I switched teams and I have no regrets

[Fanboy]

I used to be a die hard Vancouver Canucks fan for over 30 years, I saw the Canucks reach the Stanley Cup finals 3 times and yet never win the cup.  In 1982 the Canucks didn't really stand a chance against the dynasty New York Islanders.  In 1994 with Bure and Linden and Courtnall and Mclean in net I thought they had a chance only to lose in 7 games.  Then in 2011 being up 2 games against Boston I thought this is it, finally I will see my team win the cup, well it didn't happen.  By 2014 the Canucks got knocked out of the playoff in the first round by Calgary even though they were the better team, and I realized that cheering for this team was just a waste of time.  I didn't want to become the pathetic Leafs fan who wastes 50 years waiting, and still waiting for a cup, I didn't want to be like a Cubs fan who had to wait 108 years for a championship (nobody alive saw the Cubs win before).

 

So I decided to fire the Vancouver Canucks and abandon the team, I had a big bonfire one night on my property and I burned 7 Canucks jerseys, 3 hats, a tire cover, 3 mugs, 4 Canucks coasters, 2 Canucks car flags, 5 t-shirts, and 1 blanket.  I said enough, I'm not going to be loyal to a loser team, I don't want to wait 50 years for a championship, while others get to celebrate with their team like Chicago fans, or LA Kings fans, or Detroit fans or Pittsburgh fans.  So that was it, I completely washed my hands of the Vancouver Canucks, I stopped watching their games, stopped following the team and stopped going to games.

 

But I love hockey and I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from having a team,  So I pondered and decided to become a die hard Vegas Golden Knights fan, I bought their home and away jerseys, their ball cap, I flew down to Vegas twice on the red eye flight, saw two games, love the team and incidentally they are in first place in the west.  I love the Golden Knights and I know they will win the cup in my life time unlike all the useless Canadian teams that will not win for another 30 years.  All those NHL panel experts predicting that the Oilers will win the cup this year, yeah right, that is why Edmonton is sitting in the basement of the league, or the Leafs will win, yeah right, I have heard that for 50 years already.

 

The Golden Knight might not win the cup in their first year in the NHL but they will win soon, imagine the dollars rolling in for a Stanley Cup final in Las Vegas, millions of dollars.  After all the NHL is a business, it's all about making money.  And incidentally I will be there to see my Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup and I will celebrate at Cesears or Belagio right after.

 

So yeah, I love my team and I have no regrets about switching teams 4 years ago,  after all I didn't have to watch the last 3 years of pathetic hockey from the Canucks, I took a 3 year hiatus break and now my brand new favorite team is in first place and I will be their #1 fan for the rest of my life

 

Go Golden Knights go,  #89 Alex Tuch my favorite player, (Canadian team fans, oh boy I feel sorry for you) stay loyal and watch your teams lose, what's that saying Leaf fans like to use "There is always next year"  LOL 

 

No regrets,

[OccamsRazor]

11 hours ago, Fanboy said:

I used to be a die hard Vancouver Canucks fan for over 30 years, I saw the Canucks reach the Stanley Cup finals 3 times and yet never win the cup.  In 1982 the Canucks didn't really stand a chance against the dynasty New York Islanders.  In 1994 with Bure and Linden and Courtnall and Mclean in net I thought they had a chance only to lose in 7 games.  Then in 2011 being up 2 games against Boston I thought this is it, finally I will see my team win the cup, well it didn't happen.  By 2014 the Canucks got knocked out of the playoff in the first round by Calgary even though they were the better team, and I realized that cheering for this team was just a waste of time.  I didn't want to become the pathetic Leafs fan who wastes 50 years waiting, and still waiting for a cup, I didn't want to be like a Cubs fan who had to wait 108 years for a championship (nobody alive saw the Cubs win before).

