Wendel Clark

[pdson2]

Then it must be true if it came from Strachan...

This is a statement of when actually dates were announced not an opinion of someone, i really don't think he would have any reason to lie about an actual fact do you. I also recall that the Wendel announcement was made quite sometime ago, before i heard anything about the Roy announcement.

 

[maurice93]

This is a statement of when actually dates were announced not an opinion of someone, i really don't think he would have any reason to lie about an actual fact do you. I also recall that the Wendel announcement was made quite sometime ago, before i heard anything about the Roy announcement.

Al Strachan lies about the Raptors supposed financial problems all the time, simply because he hates basketball and he likes to rile up the Canadian puckheads.

 

[blueline]

Great line on Strachan recently from Barry Melrose .........

"Al is sort of a spaghetti salesman," Melrose said. "Al just throws so much against the wall and hopes something sticks. It's B.S. Al thrives on B.S. It's total lies."

 

[pdson2]

Al Strachan lies about the Raptors supposed financial problems all the time, simply because he hates basketball and he likes to rile up the Canadian puckheads.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2008/07/21/nhl-mapleleafs-clark-gilmour.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/56835-patrick-roys-number-to-be-retired-in-montreal

Wendell night announced July 22nd, Roy night announced Sept 12th.

End of story

 

[Blown in 60 Seconds]

But only one was a winner on the ice. And that's enough to get the respect of fans.. be a warrior and win (and its not just a Montreal thing).

Nothing against Wendel... there are different ways to earn respect, and he showed more loyalty to the Leafs then Roy ever showed to the Habs. Its just that there is different ways to earn respect from fans....just win alone and all else is forgotten.

Uh, with the exception of the Leaf teams of the 90's it wasn't Clark's fault he was drafted number #1 overall to a lousy team!

Despite that, he carried every Leafs team on his back he was associated with, with Heart, Grit, and a unique skill and love for the game!

I'll take Class and Heart over being the biggest A-Hole and wife beater-Roy was/probably still is- any day of the week! That and the fact Roy played on more talented teams than Clark ever played on with the exception of maybe the 1993 Leafs team.

 

[Blown in 60 Seconds]

Wendel was a true warrior and I have been around the game for many years and I have never seen anyone play with so much heart.
Wendel was a goal scorer, plain and simple. He did not have much of a creative side at all and he also was on a horrible Leafs team for many years.
He hit like a freight train and took on all of the heavyweights of the league which obviously took its toll on his back.
He will never make the HOF because of his point totals, not because of his heart.
He is a first rate class act and is the epitome of a true hockey warrior.

Well said!

 

[maurice93]

Uh, with the exception of the Leaf teams of the 90's it wasn't Clark's fault he was drafted number #1 overall to a lousy team!

Despite that, he carried every Leafs team on his back he was associated with, with Heart, Grit, and a unique skill and love for the game!

I'll take Class and Heart over being the biggest A-Hole and wife beater-Roy was/probably still is- any day of the week! That and the fact Roy played on more talented teams than Clark ever played on with the exception of maybe the 1993 Leafs team.

And I never ripped Clark for not being a winner.

I said Roy was rewarded for being a warrior, being a superstar and winning. When you are a star and you win, class and loyalty will be overlooked.

Clark was rewarded because not because he was merely a good player (which is the truth). He was rewarded for being a warrior, with devotion and loyalty.

 

[polisci]

While I am not a Leafs fan, I like Wendel. He was the type of player you would have hated to play against and as a fan of opposing teams, you hated to see playing against your team. It is hard to say anything bad about the guy, he left it all out on the ice every night and he always came across as being very genuine. Just a good old farm boy from Sask. Not many teams would turn down the chance to have a player like him on their team, a player who was as tough as nails and had the heart of a giant. Good for him to have his jersey retired because he meant so much to the Leafs and he deserves such an honour.

As for Roy, congrats to him too and this is coming from a Bruins fan and a Habs hater. Another player you have to respect for what he did on the ice.

I don't think the Leafs retire their jersey numbers. They just raise their names up to the rafters. Unlike the Canadians who retires Roy's number and other previous Canadian greats. That's the difference (among many others) between the Leafs and Canadians.

Someone confirm?

 

[blueline]

I don't think the Leafs retire their jersey numbers. They just raise their names up to the rafters. Unlike the Canadians who retires Roy's number and other previous Canadian greats. That's the difference (among many others) between the Leafs and Canadians.

Someone confirm?

Yes, that's what I meant, sorry.

 

[slowandeasy]

An example of a Leaf fan who holds winning to a higher regard then class. Its the same everywhere.

Huh??? This makes no sense...Sundin not accepting a trade had nothing to do with "class".

The reality is that a trade might have given the Leafs a decent player. Sundin simply had to play a few months with another team.
As a UFA, he could sign with any team he wanted... surprise, surprise, he could sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of the season!!!!

The best thing he could have done for himself and the Leafs would have been to accept a trade.

What would this cost him??? A few months of his life, and a 1 hour plane ride from Toronto.

I think it was out there that Sundin "wanted to win a cup with a team that he went to training camp with" or some such nonsense... Also a load of manure... When you look at it, Sundin's reasons for not accepting a trade are all selfish, not classy

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Huh??? This makes no sense...Sundin not accepting a trade had nothing to do with "class".

The reality is that a trade might have given the Leafs a decent player. Sundin simply had to play a few months with another team.
As a UFA, he could sign with any team he wanted... surprise, surprise, he could sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of the season!!!!

The best thing he could have done for himself and the Leafs would have been to accept a trade.

What would this cost him??? A few months of his life, and a 1 hour plane ride from Toronto.

