gcom007

YEP! That’s something Holland seemingly forgot in his later years. He used to be great at finding random guys to fill out the lineup, and then he started handing out overpriced long-term deals to replaceable scrubs because they’re local guys or came up in the org. Who cares?!? It’s certainly hard to find top line guys, but capable 3rd and especially 4th line guys??? That’s doable. The team really has been mismanaged for a good while. Not saying everything Holland did was bad, but he did do quite a bit of bad over the last ten years as he’s had to evolve in the cap era. Totally. Networking and relationships go a long ways in any business; hockey is certainly no different. Command respect and treat others respectfully and you’ll likely come out ahead.

This is what holds me back from being more confident. If the defense s***s the bed hard and goaltending falls apart, they’re as screwed as they’ve been. But...you never know...

That s*** would make my life. That's the rivalry to me at this point: pure pettiness, in the most beautiful of ways.

I really don’t see it that way personally. I get the optics, but I somewhat feel like the whole thing was a show, perhaps much like Holland bringing Yzerman in and heading to Edmonton. Blashill was going to get picked off and the thought was Babcock’s voice may have been getting stale at the time, which was probably true on some level. I don’t think there’s any bad blood at all and I think at this point the Leafs/Wings rivalry doesn’t have much legitimate steam anyways. When was the last time these teams met in the playoffs? And when was the last time the Leafs were really blowing us out of the water or a consistently great team? When was their last Cup? How many have we had since their last? Of course we don’t like the Leafs and it’s fun to keep up the rivalry idea, but the Avs of the late-90s the current Leafs are not in terms of legitimate rivalry. So if it’s me making the call, if Babs gets canned, I’d bring him back.

I think a tournament among the weaker teams would be a ton of fun and more revenue and all, but it shouldn’t determine the draft order. That said, that any more than the bottom 8 are in the draft lottery needs to change.

I liked that special after the 97 Cup win when they all got up and talked and I'm pretty sure Draper gave Scotty or Mr. I a dollar back. Memories...

I voted C. No slam dunks but what could we really expect? I probably would’ve been more inclined to give him a B given the context of our situation, but then he brought Flip back...

To be fairrrrrrrrrrrrrr

We have cap space and low expectations for the next 2-3 years. We can afford to gamble.

Once again, it's July, and I'm setup to be disappointed. Don't let me down, Steve, let me down, Steve, don't let me down let me down now, Steve...

That’s what I was thinking, put the screws to them on the term. Still, think they’d match and try to trade before letting him go on offer sheet.

Yeah, I think we definitely stand a good chance of getting in if too many guys don’t regress this year, but obviously the D needs a lot of work and we don’t have a playoff goalie who can turn it on and steal a series for us. Maybe for the best to let the kids keep getting experience and shoot for one more top draft pick.

Maybe. It sure doesn’t feel like he’s going for it in any way, shape or form. Maybe it’s for the best, but I still think there’s a real good shot of being a fringe playoff team.

Maybe the Yzerplan for 2020 is to ride the tank into the sunset one last time?

Oh yeah, I mean, if Holland made the move, it’d be thermonuclear around here.