AHL- Apolyton Hockey League 07/08: VII Da da da, da da daa, da da da, da daa da daa

[Asher]

I had no idea Vancouver would implode like they did. It was quite spectacular. What Vancouver is clearly lacking is leadership to hold the team together.

See, Iginla was out there rallying the troops and leading by example. Linden and Naslund were nowhere to be found -- I think they were playing cards on the bench?

[Ben Kenobi]

Iginla has played more games then Conroy, and Nolan hasn't even got a thousand yet.

Linden has 1400 games.

[Ben Kenobi]

I had no idea Vancouver would implode like they did.

Which is why you stopped watching when they went down 2-0.

Sorry Asher.

I'll let the real hockey fans like NYE talk.

[snoopy369]

I'm fairly sure NYE thinks Iginla has heart

[notyoueither]

Something happened to Linden. There was an injury and then Keenan. He was never the same.

He was made captain of the Islanders within a month of being traded there. He's one of a very few players who could go back to a team he'd been traded from and be more than useful. He's a hell of a hockey player.

Iginla is a better skilled and a tougher player. I don't know if he is a better leader. Flubber touched on it. Lack of heart I would never say, but sometimes the captain has to lead by kicking butt in his own dressing room, and I'm not sure if that is Iginla.

Both of them are great players, and any GM would kill to have them committed to their team in their primes, and a little after.

Not a lot of things have ever impressed me about the Canucks, but the way the organization is dealing with Linden as he winds down his career is a credit in their ledger.

Blah, blah, blah...

[Cavalcadeus]

Hey guys, I hate to distract from the Iggy/Nucks discussion but I've been following the threads here for most of the season. I've been playing in a yahoo league with some friends from school for the last few seasons but it'd be cool to know how everybody here finished up in the regular season and how the playoffs have went/ who's in the finals now? Its been interesting to see the conversations from another league and a much more western point of view then I'm used to getting here, though for some reason I do know a crapload of Calgarians who go to school here and represent the flames pretty well.

[notyoueither]

The final is between Tingkai and Kontiki.

If you want, you'll get an invite for next year.

[Cavalcadeus]

I was thinking of joining this year but I figured it'd be too much work to keep track of two teams. I made it to the finals for my first time though mostly off the strength of my drafting so I may have to throw in here next year and see how I can do against you guys.

[Sparrowhawk]

don't forget that all important consolation final, which is between Asher and Sparrowhawk

Kontiki was the regular season winner, by quite a few points if I recall correctly without bothering to look it up!

/me

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


Which is why you stopped watching when they went down 2-0.

Sorry Asher.

I'll let the real hockey fans like NYE talk.

I didn't watch until the third because:
1) I was watching another show
2) I didn't expect it to be a good game

Once I had heard indications otherwise, I did watch it.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
Iginla has played more games then Conroy, and Nolan hasn't even got a thousand yet.

Linden has 1400 games.

Here I was thinking age was the key factor, and not games played.

It's good to know that anyone can jump into hockey at any age and be successful...

[Asher]

The TSN comments on the game last night are pretty fitting per our conversation, Ben.

Wow that was pathetic...... it was almost as bad as the recent choke jobs the wild have put on. The canucks had better grab some heart "iggy" style if the have any hopes in the playoffs. Man i wish we had a real captain.

2nd & 3rd were absolute domination. That comes from leadership in the dressing room... something the Canucks have none of.

WOW, what a comeback for the Flames. I thought the Flames were one-dimensional, I stand corrected, the Canucks score a couple goals, and then they just wait for Luongo to save their hides. Calgary showed alot of character and heart. IGGY and DION are proving their worth. Wish I could say the same about NASLUND!

Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, Mark Messier, Jarome Iginla, Marcus Who? At least this is the last year of a captain on the Canucks playing out his games for a paltry 6 Million - what a joke. The Canucks are missing somthing this year -same as last year - a leader who is a gamebreaker -a leader with heart. I am still hoping they make the playoffs, but I don't expect much more than that.

And those aren't from Flames fans.

[Guynemer]

I've got to side with Asher on this one.

If you let me steal just one player from any team in the league to put on the Red Wings, I would take Iginla, without a second's hesitation.

[Asher]

2003 the greatest draft year?

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hGY566SHjIdMZcEfV8oEQD62C94A

Staal, Phaneuf, Getzlaf part of greatest draft class since '79?

Rick Dudley isn't one for hyperbole but the longtime hockey executive doesn't hold back when asked about the 2003 draft class and its possible impact on the NHL.

"This draft, in my opinion, will go down as the best in NHL history," Dudley told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.

It's still too early to get a full measure of this group of players but just five years after that entry draft, it's clear something special is happening.

Eric Staal, Ryan Getzlaf, Dion Phaneuf, Thomas Vanek, Shea Weber, Milan Michalek, Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Brent Burns, Zach Parise - and that's just the tip of the iceberg with this group.

"It was definitely a special year and probably the best that I've ever been involved with," said Jarmo Kekalainen, assistant GM and director of amateur scouting for the St. Louis Blues.

Want more names? How about Marc-Andre Fleury, Patrice Bergeron, Nathan Horton, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Andrei Kostitsyn, Brent Seabrook, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Suter, Steve Bernier, Ryan Kesler, Nikolai Zherdev, Patrick O'Sullivan, Tobias Enstrom, Joe Pavelski, Jaroslav Halak, Matt Carle, Loui Eriksson, Lee Stempniak, Dustin Byfuglien.

