Alumni in the Playoffs - 2010

[Willy '06]

Guess it fits in here. Was out on Thursday night with some friends and saw a bus escorted by police coming down the street. Jonathan Toews stuck his head out the window and I followed as they stopped two blocks down to go to some club with the Stanley Cup in tow. I snapped a few pics. It looks like the Blackhawks had a pretty good Thursday night.

[Josh '99]

Updates, part the last:

Last night the Hershey Bears won their second consecutive Calder Cup and third in the last five years, defeating Raymond Sawada's Texas Stars in six games.  It seemed all but a foregone conclusion after the Bears won game 5 on the road last Friday night, 2-1 in overtime; they clinched the championship with a 4-0 win on home ice, in which they outshot the Stars 36-22 (including 17-4 in the first period).  Sawada didn't have a point in either game.  Chris Bourque, son of NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque and briefly a former Boston University player (if I recall correctly, supposedly he left because he couldn't handle the academics; how dumb must that kid be?), won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs; Bourque led the AHL in playoff scoring with 27 points (7 G, 20 A).  

So I guess that's it for now.  There's some sort of soccer tournament going on, you should go check that out.

[Jim Hyla]

Updates, part the last:

Last night the Hershey Bears won their second consecutive Calder Cup and third in the last five years, defeating Raymond Sawada's Texas Stars in six games.  It seemed all but a foregone conclusion after the Bears won game 5 on the road last Friday night, 2-1 in overtime; they clinched the championship with a 4-0 win on home ice, in which they outshot the Stars 36-22 (including 17-4 in the first period).  Sawada didn't have a point in either game.  Chris Bourque, son of NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque and briefly a former Boston University player (if I recall correctly, supposedly he left because he couldn't handle the academics; how dumb must that kid be?), won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs; Bourque led the AHL in playoff scoring with 27 points (7 G, 20 A).  

So I guess that's it for now.  There's some sort of soccer tournament going on, you should go check that out.

Especially for those who worry that some of these no-nothing hockey (and lacrosse) decision makers are ruining the games with the changes they propose (and make). At least they don't change the hockey puck or lacrosse ball.::whistle::In recent times that is.

[Rita]

Updates, part the last:

Last night the Hershey Bears won their second consecutive Calder Cup and third in the last five years, defeating Raymond Sawada's Texas Stars in six games.  It seemed all but a foregone conclusion after the Bears won game 5 on the road last Friday night, 2-1 in overtime; they clinched the championship with a 4-0 win on home ice, in which they outshot the Stars 36-22 (including 17-4 in the first period).  Sawada didn't have a point in either game.  Chris Bourque, son of NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque and briefly a former Boston University player (if I recall correctly, supposedly he left because he couldn't handle the academics; how dumb must that kid be?), won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs; Bourque led the AHL in playoff scoring with 27 points (7 G, 20 A).  

So I guess that's it for now.  There's some sort of soccer tournament going on, you should go check that out.

Especially for those who worry that some of these no-nothing hockey (and lacrosse) decision makers are ruining the games with the changes they propose (and make). At least they don't change the hockey puck or lacrosse ball.::whistle::In recent times that is.

Here's hoping RPI stays with the Thundersticks for the Big Red Freakout and doesn't give away vuvuzelas!

[RichH]

Here's hoping RPI stays with the Thundersticks for the Big Red Freakout and doesn't give away vuvuzelas!

Too late, I'm guessing. The page I'm linking here lists the "gift" (aka "bribe for showing up" ) for 1983 and 1987 as a "horn" and I can't think of any other americanized description for the now world-famous vuvuzelas.  

http://www.augenblick.org/rpi/h_brf.html

and note: "...this game is best known for producing the NCAA "RPI Rule" which prohibits artificial noisemakers from being used during a game. The 1987 game versus Brown, which saw horns given out as the gift, was the impetus for the rule."

[Jim Hyla]

From ECAC Website. Dallas Extends Qualifying Offer to Sawada.

[Jim Hyla]

Interesting blog by The Hockey News, via ECAC website, on Nieuwendyk's chances to get first round election to the Hall of Fame.

[RatushnyFan]

I think you have to appreciate face off % (and the enormous importance of winning face offs), shooting percentage and overall leadership to be an advocate for Joe's HOF candidacy.  Others with similar/lower career numbers (per game) - Joe Mullen, Glenn Anderson, Cam Neely, Steve Shutt, Lanny MacDonald.

There's no way that Calgary or Dallas win the Stanley Cup without him.  The Devils might have, but he certainly had a big impact before he was hurt.  Injuries are part of the game but probably hurt him far more than most, he lost a lot of games/points from '94-'00 during the height of his career.

He would certainly fit in the HOF, I hope he makes it but I can understand the debate.

