think if the Leafs had a guy likw Toews or Crosby to drive Dion then things would be better for him and the team.

[El Kabong]

What are everyone's thoughts on Tomas Jurco....he's a guy with that something special that can really get a line clicking. Given the choice of young players in the league I'd take him on the Canes in a heartbeat!

[Beanflicker]

Not familiar with Jurco really. If there's one team that knows how to draft young talent it's Detroit though so I'm sure he'll be a dynamo in a few years.

Dion... I don't know what to say about him. I'm not really high on the guy. He was voted 2 or 3 years in a row by his fellow NHL players as the most overrated guy in the league. Whether that's fair or not I don't know, but his leadership and play leaves a lot to be desired IMO for the price he commands.

[El Kabong]

Not familiar with Jurco really. If there's one team that knows how to draft young talent it's Detroit though so I'm sure he'll be a dynamo in a few years.

Dion... I don't know what to say about him. I'm not really high on the guy. He was voted 2 or 3 years in a row by his fellow NHL players as the most overrated guy in the league. Whether that's fair or not I don't know, but his leadership and play leaves a lot to be desired IMO for the price he commands.

[Beanflicker]

Looks like he has a nice set of hands on him, damn

[El Kabong]

Looks like he has a nice set of hands on him, damn

Indeed!




Just fucking SILK on ice

[Beanflicker]

Nice, good to see he's doing well in the big leagues. A lot of those young guys with silky hands look amazing in the juniors, people go ape shit for them, and then they're busts in the NHL. Linus Omark was dazzling everyone for years with his dangling and amazing shoot out moves, he was a bust in the NHL and now he's playing in Russia.