If You Could Change One Play Or Moment in NHL/Hockey History.....

[blundluntman]

Roy's statue of Liberty play for sure. I get sick to this day whenever video of it comes up.

 

[Sentinel]

1972 SS: No slash, the Soviets win. Espo and Clarke hang their heads.

1984 CC: Coffey doesn't intercept that pass, the Soviets win.

1987 CC: Belosheikin makes that save, the Soviets win.

1999 WCSF: Osgood does not get injured, the Wings ride the momentum and beat the Avs. Then they take on Dallas.

02 OG: Samsonov scores, Russia wins.

07 RS: Kronwall doesn't get injured.

09 SCF: Lidstrom scores, Wings repeat.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

http://nypost.com/2010/04/04/rangers-had-done-deal-for-stamkos/

This, imagine if Sather fleeced Tampa and got Stamkos. I'm betting St.Louis is in NY much earlier than 2014. Those big contracts are never given to Richards and Gaborik. Nash is never traded for. The team seeing how much speed Stamkos brings drafts Tarasenko in 2010. In the 2011-12 playoffs they trot out a 1st line of Hagelin-Stamkos-St.Louis, followed by Kreider-Anisimov-Tarasenko. With guys like Callahan,Zuccarello,Stepan, and Fedotenko to fill out the bottom 6, that team could very well win a cup or 2. Ughhh what could have been

 

[SealsFan]

I'd prevent the Seals from trading their #1 draft pick that gave Montreal Guy Lafleur...

 

[Zegras Zebra]

Besides for tragedies of course I'll give my 3 what ifs for my teams:

1. If Anaheim holds on for 12 more seconds in game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal against LA, they win that series in 5 games,and play Chicago in the Western Final which would be a 50/50 series, and could have resulted in a Stanley Cup final appearance against the Rangers who Anaheim would have beaten. Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu both finish their career on top with a Stanley Cup victory.

2. If Anaheim doesn't chock in one of Game 5-7 against Chicago in 2015, they probably beat Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Final.

3. What would happen if the Winnipeg Jets didn't move to Phoenix in 1996? Would the franchise have a different history because a different ownership group would make different management decisions which would trickle down to the players on the ice? Would the team be a complete doormat due to the low Canadian dollar until the salary cap era? Would the team play with more confidence knowing the franchise isn't going to be moved at any moment (unlike the Coyotes)? What would have happened to Atlanta in 2011? There are so many questions.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Besides for tragedies of course I'll give my 3 what ifs for my teams:

1. If Anaheim holds on for 12 more seconds in game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal against LA, they win that series in 5 games,and play Chicago in the Western Final which would be a 50/50 series, and could have resulted in a Stanley Cup final appearance against the Rangers who Anaheim would have beaten. Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu both finish their career on top with a Stanley Cup victory.

2. If Anaheim doesn't chock in one of Game 5-7 against Chicago in 2015, they probably beat Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Final.

3. What would happen if the Winnipeg Jets didn't move to Phoenix in 1996? Would the franchise have a different history because a different ownership group would make different management decisions which would trickle down to the players on the ice? Would the team be a complete doormat due to the low Canadian dollar until the salary cap era? Would the team play with more confidence knowing the franchise isn't going to be moved at any moment (unlike the Coyotes)? What would have happened to Atlanta in 2011? There are so many questions.

I wouldn't write the 2014 RANGERS off. That series vs la was much closer than it showed. I wish you guys would have gotten through in 2015 though and we beat Tampa. Ughh game 3 still pisses me off.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Cherepanov survives and becomes a 40 goal scorer in the NHL.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

1972 SS: No slash, the Soviets win. Espo and Clarke hang their heads.



1999 WCSF: Osgood does not get injured, the Wings ride the momentum and beat the Avs. Then they take on Dallas.

That Wings team was good, but I think Dallas beats them anyway.

 

[Drytoast]

 

[Dr John Carlson]

For Washington: Ovechkin scoring on the breakaway instead of getting robbed by Fleury, Game 7 of the ECSF against Pittsburgh in 2009. If he scores that, they take a 1-0 lead and I'd bet that they end up winning the game.

If they win that Game 7, they would have most likely cruised through Carolina. I don't know if they would've beaten Detroit but that's not really the important part here. Winning that game means that the '2nd round mental hurdle' doesn't exist and the 'Pittsburgh mental hurdle' doesn't exist. A Washington team without any mental barriers over the past decade is a team that probably wins at least a Cup or two.

 

[BlueBull]

Two For Vancouver
1994: 2 of the three faceoffs in the new york end in the last 37 seconds are vancouver goals. Vancouver wins cup in 7
2011: After game 3 we don't continue to choke. Canucks in 5.

