The OFFICIAL 2007 NHL Offseason Thread

[Draft Dodger]

no mention of Ken Klee? or is too soon?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

It was payback for you guys taking Rob Pearson off our hands.

P.S. Don't forget Bob Rouse and Peter Zezel, acquired for Al Iafrate. Man, I loved all three of those guys.

How many games do you think Peter Zezel played in his career where his excellent ability to play the puck with his feet thanks to his soccer skills was not mentioned?

I would have to say less than 5%.

Bob Rouse was one of the legion of "tough" defensemen that the Wings brought in during their seemingly eternal (and still on-going) search for some toughness on the blueline. Other similar legends included Bob McGill, Terry Carkner, and Dennis Vial.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

no mention of Ken Klee? or is too soon?

Please don't mention Ken Klee. I'd kinda like to forget those 10 minutes he spent with the Devils in 2006.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Please don't mention Ken Klee. I'd kinda like to forget those 10 minutes he spent with the Devils in 2006.

you know, Ken Klee was surprisingly good with the Avs this year. I was not expecting that at all.

we're not going to take Colin White, though, so don't even ask.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Glen Wesley is a charter member of the "Semi-Famnous Guys Who Played for the Leafs Who I Have No Recollection of At All" Club, along with Dave Gagner, Tom Barrasso and Phil Housley.

Jeff Brown is the president.

After reading this, I looked up the names of Devils players to see if anyone would fall into a similar category for me. Well, I found the president of the club: Jason Smith. The guy plays about 70+ games every year for Edmonton, but I don't remember him at all in New Jersey. He played in 130 games for the Devils, and I never would have known it.

I don't remember Steve Sullivan or Peter Zezel playing for the Devils either, but they spent a little time in New Jersey, too. Weird.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

you know, Ken Klee was surprisingly good with the Avs this year. I was not expecting that at all.

we're not going to take Colin White, though, so don't even ask.

Ken Klee actually played this year? They still make Ken Klee?

And please take Colin White. Please. He'd save the team a fortune on a dental plan, considering that I think he's only got about three teeth left. C'mon, this can work. We'll trade him over there for Joe Sakic. Lou will work Sakic under the salary cap. Pleeeeease...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Y'know, it's almost disturbing to me how many of these short-stint players I actually do remember with their various teams.

Played way too much NHL 0X' on Sega Genesis I guess.

[Simms]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

How many games do you think Peter Zezel played in his career where his excellent ability to play the puck with his feet thanks to his soccer skills was not mentioned?

It's a shame they never talked as glowingly about his appearance in Youngblood.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

After reading this, I looked up the names of Devils players to see if anyone would fall into a similar category for me. Well, I found the president of the club: Jason Smith. The guy plays about 70+ games every year for Edmonton, but I don't remember him at all in New Jersey. He played in 130 games for the Devils, and I never would have known it.

I don't remember Steve Sullivan or Peter Zezel playing for the Devils either, but they spent a little time in New Jersey, too. Weird.

Sullivan and Jason Smith both started in New Jersey and were sent to Toronto in the Gilmour trade, along with Alyn McCauley. The Leafs did well in the trade, but blew it years later by trading Smith to the Oilers for two draft picks, letting Sullivan go on waivers, and trading McCauley in the Owen Nolan deal.

The Devils also got Dave Ellett in that trade, and later picked up ex-Leaf Dave Andreychuk. Andreychuk and Gilmour were actually linemates on three different teams, they played together in Buffalo as well. Gilmour and Andreychuk are actually great "we had him?" guys late in their careers -- for example, did you know Andreychuk played for the Bruins and Avalanche, and Gilmour was captain of the Blackhawks, played for Montreal and finished his career playing half a game for the Leafs?

Speaking of ex-Leafs, most of the Leafs defence corps from the 1993 playoff run went on to play for the Red Wings in the late 90s: Rouse, Macoun, Gill, and Mirinov. Only Ellett and Sylvain Lefvebre managed to avoid Detroit. The Wings also had ex-Leafs Larry Murphy and Wendel Clark, not to mention Clark's cousin Joey Kocur. Clark and Kocur are both from Kelvington, Saskatchewan which is also the home of former NHL tough guy Kelly Chase.

I wrote the last three paragraphs without having to look anything up. Should I kill myself?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by HiFiRevival

Whoa, Larry "Whoop Whoop" Murphy, the guy who got an assist on the greatest goal in Caps history, was a Leaf as well?

