Back In The Day...

Back in the early part of the decade, Black Aces was a .ca address and was more of a traditional kind of hockey website, before I even knew what a blog really was. It was run by myself and my friend Simon and we kept it up for upwards of two years until the hosting fees became too big to handle. When I discovered the free service Blogger, I rebooted the Black Aces name a couple of years later and that's the site you see now.

For a peak at what that old site looked like, check out a 2004 archive right here courtesy of the Way Back Machine website.

It's a little crude and semi-pro looking but we "captured the spirit of the thing". Most of the articles seem to be working so you can check out the once popular "Classic Takes" section which is a compilation of some hilarious quotes from years past (these are also archived on the current site under the label "Classic Quotes". And you can probably tell that I was (and still am) a massive Mark Messier fan....

More Classic Quotes

Here's another batch of brain damaged quotes from hockey's best and brightest. Be sure to check out past editions of Classic Quotes by clicking the tag underneath the post.

“Boy, that was a great game tonight, fellas.”

- Excitedly said by a Flyers fan who was the occupant of a car that Philadelphia Flyers Sean Burke and Branko Radivojevic rammed into after leaving their hard fought game in 2004. No one was injured.

“Just charge me with the usual.”

- Bob Probert to the police (according to the report ) after crashing his motorcycle into another car earlier on in his career. His alchohol level was three times the legal limit.

“We get nose jobs all the time in the NHL, and we don’t even have to go to the hospital.”

- Brad Park, legendary defenseman for the Rangers, Bruins and Red Wings during the tough days of the 70’s and early 80’s.

“It must be the body. It’s chiseled out of marshmallows.”

- Tony Amonte talks about his uncanny ability to remain injury free during his reign with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 90’s.

"Sinden! There's a bus leaving for Oklahoma at six a.m. Be under it!"

-A fan heckling first year Boston coach Harry Sinden in 1966 at the Boston Garden.

“I find it. I find his skin. At first, I passed by it because I didn’t know it was one of ours. But then I go back.”

-Sergei Fedorov talking about finding a chunk of Detroit teammate Darren McCarty’s forehead on the ice after McCarty was cut by a St. Louis players skate. Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan gingerly picked up the skin with their stick blades and gave it back to McCarty who required 40 stitches to put it back on his dome.

“I’m going to look for opportunities to grab the puck by the hair and try to do something with it. I mean, it’s not like I have to save the whole country with it, I just have to put it in the net."

- Sergei Fedorov in 1998.

"This could be the year the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup. I still can’t shake the thought of seeing Leafs captain Mats Sundin riding down Yonge Street in the back of a convertible during a Cup parade, just like George Armstrong did in 1967. Pat Quinn chomping on a victory cigar. Tie Domi, the little goon who could, doing a back flip with a half-pike off the CN Tower and gently landing on his feet padded by a lifetime contract with the organization, like the one Darryl Sittler has."

- Mike Brophy of the Hockey News goes gaga over the Leafs in the March 14, 2003 issue. The Leafs lost in the first round to Philadelphia shortly after.

“I don’t give a shit about the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

-Bobby Clarke, then general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, in response to Maple Leaf GM Pat Quinn complaining that Clarke was in breach of good business manners because he refused to trade Eric Lindros to the Leafs during the 2001 season.

"I believe everyone was put on earth for a purpose. Mine was to sell newspapers."

– Eric Lindros to reporters in 1992. Time would prove him correct.

“I want to thank all you fans who have stuck around. It is like Novocaine on ice.”

- Chicago radio announcer Darryl Reay after the lowly Hawks lost 4-0 to the Dallas Stars during the 2003-04 season.


“Fuck you!”

- Neil Smith, then GM of the Rangers, yells at a drunken Philadelphia fan who kept taunting Smith with chants of “1940!” in the hallways near the Philadelphia pressbox in 1993. 1940 was the last year the Rangers won the Cup until winning in 1994.

The Gutter Bin Presents ... More Classic Quotes

We haven't done these for awhile here at Black Aces but here we go with another soul-sucking edition of the most ridiculous, offensive, or abysmally moronic comments by all our favourite NHL talking heads over the years.

Since a lot of people are comparing the Richard Peddie-run Maple Leafs to the Harold Ballard years, let's start off with the man himself, the always foolish, and often racist and sexist Harold Ballard. Be sure to check out previous editions of Classic Quotes by clicking on the tag at the bottom of the post.

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"Diabetes is all in the mind."
- Ballard speaking on his own diabetic condition to Brian McFarlane.

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"People criticize Gerry McNamara. They say he's brain damaged. But there isn't a guy in hockey who isn't."