 

So I decided to fire the Vancouver Canucks and abandon the team, I had a big bonfire one night on my property and I burned 7 Canucks jerseys, 3 hats, a tire cover, 3 mugs, 4 Canucks coasters, 2 Canucks car flags, 5 t-shirts, and 1 blanket.  I said enough, I'm not going to be loyal to a loser team, I don't want to wait 50 years for a championship, while others get to celebrate with their team like Chicago fans, or LA Kings fans, or Detroit fans or Pittsburgh fans.  So that was it, I completely washed my hands of the Vancouver Canucks, I stopped watching their games, stopped following the team and stopped going to games.

 

But I love hockey and I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from having a team,  So I pondered and decided to become a die hard Vegas Golden Knights fan, I bought their home and away jerseys, their ball cap, I flew down to Vegas twice on the red eye flight, saw two games, love the team and incidentally they are in first place in the west.  I love the Golden Knights and I know they will win the cup in my life time unlike all the useless Canadian teams that will not win for another 30 years.  All those NHL panel experts predicting that the Oilers will win the cup this year, yeah right, that is why Edmonton is sitting in the basement of the league, or the Leafs will win, yeah right, I have heard that for 50 years already.

 

The Golden Knight might not win the cup in their first year in the NHL but they will win soon, imagine the dollars rolling in for a Stanley Cup final in Las Vegas, millions of dollars.  After all the NHL is a business, it's all about making money.  And incidentally I will be there to see my Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup and I will celebrate at Cesears or Belagio right after.

 

So yeah, I love my team and I have no regrets about switching teams 4 years ago,  after all I didn't have to watch the last 3 years of pathetic hockey from the Canucks, I took a 3 year hiatus break and now my brand new favorite team is in first place and I will be their #1 fan for the rest of my life

 

Go Golden Knights go,  #89 Alex Tuch my favorite player, (Canadian team fans, oh boy I feel sorry for you) stay loyal and watch your teams lose, what's that saying Leaf fans like to use "There is always next year"  LOL 

 

No regrets,

 

Thank you for sharing your story.

 

I admire you for doing it.

 

I am like you in a way ( except i haven't lost all hope yet) been a Eagle fan for as long as i can remember loving football.

 

They have been close a couple times but fell short in the two i have seen.

 

I got into hockey in the early 90s from a buddy of mine who was a Sabre fan from Buffalo when i was in the Navy.

 

Didn't have a team at the time and when would go to the bars he would just get livid when they played Philly so i loved rooting for them to make him mad.

 

Then i seen Lindros play and i knew then i wanted to be a Flyer fan and they have had my heart since.

 

And let me tell you they have crushed it hard. In 97, 2004 and then last time in 2010.

 

And i'm still a fan (i'm not very bright i guess) and i hope before i die i see them win one.

 

My most recent heart ripping was losing Caron Wentz for the year.

 

I'm still not over it and they haven't even played a playoff game yet.

 

Losing him just killed me.

 

I can't say i feel good about their chances anymore.

 

Guess we'll see.

 

By the way welcome to the board.

[JR Ewing]

Since this thread is essentially a re-write of one of Fanboy's earlier posts, I'll honour that by copy/pasting my response from the previous thread:

 

Quote

 

For most of the last 25 years, there have been times where I swear the Edmonton Oilers were purposely trying to make me cheer for another team. They lost a lot a lot, but it the circus off the ice that frustrated more than anything. From being so poor that they had to disband their AHL team, to the fact that they only started to even so much as scout the World Junior Tournament within the last 10 years, they were the flagship of how now to run a hockey team.

 

I did get to cheer for a dynasty, and I did get to cheer for the likes of Gretzky and Messier and Coffey and so on, so I can get it if perhaps disgruntled fan of another team tells me that I could never understand. Maybe I can't.

 

In the end, I couldn't bear to switch allegiances. I cheer for my team no matter what.
 

