DBWI: Worst Decisions in NHL History

Just asking everyone what about their opinion on the biggest mistakes in NHL history: whether it be a bad trade, coaching, business or on ice mistake.
For me, nothing trumps Pittsburgh's decision to trade their number one pick for Mario Lemieux. Sure, Lemieux was reluctant to play for them, but he was never going to be happy as a Nordique. He posted big numbers in Quebec City, and the Penguins got all three Stanstny brothers, but that wasn't enough to stop the franchise from moving to Hamilton. It took the big trade to the Rangers for Lemieux to get his Stanley Cup rings.
What are everyone else's thoughts?
 

NothingNow

Banned
The Southern Expansion teams outside Tampa Bay all being closed due to "poor attendance and a lack of viability" in 2000. Seriously, we all knew Atlanta was terrible, but they weren't that bad, nor was Miami.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay was kicking ass, taking names, and managed to pull off exceptional performances in 2000 and the 2001 Short Season, although they didn't take the cup till 2003.
 
Frank Selke was on this scouting trip through the minor leagues in 1946, and happened upon this Omaha Knights player by the name of Gordie Howe. Through a weird clerical error Howe wasn't on the protected list of the Detroit Red Wings (the Knights' affiliate), which meant any team could go claim him.

Selke had a good personal relationship with Knights coach Tommy Ivan, and did not want to jeopardize Ivan's reputation by swooping in and claiming Howe. So Selke dropped a hint to Detroit's GM, who went in and added Howe to Detroit's list.

Had Selke not done so, or had the GM not figured out the hint, Mr. Hockey would have worn the blue blanc et rouge, alongside such giants as Jean Beliveau and Maurice Richard. Given that the Habs of the Selke era were one of the greatest teams in the history of the sport, the addition of Howe wouldn't have exactly been an earth-shattering change. Still, the thought of Howe as a Hab...

I understand why Selke did what he did, but I'll be damned if I have to like it.
 
This one's a BLOWN opportunity if I've ever heard one:

Chicago was offering Boston Phil Espositio, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield (no seriously! ALL THREE OF THEM!) for Pit Martin, Jack Norris and Gilles Marotte.

For some reason, Boston pulled out of the deal because they got cold feet about dealing Martin.

Yeah...the Black Hawks damn near strangled their soon to be dynasty in it's crib and they didn't even know it.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
The Southern Expansion teams outside Tampa Bay all being closed due to "poor attendance and a lack of viability" in 2000. Seriously, we all knew Atlanta was terrible, but they weren't that bad, nor was Miami.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay was kicking ass, taking names, and managed to pull off exceptional performances in 2000 and the 2001 Short Season, although they didn't take the cup till 2003.

*throws down gauntlet*

DBWI or not, you're treading on THIN ICE, you BETTMANN LOVER!!!!
 
You wanna know why Wendel Clark will forever be one of the Greatest Leafs ever? If it hadn't been for Peter Pocklington's need for cash and Clark practically having to kick Harold Ballard's ass to get him to sign on to getting Wayne Gretzky, and then Ballard decided he wanted to go out with a successful team - again, thank Wendel for that. Thanks to those and the signings of the early 90s, where we picked up Doug Gilmour, Eric Lindros and Teemu Selanne to help out the Hound Line and The Great One, the mighty Leafs became the best team of the 1990s. I'll never forget the Stanley Cup Parade after we beat Montreal in five games for the Cup......beating Vancouver for the Cup the following year was a sign to the NHL and that prick Bettman, too....

OOC: Sounds crazy, but could have been. When Pocklington was shopping Gretzky, he went to Toronto first. Harold Ballard, that dumb, cheap bastard, didn't even consider the idea because of Pocklington's price tag. Lindros wanted to play for the Leafs, and the Leafs weren't far behind Winnipeg for the 1992 entry draft. The thought of a team with Wayne Gretzky, Wendel Clark and the Hound Line, Doug Gilmour, Eric Lindros, Teemu Selanne, Grant Fuhr, Felix Potvin and Dave Andreychuk is enough to make a Leafs fan faint. That would not only have been a Cup Team, but a fucking dynasty team. Now, Fuhr was traded for Andreychuk and we traded Wendel Clark for Mats Sundin, but if we can keep those two, and perhaps be the team to draft Martin Brodeur in 1994.... :D
 
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Well, how about Vancouver uniting the Sedin twins in the trade deadline of 2005, acquiring Daniel plus a 3rd round pick from Tampa for Kesler and Henrik plus another 3rd round pick from St. Louis for Naslund? Both were pretty much third-liners in their old teams and were considered busts, but quickly became an unstoppable force before the Canucks finished a respectable 9th in the Conference that year.

I think that the trade came back to haunt both St. Louis and Tampa back in the ass during the 2006 playoffs, when the Canucks won their first Stanley Cup.

p.s. Alright, I'd admit you can't probably fault the Bolts and Blues for the trades; they probably had no idea the Canucks were planning to acquire both twins.
 
Try topping this: The Gretzky-for-Lemieux trade after the 1987-1988 season.

Edmonton was having financial issues and had been planning to dealing Gretzky to address them, but there was a last-minute infusion of cash from George W. Bush, who also owned the Texas Rangers.

That kept the team from a wholesale fire sale, but Gretzky was upset, so he had to be dealt. Pittsburgh got him, giving up Mario Lemieux and their 1990 first-round pick.

Gretzky for Lemieux was not so bad... the Penguins got a name player, and the Oilers got a younger, cheaper star that Bush quickly locked up to a long-term deal. But the pick was what turned the deal into a disaster for Pittsburgh. That pick was Jaromir Jagr.

The 1990s Oilers continued their dominance, with Messier, Lemieux, and Jagr leading the way. The Penguins got some playoff appearances, but in 1996, Gretzky left as a free agent.
 
^ Ahem, this is a DBWI, and I do believe I commented that Gretzky was a Maple Leaf from 1988 onwards...... ;)
 

NothingNow

Banned
*throws down gauntlet*

DBWI or not, you're treading on THIN ICE, you BETTMANN LOVER!!!!

Well, they were improving. Given another decade, and Carolina and Nashville could've been competitive, while admittedly, nothing short of a miracle was going to save Miami or Atlanta. But it'd also have put Tampa on more even ground since they wouldn't be constantly traveling, although they did give up and buy a 737 a while back to keep travel times and costs under control.
 
Barrasso

A stupid trade for Calgary happened in July 1996, when they traded G Trevor Kidd and F Theo Fleury to the Penguins for G Tom Barrasso, Tomas Sandstrom, and the Pens 1997 first round pick.

Barrasso looked bad in Game 7 against Florida, and it was a preview of things to come with Calgary. Sandstrom was decent, but not great since he wasn't playing with Lemieux or Jagr anymore.

As for the Pens, Kidd provided them with stable goaltending, and they did get back to the 1999 and 2000 Stanley Cups, losing to Dallas and then beating them. Fleury was a big addition for a few years as well, but he left as a FA at the end of the 2000 season.
 
You know what, I didn't even read the OP or notice the DBWI, I posted on OTL bad decision. :eek:

Disregard it, I suppose.
 
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