Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty will not receive any supplementary discipline for his hit on Rangers’ defenceman Ryan McDonagh in the second period of the Canadiens 3-0 win over the Rangers Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Pacioretty, who was assessed a minor penalty for boarding McDonagh at the 7:20 mark, had a telephone hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan Sunday afternoon. Renaud Lavoie of RDS reported that general manager Marc Bergevin went to Pacioretty’s defence.
McDonagh left the game and did not return. There were unconfirmed reports that he suffered a concussion.
NHL.com said the league’s Department of Player Safety would be examining boarding and/or charging infractions as the basis for potential supplemental discipline.
(Photo by John Mahoney/The Gazette)
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On Hockey Central at Noon Kipper mentioned that MB was brilliant at Max’s hearing convincing Shanny not to do anything.
It wouldve been really surprising to see a suspension on that. Players got to have responsibility to protect themselves.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Tony M. on radio was disgusted that max wasn’t given a suspension.
He was 100% convinced it was a dirty play.
I guess they got to talk about something.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Habshire,love your avatar ….and if it’s a slam on Berkshire “who is too good for HIO and G-love’s biggest pie chart fan” then even better
I don’t understand why there should be ONE negative comment regarding our Habs.
If they were this year as they were last, I’d agree and perhaps even participate.
But c’mon!!!
They’re in first, or second, or fourth.
Quite the turn-around.
I won’t point out who’s doing well, because they all are.
You just have to read Hickey’s rendition in this morning’s Gazoo.
Life is wonderful…. well, at least hockey life is.
Try to enjoy, all! Stop the cynicism and whining and just jump on the bandwagon.
It might not be this thrilling again for a while.
GUI traded by Sens? Or just washed out for the season?
http://www.radio-canada.ca/sports/hockey/2013/02/25/004-lnh-habssens-preview.shtml
***SUBBANGIN’ NOW BABY!!!***
I still maintain Latendresse has a sweet scoring touch. A true sniper but teams always try to get him to be physical.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
The glass is more than 1/2 full. Yet many moan and complain.
Our beloved Habs are doing very well.
Enjoy it.
Go Habs!
Speaking of morons and village idiots, i’m not sure if everyone read the beginning comments on this thread but paranoia and cynicism is alive and well when paired with passion. At least the HNIC commentariat have a little more objectivity than the fanatics on this or any other blog. Many are no better than PK Stock.
The pedestal and its owner are alive and well I see.
You should change your avatar to a judge judy picture.
Ha! Ha!, I read the name of the poster and then his 1st 6 words
“speaking of morons and village idiots”, and then I stopped.
What was the point of that lil beautie…run out of hockey comments PMS er.
He’d have to start by actually making a comment about hockey instead of sulking about his perceived hatred towards humanity.
It’s PJ Stock. Not PK.
That would be their love child.
I am a fan of what Therrien has done so far, but every coach has a few blind spots. I think Therrien tends to focus defensive hockey, maybe because he was a defenseman as a player. A good example is the Plekanec line. They have been playing well defensively, paired against the toughest matchups, but I think Plekanec and Gionta have zero offensive chemistry. But that line will stay together as long as they are sound defensively. I think Gallagher would be a better fit with Plekanec and Gionta would be a better fit with Desharnais, but I doubt we will see it, so I don’t expect much from Gionta this year offensively. At least the Eller-Galchenyuk-Cole has some potential chemistry.
It’s the same on defense as Therrien has split his 3 offensive defenseman on three different pairings. I would rather see Subban and Markov together to see if they could get the 5-on-5 scoring going for both players. It will be tough for Markov to produce playing with Emelin.
That being said, Therrien has found a winning formula, so it’s hard to say he is wrong on his line combinations.
Phil,
Gionta has had some excellent chances recently. He has been a little slow in his reaction time, and the chances have slipped by. Or, on other occasions he has shot right at the goalie, or deflected pucks wide of the net.
Gionta is second to Plekanec on the team in shots on net, with 48, but his 6.3% scoring % has led to only 3 goals.
Gionta has had some chances recently for sure and I think, in general, he is playing well and helping them win.
But offensively, I think Plekanec tends to hold on to the puck too much and always shoots first if he can. I don’t know if you saw the two-on-one last game where Gionta was wide open in front of the net and Plekanec chose to shoot from a poor angle. It has been like that all season where Gionta has been in the right place to receive a pass but it never comes. Gionta would benefit from a centre who distributes the puck more.
yes, I agree that Plekanec has been shooting often. leads the team at 55 shots, and 8 goals.
this might be by design.
I think plekanec might have been told to shoot more, and it seems to be paying off.
But I understand your point.
