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OT: WSJ's Islanders erasing LaFontaine


Punch

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Posted

It sounded like #16 thinks of himself more as an Islander than a Sabre.

 

Arguably, he was--- at least statistically. I think he may be identified by many as a Sabre, though. Some Caps fans here in NoVA hate the Sabres because of that octuple OT or whatever Easter goal he scored for the Isles referenced in the article.

 

Then again, Caps fans ain't the brightest.

Posted

Wang's Islanders are unbelievably low rent in the class dept. It figures Milbury, of all people, would go to bat for Wang, but Patty is "cowardly"? Milbury is to hockey analysis what Wang is to hockey ownership. And they're both clowns.

 

http://online.wsj.co...le_NHLHeadlines

 

Man, that's just childish. Explains a lot about the Islanders management though.

Posted

It sounded like #16 thinks of himself more as an Islander than a Sabre.

 

This will be about as popular as my other posts in the last several days, but I think of him as an Isle at least equally.

 

(Let's not resurrect the number retirement thread.)

Posted

This will be about as popular as my other posts in the last several days, but I think of him as an Isle at least equally.

 

(Let's not resurrect the number retirement thread.)

To me, he's a Sabre, but then again, I consider Hawerchuk a Sabre. I know I'm in the minority on that last one. I'd expect both those guys to consider themselves Sabres 2ndarily to where they started their careers. But I saw both of them play a whole lot more often with gold as the trim color to the blue rather than red or circus orange.

Posted

To me, he's a Sabre, but then again, I consider Hawerchuk a Sabre. I know I'm in the minority on that last one. I'd expect both those guys to consider themselves Sabres 2ndarily to where they started their careers. But I saw both of them play a whole lot more often with gold as the trim color to the blue rather than red or circus orange.

 

Kinda like Roy being a Canadien and an Avalanche.

Posted

Man, that's just childish. Explains a lot about the Islanders management though.

 

It may take decades for the organization to rid themselves of the toxic mismanagement sent their way. At the same time, someone (not me) posted a comment and called out WSJ for failing to mention any sort of meetings that the Islanders FO and Patty have had in the past.

 

Yes, we're all guilty of egregious cherry-picking from time to time; and, if the poster is right about this, so is the WSJ sports journalist.

Posted

To me, he's a Sabre, but then again, I consider Hawerchuk a Sabre. I know I'm in the minority on that last one. I'd expect both those guys to consider themselves Sabres 2ndarily to where they started their careers. But I saw both of them play a whole lot more often with gold as the trim color to the blue rather than red or circus orange.

 

Hawerchuk is a Sabre to me, too. Weird.

Posted

Hawerchuk is a Sabre to me, too. Weird.

I think it depends on the impact the player has. Hawerchuk and LaFontaine had big impacts on the franchise. They were both extremely popular players that produced.

 

Is there a bigger douche than Milbury working in hockey?

Don Cherry is a bigger one.

Posted

This will be about as popular as my other posts in the last several days, but I think of him as an Isle at least equally.

 

I think this is reasonable. I *want* LaFontaine to consider himself a Sabre first, but from a neutral fan standpoint you have to acknowledge that Patty was a star first and for a good period of time on the island.

 

Hawerchuk is a Sabre to me, too. Weird.

 

We differ here. I understand it, but in my mind Hawerchuck is a Jet first. Maybe it is because he was second fiddle to Patty (and maybe Mogilny too) during most of his time here.

 

Is there a bigger douche than Milbury working in hockey?

 

Hard to believe that someone could eclipse Don Cherry in douchery but I think Milbury has succeeded.

Posted

This will be about as popular as my other posts in the last several days, but I think of him as an Isle at least equally.

 

(Let's not resurrect the number retirement thread.)

 

Agreed. A great Sabre, but made his name in the NHL as an Isle

Posted

It is sad when one of the true dynasties in recent NHL history now has an owner that behaves like this. As for Patty considering himself an Islander, don't forget that it was the Islanders who drafted him and he had quite the success there for a number of seasons before coming to Buffalo. (Just like Danny Gare; he played almost as long in Detroit as he did in Buffalo, but he considers himself a Sabre first). Patty has shown support and fondness for the Buffalo area and the Sabres have responded in kind. I think that has benefited both parties. It is a shame that Wang can't see that having LaFontaine on board would benefit the Islanders.

As for Milbury's comments, I hated him as a player and I feel the same way about him as a hockey "analyst". His views on the game sound like those of a disgruntled employee ragging on his former employer. I can't recall anything of value that the man has said (either on NBC or CBC) yet.

Posted

It is sad when one of the true dynasties in recent NHL history now has an owner that behaves like this. As for Patty considering himself an Islander, don't forget that is was the Islanders who drafted him and he had quite the success there for a number of seasons before coming to Buffalo. (Just like Danny Gare; he played almost as long in Detroit as he did in Buffalo, but he considers himself a Sabre first). Patty has shown support and fondness for the Buffalo area and the Sabres have responded in kind. I think that has benefited both parties. It is a shame that Wang can't see that having LaFontaine on board would benefit the Islanders.

As for Milbury's comments, I hated him as a player and I feel the same way about him as a hockey "analyst". His views on the game sound like those of a disgruntled employee ragging on his former employer. I can't recall anything of value that the man has said (either on NBC or CBC) yet.

 

He is the answer to a pretty interesting piece of Red Wings trivia, though: he was the last Detroit Captain before Steve Yzerman.

Posted

My thoughts on this, now that I read the article:

1) Millbury is douche. plain and simple. and just like when it comes to hockey analyzing on TV, he has no idea what he is talking about here.

2) Wang would be smart to mend the rift with LaFontaine. Not mending it only hurts the franchise, as many fans see him as a legend.

3) My family has known Patty for a long time, as he used to give tickets to my cousin who had cancer (called him his good luck charm). He's a great guy, and a coward is not something i would describe him as, and that comment from Millbury kind of infuriates me.

Posted

LaFontaine will always be a Sabre to me...but then again, I don't have any personal memory of sports before 1990, soooooooo yea. I do find it amusing that the Isles owner is trying to paint LaFontaine as the bad guy, when they're the ones who fired a GM 40 days after hiring him. What a joke, and makes me wish Tavares never signed that extension--I'd hate to see him waste his prime years in that cesspool.

Posted

To me, he's a Sabre, but then again, I consider Hawerchuk a Sabre. I know I'm in the minority on that last one. I'd expect both those guys to consider themselves Sabres 2ndarily to where they started their careers. But I saw both of them play a whole lot more often with gold as the trim color to the blue rather than red or circus orange.

 

That's really easy to do with Hawerchuk since up until this year his team didn't even exist. I sure as hell will never think of him as a Phoenix Coyote.

 

As for the story, all of this over an unpaid position. Pathetic. And the best part about those comments from Milbury? He resigned from his front office position with the Islanders a year later when he wasn't happy with it.

 

edit: And if I'm in an unpaid role when the backup goalie is pulled off the bench and made GM, I'd be out of there so fast too.

Posted

That's really easy to do with Hawerchuk since up until this year his team didn't even exist. I sure as hell will never think of him as a Phoenix Coyote.

 

As for the story, all of this over an unpaid position. Pathetic. And the best part about those comments from Milbury? He resigned from his front office position with the Islanders a year later when he wasn't happy with it.

 

edit: And if I'm in an unpaid role when the backup goalie is pulled off the bench and made GM, I'd be out of there so fast too.

 

This. Well said sir.

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