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Penguins Fans Named Best in the NHL


hf101

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@B21   Well, Bullard played for the Brantford Alexanders, who at the times had a fierce rivalry going with my hometown Windsor Spitfires. The Windsor fans were famous for being loud, obnoxious and often vicious. In the 3rd period of a game which featured many fights, things got ugly. Many Windsor fans started throwing stuff at the Alexander players, pucks...popcorn boxes...literally anything we could toss. The Alexanders didn't take kindly to it, and the whole team left the bench to battle the Windsor fans. I hit Bullard with a right cross, and he responded with a vicious two handed hack to the head with his stick. I must say, I deserved it. There were at least 10 actual fights between players and fans, and the Police in attendance were pummeled as they tried to keep the peace and tried to separate us. Rick Natress was right beside me, and he got the best of my buddy Robbie, landing several unanswered shots to his head....needless to say, it was total mayhem and a precious hockey memory for me!!!

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@B21 From the Wiki Penguins page....no actual specifics, but yeah, they tanked to get Mario, but this is not any new stuff....

" Decline and the arrival of Mario Lemieux (1983–1988)

The team had the league's worst record in both the 1983 and 1984 seasons, and with the team suffering financial problems, it again looked as though the Penguins would fold. Mario Lemieux, one of the most highly touted NHL draft picks in history, was due to be drafted in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Heading towards the end of the season ahead of the New Jersey Devils, who were placed last, the Penguins made a number of questionable moves that appeared to weaken the team in the short-term. The Penguins posted three six-game winless streaks in the last 21 games of the season and earned the right to draft Lemieux amidst protests from Devils management.[8] Pittsburgh coach Lou Angotti later admitted that a conscious decision was made to finish the season as the team with the worst record, stating in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that a mid-season lunch prompted the plan, in light of the fact that there was a high chance of the franchise folding if Lemieux was not drafted.[9] In particular, Angotti gave the example of a game the Penguins were winning 3–1, at which point general manager Eddie Johnston asked the coach "what are you doing?" in the first intermission of the game that was eventually lost 6–3. The Penguins were still, despite losing ten of their last twelve games, only two games away from losing Lemieux to the Devils.[9] However, Angotti stated that he did not feel comfortable with the plan, even though it worked and saved the franchise. Other teams offered substantial trade packages for the draft choice, but the Penguins kept the pick and drafted Lemieux first overall."

Wiki-anything is unreliable. Again I posted the exact quote from Angotti. They take liberties with "we weren't going to be upset about losing" and turn it into losing on purpose. If you actually read the article it's not as bad as people have made it out to be.

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Actually if you read the article the Wiki entry adds opinion to the quote. The link I posted is the story the wiki entry takes liberties with. Wiki is/was/always will be subject to the author's interpretation. That leaves it flawed is all. I prefer straight from the horse's mouth.

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@Polaris922  Eddie Johnston has always denied he tanked that year, but his very questionable moves suggest otherwise.

 

 http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-01-07/sports/0101070210_1_lower-first-round-draft-panthers-johnston

 

 

 What do you call sending your starter down, Roberto Romano, for the little known Vincent Tremblay. The kid allowed 24 goals in 4 games played...LMAO!!  Do you think he might have been sent down after the first 7 goal game he allowed?? That move reeks.

 

 I did not know Lou Nanne the GM of the North Stars offered all 12 of his picks in that draft for the right to draft Lemieux....quite the offer there!!

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@Polaris922  Eddie Johnston has always denied he tanked that year, but his very questionable moves suggest otherwise.

 

 http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-01-07/sports/0101070210_1_lower-first-round-draft-panthers-johnston

 

 

 What do you call sending your starter down, Roberto Romano, for the little known Vincent Tremblay. The kid allowed 24 goals in 4 games played...LMAO!!  Do you think he might have been sent down after the first 7 goal game he allowed?? That move reeks.

 

 I did not know Lou Nanne the GM of the North Stars offered all 12 of his picks in that draft for the right to draft Lemieux....quite the offer there!!

 

Jammer, don't believe everything you read in the papers.

 

Romano the starter?  NOT!  Whoever the reporter in that story was, he's wrong.  The Pens split most of their time with Dennis Heron(starter) and Michel Dion that year, who had been their starter and backup for the previous 2 years also. Romano had a total of 3 NHL games prior to that season, and he played 18 games that season. He was far from the starter. 

 

Sure you can complain that they used Tremblay, for FOUR games, but would that really have mattered?  Dion and Herron's GAA wasn't much better.

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@Polaris922 Eddie Johnston has always denied he tanked that year, but his very questionable moves suggest otherwise.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-01-07/sports/0101070210_1_lower-first-round-draft-panthers-johnston

What do you call sending your starter down, Roberto Romano, for the little known Vincent Tremblay. The kid allowed 24 goals in 4 games played...LMAO!! Do you think he might have been sent down after the first 7 goal game he allowed?? That move reeks.

I did not know Lou Nanne the GM of the North Stars offered all 12 of his picks in that draft for the right to draft Lemieux....quite the offer there!!

Romano played 18 games and had a 4.58 GAA. The real starter was Herron with 38 games and a stellar 4.08 GAA. Tremblay had been dropped by Toronto a couple seasons prior with a similar GAA and so bringing him up was viewed by some to be tanking, but by others as continuing the search for an NHL goalie. Either way Tremblay was no worse that what we were already using. His whopping 4 games were his last in the NHL.

The trade offer is insane, but if you think about it, beyond a first and second rounders the rest are pretty valueless.

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