It's starting to look like Toronto and Washington have been the charter members of the limited players vortex of suck.

We had Mike Gartner too.

But you guys got to experience John Kordic, so that evened out.

[bbor]

Don't forget about the greatest Leaf goalie ever...Mike palmateer...he played for the Caps also.

[boberot]

Wow. Phil Housley, Dave Andreychuk, Doug Gilmour [even Calle Johannson and Randy Wood] -- as a lifelong Sabres fan, it's a little stroll down memory lane.

Not to speak for a whole community of sports fans, but:

Danny Briere -- the feeling is that he's as good as gone already, and that nobody will beat their breast too vigorously about his departure.

Thomas Vanek -- a restricted free agent. It would be extremely hard to fathom that the Sabres wouldn't do everything possible to retain him.

Drury -- obviously beloved in Buffalo. There have been lots of whispers about him going to California [LA in particular] for personal / family reasons as much as anything else. In fact, Drury is unwinding from the season in Cali as I type.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Speaking of ex-Leafs, most of the Leafs defence corps from the 1993 playoff run went on to play for the Red Wings in the late 90s: Rouse*, Macoun*, Gill, and Mirinov*. Only Ellett and Sylvain Lefvebre managed to avoid Detroit. The Wings also had ex-Leafs Larry Murphy* and Wendel Clark, not to mention Clark's cousin Joey Kocur. Clark and Kocur are both from Kelvington, Saskatchewan which is also the home of former NHL tough guy Kelly Chase.

Players' names in bold indicate ex-Leaf defensemen who won a Stanley Cup with the Wings.

Larry Murphy works out at the gym I used to belong to. I saw him there a couple of times and thought it'd be funny to do the "Whoop Whoop" thing while he was running on the treadmill, but didn't. He was great during his time here in Detroit.

[bbor]

If you take Drury and Briere out of Buffalo what are you left with,,,,Connelly as a number 1?

Buffallo needs to resign at least 2 of those 3 guys or else they will be taking a major step backwards IMHO.

I can see the Flyers making a huge bid for Vanek and or Drury.

[DeToxRox]

I think Briere is going to Philly.

[boberot]

Originally Posted by bbor

If you take Drury and Briere out of Buffalo what are you left with,,,,Connelly as a number 1?

Buffallo needs to resign at least 2 of those 3 guys or else they will be taking a major step backwards IMHO.

I can see the Flyers making a huge bid for Vanek and or Drury.

I feel ya -- I think Vanek will be back and I hope like hell Drury will.
But there's a lot more there than just Connolly beyond that.
Jason Pominville had 34 goals, Derek Roy had 21 [63pts], Maxim Afinogenov had 23 goals despite missing time with injury, hopefully Zubrus [24 goals] comes back and then there are the kids down on the farm:
Drew Stafford played 40+ games and looked good netting 13-14-27; and a few others that saw limited time with the big club but did not look out of place at all.

Still, there is frustration that Buffalo doesn't like to renegotiate during the season, so we're left with this mess.

[Johnny93g]

I'm Surprised the Ron Francis hasn't been brought up in this discussion yet

[DeToxRox]

More Wings for the hardly any recollection at all nomination..

Bill Ranford and Tim taylor

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

More Wings for the hardly any recollection at all nomination..

Bill Ranford and Tim taylor

I remember Ranford really well. He came over during that crazy deadline day in 1999 along with Chelios, Wendel Clark, and Ulf Samuelsson.

Osgood got hurt and Ranford filled in for him during the Colorado series. Ranford was simply stellar in the first two games. Really, really good. He let in one horrible goal in the third game and simply crumbled. He was awful after that. So bad that the Wings had to rush an injured Chris Osgood back into the net. It did not end well.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by bronconick

Guessing lines at this point is impossible to make for myself. Michalek-Thornton-Cheechoo will be the first line, and Vlasic will continue to see top 2 minutes on defense. Frankly, he was one of the best 3 rookies last year, but in a year with Malkin, a 19 year old defensemen who plays like a 28 year old isn't going to get much notice.

No offense meant, as I think Vlasic could be a good one, but isn't this stretching things a bit? I can think of three rookies from the Pacific Division alone that had better years than Vlasic (Kopitar, Penner, Mike Smith). I'm not even sure he was the Sharks' best rookie.

