This is Dale MacLeish. Rick's brother. As brothers-of-really-really-good players go, Dale was not so much. He was drafted in 1966 when the only guys available had been passed over at least a couple of times by all 6 clubs.MacLeish did play one year in the high minors (Tulsa Oilers, CHL 68-69) but most of his career was in the secondary leagues throughout North America: Eastern League, Southern League, North American Hockey League.
He's wearing the uniform of the Philadelphia Firebirds, and I must say it's a nice idea to include a hobby horse as your logo. The stylized "F" gives the brain an excellent chance to think of a descriptive F word before saying "awful logo."
Dale MacLeish played for the 1973-74 Roanoke Valley Rebels of the SHL. Among the other players on the team was Mike Keenan, whose playing career was even less impressive than Dale's.
I believe the Calgary Flames made a terrific move today by hiring Mike Keenan. He is a man who can make a tremendous difference in the short term (he'll never last the length of the 3-year deal he signed) ala Billy Martin. He'll have the best hockey club in front of him since the mid-90s and this is extremely likely to be his final kick at the can.
People are going to get yelled at, belittled, ripped and run out of town. It's a tremendous short term move, and providing they don't let him trade the kids fans in Calgary are going to love 07-08.
And they are going to kick the living snot out of the Oilers.
Seriously where did happy LT go?
ReplyDeleteI don't like Keenan's chances of making a huge difference. I think he's lost his focus and the past decade gives plenty of examples. Keenan used to last (Philly and Chicago) and he lost his marbles.
Happy LT will show up in time for the draft. :-)
ReplyDeleteOld Billy Martin story. When he joined the A's (maybe 1981) Martin met with all the pitchers and told them his theory on balls and strikes (which was throw strikes).
All were agreed as opening day arrived. First inning, first game, first batter.
Ball One.
Martin calls time. Walks out to the mound and says to Mike Norris: "I thought we agreed we were going to throw strikes."
I want happy LT back too ;(
ReplyDeleteAt least in the past Keenan does seem to get good short term results but it will be interesting to see how it pans out this time for him.
I already seen some comments from Huselius that seemed rather interesting... I am sure he will really stir the pot there and it will either make things take off for them or fall apart.
With Sutter staring over his shoulder it might help keep his marbles accounted for.
Calgary's Ownership is not afraid to spend the dollars and do what it takes to prepare for a legitimate run at the Sylvan Cup.
ReplyDeleteThe Flames seem willing to spend to the CAP limit from the getgo to secure the talent and support staff necessary to get the job done year-in and year-out.
This has not been true of the Oilers' current Ownership and for these reasons I agree with you. Keenan didn't come cheap and now nor will any wins come easy for the boys on the broken down bus, in this year's edition of the BOA!
LT,
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you so sure Iron MIke is anything resembling good news for the flames? The man hasn't been to the playoffs in a decade, nor has he had a winning record in that time. A lot has changed since he was last succesful in the national hockey league, and from his time in florida it seems as if he hasn't learnt much from his failures.
Sure, he'll kick up some dust, cause a storm now and then, and get a lot of press doing it...but will it translate into wins? I have my doubts. A very comparable manager in terms of style, reputation, and substance- Lou Pinella- is having an equally hard time in Chicago with a veteran-lading, expensive squad. Different sport, but I think Lou and Iron Mike are actually good comparables for one another.
So...will the 2007-08 flames be the '07 Chicago Cubs of the NHL? I could certainly see it happening.
To me, this is a clear signal that Sutter knows his team has one more year before some tough decisions (re: regher, iginla, phaneuf, kipper ,etc) will be made, and some pieces will have to be shipped off. Calgary has one more year with this squad, and Sutter's getting a coach who will ight a fire under them.
Fair enough, but if this team is tunning out iron mike by february, don't say I didn't warn you. Ultimately, I think this could be a good thing for the oilers...
//The Flames seem willing to spend to the CAP limit from the getgo to secure the talent and support staff necessary to get the job done year-in and year-out.//
ReplyDeleteThe Oilers have been far better run than the Flames during the Lowe and Sutter eras.
Daryl's been living off of Kiprusoff...but he had Kiprusoff in San Jose, so it was not really much at state in acquiring him. And well Lowe has the Roloson trade to match that trade in terms of GM skill.
Sutter gave away Tony Lydman for basically nothing. He gave away Mike Commodore basically for nothing. Lowe has not made mistakes remotely as bad as those two moves.
Lowe does not have multi-million dollar free agent mistakes like Sutter had in Amonte and McCarty.
Where would Calgary be had not Dallas and Colorado not traded top prospects (Iginla, Regehr, neither of which were Sutter's doing) for aging veterans to win cups?
Name one young player (other than Phaneuf) who has developed under Sutter. Okay Lombardi, but that's about it. Lowe and MacT have Hemsky, Horcoff, Pisani. Brewer.
Sutter has been a fortunate mediocre GM and coach. He couldn't get San Jose or Calgary over the hump.
P.S. I guess Huselius is on the trading block...because Keenan ain't going to play him.
Keenan is outdated as a coach. He hasn't done anything good in 10 years as a coach or g.m. The days of bullying players are over. The Flames will start hitting the wall in the second half of the season
ReplyDeleteA few things we know about the Flames now that Keenan hockey is in Calgary:
ReplyDelete1) Things just got ugly for soft players like Huselius and Tanguay -Sucks to be born into Iron Mike's doghouse... good luck getting out!
