Where Are They Now? Episode Five
by PPP on Dec 22, 2008 12:00 PM EST
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PrintThis has grown out of a throwaway post that I wanted to use to get comfortable with some of the site's new toys. Little did I know what I was starting. Earlier episodes can be found here (one two three four). This is the fourth overall and the second that looks at players that JFJ brought in or kept that are no longer in the NHL.
Luke Richardson
How did he get to Toronto?
Luke was Luke before Luke was Luke. When he came into the league he was a hard-hitting defenceman that was going to anchor the team's defence for years. Then he got traded. I still remember Rock 'em Sock 'em 2 when he destroyed Tony Granato and the call "AND GRANATO THINKS HE'S IN GRENADA!". Anyway, the last time he came back to Toronto?
Traded to Toronto by Columbus for Toronto's 5th round choice (Nick Sucharski) in 2006 Entry Draft, March 8, 2006.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|
21 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
-1 |
I have no idea why Luke was a necessary pick-up because, again, he took away ice time from the raft of kids that could have played that have slowly been exiting the franchise for lack of opportunities.
Where Are They Now?
He's currently doing charity work with underskilled hockey teams.
John Pohl
How did he get to Toronto?
Traded to Toronto by St. Louis for future considerations, August 24, 2005.
I have no idea what those future considerations turned out to be but it wasn't anything amazing or we would have heard about it by now.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|
114 |
17 |
21 |
38 |
-6 |
I actually really liked Pohl. I thought he stepped up well towards the end of 2006-2007 when injuries started moving him up the depth chart. In the end, however, he was too small and not fast enough and a victim of numbers. My abiding memory will be of a Sabres game I went to see with my dad when, with less than a minute left, Pohl picked up a rebound, skillfully pulled Miller out of the net and, with a gaping cage, fired it wide. That pretty much summed up his time with the Leafs.
Where Are They Now?
Playing in the Swiss league with Lugano where he has 3-17-20 in 20 games. Not bad.
Clarke Wilm
Signed as a free agent by Toronto, October 28, 2003.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|
70 |
1 |
7 |
8 |
-15 |
Can any of you even remember him playing for the Leafs? If so, I am sorry because it doesn't look like he did much. Just one more in the never ending string of 3rd and 4th liners that JFJ was so adept as scooping up.
After two seasons with Jokerit in Finland Wilm is playing this year with the Hamburg Freezers in the German Elite League where he has 9-11-20 in 29GP.
Fun Wilm Trivia: He was named after Bobby Clarke so the extra 'e' is not a typo as much as I know he wishes it was.
Tony Salmaleinen
Signed as a free agent by Toronto, August 31, 2007
Our friend Tony was another in the never ending string of 3rd and 4th liners that JFJ was so adept as scooping up (yes, I just copied and pasted that) except that after teasing us with some glimpses of skill he ran away to Russia 2 games into his tenure with the Marlies.
Playing in the Swiss League with Servette Geneve and yeah, I read that as serviette at first too.
Simon Gamache
Signed as a free agent by Toronto, June 25, 2007 as another in the never ending string of 3rd and 4th liners that JFJ was so adept as scooping up.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|
11 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
-1 |
Gamache managed to play 11 games before he ran away from Europe.
Playing with Bern in the Swiss League. I wonder why no one worries about the Swiss League stealing NHLers?
Nathan Perrott
How did he get to Toronto?
Signed as a free agent by Toronto (AHL), October 15, 2006 as another in the never ending string of 3rd and 4th liners that JFJ was so adept as scooping up.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|
43 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
-6 |
I should probably have added that all of the 3rd/4th liners that JFJ signed were marginal NHLers at best. That might have been the reason that his teams missed the playoffs three years in a row. Perrott actually preceeded Ryan Hollweg as an enforcer that fans didn't love. He got to lay low because Belak was around but Perrott wasn't a good fighter.
Perrott was another NHLer poached by the KHL where he plies his trade with Vityaz Chekhov. The NHL is doomed.
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man...
these guys just sucked.
the mere fact that we were just outside the playoffs and not bottom of the league is a shock…
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 22, 2008 12:19 PM EST reply actions
I liked Pohl and I had high hopes for Gamache, but yeah, they sucked
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Dec 22, 2008 12:20 PM EST reply actions
Pohl
was the worst thing I have seen in a Leafs jersey in a decade. My best friend and I finally came ot the conclusion that he was Ferguson’s nephew. There was simply no other reason we could think of for him to be on the team. During the time he spent with us, he would have been a very, very bad player for the Marlies. A complete and total piece of shit and a great example of why JFJ should have d-cell batteries thrown at him every time he is spotted by a Leaf fan anywhere in the world.
d-cell...?
i say car batteries should be thrown at him
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 22, 2008 12:37 PM EST up reply actions
but then you’d have to get pretty close, maybe if you wrote a bad NHL NMC contract and left it on a giant X with a pen then hid in the high rise above it….
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Dec 22, 2008 12:44 PM EST up reply actions
Always figured the conversation went like this:
Larry Pleau: “So, Jr., congrats on the new gig.”
