*sheds a tear for the Flames and his beloved Isles*
OK, on to my hated list.
Edmonton out... check
Toronto out... check
Rangers out... TBD
Habs out... TBD
What does it say when 3 of my 4 hated teams are Canadian based or does it mean anything at all?
I don't know what will happen in Calgary now. A lot of people (me included) thought Brian Sutter got a raw deal when he was fired as coach a couple years ago... and that may have translated into more leeway for Darryl as GM. I don't think Darryl has done a bad job, but he hasn't been a great GM either. As for Brent, a coach has to deal with the talent he has, which in some ways was lacking, especially when it came to scoring punch. I'll say the Flames have definately tried to get some offensive guys in the mix (like Jokinen, Camaleri and Tanguay) but they just haven't performed when they've been there. Who do you blame for a lack of chemistry?
I think Brent has one more season to try and get things going or he'll be gone and it could very well be the end for Darryl too.
Is it time to move Iginla out? Is he really a first-liner? I'm not sold on him and never have been.
Is it time to move Iginla out? Is he really a first-liner? I'm not sold on him and never have been.
toronto earned our hate.
OK I'll bite, how did Toronto earn your hate? Unless you're from Ottawa, then I can understand. :lol:
OK I'll bite, how did Toronto earn your hate? Unless you're from Ottawa, then I can understand. :lol:
I've got to agree with a lot of what you have said. A good read is 'Leafs Abomination' by Feschuk and Grange. You'll find it informative and entertaining.Toronto earned my hate through a combination of mismanagement and the media projection that we were all supposed to care about the Leafs. I grew up in the 70s and remember Canada having 3 teams: the Leafs, Habs and Canucks. The Leafs were bad, even thought they had some decent players, the management of the team under Harold Ballard was pathetic. The Habs were always contenders (and won 4 Cups) with guys like LaFleur, Robinson, Dryden et al. The Canucks were never heard from because their home games started at 10 or 11 pm EST, so HNIC avoided them like the plague.
The years passed, Harold Ballard died and the Leafs management changed but still sucked... and still got the lion's share of press from HNIC and later TSN. The Habs fell from grace, even though their fans were as arrogant as ever (talking hockey with most Habs fans is like talking politics with SJP or Socrates in my experience). Quebec, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and eventually Ottawa all got NHL teams, that joined Vancouver on the list of Canadian teams that were better than the Leafs and still were ignored by the Toronto based media. Other Edmonton and Calgary won 6 Stanley Cups and went to the finals 8 times in the 80s (add in Vancouver and it was 10 trips to the finals in 15 years for the 3 westernmost teams in Canada) yet still the Leafs and Habs were the ones always on the national broadcasts.
And on the rare occasions the Leafs crawled from the depths of oblivion, they were hailed as "Canada's Team". Once I started to get a little older, I started understanding that most of the players, even on American teams were still Canadians (and in a lot fo cases the "American" teams had more Canadian content than their "Canadian" counterparts), so the whole idea of Canada's team started being a little silly, especially one that was one of the worst run franchises in professional sports.
I'm not claiming to be entirely objective: I know the Leafs sold out through the worst years of suckaciousness, earning pots of cash for their undeserving ownership. I know there are more hockey fans in southern Ontario than there are people in my home of Alberta. That still doesn't mean I have to respect an inferior product presented by a group of clowns that masquerade as one of the most prestigious franchises in our sport.
by awarding themselves the title 'center of the universe', and then trying to live the life, no not from ottawa, from
the west coast where we are pretty well ignored by toronto
hockey world, including the NHL, unless of course we do
something controvesial, (in their eyes),then they blow it right out of
proporation, hence, the referee blunder against burrows,
and mcLean doing the dirty deed on tv, exaggerating burrows
behavior during his career. Toronto lived up to their
swell headiness yet again.
Here's news for you, the only people who think of Toronto as the center of the universe are people who aren't from there.
Toronto earned my hate through a combination of mismanagement and the media projection that we were all supposed to care about the Leafs. I grew up in the 70s and remember Canada having 3 teams: the Leafs, Habs and Canucks. The Leafs were bad, even thought they had some decent players, the management of the team under Harold Ballard was pathetic. The Habs were always contenders (and won 4 Cups) with guys like LaFleur, Robinson, Dryden et al. The Canucks were never heard from because their home games started at 10 or 11 pm EST, so HNIC avoided them like the plague.
The years passed, Harold Ballard died and the Leafs management changed but still sucked... and still got the lion's share of press from HNIC and later TSN. The Habs fell from grace, even though their fans were as arrogant as ever (talking hockey with most Habs fans is like talking politics with SJP or Socrates in my experience). Quebec, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and eventually Ottawa all got NHL teams, that joined Vancouver on the list of Canadian teams that were better than the Leafs and still were ignored by the Toronto based media. Other Edmonton and Calgary won 6 Stanley Cups and went to the finals 8 times in the 80s (add in Vancouver and it was 10 trips to the finals in 15 years for the 3 westernmost teams in Canada) yet still the Leafs and Habs were the ones always on the national broadcasts.
And on the rare occasions the Leafs crawled from the depths of oblivion, they were hailed as "Canada's Team". Once I started to get a little older, I started understanding that most of the players, even on American teams were still Canadians (and in a lot fo cases the "American" teams had more Canadian content than their "Canadian" counterparts), so the whole idea of Canada's team started being a little silly, especially one that was one of the worst run franchises in professional sports.
I'm not claiming to be entirely objective:
That still doesn't mean I have to respect an inferior product presented by a group of clowns that masquerade as one of the most prestigious franchises in our sport.
No, its usually Torontonians who had to leave for greener pastures and look at the past through rose-tinted glasses.