Ville Leino Appreciation Thread

[Guest mindfly]

Seriously f*** you leino

- I finally get to play the way I want to and I can't really deny that I hope the management team in detroit is watching me on tv, the finn says to Sportbladet

[Rivalred 630]

Seriously f*** you leino

Need to move on little buddy

[Guest mindfly]

Why is he being so cocky for... he should know his place that f*****

[Rivalred 630]

Why is he being so cocky for... he should know his place that f*****

Well, considering current situation he is in:

1. Didn't make it here in Detroit

2. Traded to Philly for a jockstrap, skate guards, and a good steak sandwich recipe

3. Did OK in Philly during the regular season

4. Coming up big in the post season for Philly

5. Has a fair chance to win the Stanley Cup

Many people would say something... Look at what Sammy said to Team Sweden and his production this year...

[Guest mindfly]

Not classy what so ever...Detroit can't change their system just to make it more comfortable for leino, either one accept the system and play your best to make it work or you can geeeeerrr ouuuutttt

[Puckpossession 3]

Not classy what so ever...Detroit can't change their system just to make it more comfortable for leino, either one accept the system and play your best to make it work or you can geeeeerrr ouuuutttt

Yes and if you have a bunch of players who buy into the system, they will easily beat a high powered free wheeling team, but of course you need talent to, but usually a team won't buy into a system if they see none anyways.

[Finnish Wing 110]

Yes and if you have a bunch of players who buy into the system, they will easily beat a high powered free wheeling team, but of course you need talent to, but usually a team won't buy into a system if they see none anyways.

Yeah, because OBVIOUSLY Philadelphia Flyers doesn't have a system at all and every player there are just working for Leino so he doesn't have to play no defense at all and that's why he's doing so well.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Ville, you missed a wide open net that would have changed the game. I don't appreciate that.

[Rivalred 630]

Ville, you missed a wide open net that would have changed the game. I don't appreciate that.

And his winning goal in Game 4 was going to go wide of the net, but hit a Hawks player in the back and deflected into an open net.

[Finnish Wing 110]

And his winning goal in Game 4 was going to go wide of the net, but hit a Hawks player in the back and deflected into an open net.

But he said he planned to do it like that.

[Manoir 70]

3 more assists tonight, now has 19 pts in 18 games.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

good for leino

not a smartass comment btw

Edited June 7, 2010 by Lidstromboli

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

3 more assists tonight, now has 19 pts in 18 games.

Imagine if he wasn't scratched for the first 4 playoff games.

[titanium2 867]

Imagine if he wasn't scratched for the first 4 playoff games.

If he wasn't scratched he wouldn't be playing as well as he is now. There's no way he wants to go back to being scratched.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

He looks freakish, every shift he takes he looks dominant.

[Jaymz99 2]

Says something about you when you post here as well.

Burn. You got me. I stand corrected.

Says the man who rushed to stick a Lightning logo next to a picture of Stevie Y. Says something about you too, so lets not throw stones too hard.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Burn. You got me. I stand corrected.

Says the man who rushed to stick a Lightning logo next to a picture of Stevie Y. Says something about you too, so lets not throw stones too hard.

Yes, how dare I root for Stevie Y as GM of the Lightning?

[Manoir 70]

The NHL rookie playoff points record is 21 set by former Wing Dino Ciccarelli. Leino is now 2 pts back and I think he's still considered a rookie.

[Buppy 1,720]

...

There are always options. Despite a rough season, Holland shouldn't have turned his sights right to one of our most valuable prospects.

...

This thread just seems to be excuse after excuse to justify what obviously was just a bad decision on Holland's part. He had to pick somone to go and he chose.....poorly. The quicker you guys wise up and accept it, the better. There's simply no justifying trading a guy for zilch who ends up being the star of the SCF, no matter how you look at it. And even if what some of you say is true, that he just didn't "fit into our system". How does that reflect on us and our organization? So we essentially have a system that somehow holds back and doesn't fit a guy who, on another team, would be a prime goal scorer and point producer? That doesn't sound any better.

Oh and feel free to dig up my posts from when the trade was announced. From the moment he was traded, I said it was idiotic and would come back to bite us in the ass, just like I did with Quincey and just like I said signing Williams was the worst mistake Holland could do in the offseason. I'll happily admit when I'm wrong but it's rarely the case. ....

I did dig up your one post (related to Leino at least) from the Leino trade thread...

