Two things that most Leaf fans don't know (or have forgotten) about The Giveaway.

1.) The Leafs needed to win that game to make the playoffs. If they tied, the Hawks were in. So the goal didn't actually cost the Leafs anything other than another minute or two of overtime to try to score the winning goal. Gill took a risk, but in that situation you kind of have to.

2.) Gill was actually playing wing in that game. So next time you see the highlight, ask yourself "Where the hell were the two defencemen?" A little puck support would have been nice.

OMFG - am I missing something, or is the Avs/Sharks game actually not on DirecTV?

Leafs I loved:
- Wendel Clark. I am naming my first-born son after Wendel Clark. I am not joking about this.
- Bill Berg. For reasons outlined a few posts above. Also my wife's all-time favorite player
- Todd Gill. He got a bad rap.
- Mike Foligno. Jump, Mikey, jump!
- Allan Bester. Of course.
- Tim Bernhardt, Rick St. Croix, Mark LaForrest. Any crappy Leafs goalie of the 1980s, actually.
- Ken Baumgartner. Smartest goon of all time.
- Tie Domi. Respect where it's due.
- Brad Smith. Motor City Smitty!
- Peter Zezel. Best defensive center the Leafs ever had.
- Ed Olczyck. Don't know why, but he really grew on me after he left.
- Bob Rouse + Sylvain Lefvebre. Thanks for 1993, boys.

Leafs I hated:
- Garth Butcher. What a bum
- Sergio Momesso. Worse than Butcher. Just terrible as a Leaf. Plus I never forgave him for his OT goal in 1989
- Robert Reichel. Although he's trying hard to win me over this year.
- Kevin McLelland, Kevin Maguire, Nick Kypreos. Come on, it's Toronto, we deserve real tough guys!
- Trevor Kidd. Sieve.
- Larry Murphy. What a bum. Completely quit on the Leafs. I'm glad they ran him out of town.

After reading your list...I realize my list is too small.....I could add alot of names of players I really like.....Althoug I did like Larry Murphy more then others.....he was supposed to score and did....I also really liked Todd Gill, based on how long he was a Leaf....Im to young to remember the giveaway you guys are talking about.....Al Secord is another name that comes to mind....I remember liking him as a kid.....John Brophy was the man......and someone I forgot to mention who i hate...and I really did hate him....DMITRI KHRISTICH....enough said

GO LEAFS GO

Yes! I totally forgot about Smitty.

He scored a goal in an early-round series against St. Louis one year. It was early in the series (either game one or three), and early in the first period (in other words, a largely meaningless goal), but I remember him streaking down the wing after a loose puck and just ripping a slapshot past whoever the Blues goalie was...

I have not seen MLG or the ACC erupt like that after a Leaf goal before or since.

Great stuff. :)

no, really - no Avs on TV? seriously?

Avs/Sharks are off til tomorrow....gotta make sure they bring in that huge Saturday afternoon audience on ABC. :)

yeah...but they don't seem to be on tomorrow. ABC is going to show the Wings, and I don't see a Centre Ice Listing for the Avs.

DD,

I see it listed on channel 741 tomorrow at 3 PM.

Todd

In non-Leaf-related news....

Good call: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slu...v=st&type=lgns

Didn't think they'd have the balls to do it.

I thought this was a Leaf thread....

Very solid game by the Leafs....Sundin came out to play.....Belak wasn't as noticeable....but the other so called scrubs (Wilm, Kilger) played very smart....Mogilny seems to have this look in his eyes like he is ready to take his game to the next level....not that that means scoring more.......

GO LEAFS GO!!!!!

Oh, it is....but I wasn't going to say a word about the game until it was actually over. :)

THANKS! (I swear, that wasn't there earlier)

re: Tie Domi's CBC interview.

what was the Don Cherry thing about?

Ville deserves it. It was a bonehead play that makes a depleted lineup have to insert yet another AHLer.

I know injuries are part of the game but it's amazing the Flames are still in it with 6 regulars out. It's more amazing that they beat the Wings playing 5 defencemen in Game 3.

I like the Leafs makeup except for Antropov, Ponikorovsky and Reichel. Why those stiffs are on the team is beyond me.

DD:

Yesterday's Front Page News.

interesting.
but, hasn't he always been like that?

Definatly....don't want to screw it up

Well, yeah. :)

It's all speculation at this point....he made an impromptu appearance on the afternoon drive sports radio show yesterday. He sounded very much like a guy who didn't really want to leave, but if he does, he's perfectly fine with that. Swore CBC hasn't actually said anything to him, so he couldn't elaborate on the story, but conventional wisdom would suggest even CBC isn't so stupid as to get rid of their mealticket (which he is, whether they ever admit it or not).

The entire country went apeshit a couple of years ago when CBC tried to play hardball with Ron McLean....can't imagine what the firestorm would be like after Don. :)

Ya, after that whole Ron McLean thing, I can't see the CBC not bringing him back.....I dont think the country would except HNIC without Don Cherry....I wouldnt know what to do during the first intermission....Don's been there my whole life

Wow....Where have the Flyers gone? they are a shadow of the team that played in game 1.Not that i mind :)

3 game series now....Looks like a 7 gamer.

Who pisses in Mogilnys' cornflakes recently?


