Puck Soup: Sabre rattling

In this week's episode of the Puck Soup podcast:
- The Sabres fire everyone
- The NHL's return-to-play plan pushes forward
- So does the NBA's, with some key differences
- Eugene Melnyk gets an apology
- Thoughts on next week's Hall of Fame vote
- A discussion about baseball and the DH for some reason?
- And a new quiz called 20 kess-tions

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The Chiarelli Cup: Which GM can make the best starting roster from players they’ve traded away?

Last​ week we tried​ to​ figure​ out​ the​ identity​ of NHL​ history’s most entertaining​ trader by assembling​ starting​ lineups based on​​ players a single GM had traded for. Once we rigged the rules to keep Sam Pollock from rolling over the competition, it turned out to be a tight race.

But plenty of you had the same request: Now do it for players a GM had traded away. Or, as we took to calling it in the comment section, The Chiarelli Cup. OK, the customer is always right. You get your wish. Let’s do this.

A few notes before we get to the teams. First, we’re working with slightly different rules than last week. We’ll keep the Sam Pollock rule – the player himself has to be in the trade, not the draft pick used to select him. But last time, we were only giving GMs credit for what a player did on their team. Today, we’re giving credit for everything a player did in their career after the trade. So in theory, today’s rosters should be slightly better than last week’s.

It’s also worth pointing out that the easiest way to make the cut on a list like this is to have lots of trades to work from. Somebody who was only a GM for a few seasons just isn’t going to have the body of work to compete with somebody who was around for three decades (well, with one exception that we’ll get to). So this doesn’t actually end up being a list of history’s worst GMs like you might think. Guys who are widely considered to have been poor traders, like John Ferguson Jr., Réjean Houle or Mel Bridgman don’t show up here. They didn’t keep the job long enough and didn’t have enough talent to work with when they did.

And here’s one final note: There shouldn’t actually be any suspense here, since the answer is actually kind of obvious. Or at least, it should be. But maybe it isn’t, because of all the names I saw thrown around last week, almost nobody mentioned the actual frontrunner. So let’s see if you can figure it out before we get to the end of the list.

But we’ll begin at the beginning, with the man this exercise was named after.

Team Peter Chiarelli

Goalie: Tim Thomas

Defensemen: Johnny Boychuk, Justin Schultz

Forwards: Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, Phil Kessel

It’s a solid group. That forward line is a killer and we could follow it up with a second unit that includes Jordan Eberle and Blake Wheeler. There’s depth all up and down the roster, to be honest, and the Pollock rule means we’re not even giving credit for the Mathew Barzal pick here. But the starting blueliners are just OK and the goaltending isn’t great – Thomas should barely even count, since he was traded to the Islanders, never played and then left as a free agent before playing one more decent NHL season.

So Chiarelli’s not bad. But we can definitely do better. Let’s try the other name that probably popped into your head as soon as you heard the concept.

Team Mike Milbury

Goalie: Roberto Luongo

Defensemen: Zdeno Chara, Darius Kasparaitis

Forwards: Ziggy Palffy, Olli Jokinen, Todd Bertuzzi

Even without quite as much star power up front, this team beats Chiarelli’s pretty easily. It’s more balanced, with first-ballot Hall of Famers in goal and on the blueline. And it’s deep too, with names like Chris Osgood, Mathieu Schneider, Bryan McCabe, Bryan Berard, Michael Peca and Wendel Clark available.

Maybe even more impressively, it’s not like Milbury builds this roster by swinging high-profile but well-balanced blockbusters like some of his colleagues – he lost pretty much every trade that leads to that starting six. And you could make a strong case that we should waive the Pollock rule for Jason Spezza, since Milbury traded the second-overall pick on draft day and it was well-known at the time who the Senators would be using it on. We won’t do that here – rules are rules – but we all know what’s up.

So with apologies to its namesake, it’s Milbury who stakes out the early leader status for the Chiarelli Cup. But the competition is about to heat up.

Team David Poile

Goalie: Devan Dubnyk

Defensemen: Larry Murphy, Seth Jones

Forwards: Mike Gartner, Dino Ciccarelli, Jason Allison

Yikes. This loaded lineup is basically the anti-Milbury team; Poile did well on several of these trades, but has always been willing to give up something to get something. Still, that’s three Hall of Famers from his Washington days, plus two current all-stars – not to mention Shea Weber, who you could swap in on the blueline if you wanted. The third forward is really the only iffy spot, as Allison edges out a three-way Matt Duchene deal that only kind of counts.

