re div and conf names in c pdgi ljl news cso uiuc edu epritcha s psych uiuc edu evan pritchard writes i think that you are incorrect roger patrick smythe and adams all played or coached in the league before becoming front office types hence they did help build the league although they were not great players themselves punch imlach s contributions as a coach and gm were far greater than those of the above combined should we name a division or trophy after him smythe and norris and the bunch were honoured purely because they were powerful owners as owners they certainly did help to build the league but whether they developed the game is another question altogether are we going to honour those who contributed to the league s evolution or are we going to honour those who contributed to the glory of the sport itself i agree that a name is a name is a name and if some people have trouble with names that are not easily processed by the fans then changing them to names that are more easily processed seems like a reasonable idea if we can get people in the arena door by being uncomplicated then let s do so once we have them they will realize what a great game hockey is and we can then teach them something abotu the history of the game i can t disagree with you here the history of the names can be put rather succinctly all of the aforemen tioned used the game of hockey to make money can you imagine a pocklington division a ballard division or how about a green division no i would not want to see a ballard division but to say that these owners are assholes hence all nhl management people are assholes would be fallacious conn smythe for example was a classy individual from what i have heard what have you heard the major was the definitive little asshole he originated the phrase if you can t beat em in the alley you can t beat em on the ice that was his idea of hockey do you think by chance that don cherry is a classy individual also isn t the point of professional hockey to make money for all those involved which would include the players what i think you might be saying is that the players have not made as much money as should have been their due and it is the players that are what make the game great not the people who put them on the ice so naming division after management people rather than players is adding insult in the form of lesser recognition to injury less money than was deserved the money issue is irrelevant to the point that we would agree on and that is it is the players that are what make the game great and not the people who put them on the ice exactly true naming divisions and trophies after smythe and the bunch is the same kind of nepotism that put stein in the hall of fame i have always thought that this was nonsense cordially as always maynard ramsey cs laurentian ca so many morons rm and so little time