[Chief Rum]

Heh...looking up players you forgot were a part of your team is fun. Some guys I forgot about from the Ducks of old (noting old is relative, since they have only been around 14 years)...

D J.J. Daigneault, D Kevin Haller, D Sean Hill, D Bill Houlder, the infamous former Leaf D Tom Kurvers, F Sergei Krivakrosov, F Sean Pronger, F Anatoli Semenov, G Mikhail Shtalenkov, G Ron Tugnutt, D Dave Karpa and F Jason York.

[bhlloy]

Some good memories there. Dave Karpa was crap but he was a good instigator who wasn't too scared to drop the gloves... one of my favorite players back in the day. Between Shtalenkov & Bryzgalov the Ducks must have had Russian backups with not enough vowels in their name for most of their existence. Bill Houlder was a great old school defenseman as well.

I don't remember Kurvers or Krivokrasov in a Ducks uniform at all though.

What really makes me nostalgic is looking at the old school fighters the Ducks managed to dress over the years. You could dress an entire team of crappy Ducks tough guys... Lambert, Sawyer, Cummins, Antoski, Rychel, Leboutillier, Jeremy Stevenson, Baumgartner, Ewen and Mike Brown. In fact I think the only guys the Ducks have ever had that weren't speedbags were Grimson, Fedoruk when he had a face left and Parros this year. Maybe Ewen wasn't too bad thinking about it.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Heh...looking up players you forgot were a part of your team is fun. Some guys I forgot about from the Ducks of old (noting old is relative, since they have only been around 14 years)...

D J.J. Daigneault,

JJ Daigneault also spent some time in Pittsburgh. Isn't he right behind Mike Sillinger as far as teams played for, something like 8?

Pens had some lean years on D in the late 90's-- Daignealt, Viktor Ignatjiev, Jeff Serowik, Brad Werenka, Jiri Slegr, Bobby Dollas (twice, came back with Johan Hedberg in 2001). That is probably made Kevin Hatcher actually look good at that point.

[DeToxRox]

Whatever happened in Brian Bradley? God's gift to NHL 94.

[Maple Leafs]

Brian Bradley, oddly enough, was once traded straightup by the Canucks to the Leafs for Tom Kurvers.

It all comes back to Kurvers.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Brian Bradley, oddly enough, was once traded straightup by the Canucks to the Leafs for Tom Kurvers.

It all comes back to Kurvers.

6 Degrees of Tom Kurvers

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

6 Degrees of Tom Kurvers

Speaking of six degrees, what very specific thing do the following players (among others) have in common: Eric Lindros, Mats Sundin, Ron Hextall, Mike Ridley, Wendel Clark, Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg?

The answer is, sadly, not Kurvers related.

[Karim]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Speaking of six degrees, what very specific thing do the following players (among others) have in common: Eric Lindros, Mats Sundin, Ron Hextall, Mike Ridley, Wendel Clark, Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg?

The answer is, sadly, not Kurvers related.

They all were part of the Nordiques organization?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Karim

They all were part of the Nordiques organization?

Nope. Ridley never played in Quebec, and of course Lindros was never under contract to them either.

[bhlloy]

All were involved in the Lindros trade, either directly or indirectly? I know Sundin and Forsberg were selected with the picks that the Nords got, and I'm sure Hextall, Clark & Ricci all went to Quebec as well. Did Ridley go the other way to Philly or was he picked by Philly with a pick they got from Quebec in the deal?

EDIT - this is clearly wrong because Sundin was drafted the year before the Lindros deal. Too many guys involved in the Lindros deal here to be just coincidence though surely?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

All were involved in the Lindros trade, either directly or indirectly? I know Sundin and Forsberg were selected with the picks that the Nords got, and I'm sure Hextall, Clark & Ricci all went to Quebec as well. Did Ridley go the other way to Philly or was he picked by Philly with a pick they got from Quebec in the deal?

Nope... several of those players had nothing to do with the Lindros/Forsberg deal, including a few that you say you're sure of.

[bhlloy]

OK... so:

Lindros traded for Forsberg, Hextall, Ricci
Sundin traded for Clark & 1st round pick in the Lindros deal

Mike Ridley traded to Toronto for Rob Pearson & traded away for Sergio Momesso????