 

 

Some further examples of why any intelligent Oilers fan should own stock in the makers of Gaviscon:

 

• I got to, in the middle of an eternal rebuild, read about Craig MacTavish flying all the way to Finland to scout a player who was in Sweden. They weren't even in the correct country.
• MacT sent head coach Ralph Krueger on vacation to Europe and headed up interviewing for the vacant assistant coach position. He liked the candidate (Dallas Eakins) so much that he hired him to Krueger's position immediately, and then fired Krueger by Skype.
• Want to go completely in the other direction? When it came time for Eakins to go, MacTavish showed up at his house to fire him from the comfort of his own living room......... On Christmas Eve.
• At the 2012 entry draft, the Oilers scouts were unanimous with their choice to draft Ryan Murray, to the extent that they didn't even interview Nail Yakupov. They wanted nothing to do with him. An hour before the draft, the team owner walked into the room and told them that they had better pick Yakupov.
• They have twice (two times) signed players to contracts which were later invalidated because they didn't fit within the parameters of the CBA.
• They have twice (two times) called up players from the AHL, put them on airplanes, etc, and had to send them back because they were ineligible to play due to the CBA.
• They once handed out the captaincy and the two assistants based off of fitness scores. True story.
• Once, going into OT as head coach, Craig MacTavish pulled his goalie who had made 40 saves in the game for a cold backup because that backup "has really good numbers in the shootout". They lost.
• Felt confident enough in the health of Nikolai Khabibulin's back to sign him to a UFA deal. Was this confidence due to a positive health report or exam? Nah. They asked his agent, who assured them he was fit as a fiddle. He still had a bad back.
• Kevin Lowe once held a press conference in an attempt to calm angry fans, and when asked what he thought of fans being frustrated by the Oilers continued losing, he showed his arrogance by talking about how many Cup rings he and MacTavish have, and stated that he doesn't care what "2nd tier fans" think, so long as paying customers continued to show up. Strangely, this didn't go over well with fans.
• When Steve Tambellini was GM, he commented that skill is often overrated and instead preferred administering IQ and psychological tests to players over evaluating their abilities. There's nothing wrong with having intelligent players (it's a skill, too) but give me a superior not-so-smart player over a Rhodes scholar any day.
• Fired Tom Renney because he declined to play a 165-lb Ryan Nugent-Hopkins while injured, telling Renney that they were "selling hope" and he was needed on the ice. Renney felt playing hurt just for the privilege of getting murdered every night might not be the best thing for his development, so he was canned.
• Signed Sheldon Souray knowing he was 2 months into a 6-month shoulder rehab and then demanded he play immediately. Within 26 games he was hurt badly again, and missed the rest of the season. When the same thing happened 3 years later, Souray was interviewed by the media, said the team hadn't even contacted him in 6 months, and didn't really feel like a part of the team due to that. Out of spite, he was loaned out and the team paid him millions of dollars to ride buses in the AHL. Tambellini later noted that a key need was a defender with a big shot. I'm serious here.

...

 

I really could go on, but typing out all of this has me ready to turn over a table, so I'm stopping now.

 

 

[Podein25]

27 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Since this thread is essentially a re-write of one of Fanboy's earlier posts, I'll honour that by copy/pasting my response from the previous thread:

 

 

Some further examples of why any intelligent Oilers fan should own stock in the makers of Gaviscon:

 

