[PDSF] Calgary Flames (P1) vs. Dallas Stars (WC1) | Flames win series 4-3

[Elias Pettersson]

1 minute ago, nuckin_futz said:

These were their skates.

 

I could see Guy wearing those skates with the hair flowing...

[Iron Man]

7 minutes ago, canuck73_3 said:

Via trade by highway robbery with the California Golden Seals. 

Pretty much an EA NHL trade on easy mode

[RUPERTKBD]

BTW, @Elias Pettersson The Minnesota Fighting Saints is the most awesome team name ever (even if they weren't in the NHL)

 

And you just can't top this logo:

 

[nuckin_futz]

Here's the details of the Golden Seals trading the pick that become Guy Lafleur.

 

Best trades in Canadiens history: Shrewd moves led to Lafleur's arrival

When the NHL was setting the guidelines for its first expansion in 1967, Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock proposed a rule that would have prohibited expansion teams from trading their first-round draft picks.

The proposal was rejected by the other members of the Original Six and Pollock made them regret that decision.

Pollock believed the best chance for the expansion teams to improve was to build through the draft but, when the other teams gave him the green light, he took advantage of the Canadiens’ depth to stockpile draft choices.

He put together packages of veteran NHL players and minor-leaguers who weren’t good enough for a six-team NHL, but suddenly found new opportunities with expansion. Pollock was so successful in off-loading Montreal’s spare parts that he had 17 first-round picks from 1969 to 1974.

 

Pollock used those picks to select Steve Shutt, Réjean Houle, Marc Tardif,
Murray Wilson, Mario Tremblay, Bunny Larocque, Rick Chartraw, John Van Boxmeer and Bob Gainey.

And then there was Guy Lafleur.

Pollock wasn’t sure whether he was going to draft Lafleur with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 draft, but he did know that he wanted the pick. He was torn between Lafleur, who had been on everyone’s radar since he starred at the Quebec Peewee tournament, and Marcel Dionne, a native of Drummondville who won back-to-back OHA scoring titles with the St. Catharines Black Hawks.

 

Pollock thought his best chance of getting the No. 1 selection was a trade with the California Golden Seals. He gave up a first-round pick in 1970 (10th overall) and minor-league forward Ernie Hicke to acquire the Golden Seals’ first-round pick in 1971 and defenceman François Lacombe, who never played for the Canadiens, but did appear in 440 games with the Quebec Nordiques.

 

As Pollock expected, the Golden Seals were bad, but the Los Angeles Kings were even worse. By midseason, the Kings were in danger of dropping behind California. The Kings had traded their No. 1 pick to Boston and Pollock’s only option was to make Los Angeles better. He accomplished that by trading 33-year-old Ralph Backstrom to the Kings for Gord Labossiere and Ray Fortin. They would never play for the Canadiens, but Pollock wasn’t interested in the return.

Backstrom had won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1959 and had five 20-goals season with Montreal, but his role with the team diminished. He requested a trade after the 1969-70 season, but Pollock turned him down and Backstrom pondered retirement. He staged a brief holdout in 1970 and was frequently scratched after his return. He had one goal and four assists in 16 games before Pollock traded him on Jan. 26, 1971.

 

Backstrom had the desired effect on the Kings. He scored 14 goals and added 13 assists in 33 games as the Kings went from last place to fifth in the Western Conference. The Golden Seals finished with the worst record in the league, 10 points behind the Detroit Red Wings.

By the time the draft was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Pollock had decided that Lafleur was his choice, and the Red Wings would use the No. 2 pick to select Dionne.

Dionne was an immediate star in Detroit, leading the Red Wings in scoring in each of his first seasons, while Lafleur struggled somewhat before he had a breakthrough in 1974-75 with 53 goals and 119 points. In 1980, he became the first NHL player to record 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons.

 

Dionne and Lafleur had Hall of Fame careers. Dionne would play more games (1,348-1,126), score more goals (731-560) and had more points (1,771-1,353). But Lafleur would enjoy more highlights in his career. He won three scoring titles — Dionne had one — and twice won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. But it was in the playoffs that Lafleur had the wide edge. He won five Stanley Cups with Montreal, while Dionne got past the first round only once.