I think its still early in the season, and Gionta has not found his scoring touch yet.
I expect to see Gionta score 3 or 4 goals during these tough 2 weeks.
I hope you are right about Gionta. Interesting observation about maybe Plekanec being told to shoot more. He does have a great shot and it’s hard to argue with the results.
Gionta with DD …GREAT A NEW SMURF LINE ! Does anyone here really watch N.H.L. hockey
I don’t f’n think so 
DD is playing with Gallagher now so it’s a neutral move for size. If anything, Gionta plays bigger than Gallagher.
And if you watch NHL hockey, Gionta’s size has never stopped him from going to the dirty areas and winning battles. He is an exception to the rule due to his strength, speed and intelligence.
Spine jarring hit by Chris Neil on Boychuk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOnXZpPwkoU
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Good afternoon all.
If you’re fortunate enough to be on Ian’s email list, you received this morning a very touching CBC tribute to Hockey Night in Canada’s 60th.
What great vintage!
Thank you so much for that, Ian. That got me feeling melancholy.
From Bobby Orr’s dive to Gretzky holding the cup for the first time.
From Danny Gallivan’s “Lafleur skating gingerly across the blue line, sinking the goal that killed the Bruins playoff hopes, to Gainey’s interview after having won the Con Smythe.
So many wonderful memories. So many years have gone by.
And this year, our Habs look to add to those memories.
And to top it all off, we play the Red Wings six times next year.
Ain’t life grand?!
I love hockey.
I think the Sens are fenisses, too.
fen= swamp
isses = female dogs.
You put it together.
http://calshabsongparodies.weebly.com
Swampdogs!
Wow, that was pretty easy. Make it harder next time will ya?
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
With most of the Sens finesses players injured ,I’m expecting “the Neil roughhouse show”
Has Prust ever fought him?
I can’t stand Neil. I get his role but wouldn’t want him on the Habs.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
You are in a very small minority.
The guy has no integrity. He’ll punch out smaller players for little reason. That, and he looks like an animal.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
True about the integrity…that is why he will probably go after Prust tonight knowing that he is hurting.
He’s a toothless mongrel.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
Like I always say, if you’re gonna get a penalty, why not make it count?
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Yes amigo,Prust handled himself respectably against Neil last year.Here”s the link again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZ3nm305Ro
https://www.google.ca/search?q=fight+prust+neil
Jan.30th this season
Apr.23rd last season
–Go Habs Go!–
Worst spelling of the word Finesse ever.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
geek
If the current realignment plan is accepted, Montreal will renew its division rival with Detroit. In the Original Six era, Detroit was Montreal’s arch rival. Tampa and Florida would also be added to the proposed eight team conference. This plan will make it marginally harder for the Northeast Division teams as not only does the East go from 15 to 16 teams, but they would have to play Detroit 5-6 times a year. If it gets harder next year, I wonder if Boston sells some of their future to try to return to the finals this year.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
That’s interesting —
Here’s a link: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/capitals-watch/2013/feb/23/report-new-nhl-realignment-proposal-capitals/
And the proposed divisions:
I: Capitals, Penguins, Flyers, Hurricanes, Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Blue Jackets
II: Bruins, Sabres, Red Wings, Panthers, Canadiens, Senators, Lightning, Maple Leafs
III: Blackhawks, Avalanche, Stars, Wild, Predators, Blues, Jets
IIII: Ducks, Kings, Coyotes, Sharks, Canucks, Flames, Oilers
Gotta say, seems like teams in 8-team divisions get a raw deal re: odds of making the playoffs. I wonder if this is a concrete sign that the NHL is expecting to put new teams in Quebec City and somewhere else? : )
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
I think it points to the NHL absolutely refusing to put a team in Quebec. Next two would be west coast.
Or which ever Florida team that fails first winds up in Quebec.
good point, hadn’t thought of that as I doubt Bettman will let go of the Florida dream even if they have to support one of the teams 100%.
The playoff structure would have four conference winners reach the semi-finals. The playoffs would be intra conference for the first two rounds. The top seed would no longer play the eight seed. Rather, the they would play the four seed in their own conference.
What seems unfair to me is that the revamped Northeast Conference would have at lest four teams that spend max salary. Whereas the Blackhawks would have no rivals with deep pockets. Based on this plan, I think the Panthers move to Ontario or Quebec within three years.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
Excellent point. You would think that with the league’s recent experience of a chronically under-performing division (the Southeast), they’d avoid this scenario like the plague.
They were talking about this on the team 1200. It does not make sense to move Detroit over if the idea is t add new teams in Quebec and Toronto. So, maybe the idea is to relocate one or two teams then add two through expansion to balance each division with 8 teams.
