HorseFilms
Look ma no hands
The refs in this game suck ass.
NHL 2008-2009 thread
- Thread starter HorseFilms
- Start date
HorseFilms
Look ma no hands
I know this goes without saying, but the Red Wings are really good. Scary good.
HorseFilms
Look ma no hands
Damn. I hope things improve for the Leafs. It's just not right to see that franchise struggle.
After one, the Wild are hanging tough at 1-1. We'll see what happens as the night moves forward. We had Colorado last night, so the guys might be a little winded later on.
EDIT: Oops, 4-1 Wings... bastards.
After one, the Wild are hanging tough at 1-1. We'll see what happens as the night moves forward. We had Colorado last night, so the guys might be a little winded later on.
EDIT: Oops, 4-1 Wings... bastards.
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mjmcneese
Veteran
Heck...the ownership in Toronto could care less if they're winning or losing. They're selling tickets like they're going out of style. One of the healthiest (financially) teams in the NHL.
JConnors
Veteran
The thing with the Leafs is that the lower we finish in the standings the better it is for the team. We need to rebuild and finishing in 9th place year after year and trading away your picks to put a band-aid over problems is the worst way to build a team.
The year after the lockout our GM at the time (Rookie GM) wanted to rebuild the team right away and the owners (board of directors, made up of 5 people) decided against it and wanted the team to push for the playoffs, they tried that for the next 3 years, trading away young players and picks in order to make the playoffs, twice we finished 9th (which is the absolute worst place you can finish, just miss the playoffs and get a mid round pick, which we traded both away) and finally last year we were like 23rd in the league and got an excellent prospect to start building around the team.
As much as I hate seeing the team lose, it's better if they do it now and start building up picks and prospects to develop players, there's no way the current team we have could compete in the playoffs anyways, their terrible right now.
Right now, I expect for the Leafs to be big sellers come the trade deadline, Kaberle, Kubina, Antropov, Blake, Moore, Stajan, Ponikarovsky and Toskala, could all be traded. Some of these players aren't in our future plans anyways. I expect this team to have at least 2 first round picks and possibly 3. Because we didn't max out the cap this year, we have like 9-10M in free space and it's possible that teams like the Rangers and Wings, who are looking for a big asset come the deadline would need to move some players for space, guys that have 1 year deals, we could easily take them on for picks.
It's funny, after all the years of having Harold Ballard as our owner (if your not familar check this out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ballard - the guy was a nutjob and the worst owner you could possibly have) the team eventually gets bought by The Ontario Teachers Pension Fund (don't even ask, how that's possible) and gets turned into a corporation (Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment) that could care less about winning and are more concerned about profit (Leafs have the top value in the NHL). They could put out and AHL team in place of the Leafs and it would sell out every night, basically the entire lower section of the rink are coporate sponsers, real fans can't afford tickets. I was lucky to get a ticket for free in October, one row above the gold section, ticket was 181.00.
Now the board finally brought in a competent GM (Burke) who made a deal with the board when he signed, that he has full autonomy and control over the team and nobody can veto any deal he makes. I can imagine it was pretty tough for previous GM's that wanted to trade players and have the board say NO because they were concerned about losing money on jersey sales.
Having said all that. It looks like were moving in the right direction and I couldn't be happier, even though were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked, right now. The next coming weeks should be very interesting.
Big loss to the Lightning last night
Leaf Nation is what leafs fans are reffered to, I'm in Tank Nation right now.
Sorry for the long rant/post.
J
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MikeWilkinson
Veteran
They are when they can get running on all cylinders. We are on a 6 win streak, but prior to that we had lost like 4 straight. Osgood is our #1, however his numbers has been poor this year, Conklin has been a stone wall when he has been in, but a goalie with no playoff experience is a scary thought... I hope Osgood gets it going and rolls into the playoffs.
