Conference diver1::boston_bruins

    
    
    Lyndon Byers has officially joined the ranks of radio.
    He is the new sports person on WAAF. He has on and off been on 
    WAAF for quite some time but I guess it's formal now. 
    
    Anyway, he's a funny dude... his voice sounds a little
    nasily (nose probably been busted 20 times)
    
    
     oh well it's something to talk about rather than how bad this 
     friggin team is. 
    
     Now we can just watch re-runs of the Cam Neely tribute over and over. 
    
    
     Rp 
    

    	Did anybody catch Nuckles Nilan on Sports Final on Sunday night.
    Bob Lobel was talking about how the Bruins fans aren't even
    dissappointed in their team anymore, they're plain old disgusted with
    them. Nilan agreed and when asked what he thought the problems with the
    B's were he listed all the reasons from the Jacobs and Sinden right on
    down to Kasper. He sounded like he took all of his observations right
    out of this notesfile. 8-) Lobel tried to find the silver lining by
    mentioning that the B's would get a good draft pick out of this season
    and Nilan's response was "So what, Harry hasn't done a good job
    picking or signing his picks in the past five or six years anyway".
    Nilan didn't hold back any punches. He said that the first good move
    that Harry could do would be to fire Kasper and bring in Pat Burns. He
    also said that that would never happen because Burns is like Parcells
    in that he wants full control over the team and Harry would never
    relinquish that to ANY coach. It was a pretty good interview and if I
    can derive any comfort out of this season at all it's that more and
    more people are talking in the press about how the best thing that
    could happen to this team would be for Jacobs to sell the team to a
    person that was interested in having a HOCKEY TEAM instead of a
    business. He also stated that he hoped that the B's didn't make the
    playoffs because Jacobs wouldn't get the playoff money, or the hot dog
    or beer money. I'm so glad that people are coming out and talking in
    the press all the things that we fans have been saying right along.
    
    Barry
   

    Talking about good owners, the new Isles owner is expected to spend
    big bucks to get a high profile free agent. 3 names have already
    surfaced for next year (or it is the next year?): Sakic, Forsberg,
    or even Lindros.
    
    The Isles already have their own pick in the draft and the Leafs; they
    can end up picking #1 and #2; ie. Thornton and Samsonov. OUCH!!!!
    This is how the Isles were build in the late 70's.
    
    
    Lastly, there's a rumour that the Rangers offerred their #1 pick for
    Tocchett. FWIW.
    
    Andy

DENVER -- Boston Bruins star center Adam Oates, the subject of 
numerous trade rumors, launched a tirade at management Tuesday 
night after his team lost 3-2 to the Colorado Avalanche with 
four seconds left in overtime.

The loss dropped the spiraling Bruins to 0-6-1 in their last
seven games and 0-4 on their seven-game road trip.  Boston has
fallen near the bottom of the playoff race in the Eastern
Conference. The Bruins, 12th in the conference, have 47 points,
five short of the final playoff slot with three teams in
between. 

"You have to take a look at the people upstairs," Oates said 
about Bruins management, without naming names.  "Things have 
gotten worse every year since I have been here. What are we doing?" 

Oates turned his attention to the treatment of future Hall of
Fame defenseman Ray Bourque and the apparent lack of a plan by
management to build a competitive team. 

"Are we rebuilding or do we want to win a Cup?" he asked.  "Our
best player (Bourque) is 36 and he gets less and less support
every year.  A guy that was on my left wing three days ago just
sat out a game in the minors.  Is that any way to treat people?
They should just trade some of us and start rebuilding. They
come in here and (expletive) yell at us after the first period.
It's not our fault, the problem is upstairs." 

Oates' 19-game points streak is the longest in the NHL
this season, but he has been rumored to be headed to New Jersey,
Vancouver or Florida.  

Oates, 34, leads Boston with 45 assists and 63 points
in 58 games. He has 18 goals and is minus-six with just eight
penalty minutes this season. In 804 career games, Oates has 254
goals and 723 assists for 977 points.  In 105 playoff games, he
has 32 goals and 89 assists for 121 points. 

His best season came for Boston in 1992-93, when he led the
league with 97 assists and added 45 goals for 142 points -- all
career highs.

    	Way to go Oatsie!!! Tell it like it is!!! The only problem is I'm
    really gonna miss him. I wonder how long it'll be before he's gone. I
    hope he's got his bags all packed. I'll betcha Harry trades him for a 
    guy that's got hands of stone, skates like he's got lead in his skates
    but "has a ton of heart". This "he's got great heart" statement is
    getting almost as scary as the "he/she has a great personality" that
    friends always use when playing matchmaker. 8-) 
    
    Barry
    

    
    
    Ton of Heart/Great Personality, good analogy!!!
    
    I'm glad Oates tee'd off on 'em.  It's good to see a local
    sports celebrity blast management and have a legitimate reason
    to (HELLO Mo Vaughn!)......if Oatsie was trying to punch his ticket
    outta town, he got a good start last night.  Unfortunatly, who
    is he going to bring here?  Draft picks?  Like someone mentioned
    previously, Harry has a unique ability to $*@#& up a good draft
    pick; and even if they land one and sign him, chances are they'll
    give up on him too soon.
    