Habfan17
Thanks Ian wonderful video gave me chills. There is so much to love about the team this year keep it going boys.GO HABS GO.
Hola Amigos!
Don”t worry about Neil tonight,Prust can handle him.Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inZ3nm305Ro
Fonzie clapping behind the bench…not doing much of that this year.
is there a game today? I just called in to work sick! because i’m actually sick, not cause theres a game today
Ottawa tonight. A little over 7 hours to puck drop.
QUESTION: Who’s the biggest moron on HNIC?
My bet is Healy. I swear he’s been possessed by the spirit of Milbury. Last week he put up a chart of Ottawa’s “irreplaceable” players – one of them was GUI.
(note: partial re-post from below.)
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
Ummm……Don Cherry.
This one isn’t even close: it’s Don Cherry. Cherry is not merely a gobshite like Stock, Healy and others, he is more: he is a disgrace to Canada and the CBC with his bigotry, his ignorance, and his lack or professionalism.
I was forgetting about Cherry. I should’ve said who’s the dumbest non-senile member of HNIC.
I’ve never really noticed how stupid Healy is. I probably wasn’t paying attention… man he’s an idiot.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
Yes, before PJ’s arrival Healy was the village idiot.
Healy and Stock and Don Cherry are tied for most idiotic HNIC panelist ever. I saw it on a blog so it must be true.
Gosh Cal!
The Bible says “The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.” Proverbs 10:18
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
It’s hard to disagree with Tom about Don Cherry topping the list, unless you share my growing suspicion that PJ Stock sees himself as Grapes’ heir apparent.
Cherry hands down.
With Milbury/Stock/Healy/McLean as close runner ups.
Perhaps we need a definition of “moron” first. If going by sheer stupidity – I still say Stock. The guy is a borderline Neanderthal.
Cherry is a millionaire…can’t be that stupid. I’ll take Nealy…he actually looks like a cement-head….
“Cherry is a millionaire…can’t be that stupid.”
A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
We are talking stupidity here, not integrity…
OK, let’s look at it the other way round, who is the smartest guy on HNIC? Is there one that can be consided smart?
Eliot Freidman seems pretty good. I know not everyone does, but I like Kelly Hrudey. Kevin Weekes is okay – not brilliant but not a moron.
Besides that… it’s dumbsville.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
I would have agreed that Eliot Freidman was the “smartest” guy on HNIC (equivalent to being the fastest turtle) until a couple of weeks ago. It was the first night Montreal jumped into first place. One of the other idiots mentioned the standings and Freidman jumped in to defend the Broons by saying that, “Yes but Boston has two games in hand and is CLEARLY the best team in the conference.” It must have been the 90 seconds in the third period against Montreal when the scored two goals to defeat the Habs 2 – 1. And, oh yeah, everyone knows teams will have played more or less games throughout the season, down to the final day. You don’t get credit for games you haven’t won yet.
That felt good.
Cherry expresses cultural opinions offensive to many, but that does not make him a moron. It may make him a bigot. I do not know, because I do not watch him. He parlayed his hockey knowledge into a successsful multi decade career. He seems to know how to analyze the game. I do not think it helps to call anyone a moron.
Blue, blanc et rouge. Red and White for Canada. Blue for Smurfs.
FYI no one is calling him a moron to be “helpful”.
Are you including his one NHL game in that “multi-decade” career?
Cherry: Point One.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
My 16 year old son asked me if I liked Don Cherry; I had to think about it, but much to my surprise I actually like the old coot despite his bluster and butt kissing towards the Leafs and Bruins. When he talks about the Habs of the 70′s there is a kind of respect I don’t see from Stock, Milbury and the rest.
I agree with that. Cherry is also right – and typically outspoken – on a lot of issues like equipment, concussions, no-touch icing. He’s also openly critical of the Leafs and their many stupid decisions.
It’s too bad he feels that HNIC is his own soapbox though to trash players and wave the flag for his favorite teams. But that’s HNIC really – they shouldn’t let him.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
I don’t know about you guys but when he’s gone I don’t think there will be anyone better for his job – and by that I mean an opinionated analyst. I like most of the guys on TSN but getting an opinion out of them is like pulling teeth. It’s as if they’re so worried that if they show any personality they’re going to lose all their credibility. And There’s no need to even mention PJ and Healey.
Just wanted to echo comments below defending Gionta, and to say that even if he’s been snakebit this year, his long history of consistent scoring and his indisputable skill level force teams to put strong defenders out there against him — defenders who then aren’t available to defend against our other offensive threats.
