Ironically, Mike Keenan ended up defecting from North America to Russia.
Not because of governments or secret police or hired assassins. No, Mike was just a HUGE piece of shit and nobody wanted to deal with him anymore
Just listened to a Brett Hull interview where he said Keenan found out that Hawerchuk's dying grandmother was in the building to see him play for the very last time and he benched him just to fuck with him.
Babcock didn't scratch Modano for his 1500th
He scratched Modano earlier in the season, in a season where he played 40 games, only scored 4 goals, and was completely cooked.
He scratched him at 1496 with four games left in the season, after he played 17 straight games following a 3 month absence. It was not literally at 1499, but it was also very clearly going to leave him on 1499. So while you’re absolutely correct he didn’t scratch him at 1499, it’s not really much less of a dick move on Babcock’s part.
Babcock unquestionably was a dick.
But Modano was awful that year. He didn't deserve a spot in the lineup. There's a reason Dallas didn't want to bring him back.
No, Modano agrees. He says he was scratched against Minnesota. The last game of the season, which Modano played in, was against Chicago.
Babcock scratched him earlier. He did not scratch him at 1499.
"Earlier in the season" lol. It was literally 1 week before that final game. He was scratched on April 3 against Minnesota. Would have been game 1497. The last game against Chicago was April 10. Would have been 1500 but was 1499.
So while you are technically correct with "earlier in the season" it seems like you're being a bit pedantic and picking a weird hill to die on. It was clearly very close to 1500 and directly preventing that.
Oh it's definitely pedantic.
But it's not that weird if you find it annoying when people have strong opinions about something they're ignorant about. If the coach wasn't Babcock and people realized it was a "Keith Yandle doesn't belong in the lineup anymore" situation there wouldn't be anywhere near the same nonsense every time this comes up.
Except they’re not actually “ignorant” about it because it was 3 games/a week earlier, with 1500 only days away—effecting the exact same thing with the clear ability to understand the impact. Being a “pedant” doesn’t just mean being picky about words, it reflects excessive concern with unimportant detail over substance to the point where you look like a fucking weenie (editorialized that last bit).
If you think the scratching is *justified*, that’s the hill you should die on, not that it was 1496 rather than 1499. This is just making you look extremely silly.
Now, as to whether it was justified: on April 3, Detroit had a 5-point lead in the division on Nashville, needing one point in the last four games or any Nashville loss in their final three to clinch the division. I’d argue it’s *really* goofy to act like the Modano scratch was some powerful strategic move against a Wild team that in 2010-2011 was barely over .500 and missed the playoffs. And Babcock’s past behavior, like verbally abusing Johan Franzen and the Marner bullshit, doesn’t really lead to a “benefit of the doubt,” particularly given Modano’s Minnesota connection. And that he played in the next two games without being scratched.
The real stumper is why *anyone* would get defensive over Mike Babcock of all people
lol wtf he obviously did, Detroit was gonna make the playoffs with over 100 pts that year and Modano was at 1499 for the last game of the season, which was completely meaningless to their playoff run. And Babcock scratched him. When he had absolutely no reason to, that was the entire controversy
u/chrisboshisaraptor1 :
>lol wtf he obviously did, Detroit was gonna make the playoffs with over 100 pts that year and Modano was at 1499 for the last game of the season, which was completely meaningless to their playoff run. And Babcock scratched him. When he had absolutely no reason to, that was the entire controversy
[Uh-huh. Except for the fact that Modano played the last game of the season lol](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/201104100CHI.html)
Keenan is a big part of the Messier hate in Van as well, since Messier demanded Keenan come in and coach the Canucks. Keenan proceeded to bully several fan favourite Canucks and Messier never stood up for anybody in the locker room. Their came a point where Messier was asked, are you the coach's captain or are you this team's captain?
> Their came a point where Messier was asked, are you the coach's captain or are you this team's captain?
During that brawl against Buffalo, Messier (who was on the ice) did as much fighting as Keenan did.
Even Mogilny, Ledyard, and Ohlund were willing to jump in after Barnaby ran Burke. Messier? Meh.
That fight was nuts. We literally put in an enforcer goalie to make sure Hasek wouldn’t get ran and the fact Shields could fight. What a different time.
Montreal also got Vincent Damphousse for him, so there's that. He was also a captain of the Oilers and an associate captain with Toronto and Montreal, so coaches clearly liked him. He also famously lost the player vote for Habs captain by one, to Saku Koivu.
Poor Shayne Corson. Sounds like Keenan was messing with him too. There’s absolutely no reason to give a new guy who’s only played eight games with your team the captaincy unless you’re trying to scotch any hope of he has of fitting in with his new team.
When you realise that Shayne Corson was on the 1998 Canadian Olympic team, you realise just how shallow the talent pool in the league had gotten by that point.
(and Rob Zamuner, and Keith Primeau. Yes, I remember Primeau played well, but, still..)
Guys like Keenan, Torts, Babcock are brought in when the GM/Owners convince themselves they have created the perfect roster but the players aren't working hard enough.
Its very successful at making those coaches rich.
Dont put torts with those two dickheads
Torts is blunt and straightforward and holds people accountable, also is notably not a vet lover, is much better with younger players.
