Yzerfan1999

I am pretty sure Kariya was getting top line and top PP mins in Nashville, and he is a first liner in St. Louis as well.

I am aware he is 400 points behind Sundin, but he is also 33 years old. I don't expect Kariya to pass Sundin's totals, but I bet they end up pretty damn close, at least within 150 points of one another. From 95-2000 Kariya was one the best players in the NHL - when Gary Suter knocked him out of the Nagano Olympics in 98, I remember it being devastating for Team Canada. He was set to be one of their top liners. And comparing Cliff Ronning to Paul Kariya is just silly, Kariya has way better finish then Ronning ever had. I don't buy this Sundin had no support crap either. Sure, this year he had nothing, but what about guys like Tucker, Nolan, Allison, Roberts, Antropov, Neiwendyk and Gilmour. There are plenty of above average players - some great players in that group. The Leafs had some half decent teams in the earlier part of this decade. You can make the argument about being consistent, which is all fine and good but he has been a 75-85 point guy with or without some great players on his team. Is that good or bad? I don't consider a player in this league 'premier' or 'elite' until he strings together two or three 90pt seasons, something Sundin has failed to ever do. Like I said, I am not arguing that Sundin won't make it into the Hall, because he surely will. Toronto will make sure of that - I just think he is an overrated player, and has been for a while.

You mean a condom with a hole in it?

That was actually a really good article. Confirms my belief that Burke is tremendously overrated. Thanks for the post!

Fair enough. But if Sundin is considered a HOFer at this point, then people have include a guy like Paul Kariya when he retires. He will have 1000 pts by the end of the season, and when his career ends in 3 or 4 years they will have very comparable stats. I think what most people see with Sundin is a real lack of recognized personal achievement and no team achievement outside of the Olympics...same goes for Kariya. I don't deny that Sundin is a very good hockey player and I said in my first post that he would make the hall - but he is consistently considered by CBC and TSN analysts as the best center in the league, or one of the top 5 players in the league for the last 10 years. He may have cracked the top 5 at some point, but at no point was he the best player in the league. Thats evident in his lack of personal awards. Heck he has only cracked 80pts twice in the last 10 years. Oh, and the whole argument that he has/had no support? Would that fall under the 'would've' category? Good player, but vastly overrated and overexposed through the media because of his time in Toronto.

Joe Nieuwendyk will surely make it. 3 cups, a Calder and a Conn Smythe get him in the Hall. That along with a gold medal at the Olympics, 500+ goals and 1000+ pts? Won't be longl. If Sundin can be in the Hall, so can Joe.

Sounds like he is trying to turn things around. All the best to him. I bet we see him back in the NHL at some point.

I think he will make it in just based on the fact that he was the Leafs captain and he had some pretty good years. Do I think he deserves it? Not at all. One of the most overrated players in the last 10 years, IMO. Oh, and I would rather have Cam Neely on my team then Sundin. Anyday.

Craig MacTavish is a terrible coach. They went to the finals in 2006 with horseshoes up their asses, and other then that the Oilers have been a 8th or 9th place team for the last 8 years. I have no idea what MacT has "proven".

I will agree with you here though. My dad always tells me about Danny Gallivan.. " A CANNONADING DRIVE!"

Bob Cole and Harry Neale are the WORST announcers out there. If they are not busy kissing ass to every Toronto Maple Leaf on the ice, Bob Cole is busy calling people by the wrong names (Mats Naslund instead of Marcus, for example), or just simply saying the wrong player has the puck. The guy is way too old to still be working in the booth. Jim Hughson is the same way, only he is in love with the Canucks. Although I must admit I love it when he says, "GREAT SAVE LUONGO!" As for the good ones, honestly there are not many left out there. I like Doc E when he says "A Drive!", but other then that nothing really stands out to me.

Is that Ziggy Palffy he beat out for best forward? I thought he retired from hockey due to injury. Liar....

I don't understand why this guy just doesn't go out on top. This is getting ridiculous.

No link because TSN is just breaking this. TSN Anyone care to guess what is up? If they were smart, they would fire Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish and take the 'C' from Ethan Moreau, who has played 30 games since in the last two years. The guy can't stay healthy. EDIT, sorry I wasn't clear - They have called a press conference at 1:30 et to make the announcement. Stay tuned?

Lowe was a breath of fresh air in the early going, and the 2006 run was really impressive, but he just got neck deep in s*** in the last two seasons and he had no idea how to get out...he just kept making it worse. But you are right, MacT has got to go for the Oilers to succeed. I don't think he knows how to coach talented players. Ales Hemsky could be a 90+ point guy in this league, but they don't know how to utilize him properly. And whats up with Robbie Schremp. This guy has loads of talent and they are letting him rot in the AHL. Call him up and give him some big league experience. Either that or trade him while he still has some value.

But you are right about the second part. MacT has no say in that dressing room. Time for a change already. Burns would have been good for them.

I have higher hopes for Tambellini then Kevin Lowe. I still don't understand why Burke is so pissed at Lowe, Penner is overrated to begin with, and Lowe was the one who basically gave the Ducks Chris Pronger (in other words, The Stanley Cup) for nothing. Burke should be Lowe's biggest fan. All he gave up was Joffrey Lupul, who was a HUGE bust here in Edmonton. Oh, and Lowe managed to trade away one of the only NHL stars to ever actually WANT to play for the Oilers in Ryan Smyth. Bulls*** they could not afford him, they threw 10 million at Thomas Vanek last offseason. Lowe was a joke and Daryl Katz knew it. Unfortunately the two belong to a close social/business group here in Edmonton and I don't think Katz had the balls to actually fire the guy - so this was the best he could do.

Kevin Lowe has been named Director of Hockey ops., and Steve Tambellini is the new GM of the Edmonton Oilers.

I don't understand why he would say that.

I didn't report anything to any admin. Jedi monitors this stuff himself. He deleted my comments back to you as well - not because they were childish, but because he wanted to rid the thread of everything relating to your comments in the first place. I guess you could just consider it a favour from Jedi.

Maybe Iginla doesn't dangle the way Pavel does, but he doesn't need to with the way he shoots the puck. Iginla is all power. Look at his stats. Not to mention some of the guys he has fought in his career. Jovanovski Tootoo Lecavelier Kesler Hatcher Mitchell

No way is Iginla overrated. If I had to pick one player to start a franchise around, it would probably be him. Big, strong, get offensive skills balanced with defensive responsibility, he is tough, fights, and he is a pretty darn good leader. No way he is overrated.

You may not believe it, but keep in mind you have no access to the Pens dressing room or club meetings, or anything to do with the team in general. Its a professional NHL club owned by Mario Lemieux - I'd say they probably have some idea of what they are doing with their organization.

If Nash is overrated, I would say Sundin is too. They are both 75pt a season guys, and Sundin gets talked about like he is one of the most dominant players in the NHL. He is being offered 10 million a season by the Canucks? I realize they are desperate, but is this guy really worth more then Lidstrom, Crosby, Ovechkin, or even Hossa? Not a chance. I wouldn't pay more then 5 or 6 mil for a 37 year old who scores me 75 points. He is a star, and he WAS a superstar 10 years ago, but he fails to reach the upper echelon of hockey players earlier mentioned, IMO.

Sundin and Jagr are overrated.