BTW.....Another fave Leaf....Jeff Brubaker....i can still here the chants of BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU in the cashbox on Carlton

Anyone remember the GUYYYYYYYYYY chants for Guy Larose....at least I think it was Guy Larose....played a handful of games in the late 80's or early 90's for the Leafs.....I remember going to a few games and every loving him......

ok, HNIC question 2:

during the Satellite Hot Stove thingamabog, John Davidson is on and always seems to completely hate some other guy (Al something or another?). What's the story there

That's Al Strachan of the Toronto Sun. He's generally a weaselly little guy, and Davidson is Mr. Self Important US Hockey Bigshot, so they're like oil and water. Brian Burke also hates Strachan.

Jeff Brubaker... nice one. Good times.

Even though he was mentioned elsewhere, I can't believe I left Steve Thomas off my list. Stumpy!

Good games by the Leafs tonight, but not a good effort for the Flyers. I have a bad feeling this series is shaping into another one of those "home team wins every game" affairs, similar to TOR/NYI in 2002.

Actually, most of the hockey watching and reading public hates Al Strachan....at least the ones I know.

By the way DD, there's more on the Don Cherry situation here (from the best pure sports blogger out there...check out the rest of this guy's site).

Thx for the linky Simms...good stuff...i'd be interested in seeing the rest of your hockey resources also....as i have none of my own :(

Are we to suffer through another Saturday night with no HNIC game ???

I am starting to get a bit upset with this catering to ABC who draws flies for their telecasts.

They had to after he made that hit. That was indefensible... even against the Red Wings. ;)

SI

It had to be done. It was too blatant and stupid. Given the timing of the hit, the five minute major, the misconduct, it was written in stone.

The Flames have played amazingly well despite the injuries. If the Wings survive this series, they could be in a world of trouble with San Jose and/or Colorado. The Wings are getting adequate, but not dominating goaltending, and many of their "big guns" (see, Shanahan, Hull, Zetterberg, Datsyuk) aren't firing all that well, if at all.

Some of the names back when I use to like the Leafs:

- Dan Daoust
- Daniel Marois
- Alan Bester
- Tom Fergus
- Chris Kotsopoulos
- Al Iafrate
- Wendel Clark
- Lou Franceschetti

I loved Iafrate. You just don't see a lot of pro atheletes who ride motorcycles, grow their hair out long even though they're bald, and smoke a few packs a day. He was everything David Wells thinks he is. All-time great Iafrate memory: when he wore his helmet during the all-star skills competition so people wouldn't realize how bald he was.

Another great name: Bill Derlago. As a kid, I just thought it was cool that we had a player named "Builder Lego".

Another guy I loved: Rob Pearson. I don't know why. He was slow, had no hands and couldn't fight anywhere near as well as he thought he could. But I just liked having a guy around who was ready to snap at any time.

More guys I hate:

Mike Craig: What a bum. I can't believe we traded Zezel and Grant Marshall for him.

Jamie Baker. What a bum. I can't believe we traded Gill for him. Baker's only positive was that he lead to one of the all-time great hockey one-liners. The leafs acquired him shortly after they picked up Garth Butcher, and one sportswriter quipped "Somebody stop Fletcher before he goes out and trades for a candlestick-maker."

Another black eye for hockey during an AHL playoff game between Hamilton and Cleveland. Alexander Perezhogin swung his stick like a baseball bat and caught Garrett Stafford square in the face. Absolutely sickening. You have been warned...

http://user.fundy.net/ranold/Perezhogin.wmv

ML....Was'nt Craig not a FA signing....and the compensation was Zezel and Marshall?


The Leafs offered another player...i can't recall who.....and the stars countered with those 2....i believe the arbitor can only choose between the 2 deals offered.

None the less...Craig was an all world POS when he got here.

Isn't Mike Craig a regular on the Spengler Cup circuit these days?

Trade info on Zezel...I loved that guy when he was here.

You have it half right. He was a FA signing, but Marshall/Zezel was the Leafs offer. The Stars countered by asking for Kenny Jonsson (which they knew was unreasonable, but they figured they'd be happy with Zezel so why not take a shot). The arbitrator chose the Leafs' offer, and the rest was history.

FA arbitration trivia: When the Blues signed Shanahan from the Devils, the arbitrator stunned the hockey world by agreeing with the Devils' request for Scott Stevens as compensation. Which two players had the Blues offered?

Murray Baron and Turgeon?

HELL YEAH SHARKS!!!

Sorry DD.

Holy crap...Nabokov is my hero.

Shit, I hope Yzerman is going to be ok :(

What happened? I'm watching the other game...

EDIT - Ouch...they just showed it.

Can Fischer do something useful in the playoffs please? All he is doing is playing out of position and taking penalties.

Wow...one period left. Let's go Sharks!

Thats a great question

could it be CuJo,
and hmm....
Adam Oates?

CuJo is correct. Oates is not. The other guy is still an active NHLer.

Holy crap!!!

My heart about stopped in that little series when the puck just dribbled along the line...

Barely. :)

Brind'Amour wasn't it? (I'd forgotten about Cujo though....wow)

Man, you can really tell the Avs are going all-out now.

Bingo.

(So how would hockey history have changed if the Devils had acquired CuJo right before he broke into the upper tier of goalies...)

DAMN it.