Britishbulldog said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Nik the Trik said:
If Chicago hadn't drafted Kane and Toews they'd still be building around a core that included Keith, Seabrook, Byfuglien, Ladd, Sharp, Hjalmarsson, Crawford, etc.
Seems to me it's getting smart that saved them.
Fair point. But even just in terms of marketing and getting fans who had pretty much quit on the team following the Wirtz days back into the arena two top-3 picks like Toews and Kane would have had a significantly larger impact than all those guys combined.
The thing with those 2 as the core is that Kane seemed to be a brat and much worse attitude than Kessel. That is why I have hope for Kessel still.
As talented as Kessel is, he is not now, nor has he ever been, a cornerstone player for a successful team.
I said it when the trade was made and it is still true: getting Kessel was like getting a platinum hood ornament for a Yugo.
If anything, I have sympathy for Kessel inasmuch as he is what has always been and never was what Burke thought he was. Similarly, I have some sympathy for Phaneuf, given that it was clear to everyone else in the NHL that Dion was not a 1-2 pairing minutes eating defence man but rather a second pairing guy. He will certainly be that if he lands in Detroit and I would think he will be far more successful.
What I have absolutely no sympathy for is half hearted efforts, for players snubbing fans who paid excessively to have seats to what most often was a 2nd grade free skate exhibition.
Frankly, both Kessel and Phaneuf floated and both led the snub of the fans (saying that I concede that the end of game salute is unnecessary but once you start something, you're stuck with it --- even more stupid is the time wasting minor hockey bench hand slap after a goal) and if I see Kessel gasping for air on the bench after shift one more time, it will have been a hundred times too many.
In fact the only way I would keep Kessel would be if he spent six weeks with Gary Roberts and Roberts certified him fit and even at that he would be gone at the trade deadline in 2016.
I trade very damn one of them that I can get a decent return for and start new, start young and take my time.
This toxic miasma of entitlement is the worst I have witnessed outside of the Canadian Senate.
I would keep Reilly and elevate some of the recent drafted players and start from scratch.
End of rant.