• I got to, in the middle of an eternal rebuild, read about Craig MacTavish flying all the way to Finland to scout a player who was in Sweden. They weren't even in the correct country.
• MacT sent head coach Ralph Krueger on vacation to Europe and headed up interviewing for the vacant assistant coach position. He liked the candidate (Dallas Eakins) so much that he hired him to Krueger's position immediately, and then fired Krueger by Skype.
• Want to go completely in the other direction? When it came time for Eakins to go, MacTavish showed up at his house to fire him from the comfort of his own living room......... On Christmas Eve.
• At the 2012 entry draft, the Oilers scouts were unanimous with their choice to draft Ryan Murray, to the extent that they didn't even interview Nail Yakupov. They wanted nothing to do with him. An hour before the draft, the team owner walked into the room and told them that they had better pick Yakupov.
• They have twice (two times) signed players to contracts which were later invalidated because they didn't fit within the parameters of the CBA.
• They have twice (two times) called up players from the AHL, put them on airplanes, etc, and had to send them back because they were ineligible to play due to the CBA.
• They once handed out the captaincy and the two assistants based off of fitness scores. True story.
• Once, going into OT as head coach, Craig MacTavish pulled his goalie who had made 40 saves in the game for a cold backup because that backup "has really good numbers in the shootout". They lost.
• Felt confident enough in the health of Nikolai Khabibulin's back to sign him to a UFA deal. Was this confidence due to a positive health report or exam? Nah. They asked his agent, who assured them he was fit as a fiddle. He still had a bad back.
• Kevin Lowe once held a press conference in an attempt to calm angry fans, and when asked what he thought of fans being frustrated by the Oilers continued losing, he showed his arrogance by talking about how many Cup rings he and MacTavish have, and stated that he doesn't care what "2nd tier fans" think, so long as paying customers continued to show up. Strangely, this didn't go over well with fans.
• When Steve Tambellini was GM, he commented that skill is often overrated and instead preferred administering IQ and psychological tests to players over evaluating their abilities. There's nothing wrong with having intelligent players (it's a skill, too) but give me a superior not-so-smart player over a Rhodes scholar any day.
• Fired Tom Renney because he declined to play a 165-lb Ryan Nugent-Hopkins while injured, telling Renney that they were "selling hope" and he was needed on the ice. Renney felt playing hurt just for the privilege of getting murdered every night might not be the best thing for his development, so he was canned.
• Signed Sheldon Souray knowing he was 2 months into a 6-month shoulder rehab and then demanded he play immediately. Within 26 games he was hurt badly again, and missed the rest of the season. When the same thing happened 3 years later, Souray was interviewed by the media, said the team hadn't even contacted him in 6 months, and didn't really feel like a part of the team due to that. Out of spite, he was loaned out and the team paid him millions of dollars to ride buses in the AHL. Tambellini later noted that a key need was a defender with a big shot. I'm serious here.

...

 

I really could go on, but typing out all of this has me ready to turn over a table, so I'm stopping now.

 

 

 

Quite possibly the post of the year. 

[BluPuk]

This whole thread is really, really odd to me. To me, fans of a team are fans because they love the team. Win or lose.

In my case, ever since I was a "wee lad". I have ridden with the ups and downs of my Leafs since the days when the neighbour's lawn mower interfered with the signal and caused "snow" on the tiny, black-and-white screen. I watched them win four Stanley cups - three of them in consecutive years. Did I consider changing teams as the Leafs losing streak became longer, and longer? Nope. I will always be a Leafs fan. And it has nothing to do with winning Stanley Cups. I wore the occasional black eyes with pride, from the Habs fans, who took a few black eyes themselves. 

 

To me, hockey is like religion. People don't change religions, do they?? 

[OccamsRazor]

45 minutes ago, BluPuk said:

This whole thread is really, really odd to me. To me, fans of a team are fans because they love the team. Win or lose.

In my case, ever since I was a "wee lad". I have ridden with the ups and downs of my Leafs since the days when the neighbour's lawn mower interfered with the signal and caused "snow" on the tiny, black-and-white screen. I watched them win four Stanley cups - three of them in consecutive years. Did I consider changing teams as the Leafs losing streak became longer, and longer? Nope. I will always be a Leafs fan. And it has nothing to do with winning Stanley Cups. I wore the occasional black eyes with pride, from the Habs fans, who took a few black eyes themselves. 

 

To me, hockey is like religion. People don't change religions, do they?? 

 

 

Yeah but it isn't the same because your team did win....even though they start the season with a 1 in 6 chance to win it all.

 

What was it beat the Rangers in a series then the Blackhawks Cup is yours....yeah not all that impressive. Not the same.

[ruxpin]

1 hour ago, BluPuk said:

This whole thread is really, really odd to me. To me, fans of a team are fans because they love the team. Win or lose.