"You usually start to rate them five years down the road and that's where we are and yes, it's got to be one of the best drafts," said Trevor Timmins, director of player recruitment and development for the Montreal Canadiens.

"It's got to be - the depth of it."

How deep?

"It was so deep that you were talking about people in the second round that in most years would easily be in the top 15 overall," said Dudley, now the assistant GM of the Chicago Blackhawks. "For me, that was an incredible year."

As of right now, 26 of the 30 players taken in that first round are playing in the NHL and all but one - Rangers pick Hugh Jessiman - have at least played one NHL game.

"There's usually a bust in the top 10 - a guy that doesn't make it or pan out," said Timmins. "But that didn't happen in 2003. That speaks for the strength of that class."

So talented that some hockey people are beginning to wonder, like Dudley, if it's the best ever. That honour has long belonged to the 1979 draft - a class that produced Hall of Famers Mark Messier, Mike Gartner, Michel Goulet and Ray Bourque.

"With all due respect to the 1979 draft, I think they may have to move over for this draft," said Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier.

That's a bold statement. The '79 draft is widely considered the grand-daddy of them all.

Among those drafted that year were Rob Ramage (first overall), Mike Foligno (third), Gartner (fourth), Rick Vaive (fifth), Craig Hartsburg (sixth), Bourque (eighth), Mike Ramsey (11th), Brian Propp (14th), Brad McCrimmon (15th), Goulet (20th), Kevin Lowe (21st), Lindy Ruff (32nd), Pelle Lindbergh (35th), Mats Naslund (37th), Dale Hunter (41st), Neal Broten (42nd), Guy Carbonneau (44th), Messier (48th), Glenn Anderson (69th), Anton Stastny (83rd), Dirk Graham (89th), Thomas Steen (103rd).

No wonder the Oilers built a dynasty after getting Lowe, Messier and Anderson in that draft.

"It's hard to compare the two right now because the '79 draft has players that have all ended their careers," said Dudley. "This one, many of the players are just beginning to have the impact they can have."

And it's not just the number of players from the '03 draft already in the NHL that impresses.

"It's the quality of those players and the maturity of those players," said San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson. "The number of those players that are not only playing but having huge impacts on their teams.

"I would have to say it does rival the '79 draft."

Wilson's Sharks had a field day at the '03 draft table. Among their picks that weekend were Michalek (sixth overall), Bernier (16th), Carle (47th) and Pavelski (205th).

"It had a huge impact on our organization," said Wilson. "Because in many ways it enabled us to do the (Joe) Thornton deal. When you take a look at the players we traded, Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau going out and the people we were able to fill in with underneath that we selected in that 2003 draft.

"Because it doesn't make any sense to fill a huge hole but then create many other holes. Tim Burke (San Jose's director of scouting) and his staff did a remarkable job."

When the Ducks won the Stanley Cup last season, GM Brian Burke was quick to single out his predecessor, Bryan Murray. Why? Because Murray picked up two major gems in that '03 first round in Getzlaf (19th) and Perry (28th) - two key contributors to the Cup last spring and for many more years to come.

Looking back, it's amazing to think Getzlaf and Perry went that low.

"I think the reason Getzlaf slipped a bit in the draft is that a few people thought that he may not play hard every night, that the transition from junior would be hard, so we were fortunate to get him that low," Murray said Tuesday. "With Perry, Dallas had the pick. I phoned over to Doug Armstrong's table (former Stars GM) and he didn't really have anyone in particular in mind at the time so we were able to flip the two second-round picks we had to get the 28th pick and get Perry."

Murray also drafted forward Drew Miller 186th overall and defenceman Shane O'Brien 250th. Not a bad weekend.

"It ended up real good for us overall," said Murray, who also credited brother Tim Murray, head scout with the Ducks at the time.

The '03 draft, held in Nashville, was the first for Timmins in his new job with Montreal after spending 10 years with the Ottawa Senators. Timmins had a good weekend. Kostitsyn, who has exploded on the scene this season, was taken 10th overall. Forward Maxime Lapierre went 61st overall, defenceman Ryan O'Byrne 79th and Halak in the very last round at 271st.

"We hit a home run there with Halak," said Timmins.

Halak was one of many steals that year. Bergeron went 45th overall to Boston and looking back he certainly would have been a top-15 pick. Weber at 49th overall is also a major coup for Nashville. Many people have him right there with Phaneuf right now. Kekalainen made Stempniak a Blue at 148th overall. As mentioned, Pavelski went 205th to San Jose and the Blackhawks did well with the emerging Byfuglien at 245th.

"This draft is far from finished in terms of its impact," said Dudley.

Dudley was in control of events that year. He was GM of the Panthers and the team held the first overall pick. Pittsburgh, with the third overall pick, came along with an offer to swap spots because it urgently wanted to draft their franchise goalie in Fleury and wasn't sure what Carolina was going to do at No. 2 overall.

Dudley didn't mind making a deal since he had Horton and Staal as "1a and 1b" in his books and would have been happy to take either one after Carolina.

So Dudley traded the first overall pick and the 73rd pick to the Penguins for the third overall pick, the 55th pick and forward Mikael Samuelsson. Pretty good deal.

But then again, it was hard to go wrong that year.

"That '03 draft is like none other," said Dudley. "You look at the draft and it's more about who didn't make it then who will. And some of those kids are still probably going to have a chance to make it."

[Asher]

When Phaneuf scored last night he was on for 3:17 straight