- Ballard comes to the defence of Leaf GM McNamara after the disastrous 84-85 season when the Leafs finished dead last in the NHL.

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"Women are good for only one thing - lying on their backs."-Harold Ballard, in a candid moment, speaking to female journalist Barbara Frum.

.."If you can call a Chevrolet a Chev, why can't you call a Japanese a Jap?"
- Harold Ballard talks about race relations with Ottawa writer Earl McRae in the '80s.

"Aw, what does he know?"
- Don Cherry, referring to Howie Meeker. Cherry played one NHL game while Meeker played for eight years and was a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Leafs.

"A Finn coaching pros? And what's his name - Alpo? Sounds like a dog food."- Don Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada commenting on the Winnipeg Jets hiring Alpo Suhonen from Finland to coach their American League farm team in the '80s.

“Have another donut, you fat pig!”
- Jim Schoenfeld, coach of the New Jersey Devils, screaming at referee Don Koharski after a game in the 1988 playoffs.

"It’s too bad he lives in the city. He’s depriving some small village of a pretty good idiot."- Mike Milbury, GM of the Islanders, on Ziggy Palffy’s agent Paul Kraus during a contract dispute.

"He's a gutless puke, that's what Travis Green is. That's why he doesn't wear an Islander uniform any more."-Mike Milbury on ex-Islander Travis Green for a perceived dirty hit on Milbury's once prized defenceman Kenny Jonsson.

“Let's put it this way: if one of my brothers were standing in front of the bus last night and we were about to leave and he was on the other team, I'd have run over him. I wouldn't have called out first to ask him to get out of the way, either. That's my mentality, that's the way it is. I don't really care."

- Brian Sutter, coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, shows his tender side in 2002.

."Somebody will make a joke and somebody else will laugh. We have a good dressing room here."

- Danny Markov describes the process of humor in the Carolina Hurricanes locker room shortly before being traded to Philadelphia.

“The bottom line is, if they want a hard (salary) cap, we’ll sit out for the rest of our lives.”-Bryan McCabe, Maple Leaf defenceman, before the 2004 lockout. McCabe managed to overcome his hesitancy to play under a cap to earn an average of almost 6 million a season.

Classic Quotes

Here's another rancid batch of quotes from some of the best smack talkers (Mathew Barnaby) in the league over the years.

"To get my paycheque for two weeks, my family must work 200 years in Slovakia."

- Pavol Demitra of St.Louis talks about his 1.1 million-a-year contract in 1999.

"Cornelius, as we like to call him, gets under your skin. Planet of the Apes. Look at him. Seriously. He looks like Cornelius."

- Mathew Barnaby, then of the Penguins, on his bitter enemy Lyle Odelein.

"I scored on Tommy just to get my confidence going."

- Onetime Edmonton Oiler defenseman Scott Ferguson explains why he accidentally scored on his own goalie, Tommy Salo. The next game, Ferguson scored his first goal of the 2003-2004 season, and his first in 49 games.

"You give a hundred and twenty percent of your soul, you give up your family life, and then they kick you in the balls."

- Mike Keenan upon being fired by the Chicago Blackhawks as their coach and GM in 1992.

"The only difference between the Coyotes and 'Days of Our Lives' is that nobody has been shot on our team yet."

- Jeremy Roenick gets off a good blast about his own troubled Coyotes team in 2001.

Daily Classic Quotes - Roger Neilson Edition

Roger Neilson was about as colourful as they come. Here's three good zingers from the legendary coach:

"Al's about as sincere as Liz Taylor saying 'ouch' on her honeymoon."

- Roger Neilson joking about Alan Eagleson at a light hearted roast in 1983. Neilson's comments were ironically prophetic as Eagleson was later convicted and sent to jail in the nineties for stealing pension funds from players during his reign as president of the Players Association.

"I was a little worried about the drinking, but they assured me they would be drinking everywhere we went."

- Roger Neilson, while coaching the Flyers, on his players wish to spend four off days in New Orleans.

"There are two things I don't want to know - how they make hot dogs and what goes on in the NHL office."

- Roger Neilson lobbing some smack at the league executives.

Daily Classic Quotes - Sens Edition

The Senators have had a short history, but a colourful one. Here's some of the more classic all-time quotes concerning the franchise, starting off with a few beauties from former Sens defenceman Ken Hammond.

"Now we know what the survivors of the Titanic felt like."

- Ken Hammond, a member of the Ottawa Senators for their first season in 1992-1993 when they finished with a record of 10 wins, 70 losses and 4 ties.

"Look, if I'd known Mullen was open, I never would've passed it to Stevens."

