Is Buffalo on the verge of something REALLY great???

Ando · Guru

Is Buffalo on the verge of something REALLY great???

barry33 · Guru

OK And-O..I will bite. I am assuming you are implying..no stating, that European players in general, and Captains in particular, do not have the heart and soul and guts to lead and NHL team through the wars that are called "playoffs" and to the promised land. Now, because I am pretty busy these days, I do not have time to reserach this..but maybe someone would like to look back the last 10 years to the Stanley Cup finalists in that period and list who the Captains of the respectyive teams were and their nationalities. For example, the last Stanley Cup year it was Calgary Vs Tampa (Iginla and Lecavalier, both Canadian).

This year it is not looking great so far for European Captains (Sundin Toronto, Naslund Vancouver, Alfredson Ottawa, Koivu Montreal). But someone will have to look back a few years and see if there is actually a trend as And-O would suggest.

habscsi · Member

here they are barry:

2004 iginla(calagary)-andreychuk(tampa) both canadian

2003 kayria(ducks)-stevens(devils) both canadian

2002 francis(huricanes)-yzerman(red wings) both canadian

2001 stevens(devils)-sakic(avalanche) both canadian

2000 stevens(devils)-hatcher(stars) hatcher from usa

1999 hatcher(stars)-peca(sabres) again hatcher from usa peca from canada

1998 yzerman(red wings)- dale hunter(capitals) both canadian

1997 yzerman(red wings)-lindros(flyers) both canadian

1996 sakic(avalanche)-skrudland(panthers) both canadian

1995 stevens(devils)-yzerman(red wings) think you know these two by now!!

1994 linden(canucks)-messier(rangers) both ...you guessed it canadian!

1993 CARBO(HABS)-gretzky(kings) had to go back this far for my sake plus i noticed in doing so that in 93 obviously carbo was the captain but muller scored the cup winning goal and then that summer we drafted koivu. now in 2006-2007 carbo and muller behind the bench and koivu's the captain, sounds like a little destiny and karma rolled into one. Come on Bob work the deals and lets get er done in 2007!!!!

-- Edited by habscsi at 18:34, 2006-05-09

Nil d · Guru

Great detective work, CSI! Maybe it doesn't stand for "Cape Sable Island" after all!

(As an aside, I mentioned your name to my niece last weekend - she is, like you, a Jones from Cape Sable Island, NS. (She married a Jones). When I mentioned your name, she says "he was my first boyfriend!". Lisette Jones (formerly Meuse), married to Toby Jones - her mother is my sister. And she used to go out with YOU! Small world, eh?)

barry33 · Guru

Wow thanks habsci...boy what does that say (if anything) Coincidence or cause for debate..maybe

JohnM · Guru

Very interesting.

There is only one thing to do. Sorry Saku, you are done, we can put an 'A' on your chest. Ribs, you are the new captain of the Habs. Bring the cup back to Montreal in 2007.

Maybe Chipchura can be our next captain?

NEWFIEHABSFAN · Senior Member

JohnM wrote:

Very interesting. There is only one thing to do. Sorry Saku, you are done, we can put an 'A' on your chest. Ribs, you are the new captain of the Habs. Bring the cup back to Montreal in 2007. Maybe Chipchura can be our next captain?

I must be reading this wrong! the only thing ribs could captain is the sissy- girlieboy club! he's not just a member,but the president!!

Nil d · Guru

NEWFIEHABSFAN wrote:

JohnM wrote: Very interesting. There is only one thing to do. Sorry Saku, you are done, we can put an 'A' on your chest. Ribs, you are the new captain of the Habs. Bring the cup back to Montreal in 2007. Maybe Chipchura can be our next captain? I must be reading this wrong! the only thing ribs could captain is the sissy- girlieboy club! he's not just a member,but the president!!

Get with the program, Newf! John was being funny - all the Cup-winning captains are Canadians, so Saku (a Finn) has to lose the "C" for them to win. Giving it to Ribeiro was John being really sarcastic!

Ando · Guru

ALL CANADIAN!!! EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!

...And-o ain't saying a thing...kindly avoid putting words in And-o's mouth...THAT speaks volumes though!!!

How many in a row does it take NOT to be a coincidence???

P.S. Buffalo is set for years with their wise draft choices!!!

...it is kinda scary if you really think about it gang - TWELVE IN A ROW!!!

plouf · Guru

To be fair though, there haven't been that many Euro captains yet. And noone's going to argue that Sundin isn't a good captain. Surely Yashin's a questionable choice though. As for Koivu and Alfredsson, I'd say the jury's still out. Koivu, as captain, has only just recently started to be part of a talented team, and we don't know yet what'll happen this year with Alfredsson.

And as for Detroit and Colorado, they had KEY European players who were almost captains (they were big-time leaders and wore the A), in Lidstrom and Forsberg.

Ando · Guru

plouf wrote:

...Detroit and Colorado...had KEY European players who were almost captains.

That sounds akin to a woman being "a little pregnant"!

Candy coat it anyway you want...whatever gets you through the night...but that is just freakin incredible!!!