I think it was out there that Sundin "wanted to win a cup with a team that he went to training camp with" or some such nonsense... Also a load of manure... When you look at it, Sundin's reasons for not accepting a trade are all selfish, not classy

Not classy?!? LOL!

I think people like you need to grow up and get over hating on Mats Sundin for not accepting being treated like chattel and going where he was told.

What about loyalty to the player who had committed himself to the team for 13 years, even when they surrounded him with losers? Did he ever quit on the team, throw his teammates under the bus or demand a trade when they had Jonas Hogland as a first-liner? Did he badmouth management when they made idiotic choices in the draft, free agency and trades? Never. He just played well and competed hard all the time while being an exemplary captain - that's loyalty and class.

Why should he bail out a team for years of ineptidude when they would end up squandering whatever picks and prospects they got for him anyway? They didn't draft or trade well in his time with the franchise, what made him (or you, for that matter) think they would do any better with him as the bait? And why would he do it when the team waited until a couple of days before the deadline to come to him and see if he would waive his contractual right? That's respect (or should I say "class"?) there...

His contract had a blanket no-trade clause, given to him by the team, in part because he was paid less than market value and also because he was a long-serving Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs - you know, a title that used to mean a great deal, and not something to be traded lightly. He earned that right and he executed that part of the contract because he didn't want to leave Toronto, for whatever reason. End of story...

Classy?!? GTFOH...

 

[lawyerman]

Not classy?!? LOL!

I think people like you need to grow up and get over hating on Mats Sundin for not accepting being treated like chattel and going where he was told.

What about loyalty to the player who had committed himself to the team for 13 years, even when they surrounded him with losers? Did he ever quit on the team, throw his teammates under the bus or demand a trade when they had Jonas Hogland as a first-liner? Did he badmouth management when they made idiotic choices in the draft, free agency and trades? Never. He just played well and competed hard all the time while being an exemplary captain - that's loyalty and class.

Why should he bail out a team for years of ineptidude when they would end up squandering whatever picks and prospects they got for him anyway? They didn't draft or trade well in his time with the franchise, what made him (or you, for that matter) think they would do any better with him as the bait? And why would he do it when the team waited until a couple of days before the deadline to come to him and see if he would waive his contractual right? That's respect (or should I say "class"?) there...

His contract had a blanket no-trade clause, given to him by the team, in part because he was paid less than market value and also because he was a long-serving Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs - you know, a title that used to mean a great deal, and not something to be traded lightly. He earned that right and he executed that part of the contract because he didn't want to leave Toronto, for whatever reason. End of story...

Classy?!? GTFOH...

Excellent post.

 

[slowandeasy]

Not classy?!? LOL!

I think people like you need to grow up and get over hating on Mats Sundin for not accepting being treated like chattel and going where he was told.

What about loyalty to the player who had committed himself to the team for 13 years, even when they surrounded him with losers? Did he ever quit on the team, throw his teammates under the bus or demand a trade when they had Jonas Hogland as a first-liner? Did he badmouth management when they made idiotic choices in the draft, free agency and trades? Never. He just played well and competed hard all the time while being an exemplary captain - that's loyalty and class.

Why should he bail out a team for years of ineptidude when they would end up squandering whatever picks and prospects they got for him anyway? They didn't draft or trade well in his time with the franchise, what made him (or you, for that matter) think they would do any better with him as the bait? And why would he do it when the team waited until a couple of days before the deadline to come to him and see if he would waive his contractual right? That's respect (or should I say "class"?) there...

His contract had a blanket no-trade clause, given to him by the team, in part because he was paid less than market value and also because he was a long-serving Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs - you know, a title that used to mean a great deal, and not something to be traded lightly. He earned that right and he executed that part of the contract because he didn't want to leave Toronto, for whatever reason. End of story...

Classy?!? GTFOH...

Geez, at first I was going to ridicule you about the "Captain Fantastic" name, but with posts like that you might have earned the name...

Let me throw another one at you then... As an athlete, why would Mats not take the opportunity to go to Detroit to try to win a cup?

 

[Bud Plug]

Does Wendel have HOF credentials?

564 points in 793 games, during a time (late eighties, early nineties) when top forwards were all getting at least a point per game.

He was a good player, and a popular player, but a great player?

Of course, he deserved a recognition night far more than Tie Domi, if that's where the Leafs have set the bar for such honours.

 

[Blown in 60 Seconds]

Of course, he deserved a recognition night far more than Tie Domi, if that's where the Leafs have set the bar for such honours.

I wouldn't compare or even put Tie Domi in the same CLASS category or in the same breath as Wendel Clark, for many reasons!

Domi was a jackass -thug- in the public eye and nothing more than a detriment to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Geez, at first I was going to ridicule you about the "Captain Fantastic" name, but with posts like that you might have earned the name...

Let me throw another one at you then... As an athlete, why would Mats not take the opportunity to go to Detroit to try to win a cup?

Some players (and people in general) just aren't comfortable going along for the ride, so to speak. They think it cheapens a Stanley Cup if they join a team with 15-20 games left in the season.

Some people like to be a part of the process from early on - to feel as though they've built something and earned the accolades. Also, some guys are much more sensitive to team chemistry and the problems that can arise when a new guy - particularly a superstar - joins an established team. Not to mention the fact that the captain of a storied franchise may feel awkward being traded to a team that has a rivalry with their existing team - a la the Canadiens / Red Wings with the Leafs - for a Stanley Cup run, knowing his team's history.

Mats Sundin has always struck me as someone who is hyper-aware of things like that along with being a generally very self-aware person. That can be both good and bad...

And before you say "well, how's that different from joining a team in mid-season?" let's wait and see if Sundin actually does play again and where he choses to go.