NHL season 2017/2018

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Seems like quite an insult to the memory of Lester B. Pearson.

What did Lester Pearson have to do with hockey???

If you want to keep his name in the running, since Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize, perhaps we could rename the Lady Byng Trophy in his honour.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

What did Lester Pearson have to do with hockey???

If you want to keep his name in the running, since Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize, perhaps we could rename the Lady Byng Trophy in his honour.

He was a great sportsman. The trophy was named in his honour and changing it seems rather odd to me. Almost like another attempt by the league to squeeze the embarrassing Canadianness out of the game so it sells better to NBC.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Andy6

He was a great sportsman. The trophy was named in his honour and changing it seems rather odd to me. Almost like another attempt by the league to squeeze the embarrassing Canadianness out of the game so it sells better to NBC.

You're misunderstanding things.

The NHL didn't change the award name - the NHLPA did. It's an award voted on by the NHLPA (see: players).

The NHLPA changed the name of the award to name it after one of its founding members, Ted Lindsay.

Ted Lindsay is also Canadian. He's from Renfrew.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

What did Lester Pearson have to do with hockey???

What did Lord Stanley of Preston have to do with hockey, or the Prince of Wales, or the wife of Viscount Byng? These are figures from our national history who honoured a simple sport with their attention, munificence and names. They don’t deserve to be forgotten just so hockey can be turned into the Yanks’ #4 big-league sport.

[HomeInMyShoes]

The ScotiaBank Lester B. Pearson Trophy.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The NHLPA changed the name of the award to name it after one of its founding members, Ted Lindsay.

Ted Lindsay is also Canadian. He's from Renfrew.

I’m aware of that, thanks.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I’m aware of that, thanks.

It didn't seem like you were aware of the situation given that you thought NBC was pushing the NHL to change the names of awards it has no control over.

Nobody is positing that the names of the Stanley Cup/Lady Byng/Etc. be changed, just like how nobody is positing that the NHL is trying to remove history from these awards at all. In fact, i'd wager most people wouldn't even know the Pearson Award existed in the first place.

There's literally nothing wrong with renaming the NHLPA best player award after a former player that helped found the association.

You're allowed to start ringing alarm bells when the Stanley Cup gets renamed to the Dunkin' Donuts Cup. Until then this is a fuss over nothing.

[ExcaliburKid]

I heard a stat this morning that the Maple Leafs are the last NHL team (currently in existence) to achieve a season with at least 46 wins!

Congrats and thanks for finally showing up to join the likes of current power-house Vegas Golden Knights and great Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes teams of years past

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by JHikka

You're allowed to start ringing alarm bells when the Stanley Cup gets renamed to the Dunkin' Donuts Cup. Until then this is a fuss over nothing.

The Stanley Cup is the most legendary trophy in all of sport. I think even the Yanks would agree to that.

If anyone changed the name of Lord Stanley's mug there would be crowds marching in the streets with torches and pitchforks.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

I heard a stat this morning that the Maple Leafs are the last NHL team (currently in existence) to achieve a season with at least 46 wins!

Congrats and thanks for finally showing up to join the likes of current power-house Vegas Golden Knights and great Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes teams of years past

[suburbanite]

I liked the stat I saw that of the top 25 scorers in the NHL this year, 7 had been traded in the past. 4 of them were traded by Chiarelli. I wonder what will happen when he spins his wheel of sadness this off-season. Hopefully it doesn't land on over-priced free agent!

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by JHikka

It didn't seem like you were aware of the situation given that you thought NBC was pushing the NHL to change the names of awards it has no control over.

Nobody is positing that the names of the Stanley Cup/Lady Byng/Etc. be changed, just like how nobody is positing that the NHL is trying to remove history from these awards at all. In fact, i'd wager most people wouldn't even know the Pearson Award existed in the first place.

There's literally nothing wrong with renaming the NHLPA best player award after a former player that helped found the association.

You're allowed to start ringing alarm bells when the Stanley Cup gets renamed to the Dunkin' Donuts Cup. Until then this is a fuss over nothing.

Am I allowed to start the bells when it’s the Dunkin Donuts Stanley Cup? The Grey Cup is already starting to slide down that steep embankment.

I’d still like to see the paper trail behind that Pearson name change.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

I heard a stat this morning that the Maple Leafs are the last NHL team (currently in existence) to achieve a season with at least 46 wins!

Congrats and thanks for finally showing up to join the likes of current power-house Vegas Golden Knights and great Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes teams of years past

It is amazing that the Leafs have been so unsuccessful (at least in terms of truly dominant regular seasons) and have had so few of the really big all-time stars on their roster over the years. The Rangers are the ultimate example of that, though.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Am I allowed to start the bells when it’s the Dunkin Donuts Stanley Cup? The Grey Cup is already starting to slide down that steep embankment.

As I stated: yes you are, but it's not going to happen any time soon.

Originally Posted by Andy6

I’d still like to see the paper trail behind that Pearson name change.

I've already outlined the thought process.

1) Ted Lindsay plays hockey;
2) Ted Lindsay helps create the NHLPA;
3) The NHLPA has an award named after a Canadian Prime Minister who coached a hockey team not even affiliated with the NHL or the NHLPA;
4) The NHLPA decides to rename the award after Lindsay;
5) It's still named after a Canadian;
6) This has nothing to do with mean old Gary Bettman or Americans.
7) The End.

I think your tinfoil cap is on a bit too tight in this instance.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I think your tinfoil cap is on a bit too tight in this instance.

