The Canadiens get a breather on Thursday.
Jacques Martin is running his bloated squad through practices on both ice surfaces in Brossard, then it’s off to Ottawa on Friday for the first of four games in as many nights.
• Pat Hickey on Nathan Beaulieu’s impressive debut
• Game stories by Pierre Durocher and Richard Labbé
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Suspending Shelley for a few games or 15 games is not going to solve the problem. Come down hard.
You do this you’re done for the season.
***Subbang Baby!!!***
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bad hit. ive seen worse. he didnt try to kill him…shelly is just a big body that cant get away with a smaller hit from behind
2-3 games…maybe 5 cause its shelly
but sweet fight!
Agree hit was bad and league should send a strong signal. Can’t agree about the fight… the fight was a joke.
League is going to suspend a guy for delivering a hit known to contribute to concussions and then turn a blind eye to the ensuing bare-knuckle brawl that is also known to contribute to brain damage. The fight as a tool of retribution should be taken out of the players hands – they should deal with the hit through suspensions, etc.
Fights don’t stop these bad hits… if they did, we would not have a concussion problem. They just make the situation worse.
A few positives came from that loss IMO.
Budaj looked like he will be a capable back up
Pulushaj has peaked in his development. D’ags was one dimensional but more usefull overall.
Beaulieu looks good. Offensive defensemen are a valuable trade commodity and seems like we have more than our share now.
Gorges looked confident in his knee based on some of the turns I saw.
Gallagher is like a classy, cleaner living verson of Boston’s Marchand. A never quit athletic small player with good hands. He will be a fan fav I think.
How about the rest of the pre-season + 10 regular season games and a third or fourth round pick in the draft next year. If he gets suspended again this year for anything, it becomes a second round pick, if he gets suspended again, it becomes a first round pick. Teams also bear some responsibility for the idiots they put on the ice. They’ll do a careful cost-benefit analysis and if they can’t control or channel his behaviour they will get rid of him so fast it will make his head spin worse than Boyce. In that case, the league would be down one village idiot.
Brendan Shanahan is sitting in Colon’s office this morning saying, Gee whiz already you have to make a decision on suspension. Let me know what you decide and I will get my new Video evidence together to support whatever you decide Collie!
I hope that doesn’t happen. Im cautiously optimistic in the new “guard”. Shanahan needs to set the tone and come down HARD on Shelly. Shanahan needs to show the fans that plays like this are no longer acceptable.
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
I just don’t see how a recently retired player with zero experience in telling owners how to run their teams makes this decision on his own. It is my understanding he technically answers to Collie who didn’t lose his job at NHL Head Office but rather just had the title of Disciplinarian removed.
THere is no way Shanahan comes up with the suspension number/punishment on his own. I think he walks up the hallway, gives his suggestion to Collie who then either agrees or tells him to go back to his office and come back with another idea.
Oh man, I didn’t know that Colon was still there. And here I was thinking Boston wouldn’t be getting all those calls again. Bad news indeed.
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
Historically, young kids come to training camp and set the world on fire. They look like the next great thing and fans hopes rise accordingly. Some even get to play 9 regular season games. Then most hit the wall and fall back to reality. More seasoning, strength and speed adjustments are required before they can handle the full grind of the NHL. This is true for all teams, not just the Habs.
A lot of our rookies will look good this month but the odds state that we will be lucky if half of them ever make the team full time. I just hope that G&G have learned their lessons on how to properly develop young players. There’s certainly no rush.
I agree. The only two rookies so far who have really impressed me are Beaulieu and Gallagher. I still don’t get what people saw in Trotter. He played all right but didn’t wow.
The last thing this team needs is another small centre like Trotter. Guys like him would be better suited playing wing on an offensive line but I can’t really see an open spot (barring injury). DD’s talents are not suited to a 4th line role and the Habs probably have higher hopes for Eller. That leaves White and Engqvist.
A 4th line centre should be able to play a shutdown role, win some face-offs and kill some penalties. Right now it’s tough to figure out just who that might be.