- Ken Hammond, former Ottawa Senators defenceman, analyzing a boneheaded play he made during the 1994-95 season. He passed the puck out of his own zone as Pittsburgh Penguins Kevin Stevens and Joey Mullen moved in to forecheck. Stevens intercepted the pass, fired it to Mullen, who scored.

"The crooks showed some taste."

- Former Ottawa Senators assistant coach E.J. McGuire, referring to thieves who only left the game tapes behind when they stole equipment from the Senators video room in 1994.

"I really couldn't give a shit what you people have to say."

- Senators goalie Tom Barrasso throws down an S-bomb on a stunned Scott Oake who is interviewing him live nation-wide on Hockey Night in Canada during the Leafs-Sens playoff series in 2000.

"Mother Teresa would have a bad reputation in Ottawa. You can't go down the street and so much as sneeze without something going wrong."

- NY Islanders GM Mike Milbury goes nutzoid on Ottawa while trying to defend his decision to obtain the much maligned Alexei Yashin from the Senators on June 23, 2001.

Daily Classic Quotes - The Sexist Edition

Here's another disastrous collection of quotes from current and former NHL personalities. This time we get their feelings on the fairer sex. They range from the outright offensive and sexist ramblings of Harold Ballard to the comical takes of Mike Keane and Gino Odjick on the women in their life.

"Women are also capable of being mean. When she calls me two hours before a game to say, 'Tonight I'm going out with a guy, it's not easy to concentrate, especially when I know the guy."

- Martin Brodeur, referring to his (then) wife. Brodeur had recently had an affair with his wife's sister.

"I'm into guns, I'm really infatuated with women and I like to socialize a lot."

- Steve McKenna, then a Penguins winger, discussing his hobbies with the Hockey News.

"There are no better women in North America than in Montreal. Pittsburgh is terrible. The good cities are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Montreal, and Toronto."

- Derek Sanderson, a winger for the Bruins in the '70s, talks about women.

"She will tell you to fuck off every once in a while."

- Mike Keane, then with Colorado, describing his spirited 100-year-old grandmother.

"Women are good for only one thing - lying on their backs."

-Harold Ballard, former Toronto Maple Leafs owner, in a candid moment, speaking to journalist Barbara Frum.

"She won't be able to play bingo or shop for a whole month. Maybe Colin (Campbell) will get what he deserves when I tell her she can't play bingo or go to the stores. My advice to him is to run."

-Gino Odjick, while with the Montreal Canadiens, on his suspension without pay and how his wife Jolene might react to NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell's decision.

Daily Classic Quotes

Another round of classic quotes from some damaged minds.

"My nose has been broken so many times, I don't even smell or breathe through it anymore."

- Tiger Williams, the NHL's all-time penalty minutes leader.

"Los Angeles. That means I can fly to L.A. and check out the women."

- Brent Gretzky, Wayne's younger brother, upon hearing Wayne was traded from Edmonton to L.A. in August 1988.

"The first thing I saw was a big fat cop eating a jelly donut. Then I stood around signing autographs for the other poor guys in there."

- Dino Ciccarelli of the Minnesota North Stars describing his two hours in jail after being charged and convicted for hitting Toronto defenseman Luke Richardson twice over the head with his stick during a game in 1988.

"We drink all their beer, win the game, beat them up and no one go to jail. Good times."

-Andre 'Moose' Dupont describes facing the opposition while with the notorious Philadelphia Flyers of the 70's.

Daily Classic Quotes - Mark Messier Edition

I'll be posting some great hockey quotes (semi) daily for the rest of the summer. Many of these are taken from the previous incarnation of Black Aces which I ran from 2003 -2006. What better way than to start off with some famous quotes about my favourite all-time player, Mark Messier.


"Fuck off!"
- Jeremy Roenick of the Chicago Blackhawks screams this audibly after Mark Messier steamrolled him during game four of their playoff series in 1990. Messier single handedly won the game for the Oilers by scoring a hat-trick, an assist and breaking two sticks over Denis Savard and Doug Wilson as well as elbowing Dirk Graham in the jaw. He also took a stick in the throat from Wilson just seconds before scoring his third goal.


"That Messier! That Messier! He knocked three of our guys out of the game. Three! That was ...that was ... Amazing!"
-The late Bob Johnson, then coach of the Calgary Flames, comments on Edmonton Oiler Mark Messier injuring three of his players - Al MacInnis, Mike Eaves and Paul Reinhart - in one playoff game in the mid 1980's.


"Jimmy Carson is no longer with us because he couldn't stand the heat... He didn't like Messier always saying he'd beat the shit out of him if he didn't produce."
- Glen Sather explaining why winger Jimmy Carson walked out on the Oilers during the 89-90 season. Mark Messier captained the Oilers to the Stanley Cup at the end of that year.