In my case, ever since I was a "wee lad". I have ridden with the ups and downs of my Leafs since the days when the neighbour's lawn mower interfered with the signal and caused "snow" on the tiny, black-and-white screen. I watched them win four Stanley cups - three of them in consecutive years. Did I consider changing teams as the Leafs losing streak became longer, and longer? Nope. I will always be a Leafs fan. And it has nothing to do with winning Stanley Cups. I wore the occasional black eyes with pride, from the Habs fans, who took a few black eyes themselves. 

 

To me, hockey is like religion. People don't change religions, do they?? 

 

Completely agree. Nicely said.

 

My question isn't why he switched. My question is, "what were you thinking being a fan of the entirely forgettable Canucks in the first place?"   It's okay, Vegas will suck at some point and it's on to the new sparkly.

 

EDIT:  And I know I'm not supposed to say it, but I have zero respect for anyone who spends that kind of money on the pile described and sets it on fire.   Give it to charity, to friends, sell it, shove it up your ###, whatever else, but hooray, brilliant, go set it on fire.  If you're waiting for applause for your tremendous display of intellect, hold your breath.

 

Let's throw a tantrum because we lost and set a bunch of crap on fire.   Oh wait...Vancouver.

[JR Ewing]

Being a fan of your team is written into your DNA, like your height or shoe size; it's simply part of who you are. If you can switch, then you weren't really a true fan in the first place.

 

My opinion.

 

[OccamsRazor]

28 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Being a fan of your team is written into your DNA, like your height or shoe size; it's simply part of who you are. If you can switch, then you weren't really a true fan in the first place.

 

My opinion.

 

 

 

I agree. I'll quit watching before i switch.

[ruxpin]

44 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Being a fan of your team is written into your DNA, like your height or shoe size; it's simply part of who you are. If you can switch, then you weren't really a true fan in the first place.

 

My opinion.

 

[yave1964]

I went with my son in law and my six year old grandson to a couple of Bengal games last year, the kid now wears his A.J. Green jersey until his mother forces him to put it in the laundry then once clothes are clean he digs it out and puts it back on. The adults were talking voicing our disgust over how lousy the Bengals are right now and after listening for awhile my grandson shrugged and said, "I don't care, they are my team." end of discussion. @JR Ewing nailed it on the head, for better or worse they are yours and you are theirs, sometimes like a good marriage, sometimes like a bad one but you aren't a fan if you switch sides. I always laugh and shake my head when I see jerseys of champion teams suddenly pop up by so called fans who didn't even know who played for said team until they won.

[BluPuk]

3 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

Yeah but it isn't the same because your team did win....even though they start the season with a 1 in 6 chance to win it all.

 

What was it beat the Rangers in a series then the Blackhawks Cup is yours....yeah not all that impressive. Not the same.

 I don't get what you are saying here. Are you saying that winning a Stanley Cup in the 6 team league was less of an achievement than winning one today is? Really?

There were only 120 (ish) players in the entire NHL then. The level of play was 5 times what it is today (at least). Nothing but the very cream of the crop back then. Players like some of the goons today could not even have made the roster of an AHL team let alone an NHL squad. Are you saying if there were 60 teams in the NHL, that winning a cup would be even harder? Maybe so, but it would be because the talent is so watered down, not because of the 'skill' required to get through a season. I feel for you guys who never saw the NHL in its glory days.

Back then winning a Stanley Cup meant that you were the best in the world. Certainly far from the case today. The best teams today are international teams and the best hockey is international hockey. They should give the cup to the winner of the Olympics - oh wait! Oddly enough the NHL doesn't want "their" players to play in the Olympics or the World Championships do they. Why not? Because they know how bad it makes the NHL level of play look every time there is a real international tournament.

 

But I digress. Carry on ... 