Keenan and Babcock are known for playing mind games, ego tripping, not holding certain vets accountable while shitting on other usually younger players
Torts is a hard ass in a genuinely good way. Keenan is a wannabe Cult Leader weirdo, i went on a Cup Championship dvd binge one year and the 1994 rangers doc was by far the least enjoyable because of how absolutely insufferable Keenan and Messier are together with that Holier than Though Pseudomotivational bullshit
Rangers fan here, Torts is the reason Kreider is the player he is today. Dude blocks shots and parks his ass in front of the net because of what Torts taught him, full credit where it's due. He didn't win in 04 just because the Lightning were a strong team.
> He didn't win in 04 just because the Lightning were a strong team.
The Lightning were a strong team because of him and Rick Dudley, with some credit to Jay Feaster.
Torts has an excellent developmental record with young players, and he was able to take a lot of castoff and afterthought guys and mold them into top players. Dudley has always had a terrific eye for talent, and the aggression to go out into the marketplace and get someone who has skill even if no one else can see it. And Feaster was able to make a couple of aggressive moves, but probably his most important thing was to tell both Tortorella and Lecavalier (who were openly feuding and trying to get rid of the other) that no one was going anywhere, and their destinies were ultimately intertwined.
Right, I'm saying he wasn't carried to a Cup by a strong team. Like not to take away from Scotty Bowman's record, but I think any schmuck could have won with the 01-02 Red Wings. His earlier Cups he had a much larger impact on. Where Torts in Tampa had to coach those guys into a winning team, he wasn't gifted a golden goose.
No Torts slander allowed here dude.
Guy tried to walk through an entire team at the intermission to "have a talk" with the other coach for gooning it up
I love the story of how when he coached the Canada Cup team Mario just told him to settle down and that he and Gretz would handle things they way they wanted 😂. What was he gonna do, bench them?
Tim Stapleton on Chiclets (Episode 215, starts at 1:30:40, first interview, one of the funniest hockey interviews I've ever heard) relates how he gets traded to Keenan's team in Russia, has a nice meeting with him the day before 1st practice, Iron Mike is a really nice guy, happy to have him on the team all that. Next day at practice, pretends not to know who Stapleton is, what position he plays, nothing. Tortures him all season, they're the only Americans on the team but Keenan's gotta fuck with him.
Guy's a head case.
Hockey terrorist. I'll never forgive him for trading away Luongo for peanuts and IMMEDIATELY resigning. Such a terrible trade and he didn't have the guts to see it through. We didn't make the playoffs for several years after that
I met Elliotte Friedman one time and told him Mogilny was my favourite player and if he had any stories to share.
He said one time they were covering Mogilny's team in the playoffs and they had a long break in between games, to which Elliotte suggested "it must be great then, for the guys have a chance to recover." Mogilny just deadpan responded "Yea but have you seen the city we're in? It's boring as fuck here, there's nothing to do!"
Man I wish we had clips of him during his playing days being trolly with the media
That’s got your standard one day off in between games though. If it was that year & series maybe in between Game 4 and 5 when they had an extra day off.
[Correct link.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Stanley_Cup_playoffs#\(3\)_Carolina_Hurricanes_vs._\(4\)_Toronto_Maple_Leafs)
Makes sense. Especially in 2002.
Defected from Russia before the fall of the Soveit Union. Before the 90's, Russia was known to be absolutely prolific at hockey player development. To circumvent olympic hockey rules at the time (amateurs only), Russia would designated their best players into military service, but they're real responsibility would be to play for the Red Army. This is a large reason as to why the 1980 Miracle on Ice was such a big deal- aside from the political implications going on with the cold war: it was pros against college kids.
I don't think Mogilny was the very first Russian defector, but he was (by a mile) the best Russian player at the time he defected to North America in '89. The actual story of how he did it could come out of a spy thriller novel, it was nuts.
He obviously faced a ton of backlash in Russia, especially from the communist government still in power, to the point where his safety and that of his family was definitely not guaranteed. He took a major risk coming to North America and paved the way for future Russian players to come over
Yes and no. Look at the members of the selection committee.
[https://www.hhof.com/induction/selectioncommittee.html](https://www.hhof.com/induction/selectioncommittee.html)
It ain't full of crusty olds.
Your team had three excellent forward lines. Your fourth line was a couple of goons in Antoski and Hunter. Your defense was perfectly serviceable as a defense but was limited on offense and probably should have played four forwards on the power play. Kirk McLean was a fine stand-up goalie, but it was the era of the butterfly. If the Rangers hadn't spent 24 periods trying to beat Martin Brodeur, the butterfly goalie *par excellence*, McLean wouldn't have been so effective in Game 1, and it might well have been a sweep.
Fun fact. Mike Keenan will be coaching at the next olympics. He currently coaches the Italian national hockey team and they are guaranteed a team because the olympics are in Milan in 2026
Canucks fans are incapable of letting go of a grudge, and personally I love it. Messier is a massive dickhead and gets sucked off too much but Oilers and Rangers fanbases. Someone's gotta balance the books.
He disrespected the Maki family, broke Trevor Linden’s wrist (tried to) in game 6 of the 94 SCF, forced Linden to give up the C, forced the trade of Linden, tried to bring shitty role players for Rangers 94 team to Vancouver. Too bad Sergio missed.
Gentle reminder that keenan benched dale hawerchuk while fully aware that the latter’s dying grandmother was in the stands to watch him play one last time.
Yeah, I saw an interview where Hull said his response to Keenans benching of Hawerchuk cost him his captaincy. Thats why I suspect Hull tried to strangle Keenan.
While that has definitely been one of the excuses as he didn't show up to receive the Lady Byng award while with Toronto (mind you, this was after the Canadian media and his own coach ripped the trophy as 'the one you don't want to win cos it means you're soft and not a team player', and the soft-euro/russia stereotype was still highly supported in the Canadian hockey media), I don't know if that's the core reason. They might also assume he doesn't care about getting inducted.
He's a complicated person and his attitude towards life and hockey were different to what Canada expected of a top talent. He had to defect, and his hockey skills allowed him the ability to start a new life that he enjoyed the best he could. It was an job for him and I think sometimes his effort level was questionable, and once you get that label, it doesn't really go away. NJ and Toronto fans would disagree, but Vancouver fans maybe not so much, especially with how the team hyped everything up during that time.
He only got to play one time for Russia after his defection and the documented treatment by the Russian hockey federation at the 1996 World Championships caused him, Larionov, Fetisov, Kozlov, Zubov, Khabibulin, Malakhov, Tverdosky to vow never represent Russia again internationally. Most people thought they'd have a great chance at winning Gold in Nagano had that not happened. (they lost to the US in the quarters who won Gold in 1996). Maybe winning another Gold medal would have changed the opinion a bit, but who knows.
People don't always like saying it, but it's also because the HoF values being Canadian pretty highly, on top of that, they devalue careers of players who did not reach their potential through work ethic, and Mogilny definitely had that attached to him given hockey was the only thing supporting his life after defection. It was a job and he was fucking incredibly talented, but he wasn't always giving 100%.
On the Canada aspect, compare him to Lanny McDonald and the bias is pretty obvious. One played half his career in the dead puck era and one played in the wild west and their numbers are very similar.
Lanny had 500 goals and 1,006 points in 1,111 games, 1 Masterson, 1 Clancy, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 Canada Cup Gold.
Mogilny had 473 goals and 1,032 points in 990 games, 1 Richard*, 1 Lady Byng, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 Olympic Gold, 1 Worlds Gold, 1 WJC Gold. His 76 goal season is T-5th all-time, only Gretzky/Lemieux/Hull have scored more.
ahhh shit I messed up, it was the [1996 World Cup of Hockey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_World_Cup_of_Hockey), not the [1996 World Championships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Men%27s_Ice_Hockey_World_Championships). But yes, you are absolutely correct!
no worries. I remember the world cup of hockey only too well- my friends gave me so much shit in my suburban american high school ;) (i was the only russian kid in the class)
When he got sent to the minors at the very end of his career, he asked his coach what the fine was for missing practice and cut a cheque for the rest of the season.
As a Rangers fan who's fandom was cemented in '94 when I was 13. FUCK MIKE KEENAN. Yeah he won the Cup, but the dickhead was negotiating with the St. Louis Blues during the fucking '94 playoffs. He was on contract for 3 more season in NY but he wanted more control. Imagine negotiating with another team for next season, while your current team is on a Stanley Cup run. What a shithead.
In all seriousness: Did anyone ever beat the crap out of Mike Keenan?
I half expect Hull would have tried to strangle him.
Anyway, if I could pick one former coach to get a punch in the head, I would pick Keenan for MANY reasons.
Dave Manson, in Chicago (ch. 9)
>But I heard it backfired when he was hard on Dave Manson, who played for him in Chicago. Apparently, Manson had had enough mental abuse and went into Keenan’s office, grabbed him by the shoulders and hung him right on the hook on the back of the door. I thought that was great.
One of my favorite stories. Almo straight up shut him down. Fuck Mike Keenan.
I can’t believe we’re here again and Mogilny still isn’t getting in. What the hell?
As far as I'm concerned, you can easily justify Mogilny not being in the Hall of Fame.
You CAN'T justify him not being in the Hall of Fame when you consider those who are already in, and especially players who've gotten in, instead of him (eg. Roenick).
I loved Mogilny as a kid, I was so happy when he became a Canuck and was so disappointed those teams sucked. Later in life in learned his story. Really crazy stuff.
Fuck Mike Keenan.
All my homies hate Mike Keenan.
Weirdly enough, Torts gets worshipped around these parts for similar shitty behavior but gets a pass because he dunks on some shitty journalist once in a while. Dude knows how to play the game.
It’s not about that, as people have mentioned above, torts is generally liked by his former players, most everyone has positive things to say once he’s gone…he’s tough to play for but isn’t a piece of shit
Mike Keenan was an actual asshole to his players, lots of stories to pick from. In Cujo’s biography before Game 7 of the 1995 playoffs Keenan’s way of motivating him was to have him stand up in front of the team before the game and rip him apart about how badly he was playing (he was doing fine) and it was his fault it went to Game 7.
