4 March 1991. Eddie Johnston–then the GM of the Hartford Whalers–trades away Whalers captain Ron Francis, defenceman Ulf Samuelsson, and forward Grant Jennings to the Pittsburgh Penguins for John Cullen and Zarley Zalapski. As soon as the Whalers’ season ends shortly thereafter, Johnston himself resigns and takes a job with–dun dun dun!–the Penguins, who go on to win the first of their two Cups that season. To this day, anyone who was a fan of the team back then still considers that move a deliberate kneecapping by a dishonest scuzzwipe.

Why do I bring this up?  Because of the following letter that appeared in the N&O’s sports section this morning:

Canes could be repeating history

Flashback to March 4, 1991: General manager Eddie Johnston of the Hartford Whalers trades fan favorite Ron Francis to the Pittsburgh Penguins, alienates fans, and the Penguins go on to win the Stanley Cup.

Brilliant.

It would appear that fools are bound to repeat history. Shortsighted, one-sided trades are the most damning legacy of this team.

Will we have to wait eight years and slog through a dearth of lousy replacements before we see Erik Cole in Raleigh again? And will Edmonton win the Stanley Cup this year?

Jennifer Fitts

Raleigh

Thanks for that letter, Ms. Fitts–in one fell swoop, you and your errant grasp of history have managed to further the stereotype of female fans as dim-witted puckbunnies who know dick-all about hockey (and the tool who write the same thing to the Fayettenam Observer furthers the stereotype of Hurricanes fans in general as a bunch of uneducated rubes who know dick-all about hockey).

I fail to see the comparison between The Eternal Captain and the super-caffeinated Erik “Espresso” Cole, and it’s a little early to call the trade “one-sided”. Have you watched Pitkanen play?  More than likely not. Have you read any scouting reports about him?  More than likely not. I’m more than happy to reserve final judgement until the middle of December, but really?  The team needed (still needs) defence, and Cole was the only tradeable asset. Had more been given up along with him, then yes–the trade would have been one-sided. But really?  As it stands now it’s pretty even.

So please, people–before getting all up in teh dramaz and making comparisons that don’t exist, learn a little bit about history. Seriously.

This is an open thread only because I’m swamped here at work and can’t spare the time to come up with a rant about Josef freaking Melichar.

The floor, folks–it is yours.

Way to be, toolbag. (850 The Buzz blog, comments)

To sum up: A fan went into a thread that should have been about applauding Glen Wesley, and decided to crap all over it by talking about how his boy Bret of the Gimpy Hip was the real loss to our defence.

I quote one of this clown’s “gems”:

A healthy Hedican was the backbone of both the 02 and 06 Stanley Cup runs. No healthy Hedican, no playoffs!

Excuse me, what? Nevermind that the Hurricanes were going to make the playoffs anyway both seasons, and that the Hurricanes were already running away with the Southeast as of February 2002 (when Gimpy came to the Hurricanes). And let’s just forget about the Season From Hell, where Gimpy was healthy–and we finished dead freakin’ last.

And plus-minus? Yes, that is a real sure-fire indicator that a defenceman is good–Marek Malik shoulda won the Norris Trophy in 2004, if a high plus-minus means that you’re great. +35? BEST DEFENCEMAN EVER, CLEARLY. A++++ HALLOFAME PLAYER WOULD SIGN AGAIN.

*snort*

Give me a break, Hedi-homers. I liked the guy, sure. Yes, a good plus-minus is a strong indicator of a defenceman’s tendencies–but I remember how craptacularly Marek Malik was treated by a lot of the “fans” here, and how he got blamed for everything from the price of tea in China to the Armenian Genocide…now suddenly a guy who made more defensive gaffes and brainfarts than I’ve ever seen Harry make is the Second Coming. Do what?

The backbone of our two Finals runs and one Cup win? What are you idiots smoking, and where can I get in on some of that action? Seriously, I’m asking here. I credit Ron Francis’ leadership for 2002, and Cam Ward’s amazing Drydenesque play in goal for 2006–and Aaron Ward was the backbone of the defence in BOTH those seasons. Gimpy? He was a supporting player. An important cog in the machinery of 2006, of course. But he was a medium-sized cog at best.

Just sayin’.