 

[K Fleur]

1972 SS: No slash, the Soviets win. Espo and Clarke hang their heads.

1984 CC: Coffey doesn't intercept that pass, the Soviets win.

1987 CC: Belosheikin makes that save, the Soviets win.

1999 WCSF: Osgood does not get injured, the Wings ride the momentum and beat the Avs. Then they take on Dallas.

02 OG: Samsonov scores, Russia wins.

07 RS: Kronwall doesn't get injured.

09 SCF: Lidstrom scores, Wings repeat.

Would they have though? The Wings lost the only OT game played over the two series(game 5 2008).

 

[K Fleur]

For Washington: Ovechkin scoring on the breakaway instead of getting robbed by Fleury, Game 7 of the ECSF against Pittsburgh in 2009. If he scores that, they take a 1-0 lead and I'd bet that they end up winning the game.

If they win that Game 7, they would have most likely cruised through Carolina. I don't know if they would've beaten Detroit but that's not really the important part here. Winning that game means that the '2nd round mental hurdle' doesn't exist and the 'Pittsburgh mental hurdle' doesn't exist. A Washington team without any mental barriers over the past decade is a team that probably wins at least a Cup or two.

This is a good one. At the the time for me it felt like that game was over for Washington the moment Fleury made that save. Which is weird since I think it happened in the first minute of the game.

 

[GMR]

That Wings team was good, but I think Dallas beats them anyway.

I've always thought the opposite. The Wings seemed to have the Stars' number. Would have been an interesting series for sure, though Dallas vs. Colorado ended up its own great series.

 

[Ceremony]

I'd stop Matt Cooke from injuring Tyson Barrie in the 2014 playoffs.

 

[frisco]

Tom Fitzgerald of Florida doesn't score on deflected shot to beat Pittsburgh in Game Seven of Semi-Finals in 1996. Pittsburgh and Colorado meet for the most entertaining Finals of all-time with the Pens prevailing in seven.

Volek shoots wide in 1993. Pens win three straight Cups.

NO GOAL. Sabres beat Stars in 5 OT to force game seven.

David Steckel doesn't purposely run over Sidney Crosby in 2011 Winter Classic.

Perreault doesn't break ankle against Sweden in 1981 Canada Cup. Scores hat trick in 6-5 win over Soviets in the greatest game ever played.

My Best-Carey

 

[ICM1970]

I'd prevent the Seals from trading their #1 draft pick that gave Montreal Guy Lafleur...

Tha
That's been an interesting subject of debate and discussion as to what would have happened if Guy actually did go to the Bay Area instead of Montreal. I am of the mind that he would have been homesick for Quebec City and gotten tired of Charlie Finley's ways and those two things might have made that offer the WHA Nordiques made to him in about 1974 that good deal more enticing than it was when he was in Montreal and both Sam Pollock and Jean Beliveau made that solid, long term offer to him.

 

[ICM1970]

That Wren Blair, Bill Mastertons Coach & GM in 1968 who only admitted/confessed publicly at the age of 85 & years later that he believed Bill had been suffering from a pre-existing concussion & who had been exhibiting all the symptoms thereof... that Blair had instead of just taking Mastertons' word that that he was "good to go" had instead ordered him to "sit", sent him to the hospital where he could have received the medical diagnosis & treatment which he required. It was clear to Blair & to several of Bill's teammates prior to his last game that there was something very seriously wrong with the guy.

Agreed. I made a study of what happened to Bill some years back (through reading first hand accounts at the time in 1968) and even the interviews his teammates gave to the newspapers at the time really indicated that something was wrong with Bill as to how he looked before the game and when he took the initial hit. Then, of course, was the interview with Wren that really confirmed all of that and that Bill had likely been having problems since training camp. Basically someone who might not have had really any business being in the league to begin with and all of this challenging the media's biased narrative about the whole thing.

 

[ICM1970]

I've noticed that this has not been mentioned yet, but what if there had been a way of preventing Harold Ballard from assuming control of the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise in 1971, following Stafford Smythe's passing? I recall reading about how Ballard (shortly before Stafford died) was able to get Smythe to change his will so that Ballard had first crack at buying Staff's shares in the event of his death. Apparently, the Smythe family had no knowledge of this arrangement at all and Tom Smythe first learned of his father's shares of the club being bought by Ballard through a news report heard on his car radio one day not long after the funeral. Could the Smythe family have successfully challenged Ballard's position as executor of the estate and first person permitted to buy those shares? It would have meant Tom Smythe likely taking over the club and maybe his grandfather Conn could have assisted him in running it. I wonder if the many bitter and very wrong legacies that Harold ultimately left the team and the Gardens would have been averted right then and there. He apparently borrowed a great deal to buy Stafford's shares and the debt he carried really created a problem when interest rates were hiked greatly by the end of the 1970s and that right there was a major reason why the Gardens became crummy and run down and the team could not really afford to run a first class outfit like other more successful franchises. Not to mention the horrible characters who ended up working there and abused teenage boys. Maybe also Foster Hewitt's gondola could have been saved and given to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a special piece and that the team plaques kept by Conn and Stafford in the Leafs' dressing room as well as the "Defeat Does Not Rest Lightly on their Shoulders" would have also stayed instead of being ripped out and destroyed or painted over.