2) Kipper will have additional pressure this year - Do it Mike! Get in his head a little! You can make him BETTER!
3) The battle of Alberta could get ugly... really ugly from an Oiler perspective.
4) With Luongo and Keenan going head-to-head 8 times next year - something 'interesting' will likely 'happen'. (Keep your head up Roberto).
5) With a bad start and one too many 'Keenanian' episodes, Calgary's future (Iginla/Kipper UFA's) could turn into a house of cards. Ahh! the KEENAN factor.
6) The division just got a whole lot more interesting...
props to the F-bear.
Sure Keenan might be good in the short term, but I think you are underestimating just how short that term is likely to be.
ReplyDeleteAs Matt pointed out at BofA, since 1995/96, Iron Mike has coached precisely one entire, beginning-to-end season."
Short term, indeed!
If nothing else, it's an interesting move.
ReplyDeleteMyself and Ty have been already talking about this and I'd imagine that one of Huselisis or Tanguay will be out the door or at the very least have their icetime cut dramatically. Perhpas Lombardi as well. And we know that Sutter knows this going in but he hears the clock ticking and he's brought in a rental to try and get his underacheivers to the big stage.
I'll also be interested to see what Keenan does for Phaneuf or what he does to him;) Joe T has said that Keenan did wonders for his career while both were with the B's and we know that Keenan will play the shit out of guys if he's on your side but that can also come with the price of high expectations. Regier and perhaps Stuart will carry the heavier sacks of mail, but if Keenan ever gets it in his head that this is the year for Phaneuf, I cna't wait to see how it shakes out.
As for owning the Oil in the BOA, no shock if that happens. The Oilers in their current form are "garbage" and the only upgrade possible would be to "junk."
But that has very little to do with Mike Keenan;)
Wow, Dale MacLeish is really ugly.
ReplyDeleteKeenan is a far better coach then he is a GM; one of the issues he has had as a coach is that he has built a lot of the teams.
And I think Darryl Sutter has put together a decent squad.
As for how Tanguay and Huselius will do, well, who knows? Some guys might respond well to the whip. You never know. Tanguay played for Bob Hartley and Crawford, did he not? They're not freaks like Keenan (remember the story where Keenan brought a player into his office and turned off all the lights and sat in the dark with him for twenty minutes without making a sound) but they're screamers too and Tanguay did ok.
Sutter gave away Tony Lydman for basically nothing. He gave away Mike Commodore basically for nothing. Lowe has not made mistakes remotely as bad as those two moves.
ReplyDeleteUm, what about giving away Chris Pronger for basically nothing?
Just sayin'...
I like Keenan as a bench coach. A terrific move by Sutter here I think. These emotional, manipulative guys do have a shorter shelf life, but that's not an issue here (Bowman excepted, but those were different days).
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the misguided notion that Keenan could somehow wreak havoc on the Flames organization, Matt at BofA counters cleanly:
There is no chance of a serious power struggle between Keenan and his superiors. That's good. Ken King has presided over the Flames from a state of near-relocation to the present, where they're one of the most popular, profitable clubs in the league -- a big dog.
Tough to argue with that. And given that that the Flames are a cap team with a few favourable contracts on the books at present ... the time for them to win is now. This move makes sense to me.
I think it's a good move as well. E1 is saying that he won't last the three years and I think that's a good guess. But I wouldn't bet that he isn't the right guy for right now, either.
ReplyDeleteStill, someone's gonna get their feelings hurt and their address changed and that's should be a dandy little sidebar.
//Um, what about giving away Chris Pronger for basically nothing?//
ReplyDeleteChris Pronger demanded to be traded.
Sutter gave away Lydman and Commodore voluntarily.
Sutter destroyed his Stanley Cup runner-up by choice. Pronger destroyed Lowe's Oilers by asking for a trade.
Pronger destroyed Lowe's Oilers by asking for a trade.
ReplyDeleteKevin Lowe still made the decision to trade him for a pile of shit. Look at what teams were getting at the deadline for players who they could rent for 15 games. What would Pronger have been worth then?
8 assets? 10 assets? 12(!) assets?
ReplyDeleteThey could have had so many more assets.
I am sure the Flames will be better than the Oilers but is that really the test?
ReplyDeleteThat is like saying that someone is better singer than Jessica Simpson.
I don't think Keenan will take the Flames to the promised land (the Cup). Effort and adherence to defence have not really been a problem for the Flames. Offensive creativity has been. Mike is going to scare away or put the shackles on anyone with a little offensive flair.
Minnisota, Vancouver and Calgary are all going to be clones of one another. None will have the goods to win the cup.
Yeah, if the Oilers are Jessica Simpson the Flames are Aretha Franklin - definately better right now....but I'd really rather watch Jessica Simpson
ReplyDeleteThe Oilers have been far better run than the Flames during the Lowe and Sutter eras.
ReplyDeleteFunniest thing I've read in a long time. Thank you.
Perhaps comparing records and level of success are more of an indication of executive prowess than, say, isolated deals. Oh, and equating the Roloson deal (1st rounder for a aged but competent starter) to the Kiprusoff deal (2nd round pick for a Vezina winner) is bordering on the absurd.
LT and Vic...thanks for the perspective(s) on the Keenan hiring.