Hockey's Biggest "What if"?

[Dirby Kach]

If Justin Williams was called for a double minor for sticking Koivu's eye out in 06, that franchise would not exist right now.

 

[Lukin1978]

What if the Penguins don't break up after the 2001 season.
- They stay relevant and a playoff Team with the core of Jagr Lemieux, Kovalev, Straka and so on for a few more seaons
- Jagr possibly wins a few more Art Ross trophies instead of his down years in Washington, maybe he more or less stays with Pittsburgh for his entire career
- Crosby and Malkin don't end up on the Pittsburgh and quite possibly don't end up on the same team. Obviously a huge change of hockey history for more than 15 years.

We'd have missed the good times of Dick Tarnstrom leading the team in scoring.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

A random one that just popped in my head. What If Jack Eichel stayed at BU for an additional year?

 

[tarheelhockey]

If Justin Williams was called for a double minor for sticking Koivu's eye out in 06, that franchise would not exist right now.

Oh, it's gonna be like that.

Ok then.

The Montreal Canadiens would be a long-forgotten memory of a franchise that folded in the 1930s, except that the Maple Leafs deigned to allow them to exist.

80 years ago, the Habs came close to relocation, read the story here

Enter none other than Toronto Maple Leafs owner, Conn Smythe, who led a movement within the NHL to veto the Canadian Arena Company's attempt to fold the Canadiens. He won over the league's government in his defense of what he felt was one of the most distinct franchises in the league, and the Maroons would eventually be the team to fold in 1938.

So they could have become the Cleveland Canadiens, or, worse, they could have gone away completely. When you consider that Maurice Richard didn't even play his first game with the Canadiens until 1942, that's when you realize how much this could have altered Habs history, and really, the history of the game itself.

 

[c9777666]

What if Rare Jewel had not won the horse race that Conn Smythe ended up with enough money that he felt emboldened to make the King Clancy trade?

Leafs at 100: The courting of a King was worth every penny | The Star

 

[Normand Lacombe]

What if Rare Jewel had not won the horse race that Conn Smythe ended up with enough money that he felt emboldened to make the King Clancy trade?

Leafs at 100: The courting of a King was worth every penny | The Star

What if Col. John Hammond never fired Smythe from the Rangers in 1926? How would the Rangers and Maple Leaf franchises had been altered?

 

[Talisman]

What if Jágr had returned to penguins in 2011 to play with Crosby and Malkin??.

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

What if Col. John Hammond never fired Smythe from the Rangers in 1926? How would the Rangers and Maple Leaf franchises had been altered?

What if John Hammond hadn't brought those cloned dinosaurs back to life? Samuel L. Jackson might still be alive today and Sam Neil wouldn't be famous.

 

[BlueBull]

What if Gord Kluzak didnt have injury issues?
What if Rick DiPietro wasn't injury prone?
What if Michel Briere never died in a car accident?
What if Pelle Lindbergh never died from injuries in a car accident?

Finally, What if Tim Horton never died in a Car Crash? Would be very interesting to see how he would handle his legacy.

 

[Soundgarden]

What if George Pelawa had never died in a car crash. Would be interesting to see if he could have been a link between Lemieux and Lindros in terms of big, skilled guys.

 

[BobbyAwe]

I'll add another.

What if the 70s Bruins dont give away all of their good young prospects?

Ken Dryden
Bernie Parent
Mark Howe
Rick MacLeish
Reggie Leach
Ivan Boldirev
Al Secord

All drafted by the Bruins, and all traded away before getting an NHL game or at most a cup of coffee

Tell me about it

 

[tarheelhockey]

What if Col. John Hammond never fired Smythe from the Rangers in 1926? How would the Rangers and Maple Leaf franchises had been altered?

On a similar MSG related note.

What if Tex Rickard doesn't mess around delaying surgery, and lives another 20 years? Implications for the NYC teams and several other cities (Philly, Baltimore, even Miami) may have been huge.

 

[crobro]

What if miles Zaharko didn’t have a drinking problem in ju ior

 

[c9777666]

What if the 2003 Red Wings had not lost game 82 at Chicago?

They would have finished with the 1 seed in the West and avoided getting Giguere'd this early. Would have gotten them a round 1 with Edmonton and Tommy Salo. (The 2003 Oilers were a VERY different roster compared to their '06 playoff matchup).

I can't see Salo going Giguere on them. OTOH, EDM might have been relieved just to not play DAL for once and the one time they did not play Dallas from 1997-2003, they upset Colorado and came back from 3-1......

 

[Merya]

What if HoH had better topics...

 

[tarheelhockey]

What if HoH had better topics...

This is actually a pretty good topic to spur history discussion

 

[LeafsNation75]

What if Gretzky was given a high sticking penalty in overtime of Game 6 vs Toronto in 1993.

 

[canuckster19]

For Canucks,

What if Lafayette scores instead of hitting the post,

What if Rome doesn’t hit Horton and Hamhuis doesn’t get injured in game 1.

What if Keith doesn’t goon Sedin and we have him for the first three games against the Kings.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

What if NJ won Lemieux

 

[VanIslander]

What if NJ won Lemieux

They did.

They won Lemieux in a lopsided trade and Claude scored 13 playoff goals and got the Conn Smythe in 1995 to bring the Stanley Cup to New Jersey. Five years later he returned to lead all Devils' forwards in playoff ice time to another Stanley Cup.

"NJ" and "Lemieux" is forever a winning association.

What if NJ hadn't won Lemieux by trading for him?

 

[c9777666]

What if Daigle had not gone #1 and went to a team with more talent to work with than OTT?

 

[HawkNut]

What if Toronto never traded for Tom Kurvers? I did a thread on this.

What if the roulette wheel spun in Vancouver instead of Buffalo for Gilbert Perrault?

 

[Messrules11]

What if the Oilers never traded Messier to the Rangers? Would we still be hearing the ‘1940’ chant?

 

[brachyrynchos]

What if the Devils beat the Rangers in the '94 ECF? NY's roster was built to win...who would've returned, been shipped out, and who would they have brought in?
What if Jirí Hrdina refused thd trade from Calgary to Pittsburgh (Jim Kyte)? The Czech veteran was brought in to help Jagr with the adjustment to North America. Jagr was rumored to have thought about going back home.
What if there wasn't the fatal accident in June 1985 that took the life of promising prospect Anatoly 'Toya' Fetisov, his brother Slava behind the wheel. The burden Slava carried and the loss of a defenseman that was exoected to be drafted that year.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

I know this topic is ten pages in and would likely think it has been brought up already......what if Marty McSorley's illegal stick was NOT detected in game 2 of the 93 finals?