The Dubnyk deal is a little bit of a sneaky addition, since he was barely considered an NHLer at that point and was basically given away to Montreal for nothing in return. Still, it counts, and based on his career resurgence in Minnesota it gives Team Poile a potential goaltending controversy with guys like Byron Dafoe and Tomas Vokoun. And as a side note, the Pollock Rule comes into play yet again, and it keeps a couple of big-name draft picks out of the Team Poile lineup: Joe Sakic and Erik Karlsson.

And just like that, I think we’ve got Milbury beat. With the two early favorites already out of the running, let’s see if we can find someone to challenge Poile.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

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The ten worst Maple Leaf playoff games of the last 30 years

Last Thursday, we marked the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ return to the playoffs with a post on the team’s 10 best playoff games of the last 30 years.

It was a simpler time, back before we’d been through multiple overtimes and when we still assumed the Capitals would roll past the Leafs easily. We didn’t even know who Dart Guy was. Look at us back then, we were so young.

Well, fair’s fair, so today we’ll visit the other end of the spectrum, with a ranking of the 10 worst Leafs playoff games of the last three decades.

There’s one important note to keep in mind, though. Ranking a team’s best games is a relatively straightforward exercise. Most playoff runs end in misery eventually, so you just take the games that you enjoyed most as a fan at the time, and there’s your list – with few exceptions, the best games generally hold up well.

But bad games are a little bit trickier, since sometimes you don't know just how miserable a game will make you feel down the line. An especially tough playoff loss is like a slow-acting poison, and you don't feel its full effects until years later. Hindsight is going to play a big role today, especially as we get near the top of the list.

But let's start our countdown a little more than 27 years ago, from a spot just outside the Maple Leafs' blue line.

No. 10: 1990 Norris Division semi-finals, game three: Blues 6, Maple Leafs 5 (OT)

The 1989–90 Leafs team was their best in a decade. That's not an especially high bar, and the team still only finished .500, but they ranked third in the league in goals scored and seemed as if they might finally be building something resembling a winner.

But after dropping a pair of 4–2 decisions in St. Louis, the Leafs headed back to Toronto facing a must-win in game three. They fell behind 5–3 in the third, but fought back to force overtime with two late goals that had the Gardens crowd roaring. An overtime win could have been the sort of clutch comeback that turns a series.

Instead, Sergio Momesso went five-hole on Allan Bester from outside the blue line.

The Blues closed it out in five games, the 1990–91 season turned out to be one of the worst in team history, and the Leafs wouldn't make it back to the playoffs until 1993. Momesso later played for the Leafs, but nobody ever forgave him for this goal.

No. 9: 1999 Eastern Conference final, game one: Sabres 5, Maple Leafs 4

The Leafs' 1998–99 season had already included a 28-point improvement, the first playoff appearance in three years, two series wins, and one Markov salute. Now they headed to the conference final with momentum, home ice and a winnable matchup against the seventh-seeded Sabres.

There was just one problem, and it was the same problem every Sabres opponent faced in those days: the best goaltender in the world. Dominik Hasek had just won back-to-back Hart Trophies, not to mention single-handedly winning Olympic gold. At that point, he was the scariest player in hockey.

And then, hours before game one, a playoff miracle (for Leafs' fans, anyway): Hasek was hurt, and the Leafs would be facing backup Dwayne Roloson instead. It was the perfect opportunity to jump out to an easy lead in the series.

And sure enough, Roloson struggled, allowing four goals. But Curtis Joseph gave up five, and the Sabres stole the opener without their best player.

The Leafs took game two, but Hasek returned for game three and shut them down the rest of the way. The Leafs never seemed to recover from the missed opportunity in the opener, and their third conference finals appearance of the decade ended in five games.

>> Read the full post at ???.com

Game Six Overtime is the NHL's Twilight Zone

They’re almost here.

Over the weekend, hockey fans will get this year’s first look at Game 6. We’ll get one on Saturday night, with the Hawks hosting the Blues. Depending on how things play out, we could have as many as four more on Sunday, and maybe even two more after that on Monday.

It goes without saying that a Game 6 is always crucial. A Game 6 means that one team is guaranteed to be looking to close out the series and move on to the next round. It also means that one team will be facing elimination, just one loss away from seeing everything they’ve worked for all season long end with the crushing disappointment of elimination.