I dunno guys.....

I see Leino having a breakout season next year (ala Quincey) and a LOT of pissed Wings fans......

While you did indeed dislike the move, that sounds a lot more like Quincey-inspired fear than actually thinking it was 'idiotic'.

I also dug up this post from you regarding possibly trading Williams...

Is it that unfathomable for a team to take on Williams and Lebda's contracts combined? With those guys you can at least make a decent selling attempt. Williams does have some skill and Lebda has speed and playoff experience.

Yes, that actually would be a nice package for some decent draft picks. Like I said though, the one thing we can't afford to do right now is shed potential offense, and shedding Williams would be doing just that. If our offense wasn't such s***, I'd be all over it.

So you didn't want to get rid of Williams back then either. Guess you're not the genius you pretend to be.

What the people now criticizing the Leino move are failing to recognize is the more or less complete lack of options we had. You act like it was all about us giving up on Leino. Like Holland couldn't wait to throw the guy away, like he was sitting in his office saying "man, Leino sucks, I'm going to trade his lazy ass".

We had to trim about $2 million in cap space. (Or around 1.5 million after May was waived. ~$625k factoring in Maltby going on IR.) Even you thought we needed all the offense we could get, so moving Williams wasn't a realistic option. Miller and Eaves didn't make enough, and were playing too well besides.

So we had basically 3 'options':

1. Get rid of Leino

2. Get rid of Lebda

3. Get rid of Lilja

Considering that we needed improvements on defense and the PK, bringing Lilja back was certain. But coming back after a year off, he was an enormous question mark, so we couldn't get rid of Lebda either. So it was a choice between trying to improve the defense, or keep an underperforming Leino (who also seemed to be growing increasingly discontent here).

You can NOT judge a decision based solely on hindsight. Was it really a mistake? In the same sense as something like passing on Bure in the '89 draft was, perhaps. But we can't say how it might have worked out if Leino had stayed. Hell, he might have gotten fed up and went back to Finland for all we know. Perhaps he really isn't suited to our system. I'm not sure why you think that's such a negative thing. Our system is complex, but also very effective. So what if every once in a while we get a player that doesn't do well here, there are plenty enough players who do. Certainly no reason to knock the most successful style in hockey (perhaps even hockey history if you factor in the Red Army teams). Maybe he wasn't the best fit with our players. We had a lot of guys that don't seem to shoot as often as they should, and Leino has the same problem...not the best recipe for success. Maybe it's the coaches. Our coach is among the best in the game, who cares if they aren't perfect for every player in the world.

So let's finally put this ridiculous thread to rest. Leino wasn't working out here, and may never have. Holland made the right deicsion at the time. So it worked out great for Philly. Who cares? You can't say that it hurt us at all, so just let it go. It's not like we wasted a 1st round pick or traded something to get him in the first place.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Leino's gonna kick all of your asses!

[Guest Heaten]

So let's finally put this ridiculous thread to rest. Leino wasn't working out here, and may never have. Holland made the right deicsion at the time. So it worked out great for Philly. Who cares? You can't say that it hurt us at all, so just let it go. It's not like we wasted a 1st round pick or traded something to get him in the first place.

Couldn't agree more. I'm happy with the free 5th rounder since we have scouts that consistently pick gems in the later rounds.

[titanium2 867]

Leino's gonna kick all of your asses!

At Nintendo.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

At Nintendo.

It's easy to kick someone in the rear while lying on your back because you were knocked off the puck.

[Jaymz99 2]

Yes, how dare I root for Stevie Y as GM of the Lightning?

Your care less attitude about the fact that he left doesn't help your case. Most would rather not see him there, especially with the logo. I was afraid they would make a jersey for him which would have been utter blaspheme to Wings fans everywhere. I respectfully agree to disagree on this as well.

I do wish him well on his journey and hope he returns in the future. I also wish Scotty Bowman well with the Hawks. And Paul MacLean possibly with the Blue Jackets.

[Guest zackmorris]

It's rare but I agree with mindfly. If Leino is saying what he's saying, attempting to rub our faces in it, then he can get bent. Don't forget Ville, you can go right back to being a nobody pretty easily. The sun is shining now, just like it has on many surprise players in the postseason, but you could be like many of them and disappear afterward.

So yeah Ville we're watching you. And the next time Philly is competing in the draft lottery, you can watch us competing in the playoffs.