the real story behind Carlo Colaiacovo ...

[21pro]

any new news on this kid?

I don't ever recall of a sprained finger causing a 4 week injury before!

not even in football...

Carlo's current stats. 2periods of AHL hockey played in 11 months.

if Mike Peca had Carlo's tenacity, I wonder how long he'd be out for?

 

[21pro]

another solid game by Carlo again on Sunday night.

hope to see him in the leafs lineup soon.

why does the conditioning stint need to last the full 2 weeks? he's not 100% game ready, but looks like he could be an improvement on White, Bell, Belak, etc..

 

[21pro]

JFJr quoted as saying

"I have a plan"

back in September 2003...


we're waiting...

 

[21pro]

yey. he will be the 2nd best defenceman (behind kaberle) on the team if he can remain healthy.

that's a sweet deal (not for him, but for the leafs)... he woulda got more elsewhere for sure.

 

[MojoRisin']

21pro....

werent you the one last year that came on here and filled us in on some inside info on alot of NHL players from one of your Oiler(?) buddies, that let you know a tonne of stuff that we shouldnt know? Come on you should know whats going on. you tell us, you have all the connections dude

 

[21pro]

don't know much about Cola, or the leafs for that matter... the only leafs I knew was Perrott and Marc Moro. don't talk to either anymore.

besides, i learned my lesson from that one.

 

[champ]

Carlo is so brittle.

Same shit different year with this guy.

 

[21pro]

same could be said for Wellwood, Antropov, Kubina, Tucker... did i miss anyone? well, atleast a few of them loose strings were trimmed over the years... lindros, peca, blahblah...

 

[21pro]

YOu want to know what I believe? call it injury prone or whatever the hell you want - Some people are just SOFT by genetics.

Cola is one of them. Nothing unfortunate happened to him that doesn't happen to the AVERAGE NHL player. Yet, he struggles to become healthy.

He doesn't come from good sperm... that's all.

 

[Figure8]

quick .. plan the parade

 

[blueline]

quick .. plan the parade

Yes and engrave his name on the Norris Trophy. This guy was pretty much heralded as the next Bobby Orr at one time.

 

[blueline]

Couldn't you say that about all Toronto 1st round picks that they have kept ... Steen was to damm good in Toronto's eyes to give up for Chris Pronger ... .....

Also such beauties as ...

Luca Cereda , Eric Fichaud , Jeff Ware , Brandon Convery .... wow and you wonder why this city has not seen a stanley cup in 40 + years ...

No kidding. Hey, injuries aside, Carlo was a very promising young player. However, it just seems to have taken him a helluva lot longer to become a fixture in the Leafs lineup than they had expected. From his draft year in 2001, my count has him playing a total of 4 NHL games up to the 2004-05 lockout season and over 150 in either the OHL or AHL.

As for draft picks, they needed someone sharp enough to pick guys like Brad Boyes and Tuuka Rask ...... oh wait a minute.........

 

[blueline]

Couldn't you say that about all Toronto 1st round picks that they have kept ... Steen was to damm good in Toronto's eyes to give up for Chris Pronger ... .....

Also such beauties as ...

Luca Cereda , Eric Fichaud , Jeff Ware , Brandon Convery .... wow and you wonder why this city has not seen a stanley cup in 40 + years ...

Hey GR, saw a good story today that you will enjoy.

http://news.therecord.com/article/261477

 

[bobistheowl]

.

But the Leafs did get Tom Kurvers for the pick that ended up being Scott Niedermeyer.

 

[bobistheowl]

Also such beauties as ...

Luca Cereda , Eric Fichaud , Jeff Ware , Brandon Convery .... wow and you wonder why this city has not seen a stanley cup in 40 + years ...

But the Leafs did get Tom Kurvers for the pick that ended up being Scott Niedermeyer.

 

[The Bandit]

To me it's not so much bad drafting, but the fact they don't pan out. The guys they pick are usually slotted where they pick them.

It seems they are picking too many Euros, and not enough North American players.

 

[Yahweh]

Couldn't you say that about all Toronto 1st round picks that they have kept ... Steen was to damm good in Toronto's eyes to give up for Chris Pronger ... .....

you forgot, Kevin Lowe wanted Steen AND Kaberle for Pronger. TML were not willing to give up Kaberle in the package. The Leafs proposal was Steen and another player who I can't remember right now

 

[The Fruity Hare]

you forgot, Kevin Lowe wanted Steen AND Kaberle for Pronger. TML were not willing to give up Kaberle in the package. The Leafs proposal was Steen and another player who I can't remember right now

Just off the top of my head I think it was Antropov.

 

[The Fruity Hare]

To me it's not so much bad drafting, but the fact they don't pan out. The guys they pick are usually slotted where they pick them.

It seems they are picking too many Euros, and not enough North American players.

I think also that part of the problem was a few of the coaches we had who were inclined to play veterans at all costs. Pat Burns and Pat Quinn.

There were probably players on the farm team who deserved more of a chance when Robert Reichel was here, and a few other veterans that they were loyal to, to a fault. Also part of the problem before the lockout was that the Leafs always had money to throw at aging free agents, so there was no pressing need to develop from within.

It would be interesting to see in the last 20 years or so, which team developed the highest number of their own players. I believe Detroit would be right up there. If my memory is correct, when I arrived here in 1987, Detroit and Toronto weren't to far apart in the standings, both sitting somewhere near the bottom. Since that time, Toronto had one or two decent years. We all know where Detroit has been in the same span.

 

[champ]

Carlo quoted in today's Star:


Now More importantly, given his medical history, he promised to return to the ice with no mental scars to match the physical ones.

"I play hard and I just deal with the consequences," said the 24-year-old while his teammates practised yesterday.

"I'm not going to change anything about the way I play or my style of game. I'm just going to continue to play hard. The one thing I try to make people understand is that I don't go out there with the intent to get hurt. I go out there with the intent to play hard and to play hockey."

Too often, however, Colaiacovo's brief career has been more about hard luck than hard play. The latest setback for the defenceman came on Saturday night when he banged right knees with Flyers' forward Jim Dowd.

Now ... I am NOT saying Carlo is a disingenuous person but ... would anyone characterize him as someone who "plays hard"?

I was watching the game where he experienced his latest injury and the whistle had blown and he and Jim Dowd skated into one another and their legs locked or banged into one another. Injuries happen like this but it is not like he was in a desperately physical goal mouth or corner struggle. It was completely incidental to the play.

At what point does it become apparent that this man is just too brittle to play this game at this level?

It must suck to be him and to continually have these things happen to him but to go in the paper and say that the contributing factor to these injuries is because of his "hard" style of play?!

Sorry Carlo but I am calling bullshit on that one.

Champ