National Hockey League "What ifs"

What if in a non-WHA tl where the age limit of the draft is not lowered the LA Kings draft Gretz first overall in 81. Winnipeg had the top pick but the Rockies had no. 2 and traded it to LA. This was not the first time that COL made trades like this.
What if the NHL adopts the draft earlier than 63? Either at the same time as the Suplemental Draft or earlier thanks to less power amongst the top brass or influence from the NFL draft began in the 30´s.
What if USA Hockey didnt have a difficult time developing talent from the late 30´s until the late 70´s. At one point the Blackhawk team that won the cup in the 30´s had 8 Americans on the roster and two of the top goalies (Brimsake and Thompson) were from the USA. How could this effect hocey and the NHL?
 
Larry Robinson

Going into 1975-76, the Flyers were two-time defending champs, at a time when fighting and cartoonish violence was running rampant throughout the NHL. The Canadiens would be the team to save the NHL. The teams would have a brawl in the preseason, and then they would go on to meet for the Stanley Cup. The Canadiens won Game 1, and then something significant happened in Game 2. Montreal defenceman Larry Robinson hip-checked Gary Dornhoefer into the boards with so much force that he had Gary spitting up blood for a few days. The Canadiens realized that the Flyers had to be stopped on their own terms, and that hit, and the Canadiens' sweep of the Broad Street Bullies, started a new era where intimidation didn't overshadow the other parts of the game.

If it wasn't for that hit, and if the Flyers won that series, the NHL probably would have kept going down the road it was going for several more years.

Here are some other "What ifs"

1. What if the Canadiens would have given coach Scotty Bowman the GM job in 1978 instead of Irving Grundman?

2. What if Bowman would have stayed as the Penguin coach after the 93 season?

3. In 1964, the Bruins drafted Hall-of-Fame G Ken Dryden in the first round when he was 17. He went to college instead, and didn't report to the Bruins. So, they traded his rights to Montreal for two guys that didn't play in the NHL. What if they didn't trade him?
 
Dale Hunter doesn't throw that filthy hit on Pierre Turgeon in the 1993 playoffs and Turgeon plays the entire playoffs healthy. Could the Isles have pulled out a glory run, knocking off the Pens, Habs and Kings to cop their 5th Cup?

Speaking of PT...

What if the Isles don't completely lose their minds and keep PT, rather than trading him to Montreal?

PT and Ziggy on the same line with Derek King on the left side?

Get a top flight goalie and you could have a scary good team...:cool:
 
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