 

[Killion]

I've noticed that this has not been mentioned yet, but what if there had been a way of preventing Harold Ballard from assuming control of the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise in 1971, following Stafford Smythe's passing? I recall reading about how Ballard (shortly before Stafford died) was able to get Smythe to change his will so that Ballard had first crack at buying Staff's shares in the event of his death. Apparently, the Smythe family had no knowledge of this arrangement at all and Tom Smythe first learned of his father's shares of the club being bought by Ballard through a news report heard on his car radio one day not long after the funeral.

The version of this story Ive heard goes back a lot earlier, late 50's early 60's, when Stafford Smythe borrowed from Harold Ballard in order to buy his fathers shares in the Leafs & Maple Leaf Gardens. That it was at that time, as part of the Loan Agreement between Ballard & Stafford Smythe that upon eithers early demise the other would get first right of refusal on the others shares. Not uncommon.....

What was surprising & to this day a mystery, is why was it that then Chairman of Maple Leaf Gardens & the Leafs Board of Directors John Bassett Sr. (and had been since 1962) didnt demand Harold Ballards immediate resignation from the Board once he'd been found guilty of over 50 fraud & theft charges (Stafford Smythe had died prior to sentencing) and been forced to sell his shares before he was able to then buy up Staffords & gain full control.

The Leafs & Gardens Board of Directors had policies in place to remove anyone who was not acting in the best interests of the club & building let alone being convicted of robbing from the companies vaults as was the case with Stafford & Harold, with mechanisms in place to force them to sell their shares. Yet this wasnt done. Nor did the NHL ever step in either before or after Ballard had acquired Staffords shares & control of the team, denying him that right as was their right in that the guy was a convicted felon & who's activities had brought considerable shame on the club & the league itself.

 

[Whaleafs]

 

[sr edler]

Ask Espen Knutsen.

Apparently Derek Morris deflected the puck, so it wasn't like Knutsen blew it out entirely on his own.

 

[ICM1970]

The version of this story Ive heard goes back a lot earlier, late 50's early 60's, when Stafford Smythe borrowed from Harold Ballard in order to buy his fathers shares in the Leafs & Maple Leaf Gardens. That it was at that time, as part of the Loan Agreement between Ballard & Stafford Smythe that upon eithers early demise the other would get first right of refusal on the others shares. Not uncommon.....

What was surprising & to this day a mystery, is why was it that then Chairman of Maple Leaf Gardens & the Leafs Board of Directors John Bassett Sr. (and had been since 1962) didnt demand Harold Ballards immediate resignation from the Board once he'd been found guilty of over 50 fraud & theft charges (Stafford Smythe had died prior to sentencing) and been forced to sell his shares before he was able to then buy up Staffords & gain full control.

The Leafs & Gardens Board of Directors had policies in place to remove anyone who was not acting in the best interests of the club & building let alone being convicted of robbing from the companies vaults as was the case with Stafford & Harold, with mechanisms in place to force them to sell their shares. Yet this wasnt done. Nor did the NHL ever step in either before or after Ballard had acquired Staffords shares & control of the team, denying him that right as was their right in that the guy was a convicted felon & who's activities had brought considerable shame on the club & the league itself.

I read up on this in William Houston's book "Inside Maple Leaf Gardens: The Rise and Fall of the Toronto Maple Leafs". Apparently, when Stafford and Harold were charged in about 1969, John Bassett called a meeting of shareholders to discuss the possible ousting of both men due to their discovered criminal activities. Not many showed up and it was up to Bassett to cast a deciding vote to proceed with the ouster. This, of course, enraged both men and they called in favours from ones who did not show up for the vote and as a result were reinstated (in about early 1970). Bassett already had troubles with his Toronto Telegram news empire and he gave in and left the Leafs to deal with such other matters, now Stafford and Harold were back running the club and the Gardens until Stafford's passing in October 1971 (shortly before the sentencing).

I agree with the idea that following Stafford's death and Ballard being prosecuted and sentenced for the fraud and theft charges, Clarence Campbell (the Rhodes scholar and Nuremberg prosecutor!) could and should have stepped in to order Ballard to have sold his shares and interest in the Gardens and the team (if not to Bassett, maybe Paul McNamara or Don Giffin or Steve Stavro or some other associate from that time) . It might be a fair idea to have allowed the Smythe family to have kept their shares since Stafford had passed away and that his son Tom would have likely been permitted to have run the club.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Vladys limo ride.

 

[Scott Stevens]

If Nathan LaFyette scores instead of hitting the post, we have a tied game 7 with 6 minutes left in the Stanley Cup Final, between two teams that put on a series that made it look like they were born to play against each other.