@people complaining that Gionta’s no superstar, of course he’s not. But you frankly don’t need a $10M/year superstar — you need nine guys at $2M-$5M who can score 20-30 goals apiece. I don’t know that we’re there yet, but for the first time in a long time, we’re in the ballpark, and Gionta is a piece of the puzzle.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
Robert’s serious look at the Hab’s prospects.
http://www.allhabs.net/canadiens-prospects/catching-the-torch-dietz-excels/
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Was just about to post this. Ya beat me to it old man.
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
Chrome just advised me not to go there. Suspects malware.
No mention of Bozon?
No……..just no.
http://www.gamepointsradio.blogspot.ca/2013/02/why-canadiens-should-trade-lars-eller.html
Chrisadiens and HabFan10912, one of the few father son tandems on HIO.
Wow. And that guy has a job with TSN690? Typical.
I’ve tried listening to them in my car. I can’t. The worst one is Melnyk in the afternoon. He seems to want to talk about anything other than sports. He has an effing laff fan as one of his cohorts on the show. Last year, I wondered why the only English language sports got such crummy ratings. I don’t wonder any more. They are piss-poor and spend hours on subjects like American college football. Way to connect with your audience there, bright boys.
Eller for Clowe?
Eller is 22 and improving.
Clowe is 30 and a UFA at the end of the season.
Dumb trade.
More like Gionta for Clowe!
Like Matthew’s show and his suggestion to after Clowe. However, his suggestion to trade Eller is ridiculous. According to his logic, the Habs should have given up on Plekanec early as well. You don’t trade a potential 2nd line center with a good contract for an upcoming UFA.
At Eller’s age Pleks had yet to play 82 games and he didn’t break out until he was 25! We’ve been looking for a big top 6 center for decades. When paired with talented wingers Eller’s line is usually one of the best on the team e.g Eller with Chucky and Cole or Eller with Moen and AK last year. The more opportunities Eller gets to play with talented wingers the sooner he will break out IMO.
@habfan17
Yes I would trade the 1st and 3 seconds to get any of the top 4 picks in this draft. I doubt another team would take it though.
Quality, especially elite quality is very hard to obtain. This trade to me would be like trading in 4 lottery tickets and ensuring that you get the jackpot.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Let’s assume the Habs make the playoffs and their 1st rounder comes at around the 20th spot (Lebalnc/Tinordi types).
Approximately one out of four 2nd rounders go on to be decent NHLers. For discussion sake, let’s make it one in three. You could land up with a Collberg/Kristo/Lats type pick or you just might hit paydirt with a Subban.
That means the Habs would be trading two decent but not star quality NHLers in an attempt to grab a Drouin or Barkov. I’d do that in a heartbeat.
A chance to add one more building block could give the Habs the solid foundation they need.
Exactly what I’m thinking. The second round picks are not sure things. For every Subban, there is a decent but not great player like Lapierre, or a bust ala Cory Urquhart.
The chances of getting the true building block corner stone piece are so much higher with the top 4 this year.
Of course the team with that pick is probably thinking the same thing and is unlikely to trade it.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
I would be down to trade the picks for a top 4 pick because it will give us the opportunity to get an elite offensive prospect that could potentially play with Galchenyuk on an unreal first line.
However, Timmons is easily one of the best head amateur scouts in the game. Giving him 4 picks in the first 2 rounds of what is believed to be the deepest draft in years (comparable to 03) could potentially set the Habs up with one of the deepest rosters in the NHL 2-3 years down the road.
The 03 draft had some very good players picked between pick #20 of the first round and the end of the second. Kessler, Richards and Perry were picked in the last 10 picks of the first round. Eriksson, Kevin Klein, Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber, Matt Carle, Crawford and Backes were all second round picks. If Timmons can grab a Perry/Richards/Kessler type in the first and a player of similar caliber to the best 2nd rounders in 03 this team will be in a good position.
What’s with all the negative comments about Kristo ever signing here. I really believe most fans are over-reacting (what wait! that never happens with hab fans!) I think him not signing yet has nothing to do with him not wanting to be a hab and EVERYTHING to do with him not valuing the AHL much.
I read an interview he did at start of this season. His BBF, Leblanc was telling him how good it was with habs and encouraging him to make the jump this year. But after reviewing everything he decided he really didn’t want to leave NCAA without having another shot to win the tittle. His team is a fav to make it to the frozen four. If it wasn’t, I think he would have left. But when he evaluated….a chance to win a championship or jump to AHL…he made his choice.
In this interview he also goes on to say (i paraphrase)… that he expects to make the habs next season and did not feel playing this seaon in the AHL would have helped him any extra to make the habs next year. So again, it’s NCAA vrs AHL for this kid.
