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Around the League 2019-2024 Edition

WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
My first customized jersey was a Guy Lafleur home white model that I got at the Forum gift shop when I was about 12 years old. I used to wear it to school and troll my Leafs fan classmates in 78 and 79 when the Habs rolled them like winos in the gutter in the playoffs. Thanks for that, Guy, and rest in peace.

www.espn.com

Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur dies at age 70

Guy Lafleur, the winger affectionately known as "The Flower" and "The Blond Demon" who won five Stanley Cup titles during a Hall of Fame career with the Canadiens, has died at age 70.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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i own about 15 habs jerseys - 1 of them has a number on it...it is 10 - also the number i wear in hockey
 
I can't believe the Habs refused to trade Lafleur and forced him to retire. That's dumb. Be respectful and honour his trade request. He was still a very good player stuck in a defensive system he hated under Lemaire.
 
Lebrun posted on twitter the clips from lafleurs return as a ranger and he scores two goals against Roy that night. Every single person in the crowd was howling for joy. for Lafleur the Ranger.

Pat Burns looks mad as hell as the habs coach. Great clip
 
As an immigrant to Canada from Uruguay, my dad gravitated to hockey because he knew the cultural importance it has on being a Canadian.

Being the late 70's we would watch HNIC every Saturday and because I was born in Toronto my dad told me I had to cheer for the leafs. He made my brother be a habs fan cuz he was born in Uruguay, and even in Uruguay my dad bought us soccer uniforms from the two rival teams. (Nacional and Penarol)

Anyway, my dad became a Habs fan because those 70's teams with Lafleur were magical, and my dad would say that the Habs reminded him of how Brazil played soccer.. ticky tacky.. perfect precision., and Lafleur was his favourite. My brother loved Robinson.

What a perfect example of a French Canadian Hockey player.. the hair, the style, the finish and not necessarily the biggest, toughest looking guy.

RIP
 
worm said:
i own about 15 habs jerseys - 1 of them has a number on it...it is 10 - also the number i wear in hockey
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I have a signed Lafleur. It's right beside my Beliveau. Sad that they now hang on the deceased wall with Richard.
 
cmaleski2 said:
Goalies were relatively useless back in the day.
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Except for Ken Dryden:
Played 8 seasons
Won 6 Cups (LOL)
922 Career Save Percentage

and oh, yeah, he sat out an entire year when the Habs didn’t meet his salary request, took a job at a law firm and watched the Habs struggle without him (bounced out in the first round) before coming back as the top paid keeper in the game and winning a bunch more Cups.
 
CH1 said:
Except for Ken Dryden:
Played 8 seasons
Won 6 Cups (LOL)
922 Career Save Percentage

and oh, yeah, he sat out an entire year when the Habs didn’t meet his salary request, took a job at a law firm and watched the Habs struggle without him (bounced out in the first round) before coming back as the top paid keeper in the game and winning a bunch more Cups.
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Damn, that would be pretty cool for a lawyer to be able to just decide year in and year out whether he'd rather play in the NHL.

The good old days. That sort of thing doesn't happen now. Sigh.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Damn, that would be pretty cool for a lawyer to be able to just decide year in and year out whether he'd rather play in the NHL.

The good old days. That sort of thing doesn't happen now. Sigh.
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I can think of a team dear to your heart that would hire your legal ass in a heartbeat if you were able to put up a 920 save percentage
 
CH1 said:
I can think of a team dear to your heart that would hire your legal ass in a heartbeat if you were able to put up a 920 save percentage
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I'm sure the Leafs and their deep pockets scouted his road hockey league already and decided they weren't interested. But the important thing is that they did their due dilligence.
 
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Preston said:
I'm sure the Leafs and their deep pockets scouted his road hockey league already and decided they weren't interested. But the important thing is that they did their due dilligence.
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Couch money but LOF insisted they throw in a Harvey’s franchise and Doobs could not abide discussing a non official fast food sponsor
 
'Heavy Hockey' = Playoff Wins

Dom did up a study about playoff results in recent years. His conclusions are alarming and upsetting but not surprising. Well worth a read.

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Looking at conference finalists, it seems like being big and physical has been crucial over the last four playoffs with nearly every red dot residing in that quadrant. But before that, there were plenty of other conference finalists with different makeups. It was all random. That shows pretty clearly when looking at just Stanley Cup champions, which feature two distinct clusters: the heavy teams and the not-so-heavy teams. Teams have won before without conforming to “heavy” hockey, it just hasn’t happened in a while.
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And that’s the rub right now; it’s easy to say a team is “too soft” to win in the playoffs when the current version of the playoffs have confirmed that for four straight years. It’s been a long time since a non-heavy team has done significant damage making it difficult to envision success through such an avenue. Even the speed and skill era had intermittent victories by the Kings to suggest there was another way. Right now, it’s getting a bit difficult to see a pure skill team break through.

That’s where Gaudreau and Marner re-enter the picture. After an incredibly successful regular season for both superstar wingers, it’s up to them to show they can withstand the rigours of playoff hockey like never before. Prove the last times were aberrations. Prove they can keep their level of play in a tougher environment. Prove they belong by showing that elite finesse not only has a place come playoff time, but can thrive within it. Their success can help usher in a new era.
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Based on the chart above, it’ll be really interesting to see how certain teams fare come playoff time. Colorado, Florida and Toronto are similarly built with a high focus on speed and skill, but the question plaguing all three is whether any of those teams can win playoff-style hockey. Those same questions don’t arise for teams like Calgary, Boston or the Rangers who made a specific focus last offseason to become tougher to play against. Given the way the last few playoffs have shaken out, and that Panarin fits the Gaudreau-Marner mold, that may have been for a better reason than previously given credit for.
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Heavy hockey has often been ignored by stats-types in the past (myself included) due to the inverse link between puck possession and physicality. If it’s a choice between one or the other, puck possession wins, but it’s getting too difficult to ignore how big of a factor physicality has been over the last few playoffs. It’s time to start paying more attention to that side of the game.
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moar boosh

honestly, not surprised. system is designed for them to have more success in the playoffs.

if the leafs are out, i know what teams i'll be cheering for instead.
 
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