Yzerman was almost a Sabre

[Two or less]

I thought this was cool and figured i'd share it. I wonder how history would have been changed if this deal went through? From ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun-

 

"I won't lie to you, there were two occasions when trade talks did evolve," said Devellano, GM of the Wings from 1982 to '90 and again from 1994 to '97 (he's been with the team throughout since '82). "One of the times was when Bryan Murray had taken over from me as GM [1990-94]. There was some talk, and this is kind of ironic, with the Buffalo Sabres about trading Yzerman for Pat LaFontaine. That would have been in the very early '90s."

 

link- http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...e=lebrun_pierre

[deluca67]

Did Regier hire you to make Sabre fans feel worse?

[carpandean]

Did Regier hire you to make Sabre fans feel worse?

:D

 

That would have been a good trade in the Summer of 1993 (had only one season over 22 games in the next four, including just 38 total games over the following two seasons, before being traded to the Rangers.) Of course, he probably would have stayed healthy in Detroit and continued to put up 100+ points a year.

[Kristian]

:D

 

That would have been a good trade in the Summer of 1993 (had only one season over 22 games in the next four, including just 38 total games over the following two seasons, before being traded to the Rangers.) Of course, he probably would have stayed healthy in Detroit and continued to put up 100+ points a year.

 

And Stevie Y would've busted both knees after 4 games in Blue and Gold, effectively ending his career.

[wonderbread]

And Stevie Y would've busted both knees after 4 games in Blue and Gold, effectively ending his career.

 

 

still status quo around here i see. :bag:

[BetweenThePipes00]

I'll stop short of calling BS on the story because lots of things get discussed without coming close to actually happening ... but I'd like to know how colse "almost" means ... somehow I doubt this was close to happening at all ... he says the "very early 90s" ... it couldn't have been before the Summer of 1992 because the Sabres just got Patty in October of 1991 ... in 1991-92 and 1992-93, these guys were both great players, almost identical numbers, and both captains ... I suppose they might have thrown it out there as something to shake up both teams, but were the Sabres really stale? yeah they got swept in the second round by Monteal but Mogilny broke his leg and Patty was on one leg ... plus he had knee surgery after the season, so why would Detroit want a hurt guy? The next two seasons, both LaFontaine and Yzerman missed big chunks of games ... would they trade hurt guys for each other? And then both rebounded to 90+ points in 1995-96 .... again, at that point maybe I could see it, but that's not the "early 90s" anymore.

Just seems like a weird deal to discuss during that time frame (very early 90s)... even if Yzerman was not beloved yet in Detroit (and he may have been, I don't know) because they had beed bad in the playoffs, LaFontaine was an instant hit in Buffalo and trading him for Yzerman would have seemed like a lateral move ... why trade for lafontaine and then turn around and deal him a year or two later when he was nothing but great for you? No reason to do it (other than if you could see the future, I guess).

[wil1226]

Yzerman in 1999 = Cup........Argh!!!!!

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

The one that is a joke was when Darcy left Iginla for Peca sitting on the table.

 

Although Iginla would have only played 15 games for us and then got traded away because he was too slow for our system.

[Two or less]

Did Regier hire you to make Sabre fans feel worse?

 

haha sorry.

[Corp000085]

Yzerman in 1999 = Cup........Argh!!!!!

 

 

What about 98 too? A Yzerman/hasek/peca/et al team would have swept the capitals... And they'd have fared well against a yzermanless detroit team.

 

Ugh!