Now I have never seen him play. I know he is doing GREAT this year in NCAA. But it is expected as a high draft pick who is in his 4th year to be leading in scoring etc. Most high picks do not play all 4 yrs as they make the jump earlier. So he is an elite player this year. I don’t know if there will be a roster spot for the kid next year with the habs, but I also never thought there’d be a spot for both Gall and Galchenyuk this season. so anything can happen. and we will see if he is NHL ready next year or not.
You make a good point, that for Kristo last year the decision was NCAA vs. AHL. He surmised that he would prove himself in his final year at UND, and that is precisely what he did. A number of scouts have said he has Top 6 potential. It would be great if he signs with the Habs after the Frozen Four concludes. Then he can show his stuff in Hamilton for the tail end of this year, and even get a look-see in Montreal. Habs need to get him signed, but as Loonie has pointed out repeatedly, the ball is in his court. Danny boy holds all the cards at this point.
Only two minus players right now on the whole team.
I think that speaks volumes to the balance this team has that has been lacking for years. No more one or two line teams holding up the fort.
Therrien is rolling four lines who are scoring and defending well. Keep that stat up and they’re certain to go deep in the playoffs.
So… safe to say Price’s in nets tonight given his records against the sens?
HIO will have to go from “measuring stick” to “traveling stick” this week and next. Will a .550 won-loss record be good enough for the “trade everyone ” crowd?
.550? I knew signing Markov was a mistake. Get DD out of here, he was a flash in the pan. Trade our Weber and Kaberle for Victor Headhunter
So why is this Habs team arguably overperforming? I believe it is almost as simple as a great balance of character.
Gionta – undersized his whole life, 2 Cups, work ethic, responsible on the ice.
Cole – a battler in the true sense of the word. To come back from a broken neck and work hard enough to be back for the playoffs, he is a bull in the china shop, and lets not forget what he did for Louis Leblanc last season getting his parents to the game.
Markov – beyond being a beautiful player prior to the injuries, his perserverance to get back to the dance is inspiring.
Gorges – another undersized player who does nothing but compete game in and game out.
These types of players show the younger players what it takes to not only make the NHL, but stay in the NHL. We may have heard time and again about Gomez being good or that he got along great with Andrei Kostitsyn, but seems to me we don’t have any passengers on the roster who are dressing for games every night.
I hope this run continues, I still don’t think on paper we are a first place team, but this team seems very rich in Character, and from what little I have seen on 24CH it seems this is both MB’s and MT’s primary focus.
New Jersey on paper has never been a 1st place team….doesn’t stop them from constantly being near top of conference though. They just always played well as a team….some the Habs are doing currently.
“I think I may have found a way for us to get Griffey and Bonds, and we really won’t have to give up much” -Costanza
True Gerald. A bunch of road games coming up and that type of leadership often pays dividends during those games.
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If you are right then an undeniable fact is that PG/BG were on the right track…
BG was until his daughter passed away. He rebuilt the pipeline from the AHL to the NHL. unfortunately, a GM in Montreal has to be perfect to not have his hockey knowledge deemed to be wanting.
BG was always into acquiring character players. He was the ultimate character player.
Many good moves for sure but some incredibly poor ones as well. The Gomez trade alone may be a fireable offence and the Kabrele trade was a panic brain fart move. In fairness there were some good trades and signings but at the end of the day you get judged on the teams record.
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Character has something to do with it. Prust adds grit. I think the Gomez buyout was addition by subtraction, and a huge lift for team morale. Those minutes had to go somewhere, and they’ve gone to the kids, who inject energy and enthusiasm. Galchenyuk has really lifted the spirts of the Hab faithful. For the first time in a long time, Habs have a game breaker type of player. And he too, has character — family values, humility, and a great work ethic, in addition to talent. You remember what Bergevin said about Alex at the draft, “I saw it in his eyes.”
Sure character has a lot to do with it. In that light, Markov/Gionta being gone most of last season did have an impact on the “character/leadership thingy”. But after the disaster that was last year, I think the biggest thing was for the players to actually see a change this year. MB/MT brought that change. The fact that they started winning, just added to confidence in both themselves as a team and in the “change” the new management brought.
Minus Gomez, add Gionta/Markov/ the 2 rookies/Prust/Bouillion…and almost a fully healthy team all season long. It’s huge changes and all together it adds to this team winning more then losing this year.
I do tho look at the roster and think there are still holes to fix before we are an elite team on paper. But so far so good so I will enjoy to the fullest!
Agreed, you make some very good points. The one thing I disagree with is referring to Gorges as undersized, he’s listed at 6’1 200 lbs. He’s no Chara but definitely not undersized.