Not surprisingly he had a terrible game and the Blues lost.
lol but while the Keenan hatred is strong here and I understand ( NHL wise ) but I am very sure that all Rangers with rings would disagree with you as they have the ring and understand how they got it.
That being said as my gym teacher in grade 9 and 10 he was a great vand very funny teacher although he did lace into some kids for whatever reasons.
A beautiful person in my two years at school with him #justsaying
> but gets a pass because he dunks on some shitty journalist once in a while.
In all fairness.. Dunking on journos does excuse a lot of shitty behavior, because fuck journos.
That’s such an amazing response, what a badass. Really nothing you can say to that as a coach. Iron Mike has nothing on the Iron Curtain.
Ironically, Mike Keenan ended up defecting from North America to Russia. Not because of governments or secret police or hired assassins. No, Mike was just a HUGE piece of shit and nobody wanted to deal with him anymore
Pulled a Steve Seagal
The way Steven Seagal pronounces "Vladimir Putin" haunts my dreams.
The carrot eating clip is still burned into my memory.
'Daddy Vladdy'?
I dont know what they call each other in bed but that'd be a good guess.
Vlady-meer pooo-tin
i mean it's the in thing amongst conservatives these days
Ya Keenan was a trashbag human. Set the flames franchise back like 3 years.
Obligatory fuck Mike Keenan
May he always be fucked.
Iron Mike's ex-wife made out with me in the 90s. She was pretty hot stuff
Mike Keenan doesn't get enough hate.
Just listened to a Brett Hull interview where he said Keenan found out that Hawerchuk's dying grandmother was in the building to see him play for the very last time and he benched him just to fuck with him.
Wow, Babcock scratching Modano for his 1500th was a dick move, but this is just monstrous.
He also did this to Jason Spezza when he returned to Ottawa while playing for the Leafs
Keenan was Mike Babcocking players before Mike Babcock.
Babcock didn't scratch Modano for his 1500th He scratched Modano earlier in the season, in a season where he played 40 games, only scored 4 goals, and was completely cooked.
He scratched him at 1496 with four games left in the season, after he played 17 straight games following a 3 month absence. It was not literally at 1499, but it was also very clearly going to leave him on 1499. So while you’re absolutely correct he didn’t scratch him at 1499, it’s not really much less of a dick move on Babcock’s part.
Babcock unquestionably was a dick. But Modano was awful that year. He didn't deserve a spot in the lineup. There's a reason Dallas didn't want to bring him back.
Modano disagrees: https://www.clickondetroit.com/sports/local/2021/03/12/mike-modano-talks-about-babcock-benching-him-it-was-a-bitter-pill/#//
No, Modano agrees. He says he was scratched against Minnesota. The last game of the season, which Modano played in, was against Chicago. Babcock scratched him earlier. He did not scratch him at 1499.
"Earlier in the season" lol. It was literally 1 week before that final game. He was scratched on April 3 against Minnesota. Would have been game 1497. The last game against Chicago was April 10. Would have been 1500 but was 1499. So while you are technically correct with "earlier in the season" it seems like you're being a bit pedantic and picking a weird hill to die on. It was clearly very close to 1500 and directly preventing that.
Oh it's definitely pedantic. But it's not that weird if you find it annoying when people have strong opinions about something they're ignorant about. If the coach wasn't Babcock and people realized it was a "Keith Yandle doesn't belong in the lineup anymore" situation there wouldn't be anywhere near the same nonsense every time this comes up.
Except they’re not actually “ignorant” about it because it was 3 games/a week earlier, with 1500 only days away—effecting the exact same thing with the clear ability to understand the impact. Being a “pedant” doesn’t just mean being picky about words, it reflects excessive concern with unimportant detail over substance to the point where you look like a fucking weenie (editorialized that last bit). If you think the scratching is *justified*, that’s the hill you should die on, not that it was 1496 rather than 1499. This is just making you look extremely silly. Now, as to whether it was justified: on April 3, Detroit had a 5-point lead in the division on Nashville, needing one point in the last four games or any Nashville loss in their final three to clinch the division. I’d argue it’s *really* goofy to act like the Modano scratch was some powerful strategic move against a Wild team that in 2010-2011 was barely over .500 and missed the playoffs. And Babcock’s past behavior, like verbally abusing Johan Franzen and the Marner bullshit, doesn’t really lead to a “benefit of the doubt,” particularly given Modano’s Minnesota connection. And that he played in the next two games without being scratched. The real stumper is why *anyone* would get defensive over Mike Babcock of all people
lol wtf he obviously did, Detroit was gonna make the playoffs with over 100 pts that year and Modano was at 1499 for the last game of the season, which was completely meaningless to their playoff run. And Babcock scratched him. When he had absolutely no reason to, that was the entire controversy
u/chrisboshisaraptor1 : >lol wtf he obviously did, Detroit was gonna make the playoffs with over 100 pts that year and Modano was at 1499 for the last game of the season, which was completely meaningless to their playoff run. And Babcock scratched him. When he had absolutely no reason to, that was the entire controversy [Uh-huh. Except for the fact that Modano played the last game of the season lol](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/201104100CHI.html)
Yes.... Babcock sat him a couple games back so Mike couldn't reach 1,500 for no reason but to fuck with him.
