clay@sask.UUCP (Clay Cederstrand) (11/19/85)
From postnews Sun Nov 17 19:24:01 1985 In article 436 Al Gates {seismo,rlgvax}!bdmrrr!gates writes: References: <474@bdmrrr.UUCP> > > It is really sad to see the Toronto Maple Leafs struggle like they are. > Toronto, home of the hockey hall of fame, and a hockey center, has a > NHL franchise that is an embarrassment to the league. What has gone > wrong with this organization? > > Borje Salming has been one of their mainstays for a long time. He is truly > one of the better (and lately underrated) defensemen in the league. > Unfortunately, once you get past Rick Vaive, Bill Derlago, and John Anderson, > there is little supporting cast. The goaltending situation in Toronto is > atrocious. Surely there must be some better talent for the Leafs out there > somewhere! No doubt the Maple Loafs as they are commonly called have problems, I think the biggest problem lies with the owner Ballard. He is the George Steinbrenner of the hockey world, althougth to be fair he has been quiet this year due to serious health problems. I also am not sold on Maloney as a coach, I don't think he has the experience yet. The Leafs have some good talent in the likes of Wendell Clark and Dan Hodgeson and some good young defencemen, so if Ballard can remain patient the future looks good. Billy Derlago is now a Boston Bruin and the Leafs got Tom Fergus, and although either has not played in more than 15 games it looks as though the Leafs got the better of the trade. Fergus is currently second leading scorer on the team. What amazes me is the number of games they have lost after having two and three goal leads going into the final period, this really looks like a serious coaching problem. Any coachs care to comment ? > > II > > Since the four charter members of the NHL were all from Canada, does the > word 'National' in 'NHL' imply Canada? I'm willing to wager that most > Americans believe that 'National' stands for U.S. > > If this truly is Canada's league, how come the Blues weren't allowed to > go to Saskatoon? Is the U.S. running a Canadian league? How did this > evolve? No I don't believe the National means Canadian only, I couldn't speak for most Americans though. What pisses me off is that the American governors in the NHL refuse to allow a expansion team in Canada soley because its difficult to sell interest to the fans when a team from Saskatoon comes to town. Thats a out and out stupid attitude and reflects their ignorance of the game and also its fans. Its the QUALITY of the team that makes the difference and the personalitys on the team. I bet that most Americans, and I not being critical of them here, don't know where Edmonton is but they come out to watch Gretzky play. I live in Saskatoon so I am not unbiased about this, but I truly believe that a NHL team would be a success here. When Bill Hunter tried to bring the Blues here, something close to hysteria erupted. That was the main topic of conversation amongst people and also dominated the media. While Hunter had problems such as no suitable arena, he did have provincial goverment support for the team. Something Harry Ornest would love....right Harry ? It is apparent that the NHL governors run the league, and the unfortunate part of that is they know nothing of hockey in a lot of cases. Ah....... that feels much now that I have that off my chest. ps sorry for the reposting, the first one got grundged mysteriously. Actually I probably require a finger transplant ( all 12 of them ).