    Oates for Tie Domi?  Sounds like a perfect fit in Sindens scotch-
    filled eyes.
    
    
    		CF

    ....speaking of draft picks that Harry put his "Midas Touch" on, what
    ever happened to Johnathan Aitken, last year's 1st rounder?
    Did Harry ship him to Providence for "conditioning" (i.e. you'll never
    play in Boston)????
    
    Harry suks...MAN, how can you know that people hate you, and do nothing
    about it?  The man is not human.....
    
    mac

    I caught the Oates story at lunch on WEEI.  Great to hear it!!
    He has been really quiet since he's been here, guess he just blew
    his top. 

    Seems like every "star" caliber player complains big time about 
    management... that says a lot.  Every player except Bourque that is.
    I'd like to see him be the next.

    So who was it that came in and yelled at the team after the 1st ?	
    O'Connell ?   Hah!  He'll be selling cars in 1 year... just watch.
    Hopefully for Sinden Subaru ;-)

    /Ken   

re:          <<< Note 159.39 by ASDG::MCNAMARA "strange visitor......" >>>

>    ever happened to Johnathan Aitken, last year's 1st rounder?

    Didn't he refuse Boston to re-enter the draft ?

    /Ken

    >> Didn't he refuse Boston to re-enter the draft ?
                                                          
    Sounds like Daniel Goneau all over again. He didn't sign w/ the B's
    and reentered the draft. He now plays on a 4th line w/ the Rangers
    and was in around the leaders in rookies for scoring before Xmas.
    
    I wonder if Cameron Mann signed; Cdn Jr sniper (ala Bossy).
    
    Andy

February 20, 1997 

BAD COMPANY FOR THE LEAFS

Fletcher, Sinden in same sinking boat 

                                By DAVE FULLER 
                                  Toronto Sun 
EDMONTON --  Misery deserves a companion and Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher 
couldn't have picked a better friend to share his troubles with than Boston 
Bruins Harry Sinden.
  Twenty-five years after they both became first-time general managers - Sinden
in Boston, Fletcher in Atlanta - they've watched their respective teams hit 
rock bottom. 
  Entering last night's game against the Oilers, the Leafs were tied with the 
L.A. Kings for last place in the Western Conference while Sinden's Bruins
owned the Eastern Conference basement outright.
  Two once-proud franchises, both of them in an awful mess.
  "Harry and I don't talk much during the season," said Fletcher, whose Palm 
Beach condo is just around the corner from Sinden's place. Chicago's Bob 
Pulford and former Minnesota North Stars GM Lou Nanne are also neighbors in the
south.
  In fact, as long as Fletcher, 61, and Sinden, 64, have been hockey rivals, 
they also have been sun pals.
  "Harry and I had a long discussion about hockey and about our own teams at 
the GMs meetings (last month) in Tucson," Fletcher said. "Obviously, we're in 
very similar positions in the standings."

  WINDFALL PROFITS
  Boston and Toronto tend to mirror each other in the profit columns, too. The
Bruins generated a $14-million windfall for owner Jeremy Jacobs last season 
while Steve Stavro's Leafs banked upward of $10 million.
  Neither owner sank much of that money back into his club. In fact, the Bruins
saved themselves about $2 million when Cam Neely retired. The Leafs chopped 
about $3.5 million from their payroll, unloading Mike Gartner, Dave Gagner and
Todd Gill.
  Now, both clubs are in trouble - at least on the ice - relying on aging 
veterans and marginal prospects to see them through. The similarities are
striking.
  - Boston has Ray Bourque, one of only four defencemen in history to reach 
1,000 points. Toronto has Larry Murphy, one of those four 1,000-point men.
  - The Bruins can't decide whether to trade No. 1 centre Adam Oates, 34, or 
re-sign him. The Leafs will either trade or re-sign Doug Gilmour, 33, by the 
March 18 deadline.
  - The Bruins have Rick Tocchet who suffers from chronic back problems. The 
Leafs have Wendel Clark. Neither is much help to his team any more.
  - Boston is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 30 years.
Toronto hasn't won a Stanley Cup in 30 years.
  - The Bruins are last in the Northeast Division with 47 points, the Leafs 
trailed the Central Division with 46.
  - The Bruins have scored 169 goals, the Leafs 170. The Bruins give up an 
average 3.53 goals a game, the Leafs 3.52.
  "There's very definitely a reason for (our descent)," said Fletcher, whose 
Leafs battle the Bruins March 3 at the Gardens. "It's called parity.
  "The Bruins have been a lot like us (in the '90s). We're always in the 
playoffs and we've finished high enough in the standings, so that you don't get
a decent draft pick."
  This summer will be different though - at least for the Bruins - who could 
end up with two lottery picks: their own as well as the Hartford Whalers' top 
choice.
  At least in that respect the Leafs don't compare very well with the Bruins. 
Toronto won't select until the third round.
  

    re -.1 
    parity?
    
    Yeah! There's 8 REAL NHL teams while the rest are definitely not worth
    spending the $$$ to see (re. IHL calibre teams w/ 2-3 NHL Stars tops).
    
    
    Andy