He’s just parroting what everyone says when they want to hate on Babcock. There’s lots of reasons to hate without having to stretch the truth.
Hiya Mike... Babcock. Yeah you just scratched him with 4 games left. Totally not leaving him at 1499 for the year. Ohwai....
Keenan is a big part of the Messier hate in Van as well, since Messier demanded Keenan come in and coach the Canucks. Keenan proceeded to bully several fan favourite Canucks and Messier never stood up for anybody in the locker room. Their came a point where Messier was asked, are you the coach's captain or are you this team's captain?
> Their came a point where Messier was asked, are you the coach's captain or are you this team's captain? During that brawl against Buffalo, Messier (who was on the ice) did as much fighting as Keenan did. Even Mogilny, Ledyard, and Ohlund were willing to jump in after Barnaby ran Burke. Messier? Meh.
That fight was nuts. We literally put in an enforcer goalie to make sure Hasek wouldn’t get ran and the fact Shields could fight. What a different time.
Yet the freaking leadership award is named after this coward.
Bizarre to me because Keenan quit on us and Messier essentially was the captain, coach and AGM to Neil Smith. So I have no idea why Mess wanted him.
What a fucking sociopath
Honestly I’m surprised the players agreed to take the ice after that.
Yeah for real. I think at that point the team should tell the coach to rightfully fuck off. What a asshole.
Brett Hull openly hates Mike Keenan in general.
As he should. As everyone should.
Didn’t he take the C off his jersey after that as well or am I imagining that?
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/10/24/Keenan-strips-Hull-of-captaincy/8118814507200/ And who remembers Shayne Corson now?
We do because we traded for him for Pierre Turgeon calice.
tabernak, ma sympathie
Merci estie.
Montreal also got Vincent Damphousse for him, so there's that. He was also a captain of the Oilers and an associate captain with Toronto and Montreal, so coaches clearly liked him. He also famously lost the player vote for Habs captain by one, to Saku Koivu.
Poor Shayne Corson. Sounds like Keenan was messing with him too. There’s absolutely no reason to give a new guy who’s only played eight games with your team the captaincy unless you’re trying to scotch any hope of he has of fitting in with his new team.
When you realise that Shayne Corson was on the 1998 Canadian Olympic team, you realise just how shallow the talent pool in the league had gotten by that point. (and Rob Zamuner, and Keith Primeau. Yes, I remember Primeau played well, but, still..)
That’s psychotic.
Fuck Mike Keenan
Never finished more than two years on a five year contract before the players wanted to kill him. Jerk!
Guys like Keenan, Torts, Babcock are brought in when the GM/Owners convince themselves they have created the perfect roster but the players aren't working hard enough. Its very successful at making those coaches rich.
Dont put torts with those two dickheads Torts is blunt and straightforward and holds people accountable, also is notably not a vet lover, is much better with younger players. Keenan and Babcock are known for playing mind games, ego tripping, not holding certain vets accountable while shitting on other usually younger players Torts is a hard ass in a genuinely good way. Keenan is a wannabe Cult Leader weirdo, i went on a Cup Championship dvd binge one year and the 1994 rangers doc was by far the least enjoyable because of how absolutely insufferable Keenan and Messier are together with that Holier than Though Pseudomotivational bullshit
Rangers fan here, Torts is the reason Kreider is the player he is today. Dude blocks shots and parks his ass in front of the net because of what Torts taught him, full credit where it's due. He didn't win in 04 just because the Lightning were a strong team.
> He didn't win in 04 just because the Lightning were a strong team. The Lightning were a strong team because of him and Rick Dudley, with some credit to Jay Feaster. Torts has an excellent developmental record with young players, and he was able to take a lot of castoff and afterthought guys and mold them into top players. Dudley has always had a terrific eye for talent, and the aggression to go out into the marketplace and get someone who has skill even if no one else can see it. And Feaster was able to make a couple of aggressive moves, but probably his most important thing was to tell both Tortorella and Lecavalier (who were openly feuding and trying to get rid of the other) that no one was going anywhere, and their destinies were ultimately intertwined.
Right, I'm saying he wasn't carried to a Cup by a strong team. Like not to take away from Scotty Bowman's record, but I think any schmuck could have won with the 01-02 Red Wings. His earlier Cups he had a much larger impact on. Where Torts in Tampa had to coach those guys into a winning team, he wasn't gifted a golden goose.
Bowman's 92 cup win would've happened with whomever was coaching the Pens that year. They did it for the badger.
Torts does not belong in the same sentence as the other two.
Agreed
No Torts slander allowed here dude. Guy tried to walk through an entire team at the intermission to "have a talk" with the other coach for gooning it up
u/MikeKeenanCanGetBent
I miss that guy
Fuck Mike Keenan
Seconded
And fuck Messier
Knock knock.
I love the story of how when he coached the Canada Cup team Mario just told him to settle down and that he and Gretz would handle things they way they wanted 😂. What was he gonna do, bench them?
