2003/2004 NHL Season

[Michael Griffiths]

I apologize Edgeman. You are right, I shouldn't take things so seriously. However, I must ask you a question: If your intent is to get me to react (as you just said it was fun to get me going like this), then why are you in the least bit surprised or upset when I do? I find that quite ironic, even a bit paradoxical.

Well, I have to get going... Kobayashi, I had a point regarding some even worse trades (Cam Neely comes to mind), but will wait till next time....

 

[kobayashi]

Well, I have to get going... Kobayashi, I had a point regarding some even worse trades (Cam Neely comes to mind), but will wait till next time....

...till next time. you mean you werent happy with barry pederson?
if i have this sorted out, and thanks to the endless chatter of vancouver friends im certain i do, neely of course became cam neely and the draft pick became glen wesley who was dealt to hartford for two prospects: sergei samsonov and kyle mclaren.

so neely + wesley or neely + samsonov & mclaren. but hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Lilly]

apparently there's more than one victim of the words in mouth disease

Of course there's improving between seasons. My point is that 10 games of playing good hockey doesn't automatically make them Stanley Cup contenders. Sheesh, you guys are hilarious.

simmer now.

those 10 games were pretty important, the flames are within 4 points of the mighty canucks now. they're playing well as a team and are becoming a solid organization. i never implied that they were about to get into the finals.

 

[kobayashi]

WIM. dont let it happen to you.

they're playing well as a team and are becoming a solid organization.

plus, they have the best of the newer jerseys in the league.

 

[Elite]

Leafs are on tonight!!

 

[Chizip]

too bad they will lose to the eliter blues

 

[Elite]

But the Leafs are Canada's most elite team. And as we all know, Canada is the home of hockey, making us Canadians higher on the hockey fan totem pole.

As far as fans go, Canadians are the most elite.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Right on. That is the best name in the history of this forum. I wish I had thought of it.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

...till next time. you mean you werent happy with barry pederson?
if i have this sorted out, and thanks to the endless chatter of vancouver friends im certain i do, neely of course became cam neely and the draft pick became glen wesley who was dealt to hartford for two prospects: sergei samsonov and kyle mclaren.

so neely + wesley or neely + samsonov & mclaren. but hindsight is 20/20.

Yes, you have it exactly right, kobayashi. Just think: If the Canucks had not made that trade and kept that first round draft pick, they would have had both Cam Neely and Glen Wesley in the '94 playoffs, the year they took the Rangers to game 7 and one goal of winning the Stanley Cup. If they had Neely and Wesley at the time, the Canucks would have likely won the Cup - probably in 5 games!

Worst.......trade........ever.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Re: apparently there's more than one victim of the words in mouth disease

simmer now.

those 10 games were pretty important, the flames are within 4 points of the mighty canucks now. they're playing well as a team and are becoming a solid organization. i never implied that they were about to get into the finals.

Once again, I never said those 10 games weren't important. I fully agree the Flames are on a solid run right now. And I'm not necessarily disuputing that they have flourished into a solid team (there is no way of knowing for sure yet, really). But I'm not saying they have, either. I'm simply saying you cannot jump to that conclusion just because they're on a sudden hot streak. They've had these streaks before (they started out great a couple years ago), only to plumet back down to where they normally reside in the standings. All I'm saying is wait and see before concluding they have become a solid team (ie, not sub par). If history is any indication (ie, missing the playoffs for, what, SEVEN years in a row now?), then I'm leaning more towards them not being quite up to "solid" status yet, which is why I still call them sub par. Once again, 10 games do not a season make.

 

[Chizip]

so i guess we cant use the canucks first 10 games to declare them elite

 

[Michael Griffiths]

so i guess we cant use the canucks first 10 games to declare them elite

No, we cannot, you are right. But we can use the first 10 games of the season and their play since Christmas of two seasons ago. They have won consistently since then. Did you know that NO other team has won more games than Vancouver from Christmas of 2001 until the end of last season? Talk about impressive. The 10 games at the start of this season were simply a continuation of that trend. Conversely, the 10 game stretch of good hockey the Flames have been playing are not a continuation of any trend, so given this change of context we would be wise to not treat it in the same manner.

 

[Elite]

Did you know that NO other team has won more games than Vancouver from Christmas of 2001 until the end of last season? Talk about impressive.

I did not know that.


It's interesting though, that the Canucks play has been so consistent and so impressive, they don't have any Stanley Cups since 2001. In fact, the last time they were even finalists was in 1994 when they lost to the Rangers. Before that it was 1982 and they STILL didn't win the cup.


Now that's impressive.

 

[Chizip]

we all know true eliteness comes from regular season success, the postseason is just a fun exhibition

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Yes, and the Blues and the modern day Maple Leafs know all about making it to the Stanley Cup finals, don't they? At least the Canucks have been to the finals in the last 10 years. When was the last time the Maple Leafs made it to the finals? Oh, that's right - 1967. Don't worry. Living in the past is a Maple Leaf pastime, afterall.

Touche.

 

[Chizip]

when did i ever claim the blues were elite?

ive always said the blues werent because of their postseason shortcomings.

but we all know toronto really is elite, being canadas team and all.

 

[Elite]

Yes, and the Blues and the modern day Maple Leafs know all about making it to the Stanley Cup finals, don't they? At least the Canucks have been to the finals in the last 10 years. When was the last time the Maple Leafs made it to the finals? Oh, that's right - 1967. Don't worry. Living in the past is a Maple Leaf pastime, afterall.

Touche.