I'm guessing I'm completely on the wrong track with the trade angle, because I can't for the life of me connect Ridley to the other guys

EDIT - Actually I'm wrong again. The 1994 first rounder in the Lindros deal was included in the Pearson - Ridley trade. So they were all connected to the Lindros trade in some way - unless Maple Leafs is thinking of something else.

[sterlingice]

I didn't realize this was "The OFFICIAL Mid 90's NHL Offseason Thread"

SI

[DeToxRox]

I demand answers, ML.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Speaking of six degrees, what very specific thing do the following players (among others) have in common: Eric Lindros, Mats Sundin, Ron Hextall, Mike Ridley, Wendel Clark, Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg?

The answer is, sadly, not Kurvers related.

they were all offered huge contracts to play for the Leafs?

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Speaking of six degrees, what very specific thing do the following players (among others) have in common: Eric Lindros, Mats Sundin, Ron Hextall, Mike Ridley, Wendel Clark, Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg?

None of them have ever been in my kitchen.

[Maple Leafs]

Sorry, bhlloy basically got it but I missed his edit.

The answer is that all those guys were are some point in their careers traded for or with the 10th overall pick in the 1994 entry draft. The pick was used in each of the Lindros, Sundin and Ridley deals. The Caps eventually wound up with it and took Nolan Baumgartner.

(Other guys who could appear in the question include Garth Butcher, Steve Duschene, Sylvain Lefvebre and Chris Simon.)

[Maple Leafs]

Here's another good trivia question. It's reasonably easy to google so it's not a great online question, but keep it in your back pocket for the next time you're having a few beers with some hockey fans.

Name all the NHL players who, at some point in their careers, won an MVP award and also played with Paul Coffey. (Not necessarily in the same year.)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Here's another good trivia question. It's reasonably easy to google so it's not a great online question, but keep it in your back pocket for the next time you're having a few beers with some hockey fans.

Name all the NHL players who, at some point in their careers, won an MVP award and also played with Paul Coffey. (Not necessarily in the same year.)

Off the top of my head the obvious ones would be: Jagr, Lemieux, Gretzky, Messier, and Fedorov.

I sort of lost track of Paul Coffey after he left the Wings. He bounced around a lot after that.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Off the top of my head the obvious ones would be: Jagr, Lemieux, Gretzky, Messier, and Fedorov.

I sort of lost track of Paul Coffey after he left the Wings. He bounced around a lot after that.

Lindros too, im pretty sure he and Coffey were on the Flyers at the same time

[Draft Dodger]

Joe Thornton as well

[Draft Dodger]

and Trottier

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

No offense meant, as I think Vlasic could be a good one, but isn't this stretching things a bit? I can think of three rookies from the Pacific Division alone that had better years than Vlasic (Kopitar, Penner, Mike Smith). I'm not even sure he was the Sharks' best rookie.

Yeah, probably. I'm probably forced to do so when he was the only defensemen besides Hannan who actually knew how to play defense this season. They basically told him to not worry about offense and just not make mistakes on defense, and for the most part, that's exactly what he did.
2nd behind Hannan in icetime. Easily the Sharks best rookie, though.

1. Vlasic
2. Clowe
3. Pavelski
4. Carle (technically considered a rookie)

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

Joe Thornton as well

Wow, I've had this question for a few years and it never even occured to me that Thornton would also need to be added to the list. That makes for a total of eight (along with Gretzky, Lemieux, Lindros, Messier, Federov, Jagr and Trottier). Pretty amazing when you consider that during Coffey's prime the same few guys won the Hart every year.

[GMO]

Muckler, the 73-year old GM of the Senators should go, but he has one year left in his cobtract.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Here's another good trivia question. It's reasonably easy to google so it's not a great online question, but keep it in your back pocket for the next time you're having a few beers with some hockey fans.

Name all the NHL players who, at some point in their careers, won an MVP award and also played with Paul Coffey. (Not necessarily in the same year.)

Would that be everyone who won the MVP from 1980-2005?

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Would that be everyone who won the MVP from 1980-2005?

off the top of my head, Hull and Hasek were in there somewhere

[Draft Dodger]

no surprise here: Pierre Turgeon retired today. It's only the official move that went into effect midway through last season, when a "calf injury" put Turgeon on the shelf and saved him from being a healthy scratch the rest of the way.

http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_6117474