i have a feeling that this will be the first part of a continuing series that will no doubt run through and well past the 2010/2011 season. initially, i thought i'd ignore the whole thing; my initial stance on jokinen yesterday, for instance, was "i refuse to discuss this." but eventually people are gonna wanna know what i think, so here goes, in order of most-to-least infuriating:
1. that the calgary flames organization allowed darryl sutter to completely napalm this team. he should've been sacked following the cap debacle/short bench situation at the end of the 08/09 season and (having gotten a do-over on that little fuckup), without question should have been handed his pink slip following last year's failure to make the playoffs in spectacular fashion. i've been saying it for ages and i'll say it again: john ferguson junior was given far too much time at the helm of the maple leafs, and brian burke is only now (nearly three years later) beginning to dig the team out of the hole jfj dug. as mikeH suggested yesterday, perhaps there are some counsellors in toronto that can teach us what it's like to support a team that absolutely sucks.
2. there is no reason whatsoever to sign raitis ivanans. if you add his 600K/year to the buyout number on dawes' contract (somewhere in the range of $150K), you could pay for *ahem* an actual hockey player like, say..... nigel dawes. i would like to ask herr sutter if he knows how many fistfights there were in the stanley cup finals. infact, i would like to ask daz if he has any idea how many punch-ups there were in total during the playoffs. having a pure goon has gone the way of the cooperalls. completely infuriating.
3. olli jokinen. jeeezus. if the guy can't score for 5.5 million, why would anyone in their right mind think that he can score for 3 ? because he's got alex tanguay as a winger ??!? LOL. god, i hope tangs remembers how to enter the offensive zone cause neither of his linemates can do it.... in olli's interview yesterday, he admits being surprised at darryl's call and that he jumped at the opportunity to come back to calgary.... uh, no shit. because none of the other 29 gms are insane enough to have offered him a two-year deal at 3 mil per ?? and what REALLY gets my goat on this one is that chris higgins signed for 1.6mil on a one-year deal. so wtf was darryl offering him ?!??!? the flames could probably have had him for 2 mil for a one-off. hell, give chris higgins the jokinen money and you've probably got a better team..... ugh.
4. ales kotalik. being totally serious, now (putting the sarcasm aside for just a sec), i actually hope kotalik gets a chance to play in calgary next year. and why shouldn't he ? he's no worse than anyone else on this roster, and equally effective as the other 3-million dollar guys (let's count hagman, jokinen, sarich & staios in there). also ? he actually wants to play (well, he did before he was waived, anyways. that's got to be a kick in the nuts) and is probably the most skilled dude on the roster. yes, this is goddamned depressing, i know. talk about asset mis-management.... i don't understand how you put kotalik on waivers and then sign a dud like jokinen in the same week. one step forward and two steps back indeed.
5. alex tanguay. yesterday, i described my thoughts as "tanguay: waste of time, but hey ---okay. let's try that out again." at 1.7 mil on a single year deal, i'm all for this brand of patented darryl sutter reclamation project. very little to lose (other than hockey games) and the potential upside is there. the upsetting part, to me, is that it sounds like our captain might have suggested this deal. apparently (according to some dude i met at the stampeders game), iggy thought that tanguay was crosby-calibre when it came to sweet passes tape to tape. maybe so. or maybe it's time for hockey players to be hockey players, and gms to be gms. infact, i've heard some buzz about our captain having input into coaching decisions as well..... hm. perhaps an extreme makeover is in order; a COMPLETE overhaul of this team ---from players, to coaches, to management. heck, maybe it's time for gus thorsen to find something else to do...
6. ian white. where's the effin' contract ? i like to think of ian white as the last man standing in a couple of trades made by a desperate GM during a 9 game losing streak. if white goes (offersheet or otherwise), then i would deem the phaneuf trade a failure. and the kotalik trade has already been acknowledged as such by his placement on waivers and higgins contract with florida.
7. with all of these bad acid flashback signings, people seem to have forgotten that we still have steve staios at 2.7 million. good lord.
it's gonna be a looooooong summer.
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18 comments:
Holy crap, if that's only part 1, I'm afraid to hear what happens in part 2.
Speaking of Maple Leafs(sic) fans and their amazing ability to keep cheering for a loser... I tried to go over to PPP today and got a 404 error, page not found. Do you think maybe they have finally given up after 43 years?
Mike, PPP is back now - maybe they were giving their computer a lube and oil.
Good form, it seems they haven't quite given up yet!
I actually talked with a friend of mine today (a Sens fan) about how Toronto fans manage. He summed it up in one word, "Denial." I think that's a strategy I can get behind with the Flames. Results? I have faith, I don't need no stinkin' results.