Why did the NHLPA have an award named after Prime Minister Pearson in the first place? Was there a mix-up at the trophy engraver's? This, I submit, is the aspect of the story that you consistently overlook. I fully understand that it would have been possible, in some alternate universe, for such a trophy to have been named after Ted Lindsay at its inception. But, in point of fact, it wasn't. It was named after Pearson. The retraction of such an honour is inevitably going to be seen as (and was) an insult to the memory of a great Canadian and, more broadly, as an aspect of the de-Canadianization of the league. I am quite aware that Ted Lindsay was from Canada, but the Canadian aspect of the game that is especially hard to sell to American media conglomerates is its connection to broader Canadian culture, as represented in part by unceremoniously ditched names like the Prince of Wales Conference and the Pearson Trophy.

Anyway, I will leave it at that as it is nearly time for the Jets game.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Why did the NHLPA have an award named after Prime Minister Pearson in the first place?

That's a very good question. The HHOF entry on the award doesn't mention it whatsoever:

Originally Posted by HHOF

The Lester B. Pearson Award was introduced to the National Hockey League by the National Hockey League Players' Association in 1972. The award is presented annually to the "most outstanding player" in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the National Hockey League Players' Association.

The award is named after Canada's Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson who served as leader of his nation between 1963 and 1968. Pearson was also the Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 1957. A passionate hockey fan, Pearson played hockey for the Oxford Canadians while attending university in London, England. He later lectured at the University of Toronto while coaching the varsity hockey team.

He just happened to be a Prime Minister that liked hockey. Awards would be named after Harper had he been a Prime Minister in the 40s.

Originally Posted by Andy6

The retraction of such an honour is inevitably going to be seen as (and was) an insult to the memory of a great Canadian and, more broadly, as an aspect of the de-Canadianization of the league.

Where, then, was this outrage seven or eight years ago when this change was made? The reasoning for the change was that Pearson had no attachment to the league whatsoever, either as a player, an owner, a fan...anything, really. All of the other awards have some relevancy to the creation/growth/function of the league.

Besides, it's not as if the league/NHLPA threw out Pearson completely:

Originally Posted by Sportsnet

The official text of the Lester B. Pearson Award is plated on the new trophy and the names of the award recipients are engraved onto its wooden panels. In addition, an annual NHLPA Goals & Dreams equipment donation will be made in Pearson’s name to a Canadian youth hockey organization, which will be selected together with a member of the Pearson family.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhlpa-pearson/

Sure sounds like an insult to his memory to me.

Originally Posted by Andy6

I am quite aware that Ted Lindsay was from Canada, but the Canadian aspect of the game that is especially hard to sell to American media conglomerates is its connection to broader Canadian culture, as represented in part by unceremoniously ditched names like the Prince of Wales Conference and the Pearson Trophy.

The Prince of Wales Trophy is still given out each season. Nobody cares what the conferences/divisions are named.

There are still plenty of other awards named after niche Canadians that neither Americans nor Canadians won't care about knowing the background of. How many Canadians do you think know who Lord Stanley was? Or who Lady Byng was? Bill Masterton? Jack Adams?

I think you're putting too much stock in people giving time to looking them up, and I think you're stretching the "removal of the Canadian aspect of the league". So far, you haven't really been able to provide much evidence of that fact outside of this Pearson topic.

In fact, let's list the trophies and the nationalities of the people they're named after:

Stanley Cup - Canadian
Prince of Wales - Canadian
Clarence S. Campbell - Canadian
Presidents - XXX

Hart Trophy - Canadian
Lady Byng - Canadian
Georges Vezina - Canadian
Frank Calder - Canadian
Art Ross - Canadian
James Norris - Canadian
Conn Smythe - Canadian
Bill Masterton - Canadian
Ted Lindsay - Canadian
Jack Adams - Canadian
Frank Selke - Canadian
William Jennings - American
King Clancy - Canadian
Rocket Richard - Canadian
Roger Crozier - Canadian
Mark Messier - Canadian

Yeah, the NHL sure is wiping Canada off its map.

Even when the NHL creates new awards (Richard in 1999, Crozier in 2000, Messier in 2007) they're still named after Canadians. I don't really see NBC beating down the door asking any of the awards to be renamed, and I don't see the NHL giving in to any of these demands anyway.

If you're really, really worried about Canada's place in the NHL you should focus on the number of Canadians playing in the league and how their numbers are declining season-by-season. The Canadian team you're watching, the Jets, aren't exactly being led by superstar Canadians...

If you're worried about Canada's place in the NHL you should focus on how the NCAA is growing and getting better and better each year, and the USHL improving every year, and how the CHL is effectively stagnating in both quality and player output.

Both of these issues are far more important to Canada's place in the NHL than the backgrounds of the names of awards that few people have the time to care about.

[TownGuy]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

I heard a stat this morning that the Maple Leafs are the last NHL team (currently in existence) to achieve a season with at least 46 wins!

Congrats and thanks for finally showing up to join the likes of current power-house Vegas Golden Knights and great Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes teams of years past

Why is an Oilers fan is chirping the Leafs?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by TownGuy

Why is an Oilers fan is chirping the Leafs?

Zing.

Now renaming all the divisions and conferences into somewhat suspect geographic areas may be Bettman's fault. Bring back the Norris!

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Zing.
!

1967. I’ve been alive to see my team lift the cup 5 times. Until the Leaves win one in my lifetime, they’re still open season. Same with the loser Canucks. At the least the Leaves have a team that can make a run sometime soon.

[White Pine]

So... Have the Leafs made the playoffs yet? My math could be wrong, but I don't think Florida or NJD can catch up, and that should do it.

EDIT: looks like they have, waiting for the x on nhl.com