JFJ: “Thanks! Isn’t it great?”
Pleau: “I’m stunned. Just stunned.”
JFJ: “Yeah!”
Pleau: “Anyway, you know how you used the one organizational veto I let you have on that guy you insisted we keep in our system forever, year after year, because you were just certain he’d amount to something in the NHL?”
JFJ: “John Pohl?”
Pleau: “Yeah. You want him?”
JFJ: “SURE! Wait, what do you want for him?”
Pleau: “He’s yours.” [click]
Lighthouse Hockey: an SB Nation New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
Excellent use of Hyperbole
I think we’ve seen through five posts that Pohl was far from the worst thing seen in a Leafs jersey in a decade.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Nothing but nothing
throws like a d-cell. I swear you can throw them faster and more accurately than a baseball. Do more damage than a baseball too.
by penaltyshots on Dec 22, 2008 1:09 PM EST up reply actions
Yes
D-Cells are the battery of choice at soccer grounds.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Why I love the KHL
another in the never ending string of 3rd and 4th liners that JFJ was so adept as scooping up … Perrott was another NHLer poached by the KHL
Amazing how much the KHL has been like the NHL’s janitor: It comes and cleans up our crap so that we never have to think about it. Sure, sometimes they find an item of some value that someone inadvertently dropped in the bin (“Did I toss out my Jagr, or did I just misplace it?”) but nothing too great.
I just look at the list of non-Russian marginal players they’ve dumped oil money on, and I think, great: More job openings for prospects with skill and potential, and more incentive for NHL GMs to actually try youngsters over a grizzly “veteran with experience” (i.e. scooped up 3rd or 4th liner destined for the KHL). It’s win-win! Merry Christmas, KHL. And thank you.
Lighthouse Hockey: an SB Nation New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
No kidding
If those guys were still around they’d be Maple Leafs but the KHL saved us from more JFJ Jems.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
I don't know about you guys
but I want to kill these pricks tonight. As far as I am concerned our season bottomed out with the loss to them. I was put on suicide watch for about a week after the game.
I hate them
It all started with Hartley and that 9-1 gongshow where he sent guys out to injure Leafs.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
yes...
Vancouver wishes they could get that kind of emotion from us, but even after signing sundin and making wellwood look like the next brett hull, i’m still lukewarm on the canucks…
the thrashers are just below the sens on the totem of hate for me…
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 22, 2008 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
When I see Sundin's
great big smile after a beautiful goal, I might not be able to stop myself from bellowing a GO ’Nucks GO. Love the man and when we are sitting out another playoffs because of a shitty goalie that is not going anywhere because of the enormous contract we gave him, the Canucks will be my team and they are going to go deep, maybe Cup deep.
by penaltyshots on Dec 22, 2008 1:38 PM EST up reply actions
ugh
I will NEVER cheer for the Canucks.
I will never lend my support to a fan base that hates me as a Leaf fan for no reason other than “all the cool kids are doing it”
Fuck the Canucks, I hope they get bounced first round
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Dec 22, 2008 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
I had
a lot of issues at GM Place wearing a Leafs jersey. Vancouver is one of the few places people have received beat-downs after a game outside the building for being an opposing fan.
Rebuilding, not tanking
Yah, I was in Van for a game a few years ago, their “fanbase” is scary crazy for no good reason at all.
On guy threatened me randomly because I was wearing a Leaf Jersey and smiling
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Dec 22, 2008 1:45 PM EST up reply actions
I am
hoping that bringing in Sundin will ensure that Wellwood is cut.
by penaltyshots on Dec 22, 2008 1:43 PM EST up reply actions
Kovalchuk
is the epitome of goon/pussy such as the likes of Kavalev. My favorite Kovalchuk moment is his “fight” with Mike “Daddy’s boy” Comrie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm5iEA41OlI Kovalchuk actually pulls Comrie’s hair.
Rebuilding, not tanking
at least...
he didn’t punch him in the junk…
http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2008/12/20/698515/in-preparation-for-tonight
glove tap to sonny…
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 22, 2008 1:25 PM EST up reply actions
No, not SRSLY
DOUBLE Scrot-punch.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Frogren
Must smash puny Kovalchuck
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Dec 22, 2008 1:41 PM EST reply actions
Hmmm
I have to double check, I have the framework for 2 more and Almo might be in one of them but Berezin disapppeared before JFJ came aboard so I know he missed the cut but he can be added.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
no...
i like the JFJ caveat.
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 22, 2008 2:55 PM EST up reply actions
Tbe JFJ one has almost run out of players. I say almost because it’s already covered almost an entire roster’s worth of players.
Think about that for a second. That’s the equivalent of an entire team getting thrown out of the NHL.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
that's what makes it so good...
it’s how bad his track record was.
and i’m saying this as a guy who half way defended him once. i calling for a mulligan on that one.
"You do dat, you go to da box, you know, uh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."
The Left Coast Lock
by blurr1974 on Dec 22, 2008 3:27 PM EST up reply actions
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