[yave1964]

@BluPuk

 

  While I hate the basic BS that people throw out as to the 'it was easier then' because of a 1 in 6 chance, to me the quality of play is not watered down now. Not at all. the 120 jobs completely came from Canada, now the 620 jobs come from Canada, the USA, Russia, Sweden, in fact all of Europe and most all of the world. If every job came from Canada only and there were suddenly five times as many jobs as previous available, then yeah, watered down for sure but if anything I truly believe that the skill level is higher now than ever. I agree that the glory days were called that for a reason, I love the original six era, just a great time for the sport but the skill level, IMHO because of the fact that they come from the world over is higher now than ever. Just my two cents.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

@yave1964   

 

I'd say your post is worth more than two cents. It's a good take.

I'd give it at least a  buck seventy- five...American dollars too.

 

 

[yave1964]

1 minute ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

@yave1964   

 

I'd say your post is worth more than two cents. It's a good take.

I'd give it at least a  buck seventy- five...American dollars too.

 

 

Why thank you ma'am.

 

  Another thing I forgot to mention is during the glory days the players ate and drank all summer and sweated it off for two weeks of training camp to get in shape. Even as late as the 1972 Summit Series Espo and others point out that they were still in summer shape and not game shape when the series began and they couldn't keep up with the Soviet players for 60 minutes.

  Now it is nutrition and training year round, it is better skates, better equipment better sticks, better medical care, adding all of that into it the skill level is so much better now than ever before, it is not funny. It is pretty much that way with every sport and in fact with most areas of the modern world.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

2 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

Why thank you ma'am.

 

  Another thing I forgot to mention is during the glory days the players ate and drank all summer and sweated it off for two weeks of training camp to get in shape. Even as late as the 1972 Summit Series Espo and others point out that they were still in summer shape and not game shape when the series began and they couldn't keep up with the Soviet players for 60 minutes.

  Now it is nutrition and training year round, it is better skates, better equipment better sticks, better medical care, adding all of that into it the skill level is so much better now than ever before, it is not funny. It is pretty much that way with every sport and in fact with most areas of the modern world.

 

 

Ahh, yes...and just to run the baseball parallel once again here, it is kinda like the meticulous training ballplayers put themselves through as opposed to the days when greats like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb supplemented their training with hot dogs, beer, and cigars.... 

[ruxpin]

34 minutes ago, BluPuk said:

Back then winning a Stanley Cup meant that you were the best in the world.  in Canada

 

I agree with most of everything else you just said, but I had to fix that.   Honestly, back then best in Canada probably represent 90-95% of best in the world, so maybe it's quibbling, but now a lot of very talented people come from elsewhere, including the US.

 

But the rest of your point stands.  Even arguing that you're overstating a bit, at the very least it was probably equal to equal.    But here's the thing, if you're in whatever-sized league and the team you root for with your soul wins, it's a win and no one can or should take that away.

 

Plus, the Canucks have been around for several sizes of league and haven't done squat.   I'm so upset about that I may go burn a bus and a pile of crap I spent more money on than some people make in several months.  Then I'll come and tell about it and pretend it's sane.

[BluPuk]

Yah, you guys are right. Those Stanley Cup wins meant nothing then.......

 

They were just placeholders for the great players of now......   

[ruxpin]

21 minutes ago, BluPuk said:

Yah, you guys are right. Those Stanley Cup wins meant nothing then.......

 

They were just placeholders for the great players of now......   

 

Hey, wait a minute.  I was on your side!   

 

Okay, I take it back.  You have to have at least 7 teams in a league before your championship counts.

[OccamsRazor]

3 hours ago, BluPuk said:

Are you saying that winning a Stanley Cup in the 6 team league was less of an achievement than winning one today is? Really?

 

Hell yeah. Hopefully you'd know this...........right. Hey you don't have to agree like it. I am entitled to my opinion. Not impressed.

 

 

3 hours ago, BluPuk said:

Are you saying if there were 60 teams in the NHL

 

No you have to play 4 rounds to win a Cup. That is one of the most grueling playoffs in all of sports.

