Your favorite "What if?" contemplation?

[sittler rules!!!]

I'm with the above poster.

What if Gretzky got caught.

A Leafs vs Habs series in 93 woulda been just what the doctor ordered.

I am still peeved about that one. Damn you Kerry Fraser

 

[sittler rules!!!]

I know it's been said but what if Bobby Orr had good knees?

Here,Here. Right on with that one.

 

[sittler rules!!!]

The Hockey News did a special on Great Debates back in the fall that went through some of the "what if's". According to them, if Bobby Orr had had two good knees not too many people would know who Paul Henderson is. Orr would have been the clincher for Canada in the 72 series, he was by far the best player in the world at that time (it was his peak of peaks) and he would not have let Canada fall behind three games to one in the series. They also point out that he dominated and was the MVP of the 76 Canada Cup even though his knees were nearly gone by then.


Imagine Canada hadn't come so close to losing the Summit Series? What if Bobby Hull, Derek Sanderson and Orr had all been able to play? Hull and Orr were pretty much the two best players in Canada at the time. Would it have been so close? The Soviets would still have probably won game one pretty easily, but wouldn't Hull and Orr have a huge impact on the rest of the games? What impact would that have had on the development system if Canada had won the series 5-2-1 or 6-2?

I agree. That 72 series probably would not even have been close.

 

[looooob]

what if Hakan Loob hadn't retired in his prime?

what if the Flames had taken martin brodeur in the first round instead of Trevor Kidd?

what if the Flames had been succesful in signing Selanne before he agreed to terms with Winnipeg?

(just trying to picture some scenario that has the Flames winning a playoff round in the 1990s )

 

[MASK]

What if Lindros didnt come back for the 2000 ECF?

What if Lindros looked up and avoided Stevens in game 7?

 

[crump]

What if the leafs drafted Sakic instead of Richardson

Or Joe Sakic instead of Joe Sacco

 

[ProctorSilex]

What if Lindros didnt come back for the 2000 ECF?

What if Lindros looked up and avoided Stevens in game 7?

Flyers would have won the Cup. Lindros would be a legend for his comeback, he'd still be a Flyer because the fans would have kicked out Clarke before him. He'd still be the most dominant player in the NHL.

 

[Phil Parent]

What if Andrew Raycroft hadn't brought the curse of the Montreal Forum Ghosts upon the Bruins by saying they were "sleeping" after the Bruins were up 3-1 in the last playoffs?

Because you know, it totally nixed the Bruins. Habs won three straight and the series. Bruins are doomed for 50 years. You don't mess with Rocket, Morenz and Plante.

 

[RandomCanuckFan]

The Canucks would have went on to lose in round 2, if they had Bertuzzi. Why do I say that? The Canucks ALWAYS lose, that is their trademark.

So someone else would've made it to the cup finals, regardless of whether the canucks lost round 2, and maybe tampa wouldn't have won the cup if they were playing someone else. so maybe tampa wouldn't have won the cup if bertuzzi didn't punch steve moore.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

What if the Habs had selected Savard instead of Wickenheiser?

 

[puck57]

There are so many posts I did not read them all so I don't know if these exact ones are on there but here goes:

Sort of off-ice but in the end related to on the ice

What if Gretz had married Vickie Moss instead of Janet and stayed in Edmonton?

What if Gretz would have been given one of the penalty shots at the '98 Olympics?

What if McSorley had not been caught with the illegal stick?

 

[puck57]

Sorry- meant to say one of the 5 in the shootout for the '98 Olympics.

 

[Ogopogo*]

There are so many posts I did not read them all so I don't know if these exact ones are on there but here goes:

Sort of off-ice but in the end related to on the ice

What if Gretz had married Vickie Moss instead of Janet and stayed in Edmonton?

What if Gretz would have been given one of the penalty shots at the '98 Olympics?

What if McSorley had not been caught with the illegal stick?