[Robb]

I think you have to appreciate face off % (and the enormous importance of winning face offs), shooting percentage and overall leadership to be an advocate for Joe's HOF candidacy.  Others with similar/lower career numbers (per game) - Joe Mullen, Glenn Anderson, Cam Neely, Steve Shutt, Lanny MacDonald.

There's no way that Calgary or Dallas win the Stanley Cup without him.  The Devils might have, but he certainly had a big impact before he was hurt.  Injuries are part of the game but probably hurt him far more than most, he lost a lot of games/points from '94-'00 during the height of his career.

He would certainly fit in the HOF, I hope he makes it but I can understand the debate.

Fit?  FIT?

He belongs, period.  He's the 20th leading goal scorer in NHL history.  That alone makes him worthy, before you even consider that he captained a Cup winner, won the Conn Smythe for a second team, then became the first player to win 3 cups with 3 different teams, won a gold medal, kicked the crap out of all comers at the faceoff dots for years, etc.  The ONLY debate is whether he's first ballot or not, and that depends as much on who else is eligible as it does on his absolute merit.

[Ronald '09]

There's no way that Calgary or Dallas win the Stanley Cup without him.  The Devils might have, but he certainly had a big impact before he was hurt.  Injuries are part of the game but probably hurt him far more than most, he lost a lot of games/points from '94-'00 during the height of his career.

Devils won the last five games in 2003 (game 7 against Ottawa and the entire finals) without him, but there's no way they win their first three against Ottawa and maybe even the previous round or two without him.  Don't forget the previous year they lost to Carolina in the first round.  The major offseason moves involved getting rid of Sykora for Friesen, McKay and Arnott (who's now back!) for Joe and Langenbrunner.  Suffice to say all three acquisitions were way better than that loser Ilya Kovalchuk.  Sorry got a little bit off topic, but the point is, the Devils wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the cup that year without Nieuwendyk.

But it's also irrelevant to the HOF discussion, since he's in by the numbers anyway.

[French Rage]

I think you have to appreciate face off % (and the enormous importance of winning face offs), shooting percentage and overall leadership to be an advocate for Joe's HOF candidacy.  Others with similar/lower career numbers (per game) - Joe Mullen, Glenn Anderson, Cam Neely, Steve Shutt, Lanny MacDonald.

There's no way that Calgary or Dallas win the Stanley Cup without him.  The Devils might have, but he certainly had a big impact before he was hurt.  Injuries are part of the game but probably hurt him far more than most, he lost a lot of games/points from '94-'00 during the height of his career.

He would certainly fit in the HOF, I hope he makes it but I can understand the debate.

Fit?  FIT?

He belongs, period.  He's the 20th leading goal scorer in NHL history.  That alone makes him worthy, before you even consider that he captained a Cup winner, won the Conn Smythe for a second team, then became the first player to win 3 cups with 3 different teams, won a gold medal, kicked the crap out of all comers at the faceoff dots for years, etc.  The ONLY debate is whether he's first ballot or not, and that depends as much on who else is eligible as it does on his absolute merit.

Technically Claude Lemieux did it first.

[RatushnyFan]

I hope he makes it too, but I don't know that the goals/numbers alone make it a slam dunk.  What about Adam Oates, Doug Gilmour, Dino Ciccarelli, Dave Andreychuk, Phil Housley?  Not that many Cups, maybe that is the distinction for most HOF votes, but these guys also had great numbers and careers.  No Cup for Oates, but he was a phenomenal playermaker with approx 300 more points and more playoff points.  Gilmour had a Cup with Joe in Calgary and had more goals and points than Joe during the playoffs that year.  He also had more playoff points across his career including 63 points in two playoff seasons with Toronto in the early '90's where in my mind he willed those teams to respectable playoff performances, with some help but a lot was on his back.  Off-ice come into play for Doug most likely, I don't really have a view on those issues.

I'm a big Devils fan, but I don't see Joe's role on the '02-'03 Devils the way that some here do.  A good player, yes, but he was playing 15 minutes a game and not quite himself.  They won the first two series four games to one and against Ottawa he had two goals and two assists in six games, a solid producer for sure but it wasn't like he was carrying the team that year (he had 9 points in 17 games).

Sure I think Joe's leadership and three Cups on three teams should put him over the top.  We'll see, and I hope you're right.  I'm just a little nervous perhaps.

[KeithK]

The ONLY debate is whether he's first ballot or not, and that depends as much on who else is eligible as it does on his absolute merit.

My thought exactly.

[Beeeej]

It's official... Nieuwendyk is not in the HOF Class of 2010.

An opinion:

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/06/joe-nieuwendyk-has-good-company-in-wait.html

[RatushnyFan]

Here's hoping Joe makes it next year.  I really think that there should be a place in the HOF for Doug Gilmour and Adam Oates eventually as well.  Glad to see there's a place for Cammi Granato and Angela James too.  Most of all, probably for homer reasons, I was hoping that there would be a spot for Pat Burns this year.  I take it the vote doesn't become public.....