On a side note– As you guys are talking about how hockey crazy your towns are (especially in Canada, no surprise there) it makes me kind of sad that more people around here aren't crazy about the Wings. In Detroit, the Red Wings are last in the pecking order. It goes Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Wings... and the Lions are horrible! Makes me sick. The other pro teams always get more press coverage, more discussion, and are in general a bigger deal than the Red Wings, who IMO are arguably one of the best sports franchises in history (almost 20 years in the top 5 teams in the league) It's just frustrating. Oh well, I guess if they win another cup I'll get over it :beer:
JConnors
Veteran
Yeah, I could never understand how a team like Detroit has a problem selling out their arena. If I recall, I think there were games last year during the playoffs that weren't sold out. That's crazy. Do you think it has more to do with the Michigan ecomony?
And yeah, The Lions? C'mon, they've been one of the worst franchises in the NFL, more so than the Jets and that's saying a lot.
Leafs Vs Red Wings - Game 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL1KTuDQ058
I'll never forget that game, I can remember being like 12-13 and our entire house exploding in celebration, me, my dad and my brother. That's when being a Leafs fan was fun.
MikeWilkinson
Veteran
I think not filling the arena is partly due to the economy... heck even the Lions didn't sell out every home game in 2008, after selling out consectutively since 2001. Wings tickets are not cheap IMO, the arena is old, Detroit is a really lame city, still carrying a cloud of scariness that you might get murdered around every corner. Some peopel even argue that the Wings winning style is old news... that it's just expected and not exciting anymore. Personally I think that is crap... every night you can see some of the best talent in the world showcase their skills
Yes there were a few playoff games with empty seats (my friends and I filled several for the first and fourth rounds
)I too miss the old rivalries with teams like Colorado, Toronto. I used to love the home and home series we had with Toronto... some of the best games to go watch or even catch at the bar.
The Leafs are purposefully trying to finnish in the bottom five this year. They are "throwing" the season in order to obtain a higher draft pick. They are "throwing", the season, this is well documented with quotes from management and hockey pundits. It would be an excellent topic for a sports documentary.
MikeWilkinson
Veteran
I find this interesting. I wonder how many made the drive down, versus how many local Columbus residents are Wings fans. I hear about large Red Wings contingents in other arenas fairly often.
mjmcneese
Veteran
LOADS of MI plates on cars when the Wings come to town (I work at all CBJ games and see this regularly). Plus, I think we've just about burned down all of the houses of local Red Wings fans.
Pittsburgh's coming to town next week...first time in a few years. Can't wait for that one.
MikeWilkinson
Veteran
Should be fun. I dislike Crosby, but he can be fun to watch. It's crazy that Pittsburgh might miss the playoffs this year.
So uhh... you work the CBJ games? I've been trying to weasel my way into the crew for the Wings' games but that is a very tight group... any open positions down there witht eh Blue Jackets? Feel free to PM me....
JConnors
Veteran
.
We play the Blue Jackets tonight, but in Toronto. I'm hoping in years to come that we can some how sign Rick Nash, the guy is a beast.
How are the crowds in Columbus, are the selling out the rink?
Out of all the recent franchises (besides Minnesota) Columbus seems to be the only one that actually worked. Atlanta, Nashville and Phoniex fan bases are a joke.
MikeWilkinson
Veteran
Woah. What the eff is going on??? Hopefully these rumors are not true about a few of them being linked to weapons/drugs
mjmcneese
Veteran
This is the best year in a long time! We had a weekday game vs. STL on Wednesday...in the past weekday conference games had a slim crowd (50-70% full). Now every game is played in a playoff atmosphere, so games like we had on Wednesday are more like 90% full. And weekend games have been full, if not sold out.
It's a great place for hockey. The facility is beautiful, and I like to think we do a good job with crowd entertainment. The local restaurants and bars are big supporters, too.
Exciting game last night, even though the CBJ definitely didn't put their best game on the ice. Schenn is fun to watch!
JConnors
Veteran
Thats good news that the crowds are coming around. I'm really pulling for the Blue Jackets to make the playoffs, always nice to see new teams make it in.
What are ticket prices like? Decent price?
Yeah, the game last night was interesting, that first shootout goal was such a fluke. Schenn is great to watch, he dropped the gloves last nigh too.
What are ticket prices like? Decent price?
Yeah, the game last night was interesting, that first shootout goal was such a fluke. Schenn is great to watch, he dropped the gloves last nigh too.