FFS! Forgot to set the PVR before I left the house. Scheiße!
I thought you could run these things from your phone now.
It would be a splendid idea if my PVR were hooked online.
Just make sure you get on the deerfoot before 4:30 and you should be home by 5:30, even if there is an accident.
Thankfully I never have to take that route again. Problem is that I pick my kid from daycare and we usually never manage to get home before 6. And today I heard the words “merry-go-round” so sounds like it won’t be home before 7:30ish.
The things I do.
Father of the year IMO.
Haben sie eine frieundmiteinendoorkey?
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
Ich habe Scheiße für Gehirne
An der Grammatik würde ich nochmal intensiv arbeiten.
Die Grammatik ist nicht meine – es ist alles Google
Google über alle!
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
It’s all Greek to me…
The only language I don’t speak.
So far as I can tell.
Instead of listening to the lecture in class I decided to look at our draft history and this http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00006929.html
is really nifty because it shows the amount of games played by guys we drafted
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Ian, thanks so much for posting the HNIC nostalgic trip down memory lane. Wow, watching that video puts me in a good place, much appreciated. For those who didn’t watch it, I reccomend it, what is most interesting is that there is no footage of fighting, yet it gets the blood boiling for hockey in its purest form.
Here it is again for those who missed it.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wQ5leZrQk-0
A nice step down memory lane for even an American kid growing up near the shores of the St. Lawrence River. I wish they would have edited out the footballs at the end though.
Thanks Ian.
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I’m very excited for tonights game. Being from Ottawa especially.
I expect alot from the guys tonight. I was unfortunate enough to be at the first game in Ottawa this year, when they beat us 5-1.
Out of the lineup for Ott tonight are Spezza, Karlsson, Michalek and Anderson. There is no excuses tonight. Despite all of their injuries, Ottawa is proving to be a team that has depth, and are finding ways to win…..but this should be a game that the Habs take advantage of.
If we win tonight….we will be at 28pts, approximately half way to what we will need to make the playoffs(56pts being aprox. magic number)
“I think I may have found a way for us to get Griffey and Bonds, and we really won’t have to give up much” -Costanza
Would anyone trade our first and all second rounders this year for Drouin?
I forgot we had three 2nd round picks I don’t know it would be a bit tempting, but who knows what our scouting staff sees atm
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Of course but nobody would take them. Would you trade Drouin for a bunch of lower draft picks?
Maybe we should wait and see.
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Being a Hab fan is like buying real estate: only over the long-haul will you appreciate the true value of your investment.
That headline still bothers me…there was nothing wrong with Pacioretty’s hit (IT WAS BOARDING)….Mcdonagh turned into it…the right call was made…2 min for boarding..which it was but the idea of taht being suspendable was not right from the get go. The only reasons there was a phone call was Torotorella is a Ranger coach and was vocal about it, Mcdonagh left the game and it was clear Max and he had something going…those other factors are great and all …BUT….they do not make the actual hit any worse…it just simply was not that bad of a hit…that play happens all the time and the guys face just doesn;t end up in the boards like that…just as the McD hit on PAcioretty on the boards does not normally end like Patches did.
I didn’t realize this and it might be wrong but the Islanders only draft D-men last draft http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr00007085.html
Maybe the Oilers should try that and add a goalie
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Below ppl are talking about Edmonton and why they can’t win games after so many top picks. Agreed. Here’s a question: if you have all of these talented young players, why not trade 1 to fill out your roster with some strong veterans to build a winning culture?
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
O,reilly could be the solution for them
His father could be the teams sports psychologist, so really like getting two for the price of one. I hope they do it!
the oilers are the worst managed team in the league when tambellini said “we have worked so hard to be in this position” at the draft before selecting yakupov 1st overall i lost all respect for them just like the year before “we are extremely proud do be in this position” what gm is proud to be the worst team in the league and how can you say you worked so hard for this? worked hard to be last place?
NHL: “Look Max, we’ve been over the McDonagh hit. It wasn’t great. We’re gonna have to do something. What would you say is a fair suspension?”
Pacioretty: “Good question. How many’d Chara get for *attempted murder*?”
*crickets*
NHL: “You have yourself a nice day.”
perfect! bring back the thumbs up/thumbs down comment rating
Tonight is going to be an interesting game to watch, mainly because it is between two surprise teams the Sens who have been destroyed by injuries and the Habs we all know they have been this surpirsing, should be a fun game. Btw anyone know if any of the sens players that are injured returning tonight?
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Sportfan-not sure. Milan Michalek and Peter Regin were day to day. So is GUI and goalie Craig Anderson is still out.