But even more importantly, it means we have a chance to get overtime. And if we do, then the odds are good that we’ll see something truly strange. Because, for reasons nobody has ever been able to explain, Game 6 Overtime is the NHL’s version of the Twilight Zone.

Think back to the strangest, most controversial or just downright confusing moment you can remember witnessing as a hockey fan. The odds are good that it happened in a Game 6 Overtime. Nobody knows why this is. There's no rational explanation for it. But somehow, when it's Game 6 of a playoff series and we're deadlocked after regulation, things get weird. Before the Zambonis have completed their intermission rounds, the generally accepted laws of society, justice and even basic physics are already resetting themselves.

For example, what's the most controversial play in NHL history? Most fans would probably think of Brett Hull's skate-in-the-crease goal to win the 1999 Stanley Cup. And when did that happen? Game 6 Overtime, of course.

That goal and its aftermath still stands as one of the strangest moments that hockey fans have ever seen. Then again, at least we did actually see it. In Game 6 Overtime, there are no guarantees. At any other time, a star player scoring the biggest goal in a decade would be an unforgettable moment. In Game 6 Overtime, you might not even notice that it happened.

This stuff has been going on for decades. And it's not just about the winning goals. Go find the nearest Maple Leafs fan and ask them how their day is going. Then count the seconds until they manage to change the subject to the one play that every Leafs fan has been droning on about for 23 years: Wayne Gretzky's missed high-stick on Doug Gilmour from the 1993 Conference Finals. And when did that happen? Of course.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet

What were the greatest divisions in NHL history?

Tonight’s schedule features three games between Central Division opponents. Those games will go a long way to determining who gets the West’s final wild-card spot, who wins the division, and maybe even who wins the Presidents’ Trophy.

But even if none of that were true, you’d still want to be watching those games because this year’s Central Division is freaking good. How good? Consider the following:

• The division already features three 100-plus-point teams in Nashville, St. Louis, and Chicago, while the Jets and Wild could both join them.

• The Wild have been the best team in hockey since mid-January, yet still won’t finish any higher than fourth in the division and may drop to fifth.

• As of today, the division boasts four of the league’s top eight teams based on goal differential.

• There’s a good chance the Central will claim both Western wild-card spots and send five teams to the playoffs.

• Even the division’s two “bad” teams, the Avalanche and the Stars, aren’t disasters; both could still hit 90 points. The last-place Avs are currently 15 points better than the league’s next-best last-place team, the Hurricanes, and Colorado would rank ahead of four Metro teams.

• Perhaps most impressive of all, the division boasts four teams in the league’s top 10 overall. That’s a relatively rare feat; it’s happened only once since the turn of the century.

So sure, the Central is unquestionably the league’s best division this year, but what about all time? Could the 2014-15 Central belong in the discussion with some of history’s best collections of teams?

Today, let’s look back through the history books at some of the greatest divisions the NHL has ever seen. We’ll limit this to the last 40 years, which would take us to 1974-75 and the start of the four-division era. This is subjective and we’re not trying to create a definitive list, but here are some of the top groups the league has seen since then.

The 1978-79 Patrick

Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images

By 1978, the NHL was a 17-team league, featuring three divisions with four teams and one with five. Only six teams in the entire league hit the 90-point mark that year, and four of them came from the Patrick.

The division’s best team was the New York Islanders, who finished first overall with 116 points. This was the stacked Islanders squad — built around guys like Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy, and Brian Trottier — that was on the verge of becoming the league’s next great dynasty. They were trailed by the Flyers, who finished with the league’s fourth-best record at 95 points, and the Rangers, who ranked fifth overall at 91.

However, the division’s most interesting team was probably the Atlanta Flames. They posted 41 wins and a plus-47 goal differential, both of which were good for fourth-best in the entire league. Their 41-31-8 record gave them 90 points, good for sixth-best in the NHL but just fourth in the Patrick. That established a record that will almost certainly stand forever as the most points by a last-place team. It also earned them a spot in the best-of-three preliminary round, where they lost to the Maple Leafs in two straight.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Rangers emerged from the division, knocking off the Flyers in the quarterfinals and then upsetting the heavily favored Islanders in the semis before losing to the Canadiens in five games in the final. The Islanders came back strong the next year, and went on to win the next four Stanley Cups.

As for the Flames, they lasted only one more season in Atlanta before moving to Calgary in 1980. Speaking of Calgary …

>> Read the full post on Grantland