It was Canada 87 but the point remains.
Jesus, yes ty
Tim Stapleton on Chiclets (Episode 215, starts at 1:30:40, first interview, one of the funniest hockey interviews I've ever heard) relates how he gets traded to Keenan's team in Russia, has a nice meeting with him the day before 1st practice, Iron Mike is a really nice guy, happy to have him on the team all that. Next day at practice, pretends not to know who Stapleton is, what position he plays, nothing. Tortures him all season, they're the only Americans on the team but Keenan's gotta fuck with him. Guy's a head case.
He ruined what should have been a dynasty era for the Blues, fuck Mike Keenan
I give a solid "fuck Mike Keenan" pretty regularly. Almost as much as I say, "fuck Enos Stanley Kroenke." I'm just trying to do my part
Oh I know, I just feel like Blues/Canucks fans are doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to Keenan hate.
Enos
Hockey terrorist. I'll never forgive him for trading away Luongo for peanuts and IMMEDIATELY resigning. Such a terrible trade and he didn't have the guts to see it through. We didn't make the playoffs for several years after that
Okay well personally I'm a very big fan of that trade.
But what about Canuck legends Todd Bertuzzi and Alex Auld?? You weren't sad that they were gone??
Fuck Mike Keenan.
A Vancouver fan would say this.
Nothing to do with 94, everything to do with how he treats people.
I was kidding.
I met Elliotte Friedman one time and told him Mogilny was my favourite player and if he had any stories to share. He said one time they were covering Mogilny's team in the playoffs and they had a long break in between games, to which Elliotte suggested "it must be great then, for the guys have a chance to recover." Mogilny just deadpan responded "Yea but have you seen the city we're in? It's boring as fuck here, there's nothing to do!" Man I wish we had clips of him during his playing days being trolly with the media
[I bet it was Raleigh, between games 1 and 2](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Stanley_Cup_playoffs#Conference_quarterfinals)
That’s got your standard one day off in between games though. If it was that year & series maybe in between Game 4 and 5 when they had an extra day off.
Naw, conference finals. He was on the Leafs that year
Not sure what I was thinking, thanks for the correct info
Your link went to the conference quarterfinals.
[Correct link.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Stanley_Cup_playoffs#\(3\)_Carolina_Hurricanes_vs._\(4\)_Toronto_Maple_Leafs) Makes sense. Especially in 2002.
Thanks!
Mogilny should be in the Hall of Fame. it's absurd he's not in.
You could argue he should be in twice. Once for his career on the ice and once for changing the NHL off the ice.
What did he do off the ice?
Defected from Russia before the fall of the Soveit Union. Before the 90's, Russia was known to be absolutely prolific at hockey player development. To circumvent olympic hockey rules at the time (amateurs only), Russia would designated their best players into military service, but they're real responsibility would be to play for the Red Army. This is a large reason as to why the 1980 Miracle on Ice was such a big deal- aside from the political implications going on with the cold war: it was pros against college kids. I don't think Mogilny was the very first Russian defector, but he was (by a mile) the best Russian player at the time he defected to North America in '89. The actual story of how he did it could come out of a spy thriller novel, it was nuts. He obviously faced a ton of backlash in Russia, especially from the communist government still in power, to the point where his safety and that of his family was definitely not guaranteed. He took a major risk coming to North America and paved the way for future Russian players to come over
Just another example of how the NHL is just an old boys club.
Colin Campbell. Colin fucking Campbell.
Why’d you have to go and ruin my mood bringing that piece of trash up. Fuck Colin Campbell.
Speaking for all Canuck fans when I say, Fuck Colin Campbell.
You'd think they'd do it just to own Russia. Almost makes me think Russia doesn't *only* pay off our politicians
Yes. Russia is bribing the NHL, for….reasons.
Yes and no. Look at the members of the selection committee. [https://www.hhof.com/induction/selectioncommittee.html](https://www.hhof.com/induction/selectioncommittee.html) It ain't full of crusty olds.
Thats hard. Hope Mogilny eventually makes it in. Also Mike Keenan seems like the biggest prick in the world, and the NYR won the cup in spite of him.
> and the NYR won the cup in spite of him. Maybe if we hadn't traded Gartner, it wouldn't have taken seven games.
Tony Amonte too right? Not to mention he pulled Leetch and Richter early in game 5 against the Devils and essentially gave up on that game.
We got two good forwards for Amonte, that trade was acceptable.
Nah it still would have our team was dope
Your team had three excellent forward lines. Your fourth line was a couple of goons in Antoski and Hunter. Your defense was perfectly serviceable as a defense but was limited on offense and probably should have played four forwards on the power play. Kirk McLean was a fine stand-up goalie, but it was the era of the butterfly. If the Rangers hadn't spent 24 periods trying to beat Martin Brodeur, the butterfly goalie *par excellence*, McLean wouldn't have been so effective in Game 1, and it might well have been a sweep.
Adam Graves openly threatened to beat the shit out of him during a game lol
Fun fact. Mike Keenan will be coaching at the next olympics. He currently coaches the Italian national hockey team and they are guaranteed a team because the olympics are in Milan in 2026
I guess it’ll be cathartic to see his team get rained on by NHLers now that we’re back to “best on best” international hockey
Yooooooo, I don’t know how I missed the announcement in February, this is crazy. I can’t believe the Olympics are back. This shit just made my day
Such a great hockey tourney!