I come across this blog looking for these Patty Kane pictures and I end up finding a Calgary Flames blog that turns into a blog hating the Leafs. Hah I love it. You think fans pay hundreds of dollars to go to games because of "denial"? Maybe it's because there are more people in Toronto then there is all of Alberta or maybe its because Toronto has the biggest hockey market in the world.
Trust me the last 4 years has been hard bleeding the blue and white but finally there is light at the end of the tunnel and you know why? Because we have Dion Phaneuf, remember him? The guy that we gave you Jamal Mayers for? Man that must not sit well being a Flames fan after all you basically got fucked in the ass by Burke. Oh wait I forgot, we gave you Nick Hagman as well. Yikes...
Trust me, the next 5 - 10 years are going to be horrible in Calgary and I'd be a lot more concerned with the way things are going with the Flames then with what's happening right now in the T-Dot.
The Leafs will have a ring in 3 to 5 years where as the Flames will be the laughing stock of the NHL.
And man... Tanguay and Olli? I guess second times a charm or Sutter has officially gone senile and lost his mind.
T-Rich:FJM
Para 1: No, no, and no. I'm pretty sure the reason they spend all that money on the horseshit team is because 1)they are not hockey fans, they are there to be hip 2)they are stupid 3)they are sheeple. Brian Burke's a good manager, said 3 times, still doesnt make it true.
Para 2: Dion isn't a good hockey player. Because you are not a hockey fan and a sheeple, you havent realized this. The leafs play every saturday, Id suggest you actually watch them. Oh yeah, sorry, the denial. Gotcha.
Para 3: After you just said Dion was a good player, Im supposed to 'trust you' about your hockey opinion? I wouldn't trust you to make sure the cadavers don't get up and run away from the morgue
Para 4: Completely nonsensical. Your a leaf fan, which means you don't read, so you probably won't get this joke, but Lewis Carrol himself would love your last statement.
You have just embarrassed every single Calgary Flames fan to have ever existed because of how stupid you are.
leafs fan:
wait a sec ---darryl sutter is still in charge of an nhl franchise and I'VE embarrassed every single flames fan ? whoah....
t-rich:
1. why the hell were you looking for half naked patrick kane photos ?
2. i don't hate the leafs. if you actually took the time to explore the archives of this blog, you'll know that i lived in toronto during the early part of this decade and i am actually a leafs sympathizer. john ferguson junior totally fucked up your team, and the fans have had a rough go, to be sure.
3. re: dion phaneuf ---what AZR said above. trust me. don't just jump on the phaneuf bandwagon. actually watch him PLAY. as for the return on him, AS I SAY IN MY POST: if we don't re-sign ian white, then that trade is a fucking bust. no question.
4. you think we, as flames fans, don't know that this team is laugable right now ? you think that people aren't burning their "in sutter we trust" signs ? i'm pretty sure that's the jist of the entire thing, when i say stuff like "extreme makeover" "napalm this team" and "WHY I DESPISE MY TEAM." so if you wanna comment, then fucking read shit first.
please and thank you.
AZR: *curtsey* always a pleasure to see you, friend. :)
My original point (mentioned by WI in the post) was that we should gather some ideas from Leafs (sic) fans on how to cope with our upcoming drought, since their team has been so bad for so long. Really, that's a suggestion based on fact, free of hatred. Not qualifying for the playoffs since the lockout (in the East!) and still loving that steaming pile is pretty unbelievable behaviour. Dogs seem to be more capable of figuring it out.
Apparently its a pretty touchy subject for the fans out in the big smoke, so I doubt I'll get anything I can use. Maybe I should talk to some English soccer (1966) or Chicago Cubs (1908) fans, they may be a little more resigned to their fates.
Personally, I think the comment about Dion leading the team to a cup in 3-5 years just proves that denial is the principal strategy in T.O. Myself, I was planning on turning to alcohol, tinged with melancholy.
If we start talking serious hockey then I'm actually curious to know why you disagree with the 3 -5 cup prediction.
Phaneuf regardless of his point totals is just an all around solid defenceman and gets it done every night. He is complimented with a solid defensive core around him in Schenn and Komisarek and the rest of the D fills out nicely.
The everlasting goalie mystery is looking to be finally solved in Jonas Gustavson and with Gigure behind him getting plenty of starts you can't think that the goaltending will be an issue for Toronto.
Now for the forwards. The Versteeg addition is a solid one that adds toughness and scoring. Armstrong rounds out a pretty solid third and fourth line. With the likes of Kessel, Bozak, Kadri, Kulemin you have a solid core for your first 3 lines and gives Burke lots of room to work with and get this team a number one centre and a few more scoring wingers. And this even goes without saying the forgone conclusion that Kaberle will be moved for a top 6 forward.
In 3 - 5 years Burke will 100% give this team more depth on those two first lines and this team will most definitely have a number one centre that will lead this team.