It’s been reported in LSB (by way of the National Post) that Canadian gazillionaire Jim Balsillie was (according to his people) approached by eight US-based NHL teams about a possible sale. The writer of the article, one Theresa Tedesco, made a point of mentioning that four of those teams were based in the southern US (and three of those markets–Carolina, Atlanta, and Tampa–happen to be in the SE Division), in conjunction with the words “weak hockey markets”.

Atlanta, eh. That town has ALWAYS been a slack sports town. Even when the Braves were the NL West/East/Whatever Champs for like 12839071298312476 seasons in a row, they never filled Fulton County Stadium (or its successor, Turner Field). Even when the Falcons were good (for all of like five minutes), the GeorgiaDome never got full. That said: Hockey has always been a draw in Atlanta–the Flames, had their original owner not been forced to sell them by the collapse of the real-estate market (and had the only buyer not been from Calgary), would likely still be in Atlanta and they would still be drawing modestly. That said, playing like ass does tend to keep fans away.

Tampa, though…Not really thrilled, here. Tampa’s had terrific attendance figures since the season they won the Cup, and they are a strong sports market and have been for years–hells, look at the Bucs. They were pathetic for years, and people still went to games. The market is not weak here, kids.

Which brings us to the Hurricanes. We’re not Detroit, but our economy here in the sports-crazy Triangle sucks ass and is preventing people like me from buying tickets too–of course, since we’re not Detroit we’re not allowed to use that excuse and we just have to take sidelong jabs from fans (and the occasional mediot) about us not being a hockey market. Even so, I don’t think that the Hurricanes present a very tempting target for Balsillie because really, they’re not struggling that much. The guy is going to want a team that’s seriously on the rocks because he feels that he can move it with impunity and little backlash.

Whatever happens, fans of whichever team this man latches his claws onto should prepare for that team’s imminent departure.

Hockey: It’s teh srs bzns.

Well what can I say?

There I was, all set to make this big congratulatory post (because, fool that I am, I promised I would). My WoW guildies, most of whom are fans of the Unspeakables (much to my chagrin), were spooging themselves over another five-game Cup win, and I had my mom’s number blocked.

Oh wait, I had Mom’s number blocked anyway–she’s a Celtics fan (and I am a Lakers fan).

And then, with thirty seconds left, Maxime Talbot ties the game. I settled in to watch overtime, preparing to edit my post about The Malik Effect being stronger than The Curse of the Euro Captain so I could finish getting my promised congratulations posted and go commit seppuku and have my soul dragged off to The Hell of 2:34 AM by Igor frakkin’ Larionov.

First OT gone. No score. Second OT gone. No score. The Red Wings bombarded the Penguins’ net, and Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside every shot that managed to get through a stifling Penguins’ defence. The Penguins couldn’t get a shot off for the life of them. Evgeni Malkin, bless his dear heart, tried. He tried so hard, but he just couldn’t get it done. Marian Hossa charged the net like a doughboy charging the guns of Gallipolli, but he couldn’t get through. I tuned out the talking heads on NBC, because Bob Neumeier has no business talking about hockey and Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury have CRAFTSMAN stamped on their foreheads. Then I heard it:

Petr Sykora called his shot.

My husband heard it too–he said, “Did that guy just do a Babe Ruth?”

Mind you, Sykora didn’t point to a spot out in right field or anything, but he may as well have. “Yes,” I said. “I do believe that he did.”

The third OT started, and I said “there is no way in the Nine Worlds that I am going to be anything but a freaking zombie on the bus in the morning.”

Finally, at 12:46AM (or thereabouts–I was tired and punchy and didn’t notice), Petr Sykora hit his promised homer out of the park and there will be a Game 6.

I get a perverse sense of satisfaction out of that.

Just when I was certain that the Penguins were done, they surprise me by actually bothering to show up and win Game 3. Whether it was because they bothered to actually show up or the Red Wings decided that they had the series in the bag and could slack off (or, as Wings fans will undoubtedly put it, “decided to be nice and let them have a game”), we may never know.

What we do know is that when he needed to, Sidney Crosby did what a captain has to do and led his team to victory.

Game 4 on Saturday. Hope the Pens can tie it up heading back to the Nexus of Evil, so that we’ll actually have a series for the first time in two months.

Have any of you ever had a moment where something way juicy dropped RIGHT into your lap, but you couldn’t share it with anyone?

I’m having that kind of a moment.

Just wanted to throw that out there. As soon as I know something, you will know something.