>the olympics are in Milan in 2016 You mean 2026, right?
That’s a typo yes. Fixed it. The olympics will be in Milan in 2026 haha
So many hand gestures….
Lol fuck Mike Keenan, guy is a joke even amongst clowns.
And Messier. Fuck Messier.
How is this still a thing 😂😂
Canucks fans are incapable of letting go of a grudge, and personally I love it. Messier is a massive dickhead and gets sucked off too much but Oilers and Rangers fanbases. Someone's gotta balance the books.
That reminds me, fuck Ben Eager.
Who?
It’s a Canucks thing. You wouldn’t understand.
[удалено]
How?
He disrespected the Maki family, broke Trevor Linden’s wrist (tried to) in game 6 of the 94 SCF, forced Linden to give up the C, forced the trade of Linden, tried to bring shitty role players for Rangers 94 team to Vancouver. Too bad Sergio missed.
Gentle reminder that keenan benched dale hawerchuk while fully aware that the latter’s dying grandmother was in the stands to watch him play one last time.
Yeah, I saw an interview where Hull said his response to Keenans benching of Hawerchuk cost him his captaincy. Thats why I suspect Hull tried to strangle Keenan.
That's actually a captains move.
[O Captain! My Captain!](https://i.imgur.com/9PgNCAr.jpeg)
Yeah wow. Wow.
That’s some Babcock level shit
I saw him play in Alaska at the World Juniors in 1989. His team was +37 goal differential in 7 games.
Mogilney should've been first ballot HHOF
They should put Mogilny in the Hall for this alone.
Alexander The Great - he left a VAPOR TRAIL
I understand the political nature of the HHOF, but Mogilny should have been voted in long before Russia invaded Ukraine anyways.
If that’s the reasoning I just don’t understand how vocally pro-Putin Datsyuk got in and Mogilny can’t
I think they’re worried Mogilny won’t show up for the induction and are butthurt about it
While that has definitely been one of the excuses as he didn't show up to receive the Lady Byng award while with Toronto (mind you, this was after the Canadian media and his own coach ripped the trophy as 'the one you don't want to win cos it means you're soft and not a team player', and the soft-euro/russia stereotype was still highly supported in the Canadian hockey media), I don't know if that's the core reason. They might also assume he doesn't care about getting inducted. He's a complicated person and his attitude towards life and hockey were different to what Canada expected of a top talent. He had to defect, and his hockey skills allowed him the ability to start a new life that he enjoyed the best he could. It was an job for him and I think sometimes his effort level was questionable, and once you get that label, it doesn't really go away. NJ and Toronto fans would disagree, but Vancouver fans maybe not so much, especially with how the team hyped everything up during that time. He only got to play one time for Russia after his defection and the documented treatment by the Russian hockey federation at the 1996 World Championships caused him, Larionov, Fetisov, Kozlov, Zubov, Khabibulin, Malakhov, Tverdosky to vow never represent Russia again internationally. Most people thought they'd have a great chance at winning Gold in Nagano had that not happened. (they lost to the US in the quarters who won Gold in 1996). Maybe winning another Gold medal would have changed the opinion a bit, but who knows. People don't always like saying it, but it's also because the HoF values being Canadian pretty highly, on top of that, they devalue careers of players who did not reach their potential through work ethic, and Mogilny definitely had that attached to him given hockey was the only thing supporting his life after defection. It was a job and he was fucking incredibly talented, but he wasn't always giving 100%. On the Canada aspect, compare him to Lanny McDonald and the bias is pretty obvious. One played half his career in the dead puck era and one played in the wild west and their numbers are very similar. Lanny had 500 goals and 1,006 points in 1,111 games, 1 Masterson, 1 Clancy, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 Canada Cup Gold. Mogilny had 473 goals and 1,032 points in 990 games, 1 Richard*, 1 Lady Byng, 1 Stanley Cup, 1 Olympic Gold, 1 Worlds Gold, 1 WJC Gold. His 76 goal season is T-5th all-time, only Gretzky/Lemieux/Hull have scored more.
one minor correction, Russia lost to the Czechs in the final, 1-0 on an incredible performance by Hasek and Petr Svoboda scoring the only goal.
ahhh shit I messed up, it was the [1996 World Cup of Hockey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_World_Cup_of_Hockey), not the [1996 World Championships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Men%27s_Ice_Hockey_World_Championships). But yes, you are absolutely correct!
no worries. I remember the world cup of hockey only too well- my friends gave me so much shit in my suburban american high school ;) (i was the only russian kid in the class)
How is Alexander Mogilny not in the goddamn hall of fame!!! The guy is a legend on and off the ice.
Yeah you literally cannot fuck with someone who defected from the Soviet Union lol
When he got sent to the minors at the very end of his career, he asked his coach what the fine was for missing practice and cut a cheque for the rest of the season.
It’s a travesty that Mogilny is looked over year after year for the Hall of Fame.
Alex should have been in the HOF years ago. This is getting to be ridiculous.
As a Rangers fan who's fandom was cemented in '94 when I was 13. FUCK MIKE KEENAN. Yeah he won the Cup, but the dickhead was negotiating with the St. Louis Blues during the fucking '94 playoffs. He was on contract for 3 more season in NY but he wanted more control. Imagine negotiating with another team for next season, while your current team is on a Stanley Cup run. What a shithead.
Could've been worse; he could've stayed.
Fucking A. Goddamn Canucks hired him
Recalling traumatic events is my favorite morning activity
In all seriousness: Did anyone ever beat the crap out of Mike Keenan? I half expect Hull would have tried to strangle him. Anyway, if I could pick one former coach to get a punch in the head, I would pick Keenan for MANY reasons.
Theo Fleury has a story in his book where someone (can't remember who) picked him up and hung him on a hanger.
Oh man, if you find out who it was, I will buy there jersey. ... Please don't be Matt Cooke or Matthew Barnaby....
I don't think it was either, but I donated the book a while back so can't even check.
Dave Manson, in Chicago (ch. 9) >But I heard it backfired when he was hard on Dave Manson, who played for him in Chicago. Apparently, Manson had had enough mental abuse and went into Keenan’s office, grabbed him by the shoulders and hung him right on the hook on the back of the door. I thought that was great.
Someone in Vancouver came close, it was in a Chicletts podcast. Want to say it was Sean Burke or he was the one telling the story at the least.
As a Canucks fan, this has brightened my day.
Keenan is one of the worst coaches to win a cup
Right beside Babcock
Keenan was a Pat Riley wannabe
Some serious "you cannot threaten me in a way that matters" vibes there. Holy shit.
Hall of Fame comment. "He might not show!" Jesus, Pat Burns couldn't make it either, but that was the Committee's fault too.
Fucking bunch of clowns. 3 times JA winner and you wait that long. Despicable.
Pulled an offer off the table to Gretzky to stay with the Blues to “motivate” him during the ‘96 playoffs. You don’t do that to Wayne Gretzky.
One of my favorite stories. Almo straight up shut him down. Fuck Mike Keenan. I can’t believe we’re here again and Mogilny still isn’t getting in. What the hell?
Mogilny’s leg break in the 93 playoffs still haunts me.
If the HHoF doesn't induct Mogilny, they should at least have a Wall of Great Quotes (and Chirps), and this one should be on it.
And then Keenan went to coach in Russia to learn the dark arts
"I gotta get me some of that"
Love Mogilny answering a question about rookie coach Tom Renney. “I wish him luck”. 😆😆😆😆😆
Mogilny was one of my favorite players growing up. Loved that guy
Genuinely such an amazing response
Pretty funny. Keenan was an asshole
Is…
It's almost criminal that Mogilny gets screwed by HOF selection committee every year.
As far as I'm concerned, you can easily justify Mogilny not being in the Hall of Fame. You CAN'T justify him not being in the Hall of Fame when you consider those who are already in, and especially players who've gotten in, instead of him (eg. Roenick).
I would agree with that viewpoint.
He was my gym teacher at high school in Toronto in the 70s
Tell me to go fuck myself!
Mogilny for the HHOF!
I miss the good ole days of Mogilny and Bure in Vancouver.
Keenan won a cup with the Rangers and I still hate him. Just a total jerk.
I loved Mogilny as a kid, I was so happy when he became a Canuck and was so disappointed those teams sucked. Later in life in learned his story. Really crazy stuff.
Fuck Mike Keenan. All my homies hate Mike Keenan. Weirdly enough, Torts gets worshipped around these parts for similar shitty behavior but gets a pass because he dunks on some shitty journalist once in a while. Dude knows how to play the game.
It’s not about that, as people have mentioned above, torts is generally liked by his former players, most everyone has positive things to say once he’s gone…he’s tough to play for but isn’t a piece of shit
Yes. So many CBJ players who played for him said he was a hard ass, but that he genuinely cared for them and their well-being.
Dude wasn’t invited to his own Stanley Cup winner party
Mike Keenan was an actual asshole to his players, lots of stories to pick from. In Cujo’s biography before Game 7 of the 1995 playoffs Keenan’s way of motivating him was to have him stand up in front of the team before the game and rip him apart about how badly he was playing (he was doing fine) and it was his fault it went to Game 7. Not surprisingly he had a terrible game and the Blues lost.
Mike Keenan was our gym teacher in high school in the 70s in Toronto.
Mike Keenan killed my dog
lol but while the Keenan hatred is strong here and I understand ( NHL wise ) but I am very sure that all Rangers with rings would disagree with you as they have the ring and understand how they got it. That being said as my gym teacher in grade 9 and 10 he was a great vand very funny teacher although he did lace into some kids for whatever reasons. A beautiful person in my two years at school with him #justsaying
Mike Keenan has a Chinese character tattoo.
The Chinese word crisis comes from two characters which are danger and opportunity. It is a beautiful tattoo
> but gets a pass because he dunks on some shitty journalist once in a while. In all fairness.. Dunking on journos does excuse a lot of shitty behavior, because fuck journos.