Glenn Healy on HNIC put up a chart of a bunch of Sens out of the line-up, and then dramatically referred to all of them as “irreplaceable”. GUI was one of them. LOL
Honestly, what an idiot Healy is. He makes PJ Stock look mature by comparison. Has he always been this way or is he taking lessons from Milbury?
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
The Sens can’t keep this up the entire season with Spezza and Karlsson…Habs have to keep taking advantage of these injury advantage scenarios. Teams did it to them last year…
The Sens are tougher than the habs, it’ll be like a tougher version of the laffs, basically making sure Gionta, Prust and Cole spend the game on their backs causing the rest of the team to buckle under.
I can not seem to get this article to highlight. sorry!
I would like everyone to read this article please.
Kerry Goulet
Kerry Goulet shared a link Hockey still in battle with concussions: “Great article, great questions from the reporter and fantastic insight from Keith Primeau, co-founder of stopconcussions.com”
Hockey still in battle with concussions
poststar.com
GLENS FALLS — Eleven months after suffering his fourth documented concussion, then-Philadelphia Flyer Keith Primeau was still fighting to return to hockey. The 34-year-old still wanted to play.
Great article, thanks for sharing Ian. This is why I think hits like Pacioretty’s should be grounds for suspension — so long as the rules are applied evenly to everyone.
For other folks: URL is http://poststar.com/sports/hockey-still-in-battle-with-concussions/article_afd43148-7e45-11e2-9574-001a4bcf887a.html.
Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”
We have the better team. Can we do it tonight ???????
We are the team with less injuries thats for sure, but the sens are finding a way to win, which for Sens fans it means they have a great future!
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
The Sens have size and speed. The habs have speed. Geeze, everytime the habs face this combination the game ends with Gionta and Prust and other habs basically on their backs and our defense overwhelmed.
Why the Oilers under perform year after year?
Because the “veterans” they have never produce any offence.
They’re plugs. 3rd and 4th line stiffs.
Guys like Shawn Horcoff, Ryan Smith, Eric Belanger, are not productive, and so all the pressure to produce falls on the young guns exclusively.
Instead, you need to balance the lines with young players and veterans.
Playing Cole with Galchenyuk and Eller will usually work for Cole and for the young players.
Playing Paccioretty with Gallagher and Desharnais, same thing.
Because we have much better balance in our production, our experienced players feed off the energy of the young guys, and the young players learn from the older guys.
So what the Oilers need to do is trade for some more experienced players that can still produce, and pay them. Then they can play along side the young guys, create time and space for the young guys to skate , pass and shoot, and teach the young guys shift to shift, game to game.
Oilers…no defense, no goaltending…
16, five on five goals, in 17 games. that’s not about defence and goaltending
Too young and too much too soon.
Habs won Cup always with a mix of youth and vets. And great goaltending. And defense. And Hall of Famers.
they do have veterans on the team. but the veterans don’t produce.
@ed- Oilers management decided that they would rush their prospects into prominent roles on the team. Of all the young guns on the team, about half won’t pan out because they are being given responsibility they are nowhere near ready for. You see it in all their minus figures.
The Oilers culture has changed into one of losing, and that is one tough habit to change.
Always with size to fight back. We don’t have size to fight back. We have a tiny tyke of a scrapper who only fights other tiny tykes.
DDOHabs_Fan is right they have no D and so-so goaltending, if they blow it again this season DRAFT A D-MAN they have enough forwards! What the heck is going to happen when all these Forwards hit their prime and want over 5 million plus a year
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
There is also the factor that neither Kevin Lowe or Steve Tambellini have the remotest concept of how to run a team. It is beyond all reasoning that Kevin Lowe still has a job in that organization.
they are missing guys like Cole, Gionta, Plekanec, Markov,
All the guys that many here constantly mention in trade talks. They are the glue!
Gionta is hardly glue for this team. We had another smurf pony in the stables and what good did he do but force the NHL board of govs to basically create a special rule just for Geoff Molson so we could buy Gomez out. I think the other was for Gionta. Time to speed up the clock and just buy Gionta out.
And to think they could have had Scotty Gomez for a song.
They hired Tambellini because of the work he’s done with Team Canada figuring he knew what they were doing they need to get address the fact they need D and the fact that its really hard to attract big names in Edmonton, Smyth going back to the Oilers was a big deal to them
http://nickolaisblog.wordpress.com/
Picking a winning team out of Canada’s whose who of players is a far cry from picking talent for an NHL team. A huge mistake by Lowe, but no surprise he did so.
Agreed. Most over-rated managers in NHL history…
Good point about the lack of a support cast.
They are also lacking veteran defensemen. Justin Shultz is great, but when a rookie who weighs 185lbs has to be your number one defensemen, you have problems.