Who Gretz married had nothing to do with him staying in Edmonton or leaving. A better question would be : What if Pocklington sold the Oilers in 1985?

And an answer to the '98 Olympics question - Marc Crawford wouldn't be ridiculed to his grave.

 

[bluebleeder38]

What if Norm Green didn't buy the Minnesota North Stars? Weren't they almost moved to San Jose anyway before he bought them?

What if Hartford didn't trade Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson to the Pens for Cullena and Zalapski? Would the Whalers still be around? Would Pittsburgh have won the Cup in '91? Would the North Stars have been Cup champs and stayed in Minnesota?

What if the Blues would have able to put Joseph, Brind'Amour, Stevens (even though this one wasn't by their choice), Shanahan, Oates, Hull, MacInnis, Gretzky, and a pretty good pre-injury prone Jeff Brown together? Brind'Amour for Ron Sutter and Murray Baron...I like both those guys, but I def wish the Blues would have held on to Brind'Amour.

I'm pretty sure the Blues had the opportunity to draft Sakic, but took Keith Osborne instead.

What if the Blues would have traded Brett Hull in a rumored deal with Washington for Jason Allison and Sergei Gonchar?

 

[reckoning]

I'm pretty sure the Blues had the opportunity to draft Sakic, but took Keith Osborne instead.

A lot of teams wish they could have that draft day back. Right before Quebec drafted Sakic, Boston took Stephane Quintal. I think Sakic and Neely would been dynamite as linemates.

 

[Porn*]

WHAT IF... the leafs traded for Gretzky like he wanted???

WHAT IF... the leafs kept the picks that led to Luongo and Niedermayer???

 

[Edo]

What if the Canucks had never drafted Trevor Linden? Would the Canucks have had the even remote chance of having the team they did in the early 90s?

QUOTE]

LOL.

Canuck fans give Trevor Linden waaaaaay too much credit. Face it, the guy is a mediocre player. You gotta know that the Canucks are going to hang #16 right next to Smyl's #12. That is sad. Desperation for some history and tradition so hang up the numbers of mediocre NHLers.

After reading your post, I'm guessing that you weren't able to watch that cup run in '94. Linden was unreal and godlike. It was one of the best playoff performances of the 90's and the conn smythe was his if Vancouver was able to win. Injuries really slowed him down. He was a combination of Bertuzzi, Naslund, Morrison, and everybody else on today's team in those 30 or so games. It was an incredible performance.

 

[Yammer]

Here`s one: What if Craig MacTavish had decided to call a cab?

Edgy.

Or Dany Heatley or Steve Chiasson....

 

[JonathanK]

What if Ballard never owned the Leafs.

 

[Hasbro]

Esoteric, but what if DU hadn't have gone on probabtion in the 70's? Denver was a dominant team using overage junior players, but eligibility changes got rid of that avenue for players and the NCAA made an example out of the Pioneers. While they still had good talent into the 80's would they have even more championships?

In that vien what if the University of Denver didn't get into financial trouble in the late 80's? The team made the Frozen Four in 86, but the University went into steep decline at the end of the decade until Richie saved the school. The Pioneers took about 8 years to rebuild into a contender.

 

[Canadarocks]

The first attempt at a players association makes me think of a few what-ifs.

What if they had succeeded? Would Alan Eagleson still have been able to screw over the players?

What if the owners hadn't traded the union leaders to Chicago? Would Chicago have still become the winner it was? I know they had Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita coming up the ranks but the addition of Ted Lindsey, Glenn Hall, Jimmy Thomson and the others would have helped.

What if Montreal traded Doug Harvey? Would the Canadiens have still won five cups in a row? I know they were talent heavy but he was also a very important member of the team.

 

[Canadarocks]

Another one: What if Bill Barilko wasn't killed in that plane crash? Would he have gone on to have a hall of fame career or would he have become an all but forgotten footnote in history?