[OccamsRazor]

4 hours ago, BluPuk said:

Yah, you guys are right. Those Stanley Cup wins meant nothing then.......

 

They were just placeholders for the great players of now......   

 

And for the record i'm not saying they don't mean nothing. They do.

 

I was saying (my opinion) with fewer teams needing just 8 wins to hoist a Cup isn't as impressive to me as today having to win 16 times.

 

Besides the athletes are bigger and stronger today and yes i agree the equipment is too.

 

But back to my point i was saying it is NOT the same thing as understanding what fanboy was getting at....his teams never won. YOURS HAVE.

 

I mean you're going back to the 60's bro.

 

To fully understand imagine even in the original 6 era if your Maple Leafs never won.....you would be more like fanboy.

 

Not saying you would switch but NOT having any of those 13 Cups you would feel different.

 

It is what @JR Ewing even said he didn't know if it was fair/the same since his Oilers have won Cups even though they haven't won in awhile. They have won.

 

Am i am for the record not like fanboy. I WOULD NEVER switch.......i would stop watching the damn sport as a whole football and hockey before i switch teams........i'm not wired like that.

 

And i'm not trying to offend you or your Leafs and what they did. Just stating my feelings on it.

[J0e Th0rnton]

7 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

Being a fan of your team is written into your DNA, like your height or shoe size; it's simply part of who you are. If you can switch, then you weren't really a true fan in the first place.

 

My opinion.

 

I had my reasons dammit!

[ruxpin]

4 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

I had my reasons dammit!

 

The closest I ever came is way back in  1989 or 90 (around then) when the Flyers, in very short time frame, traded both Propp and Poulin to the Bruins for garbage.    Had it been in the era of easily being able to watch other teams on TV, it's possibly I wouldn't still be a Flyer fan.  I would have followed them to Boston.

[yave1964]

I started following the Wings in the post Gordie Howe era, the Dead Things time frame where for two decades they were a laughingstock, 21 teams 16 making the playoffs and the Wings consistently missing out. You learn from the valleys and when your team reaches the summit you earn the right to consider yourself a fan. The Wings are a team in cap Hell with a slow uninteresting team right now and although I thoroughly enjoy the hometown Jackets and watching them with the wife and our daughter, at no point ever will I be anything other than a Wings fan, period, end of discussion. You simply cannot jump ship in mid ocean.

[J0e Th0rnton]

2 hours ago, ruxpin said:

 

The closest I ever came is way back in  1989 or 90 (around then) when the Flyers, in very short time frame, traded both Propp and Poulin to the Bruins for garbage.    Had it been in the era of easily being able to watch other teams on TV, it's possibly I wouldn't still be a Flyer fan.  I would have followed them to Boston.

For me it was not that Boston was inept. They were frugal ownership who meddled, all about the money and not about winning or the fans.

 

They wasted so many prime years of Bourque and Neely and Oates shipping out anyone good. And they had been doing that for years. but at least they had Bourque and Neely and oates then.

 

After Neely retired, anyone who wanted money was shipped. Oates wants more money? Who does he think he is! Ship him! josef Stumpel can be our #1 C!

 

It was almost 10 years straight of seeing guys holding out and getting shipped as soon as they got good. Jason Allison wants money? TRADE HIM. Mclaren wants money? TRADE HIM.

 

They kept doing programs leading up to the salary cap holdout on highest and lowest payrolls in the NHL. The Bruins were 5th in profits overall, so they were making a boatload of money, yet had the 2nd lowest payroll in the NHL. For years.

 

When fans decided to vote by not going to games, jeremy Jacobs did what Wirtz did in Chicago and started blacking out the games on TV in Boston so fans could not want the bruins unless they came to the game. They managed to be 5th in Profits with thousands of empty seats each night at the fleet center.