MC Girl · Guru

Ando wrote:

plouf wrote: ...Detroit and Colorado...had KEY European players who were almost captains.

That sounds akin to a woman being "a little pregnant"! Candy coat it anyway you want...whatever gets you through the night...but that is just freakin incredible!!!

Ando · Guru

JohnM wrote:

Maybe Chipchura can be our next captain?

Fingers crossed!

And-o is betting that Bob has had this in mind for quite some time!!!

Surely Bob sees himself in Chipper!!!

barry33 · Guru

JohnM wrote:

Very interesting. There is only one thing to do. Sorry Saku, you are done, we can put an 'A' on your chest. Ribs, you are the new captain of the Habs. Bring the cup back to Montreal in 2007. Maybe Chipchura can be our next captain?

Johnny- I was certainly not implying that. Captain K is the man. But boys I tell you, it is an interesting stat that we can take whatever we want from. If it helps, the Captain of my Oldtimers team last year was Canadian and we won sweet F A

Ando · Guru

Add to all of this...Conn Smythe winners back to 1970...ONE...ONE non North-American!!!

Hmmmmmmm!!!???

And-o submits that this is a RULE not a "STAT"!!!

Brad Richards

J.S. Giguere

Nicklas Lidstrom

Patrick Roy

Scott Stevens

Joe Nieuwendyk

Steve Yzerman

Mike Vernon

Joe Sakic

Claude Lemieux

Brian Leetch

Patrick Roy

Mario Lemieux

Bill Ranford

Al MacInnis

Wayne Gretzky

Ron Hextall

Patrick Roy

Wayne Gretzky

Mark Messier

Billy Smith

Mike Bossy

Butch Goring

Bryan Trottier

Bob Gainey

Larry Robinson

Guy Lafleur

Reg Leach

Bernie Parent

Yvan Cournoyer

Bobby Orr

Ken Dryden

Bobby Orr

JohnM · Guru

Whatever it takes to win the cup, i'm in. If you look at the teams left in the playoffs up to 2 or 3 to nothing there are a couple of things in common...

1) No need to pay for high priced goaltending because all it takes is a good run and anything can happen in the new NHL. So for those who think we should throw cash at Huet, I would say, let's not.

2) Drafting, drafting, drafting. Look at Anaheim as a prime example, get some solid leaders like the Neidemeyer brothers and a bunch of kids who want to work and you got a good team. Same goes for Carolina.

3) A solid one-two punch at center is key. There's no more one line teams in the league.

So it's gonna be tough to compete in the new NHL. Bob has a big job in front of him but if teams like Carolina and Anaheim can rebuild within a few years, why can't we???

plouf · Guru

JohnM wrote:

Whatever it takes to win the cup, i'm in. If you look at the teams left in the playoffs up to 2 or 3 to nothing there are a couple of things in common... 1) No need to pay for high priced goaltending because all it takes is a good run and anything can happen in the new NHL. So for those who think we should throw cash at Huet, I would say, let's not. 2) Drafting, drafting, drafting. Look at Anaheim as a prime example, get some solid leaders like the Neidemeyer brothers and a bunch of kids who want to work and you got a good team. Same goes for Carolina. 3) A solid one-two punch at center is key. There's no more one line teams in the league. So it's gonna be tough to compete in the new NHL. Bob has a big job in front of him but if teams like Carolina and Anaheim can rebuild within a few years, why can't we???

Because rebuilding is unacceptable in Montreal.

Nonetheless, I think rebuilding is what has been going on for two straight seasons, whether the fans like it or not, and it's going to pay big dividends soon. I still think we would've been lucky to tank one year completely to pick up a #3-4 pick or so, but we're doing well by Higgins, Komisarek, etc... We're only a few players away.

JohnM · Guru

I agree with you Plouf, when we miss the playoffs, we miss by 10 points but are never in the bottom 3. Anaheim and Carolina as well as others have had the fortune of picking really high. Will we pay the price for picking Price?

Ando · Guru

JohnM wrote:

...Anaheim and Carolina as well as others have had the fortune of picking really high. Will we pay the price for picking Price?

Hey JohnM...And-o thinks that line of thinking enables management to take the so-called easy way out!!! Don't discount what teams like Detroit has done with late round picks every single year! Granted, there are several elite "franchise players" chosen in the top 3 most years...but there are many, many players taken in the top 3 or 4 rounds who rise to that upper level!

P.S. Price might turn out OK...but that pick truly was wayyyyy off the board!!! And-o asks you...was it a realistic gamble given the obvious needs of this team at that particular time??? (No way)

plouf · Guru

Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT in favour of tanking. I agree with you that you can put a good team together with "late" picks too. It might be just as important to keep a viable team together (where free agents want to come and where the attitude is about winning) as anything else. My thing is that I think Montreal had been so badly mismanaged for a couple of years that they pretty much needed a big-name draft pick to get things rolling in the right direction again. Sometimes I do long for the odd Ovechkin or Crosby in exchange for a horrible season.

As for Price, I may eat my words later, but I TOTALLY agree. Crazy risky pick, especially when we had depth at goaltender.