I'm crying I'm laughing so hard.... Steve Dankoff on today's leafs lunch, with gospel music playing in the background, talking like preacher about believing in 9th place nation..... out of the lottery, and out of the playoffs, but STILL BELIEVING!! Ah, god, I'm killing myself..

we all have our goals, nothing wrong with being the best looking chick at an ugly contest.

I wasnt sure who is the buffoon after your comment...I was ready to call in and blast him..However listened to him for a few minutes and changed my mind...


Chris it is obvious you dont understand the situation..You think you do, might you dont..

So just stop commenting on the Leafs..Thanks

He's a good friend of mine.... and a Habs fan......
Next time I have a poker game at my house, serge, I'll invite you..

Seriously, serge, even though it will cost me money on our big prop bet, I hope they finish ninth. And then you can spend all summer thinking about your ninth overall draft pick. And that you have no centres signed. No lottery, no playoffs, GET BEHIND THE DRIVE FOR NINE!!!!! Hallelujah...

its just interesting that they call themselves the HOME OF THE LEAFS and then they bash them...

IF that happens I am ok with it..Because I am not happy with losing ...Or benching your stars so you can get a better drafting position..

I searched on the net and cant find more info, but maybe you may remember..The reason they went with the draft lottery was because a team was "losing" on purpose..And I believe it was the Pens..I maybe wrong..but I remember something to that effect

Pens, to get Mario.

I thought so..The Pens fans wont admit it, and I couldnt find any info on the web..

Actually, I could be mistaken. I can't find any info on it either, so if I'm wrong, I apologize.

I tried to find history on the lottery like what year it was brought in, but the earliest I could find was 1995.

The Pens were accused of it, although it was never made into that big a deal. They simply brought up a bunch of youngsters to play once they had no shot at the playoffs. BUT, serge keeps going off about the lottery being fixed to get Crosby to the Pens.... apparently, he doesn't recall that there were four teams that year with three balls and equal opportunity to win Crosby. And that last year, the Flyers had the maximum opportunity to get the first overall, but the team with the SMALLEST chance, Chicago.... a crappy market with no tv exposure.... jumped to first overall......
Calling drafts fixed is just the feeble rantings of a fan of a team that has never drafted well. Not once. In the teams 100 year history.

Because even the home of the Leafs can face reality....

Not to mention the fact that they didn't even get a chance to throw any games the season before Crosby's draft as it was the lockout... lol. It's not like they lost the season before the lockout just incase there was a lockout so they could have a good chance in a weighted lottery in a made up draft scenario to get Crosby, lol.

Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with giving your prospects a little playing time if your NHL season no longer matters. If I know I'm eliminated from the playoffs, or have as good of a chance as the Leafs have now, I'm calling up my young guys to see what they have at NHL level, so I know who to keep for next season, etc, instead of basing it off of the AHL.

The Crosby fix is a semi joke on my part...But dont you think it was convenient...A team in financial difficulty, very close to moving from Pittsburgh and VOILA..superstar..

Obviously it wasnt fixed but it worked out the best for the NHL

I coulda sworn Pittsburgh traded away either a few of their better players, or maybe even an assistant captain down the stretch, in order to "allegedly" get a better shot of finishing last. Am I ashamed of that? Not a chance


If Mario had been a New Jersey Devil, I most likely never would have got into hockey, and the Pens would most likely not be in Pittsburgh. Yeah, the lottery is a good thing, but I'm pretty damn grateful it wasn't in play in 1984.

I'll give them 1985 and Wendel Clark. It was a really bad draft and a lot of teams passed over Nieuwendyk. Wendel Clark worked out well for Toronto.

NOTE: Paul Maurice and John Ferguson Jr. were both also taken in the 1985 draft. Maurice was taken with the last pick (252nd) of the draft by Philadelphia. Ferguson was drafted just a few picks before that at 247th by Montreal.