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BOOK REVIEW: Burke' Law: A Life in Hockey

Preston said:
That Canes series tainted a lot of that era for me. They had no reason to lose that one. They would have lost in the finals anyway but we would have had Habsy esque "memories" from the finals appearance.
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The infuriating thing about that was once they started to get healthy and get stars back they quickly got eliminated. 02' is a bit of a stink of Sundin's playoff career.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
In the early 90's the Red Wings were like the Leafs of today: big winners during the regular season and absolute playoff chokers. Back then, beating Detroit in the playoffs was no great accomplishment. They were a mirage until Scotty Bowman showed up. The 93 Leafs only finished 4 points behind Detroit so it wasn't a huge upset. They also finished well ahead of both the Blues and the Kings that season.

And don't come and try to convince me that the Leafs weren't heavily favored to beat Vancouver in 94. The Canucks were barely a 500 team that season and had they played in the Central Division with the Leafs would have finished in 5th place out of 6 teams.
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You are correct about Detroit. Although I have to say the narrative they started to win (Which you did not say but so many do) because Yzerman agreed to play a 2 way game makes me vomit and might be one of, if not the biggest horseshit hockey narratives out there. Humm, 2 way game or Lidstrom hitting his prime, Shanahan added, Konstantinov, Vernon, Fedorov...
 
2021-2022 - .700 Keefe
2020-2021 - .688 Keefe
2017-2018 - .640 Babs
2003-2004 - .628 Quinn
2018-2019 - .610 Babs
2001-2002 - .610 Quinn
1999-2000 - .610 Quinn
2002-2003 - .598 Quinn
 
JackBurton said:
You are correct about Detroit. Although I have to say the narrative they started to win (Which you did not say but so many do) because Yzerman agreed to play a 2 way game makes me vomit and might be one of, if not the biggest horseshit hockey narratives out there.
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They started winning when Bowman got rid of sacred cows like Shawn Burr and told Yzerman that he wasn't all that just because he was a big deal in Detroit. He did the same thing in the late 70's when Pierre Larouche was dealt to the Habs for Pete Mahovlich. Larouche was a 50 goal scorer on a putrid Pittsburgh team and was known as "Lazy Pierre". Bowman quickly broke him of any illusions he had about his worth. He was hot shit in Pittsburgh but on a team full of scoring in Montreal he was a luxury that Bowman could afford to bench, which he did often.
 
but honestly comparing how this incarnation does in October or December to past teams that couldn't win more than a round or two seems like pointless navel-gazing. they had better be better than those teams, or we won't get near a Cup.
 
We all know they gotta get it done in the playoffs. It doesn't really mean this isn't a better team than the Ballard era (??). I'm legitimately confused as to why someone would make that statement? Just to justify a paragraph on Palmateer or something?
 
Both those teams had one single elite prime player - Gilmour and Sundin.

Every other impact player was either in the good but not elite category or the elite talent but old category.

They were fun like all gritty underdogs were fun.

This team is far better, and will be for a long time.
 
Agreed. this is the most talented Leaf team ever. John Tavares is our #2 C,,, William Nylander is our 4th best forward.
I did love that 93 D though. 6 guys, all similar. No #1 but amazing depth.
 
JackBurton said:
Agreed. this is the most talented Leaf team ever. John Tavares is our #2 C,,, William Nylander is our 4th best forward.
I did love that 93 D though. 6 guys, all similar. No #1 but amazing depth.
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Even then though - it was probably the team defense that made them look good. I'm not sure any of those guys other than Ellett was ever more than a #4 guy on any other team.
 
zeke said:
Even then though - it was probably the team defense that made them look good. I'm not sure any of those guys other than Ellett was ever more than a #4 guy on any other team.
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Yeah, no big talents on that D at all. I think they all played physical and had good defensive abilities and that was for all 3 pairings. More of a great depth D than actual abundance of talent.
 
JackBurton said:
Agreed. this is the most talented Leaf team ever. John Tavares is our #2 C,,, William Nylander is our 4th best forward.
I did love that 93 D though. 6 guys, all similar. No #1 but amazing depth.
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Tavares has been in the league for a dozen years and has been to the second round exactly once. He barely has any playoff experience to speak of. 870 regular season games played, but only 37 career playoff games. He's not getting you anywhere.
 
WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou said:
Tavares has been in the league for a dozen years and has been to the second round exactly once. He barely has any playoff experience to speak of. 870 regular season games played, but only 37 career playoff games. He's not getting you anywhere.
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I really don't get caught up in the 'How many rounds has he won? " bit. Hockey is a team game. He's a fantastic centre. having him as your #2 C is great. There is so much that goes into a long playoff run. many times it's good fortune. Ovie is a post away from never getting to the finals. The Habs had that fluke run last year. They padded their playoff GPs. Does it mean anything really in terms of knowing how to win in the playoffs?
 
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