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

28 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

Umm how about the Canucks in the playoffs?

 

The battle of the bumpkins is seriously overrated. Stop drinking Hrudey’s hair dye…

25 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

You have a sick sense of fun.

 

Unless you’re rooting for them to take each other’s heads off I have no idea how it’s fun to watch two rivals in the playoffs.

Both can be true that you'd rather see the Canucks in the playoffs and that there are entertaining hockey series between other teams.

 

They are rivals for a reason. The Oilers and Flames have had some heated games, great entertainment value, and a classic matchup. Its okay to acknowledge that there are other entertaining hockey series and games outside of Canucks hockey.  

[Elias Pettersson]

4 minutes ago, RUPERTKBD said:

BTW, @Elias Pettersson The Minnesota Fighting Saints is the most awesome team name ever (even if they weren't in the NHL)

 

And you just can't top this logo:

 

That was actually a logo?  

[DeNiro]

41 minutes ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

Both can be true that you'd rather see the Canucks in the playoffs and that there are entertaining hockey series between other teams.

 

They are rivals for a reason. The Oilers and Flames have had some heated games, great entertainment value, and a classic matchup. Its okay to acknowledge that there are other entertaining hockey series and games outside of Canucks hockey.  

What Tkachuk and Kassian going at it? Lame.

 

These teams actually haven’t had that great of rivalry, it’s all media hype. Most of the games are blowouts and they haven’t met in playoffs since 91.

 

 

[lmm]

whoa

I taped the game, and the recording stopped in the hand shake line

Go Flames

[lmm]

2 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

That was actually a logo?  

john garrett minnesota fighting saints - Bing images

[StanleyCupOneDay]

5 hours ago, Wise Guy said:

My wife, also has covid, is Slovak and just became last month Canadian should enjoy that.

Oh no, I’m sorry to hear  Hope you both get better soon! Belated congrats and welcome to her from another now fellow Canadian! Always happy to expand our evergrowing society  Hope she loves it here as much as we do!

Edited May 16, 2022 by StanleyCupOneDay

[UFCanuck]

2 hours ago, lmm said:

whoa

I taped the game, and the recording stopped in the hand shake line

Go Flames

There’s YouTube for that

[JM_]

15 hours ago, HKSR said:

But that means an Alberta team has to win....

can a team from Alberta really be a winner tho?

[RUPERTKBD]

7 hours ago, DeNiro said:

What Tkachuk and Kassian going at it? Lame.

 

These teams actually haven’t had that great of rivalry, it’s all media hype. Most of the games are blowouts and they haven’t met in playoffs since 91.

That's true. In fact, when asked about it, Gaudreau said he's been in Calgary for nine years and it hasn't really been a thing....

 

That being said, I'm betting that changes before the series is over....

[RUPERTKBD]

8 minutes ago, JM_ said:

can a team from Alberta really be a winner tho?

No....

 

It kind of reminds me of a post someone made about how nice the new Blue Bombers stadium is.....all I could think to say to him was, "Yeah, but it's still in Winnipeg". He even admitted that it was the one major flaw....

Edited May 16, 2022 by RUPERTKBD

[Ballisticsports.]

9 hours ago, NZCanuck said:

Sorry but the battle of Alberta is fun. They will absolutely go to war and hate each other. There are very few rivalries like this one. 

Flames/Oilers

Montreal/ Quebec

Rangers/Islanders

 

Boston/Montreal

Montreal/Toronto

Vancouver/Chicago

 

Were either great rivalries or just entertaining series to watch

[Ballisticsports.]

9 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

Yup they made a trade with the dumb ass California Golden Seals to get their pick.

 

Imagine Guy Lafleur as a Golden Seal wearing those white skates.

Lafleur would be remembered like Dionne, instead of an icon who won cups had the Seals kept the pick

[Nucker 67]

The better goalie lost

[-Vintage Canuck-]