Tell me how you can say this team won't at least be contending for a cup in 3 - 5.
i will leave it to mikeH to defend his 3-5 year "denial" statement, but i will say this. 3-5 years is a long fucking time. in 3-5 years the flames could be cup contenders too and god knows they're gonna battle for the basement in 10/11.
in 3 years, barring trades/injuries, the leafs will have phaneuf, kessel, komisarek, and nazem kadri as an RFA. sure, it's preposterous to think that NONE of the other players will be re-signed but let's just propose that burkey loses his mind (like sutter has), and fills the remaining 16 roster spots with has-beens and goons. TA-DA !!! the drought continues.
while i actually think that burke is starting to turn around the years of jfj mistakes, i'm not convinced the 13/14 leafs are gonna beat the 13/14 oilers, and that hurts my soul to say. i also think the 10/11 leafs are going to be substantially better than the 09/10 leafs, but that may have more to do with giguere/toskala than anything.
as for dion, dude: for real?? to suggest that he is "an all around solid defenceman and gets it done every night" PROVES that you have never really actually watched him play.
for further edification please feel free to consult this. i suggest reading, watching AND perusing the comments section. i'll be the first to admit that the captaincy and some wilson/burke coddling COULD right the ship, but currently the dude is simply not 6.5 mil worth of blueliner.... we can talk about it more next season.
t-rich:
to further explain (now that i've re-watched those clips): what you're seeing is dion not engaging the man, the puck, or the stick. he IS in the right position (which is why i think he might be TAUGHT to contribute defensively) but he does nothing at all to defend the net.
another clip (with analysis) here. this clip is actually better than the three in the previous link, and marked the night when i presumed phaneuf no longer held any trade value; cause kelly effin' hrudey explained to the world that he's a big pile of suck.
Sorry to break this to you T-Rich, but unless you're talking about the Qi Vampire or your local piano bar, "Getting it done every night," doesn't apply to Dion.
I'd like to see him play better, and I definitely think this year's Leafs are better than last year's team. Still, I don't believe they are a contender in 2010-2011.
My point on the 3-5 year prediction is that in the cap era, there is just no way to say this and mean anything about the team. What you are actually saying is, "I'm going to support my team no matter what," which is great and all, but really doesn't affect team performance much. As WI said, very few of your players are signed out very far (5 through 12/13, 3 through 13/14) so there is a lot of management that needs to come up all 7's between now and the time you're parading down Yonge street.
Whoa whoa whoa! T Rich you are mowing my lawn over here. Throwing rocks at the flamer bee's nest is my gig. Plus, buddy, Leafs(sic) fans trolling the internet to pick on fans of a crappy team is offside. Quadriplegics don't get to mock paraplegics.
Let's play a little game:
If we start talking serious hockey then I'm actually curious to know why you disagree with the 3 -5 cup prediction.
Jovanovski regardless of his point totals is just an all around solid defenceman and gets it done every night. He is complimented with a solid defensive core around him in Allen and Ohlund and the rest of the D fills out nicely.
The everlasting goalie mystery is looking to be finally solved in Dan Cloutier and with Essensa behind him getting plenty of starts you can't think that the goaltending will be an issue for Vancouver.
Now for the forwards. The Bertuzzi addition is a solid one that adds toughness and scoring. Chubarov rounds out a pretty solid third and fourth line. With the likes of Naslund, Holden, Sedin, Sedin you have a solid core for your first 3 lines and gives Burke lots of room to work with and get this team a number one centre and a few more scoring wingers. And this even goes without saying the forgone conclusion that Baron will be moved for a top 6 forward.
In 3 - 5 years Burke will 100% give this team more depth on those two first lines and this team will most definitely have a number one centre that will lead this team.
Tell me how you can say this team won't at least be contending for a cup in 3 - 5.
AAAAAaaaand scene.
Welcome to the 2000-01 Canucks. Your hopes are hung on a pack of unproven draft picks and has-beens. Have you got your Kadri full-back tattoo yet? No? Why not?! He's a sure thing right?
Burkie has found what he has always wanted: a pack of zombies dumber than Vancouver fans to lap up his constant horseshit.
Hey glasshouse, put down the rock.
goad ? puhLEEEEASE write more stuff on your site next season, kay ? and, even though my flames v. nucks arguments in 10/11 will probably amount to little more than "i know you are, but what am i ?" i still can't wait to spar over here too....
much love. x
if only sutter was crazy enough to sign fleury last year.
seriously, good stuff. i miss these great rants.
Hey, you on holidays, or just mourning?
mourning is fairly accurate. i have pretty much nothing to say about my team these days cause it's such a sad state of affairs... also, there's not a whole lot going on.
i'm here. i know i should write more. motivation is minimal...
i'll be back. i swear.
:)
Ok, now I can't wait for numbe2!
Love your blog)
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