Camp is just a skills measuring stick for me. I like to see where these under-20 kids are like last night, I was very pleased to see Beaulieu’s skating keep up with NHL players and I liked that Gallagher’s skill and tenacity holds up at this level as well.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
The Quebec government is essentially giving a $400M building to Quebecor.
Meanwhile, in a neatly symmetric twist, they are cutting $800M from health and education, which are already severely underfunded. McGill University, for example, which was last world-class when Boone was an undergrad, is completely broke.
I think they should threaten to leave Canada unless the other provinces bail them out.
can’t you come up with something original?
who says health and education are “underfunded” anyway?
Actually since government owns a very large chunk of Quebecor, they are also giving themselves an arena.
Those poor struggling billionaires, Pelideau is such a tool.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
then they should raise tuition (sorry to cut into the beer money) cut liberal arts programs, fire liberal arts professors (or let them be janitors – wait, they are probably not qualified) and bring in part-time professionals from planet earth to teach.
Here in California they are giving free tuition to illegal aliens. We are the canary in the coal mine, and trust me, the canary is on life support.
California spends more money on prisons than education, and the results are already shining through.
Even though people say it’s a slam dunk for Shanahan to come down hard, if he hands out 15 games, and then Ovy does the same thing in his next game, what happens? If Shanny then gives him 2, he’ll immediately lose all credibility before the season starts.
I think Shelley will get the rest of pre-season and then 5 games max. I think 2 games is not enough. To me, the issue of “he’s done it before” only goes so far as the result is the same for the injured player.
In a way, it would be great if an Ovy or a Getzlaf were next and received 15 games. It would be a clear message that the league is turning the page on this crisis.
Past history (or lack of) shouldn’t come into it. It means nothing to the player who is hurt. Zero tolerance has to be straight forward and black and white. Otherwise, it doesn’t work and will eventually be eroded away.
I think your point about “black and white” is strong and important.
Discretion and judgement are fine in theory – until they’re not. Maybe staggered 5 games 1st offence, 10 games second… we have to change the culture and it won’t be pretty, but the headshots we’ve seen aren’t pretty either.
The realignment issue is pretty easy to solve in terms of Winnipeg, it’s basically just a question of which team will be coming back the other way. Rumour has it that promises have been made to Detroit although logic dictates that Columbus would benefit the most by switching conferences. I guess Nashville might also be an option.
The real question (and dilemma) is what happens if Quebec City eventually gets a franchise? Which division do they play in, and if it’s the NE, then which team moves out and where do they go?
Hab fans assume there will be an instant Hab-Quebec rivalary but try selling that to Boston or Buffalo.
The wild card is also losing a team or two. A very strong possibility (and good for the league). But I agree it makes it hard to plan.
Shelley’s hit is everything that is wrong with today’s NHL. He does this in an exhibition game after all that has gone on during the past month.
I don’t have much faith in Shanahan being able to handle his new job and responsibilities. But a two game suspension won’t mean squat to the rest of the players. I’d give Shelley 15 games with no pay and no cap relief for the Flyers (not that would mean much with a marginal player).
It’s imperative that a stern approach be taken right from the start of the season with no exceptions to the rule. If that had of been Yemelin, then he should also get 15 games. Same goes for a Getzlaf, Malkin or Stamkos.
The problem is that you can’t give Shelley 15 games with no pay and no cap relief for the Flyers because ultimately you (Shanahan) work for the owners.
Steve – agreed about Shelley’s hit. The sentence handed out to Aaron Rome in last year’s Stanley Cup Final should serve as a guideline for suspensions this year. It was unprecedented and completely out of line with the 2-4 game suspensions usually given. Four games of the Stanley Cup Final equals 15 or 20 regular season games. We’ll see if the NHL has the guts to take serious action, or if Rome’s suspension will turn out to have been what it looked like at the time – a clear case of bias towards the Bruins.
See what happens, but since we’ve heard nothing about a league review since last night I’m not optimistic anything will be done.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter