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From: rick@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sport.hockey
Subject: Re: What's wrong with the North Stars?
Message-ID: <4058@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 23-Feb-85 20:00:07 EST
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.4058
Posted: Sat Feb 23 20:00:07 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Feb-85 11:45:05 EST
References: <1383@dciem.UUCP>
Reply-To: rick@ucla-cs.UUCP (Richard Gillespie)
Distribution: net
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 29
Summary: 

In article <1383@dciem.UUCP> jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) writes:
>So far this NHL season, there are several teams whose records are much
>worse than expected.  ...  But the most difficult team to figure out is
>the Minnesota North Stars.
> ...
>                                              I can think of only one reason
>why they are so bad:  they lack leadership and drive.  The one player on the
>team who provided it when they were successful was Bobby Smith, and he was
>traded to Montreal last season.  Despite the fact that they came out way
>ahead talent-wise (Acton and Napier), they have gone downhill ever since.
>The moral of the story is, you can't just look at the talent and the players'
>ages in a trade; you have to look at the intangibles and what the player
>really means to the team.

As I recall one of the reasons the North Stars traded (read: got rid of)
Smith was that he didn't give the kind of leadership they expected him to.
He had one good year (1982-83?) but has never been much in the playoffs.
To say that the North Stars have gone down hill since is misleading because
they have been a disappointment ever since they made it to the Stanley Cup
finals. Everyone had them figured to be a powerhouse (especially with 2
#1 overall draft choices [I count Bellows as a #1 overall]) but they haven't
fulfilled their promise. In many ways they are the Montreal Expos of hockey.
-- 

			       Rick Gillespie
				  rick@ucla-cs
				  ...!{cepu|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|ucbvax}!ucla-cs!rick

	"She turned me into a newt! . . . I got better."