 

But oh, Illitch in Detroit called out Jacobs for being a frugal crap owner, so Jacobs decided to retaliate  by overpaying a 3rd line RFA in Lapointe to "Get back" at Illitch. good job Jacobs. You let a 95 point scoring(Which was a lot at that time) scorer in Allison go because he wanted a raise to 4 million dollars, then paid 5 million dollars a year to a 40 point  hack like Lapointe just to say "look I spent money and stole your player" to Detroit.

 

In 2003 they were running a goalie tandem of Steve Shields and John Grahame and it was obviously STUPID. However, Bruins fans all had the same lightbulb. This nobody  that nobody had ever heard of named Tim Thomas looked SENSATIONAL in his 4 games during an injury run, so why not let him keep playing? Nope. Send him back overseas or to the minors and play a rookie instead.

 

Joe Thornton was a top draft pick who blossomed into one of the greatest playmakers of all time. They signed him to a top deal after the lockout because they had to, but let go of every reasonable player they had when they had carte blanche to build the team any way they wanted. Anyone with eyes could see the game was going to be speed based instead of clunky slow clutch and grab skater based and they let all speed go for Clunky crap.

 

Rolston, Knuble, Nylander, Gonchar, all went on to have career best in points after Boston let them go and boston signed......McCachern? Scatchard? Tom Green? Isbister? Tom Fitzgerald? Oh and sign leetch who is on his last legs along with Zhamnov.

 

Boston predictably was out of a playoff spot in 10th in the east in the first quarter of 2005, but the only bright spot was a 33 point in 23 game Joe Thornton. Nobody else on the team even had 20 points. But Jeremy Jacobs decided to torch him personally above all in his "i am unhappy" speech before the trade.

 

Im sitting at the casino playing Holdem when my buddy says "HOLY CRAP, look at the ticker dude"

 

I see that Joe Thornton has just been traded. And not only was he traded. My first thought was "Marleau ++ must be coming back", but he was traded for 3 players that are barely 2nd line caliber. Used parts. As they sat there spewing nonsense.

 

At that moment after 8-9 years of no enjoyment since all my childhood favorites had been gone and any replacements who COULD have become favorites being shipped when they wanted cash, I felt I had held on long enough, with San Jose in even worse shape than Boston sitting in 2nd last overall on a 10 game losing streak, I made the choice to go to the loser 2nd last Sharks team rather than continuing to watch Boston. People on Hockeyforums actually called me a bandwagon jumper and I had to correct them. A Bandwagon jumper jumps on the bandwagon of a WINNING team, not a losing team.

 

The Sharks sucked before that trade. I  accurately predicted Thornton would transform them from worst to a top dog. And he did. The Bruins plummeted in the standing where they remained out of a playoff spot for 3 years.

 

One thing I will always admire about Chiarelli. He got up in front of a press conference and said Jeremy jacobs has to back off and be HANDS OFF, or I don't want the job. Reportedly Jacobs actually chewed nails over that and did not want to hire him because of it, but his yes men finally found some backbone and told Jacobs "You have to. All bridges are burnt and nobody wants to work here anymore in coaching or GM capacity. Fans merchandise sales are down because you now have the dollar Bill reputation." So Jacobs sat back and finally the lightbulb came on that maybe he SHOULD stay away from forcing GM's to make stupid decisions.

 

Granted Chiarelli had to dismantle THE ENTIRE TEAM and start from scratch, Literally not a single player from Joe Thornton's Bruins was left when they finally won a cup except Bergeron(who had been a rookie) and a NOW PLAYING FINALLY Tim Thomas. I was happy for Bergeron, but not disappointed, nor did I feel like I made a Mistake. I still cheered for the Bruins to some degree, but I hated ownership so much that it felt like that Crazy ex girlfriend that I wanted nothing to do with no matter how hot or wild she was in the sack. I got much more enjoyment watching the Sharks in the past 12 years than I did since Neely retired and I liked Hockey again.

 

And for that matter, I had not been really allowed to watch any team BUT boston as a kid. it was almost outlawed in my house. As an adult with a choice, I finally picked my own team when it came down to it and it feels right