Well, at least the Maple Leafs know what it's like to be in the winning column of the Stanley Cup finals. More than 12 times at that. Recently? No. Much like Mr. Chizip here, I never once deemed my team "elite," I am simply proud of our players and team - that's the recent team, in case you were wondering.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

The discussion wasn't about being elite until you posted. It was simply about the Canucks being one of the better teams the last couple seasons - specifically having the most wins since Christmas, 2001. Consistency was the main point of the discussion, not elitism. And my rebuttal against you was to do with your criticism of the Canucks' lack of playoff success... to which I say, maybe you should be more concerned about the Blues since Vancouver has had more recent playoff success than they have.

 

[Chizip]

you arent making sense again griffey

lay off whatever it is you are smoking there in vancouver

 

[Justified]

from what i hear Vancouver has some good stuff to smoke.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Well, at least the Maple Leafs know what it's like to be in the winning column of the Stanley Cup finals. More than 12 times at that. Recently? No. Much like Mr. Chizip here, I never once deemed my team "elite," I am simply proud of our players and team - that's the recent team, in case you were wondering.

The Maple Leafs know what it's like to be in th winning column in the Cup finals, you say. They may as well be the Boston Bruins of the late 60s. The only similarity is the geographical region. The entire organization, from top to bottom, is a different one. So that point is kind of moot (like that Chiz ).

As for why you haven't termed your team "elite", didn't it occur to you that's probably because the Leafs simply haven't been elite? Teams don't generally fear playing the Toronto Maple Leafs (until your recent winning streak, that is). Conversely, teams are generally afraid when coming to GM Place. That's got to tell you something.

 

[Elite]

The discussion wasn't about being elite until you posted.

Are you making fun of my name? I would appreciate it if you would keep the discussion to the game, not personal attacks, thanks.

It was simply about the Canucks being one of the better teams the last couple seasons - specifically having the most wins since Christmas, 2001. Consistency was the main point of the discussion, not elitism. And my rebuttal against you was to do with your criticism of the Canucks' lack of playoff success... to which I say, maybe you should be more concerned about the Blues since Vancouver has had more recent playoff success than they have.

Now you're saying the Canucks are one of the better teams...ok, that is making more sense. Yes, I did criticise the Canucks for their lack of playoff success, but I never said "look at the sap Canucks next to the Blues and the Leafs!" Mr. Chizip noted "ive always said the blues werent because of their postseason shortcomings." but you missed that in your rebuttle.

 

[Chizip]

griff seems to miss a lot of things with his many rebuttals

i guess we could call him a rebutthead

get it, rebutthead?

yeah i dont get it either

 

[Elite]

As for why you haven't termed your team "elite", didn't it occur to you that's probably because the Leafs simply haven't been elite? Teams don't generally fear playing the Toronto Maple Leafs (until your recent winning streak, that is). Conversely, teams are generally afraid when coming to GM Place. That's got to tell you something.

What the hell is your definition of elite? And how do you know what Mats is thinking when he walks in to GM Place?

Certainly if I was 6'4 and 200+ lbs I wouldn't be afraid of a builing.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

On to much more interesting topics...

Did you guys see who was the Canucks backup goalie tonight? Because Dan Cloutier just went down with a groin injury without warning and they didn't have time to recall anyone from the farm team, they had to get a kid named Chris Levesque (coined "Eddie Leveque" from Cheers...way too funny) to back up Hedberg! This kid is a 23 year old Geography major at UBC, who plays for the UBC Thunderbirds. Hedberg got run in the 1st period, and was down for about two minutes. It looked as though Chris Levesque was going to have to replace him! The entire newsroom at Sportsnet was cheering for him, as was the crowd at GM Place. Unfortunately, Hedberg continued on. That would have been incredible. Either way, though, Levesque now has a full bag of stories to tell at beer league games! Can you imagine?! That's one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.

As for the game, Naslund is simply AMAZING. Another FOUR goal game. (He also scored 4 goals last year against the Oilers.) I don't think I recall seeing him score a goal that didn't look good. He's just got that touch. Check the highlights tonight. He scored his 4th goal in OT, and didn't even raise his arms...just pointed and winked at Bertuzzi. Talk about Mr. Cool. He's leading the NHL in scoring, once again.

 

[Edgeman]

you forgot the.........after bertuzzi....shame on you!

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Brendan Morrison on Chris Levesque (after it looked like Hedberg was injured): "That would have been interesting....a star could have been born at GM Place....I don't know what was going through Chris's mind...his exam tomorrow morning or getting out on the ice [Laughs]." It was way too funny. All the Canucks were giving him a hard time. Apparently he has a final tomorrow morning. He was studying for it at the UBC library, when the UBC Thunderbird coach found him and told him the Canucks needed him to backup Hedberg for the game tonight. He thought it was a joke! Wow, talk about the opportunity of a life time! They signed him to a one day amateur contract. I would have done it for free! Best seat in the house...getting to hear Bertuzzi swear on the bench.... What more could you ask for? You should have seen it when Hedberg was down. Levesque was chewing his gum like a mad man! Mike Keane leaned over to him and said, "Don't worry, he [Hedberg] will be okay!" Marc Crawford couldn't quite contain himself, and started chuckling. It was classic.

 

[Chizip]

a backup goalie almost going into a game is the coolest thing youve seen in a long time?

 

[IWasBored]

sounds like a back-up back-up goalie actually

 

[Michael Griffiths]

a backup goalie almost going into a game is the coolest thing youve seen in a long time?

Uhm, no, a local student playing for his college hockey team going into a game is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Sheesh. If you don't think that's a great story, I feel sorry for you.