I don’t care what you have for forwards, if your defense is bad, you will not produce offensively. A solid defense core will result in less time in your own zone. They also start the offense by winning puck battles in their own end, and making a good first pass instead of just chipping it out. When the defense is weak, the forwards are often forced to over-commit into their own zone at the expense of the breakout. Remember all the running around in the Habs own end last year? I’m trying to forget, but it is not a recipe for scoring goals. Bottom line – a good offense starts with the quality of defensemen.
To be fair, it must be tough for Edmonton to attract good UFAs. But there is no excuse for not trading some of their offensive talent for some veteran defensemen.
The Oilers, as a team, have been underperforming with all those star players. Time to make some changes.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
Young Jordan Subban is essentially the same player as Ryan Ellis was at his age.
Subban is ranked #81 among North American Skaters by Central Scouting and I don’t know where ISS has him but it isn’t in the top 30.
Somebody’s going to get a bargain.
Jordan has a lot of similarities to PK at the same age, though Jordan is a little smaller.
Which is not to say they will end up the same player, because PK had a crazy learning curve in his 3 years post draft (2 in Belleville, 1 in Hamilton) that is very difficult to repeat.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Jordan has quicker feet. he reminds me of Diaz. small but extremely quick, great flat out speed, but also elite quickness – reaction speed.
Habs have 3 second round picks…you never know…
Regarding the discussion below of trading prospects to move up in the draft… prospects no, picks yes.
I like what Columbus (was it Columbus?) did when trying to move up to the top of the draft: offer all of your picks to essentially guarantee yourself an impact player. Heck, most every player past the first round is a crap shoot to make it to the NHL, so why not offer a bunch of ‘maybes’ in return for a ‘definitely’?
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Being a Hab fan is like buying real estate: only over the long-haul will you appreciate the true value of your investment.
The Isles offered their entire draft to the BlueJackets to move up from #4 to #2.
Scott Howson declined.
The players selected were Ryan Murray and Griffin Reinhart.
Apparently the deal was contingent on Nail Yakupov being available at 2.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Thanks for the clarification.
I could understand declining if Howson wanted to draft Galchenyuk as there was no player his equivalent but Ryan Murray? I’m not sure there is much difference between Murray and Reinhart. No wonder he was fired…
I think we can afford to have one season where we give up a significant number of picks for a high pick. We are fortunate in that Timmins seems to hit a higher percentage of NHL players with his picks than many other chief scouts.
The only problem is Timmins still has his theme park ride template of you must be no taller than 6 feet and weigh less than 200 pounds the horrible Gainey experiement to see if midgets can win a stanley cup. Time to give up that experiment. If Timmins is behind our draft small, think small then maybe it’s time someone told Timmins the new NHL is anything but small.
Time to draft big and sign big. Sure we have some great prospects but they are only as good as our bigger tougher players can prove, and this year with the habs a bit bigger our prospects have shone. Time to start drafting bigger and heavier if Montreal wants to remain a champ.
The Habs play four times this week including back-to-back games on the weekend (Pittsburgh/Boston). They then turn around and repeat the same workload the following week (weekend games against Florida/Tampa).
So I guess the question is when will Budaj get his next start? Can Price play 7 games in 13 days before taking next Sunday off?
Would Hab fans be happy with 8 out of 16 points during the next two weeks?
As long as we beat Toronto on Wed. and the Bruins the following Wed, Steve
Ian, you got that absolutely right. Of course beating the Laffs and/or the Broons is a good thing no matter when it happens.
The habs have a tough schedule against bigger tougher teams. Our failure to sign bigger players really shows when we face this type of schedule, and why we always have problems against teams that are equal or bigger in size to us. Basically if your captain and the signed tough guy Prust spend the game on their backs from being pushed around, of course the team is gonna give up hope. Molson and Bergevin, if you really want a cup, get rid of Gionta, sign some bigger players for God’s sake! Prust is not an enforcer!
Mornin’ Steve. Can you edit your post and include the term “measuring stick?”
“May you live in interesting times.”
I thought we decided on yard stick?
My Bad! A “metre-stick” is actually three inches longer.
You’re correct. Here at HIO, size matters! Metre-stick it is!
Then why all the small forwards, this ain’t basketball!?
Steve, I would be satisfied 8 out of 16 as you suggest.
The teams which get anywhere have size up front to crash the net. When ever the habs lose it is against bigger forwards crashing our net. Hello Geoff Molson, were you asleep when Bettman announced the NHL philosophy the last previous lockout and changes to the rules?
These were the good old days.
Some Saturday night memories for the HIO family
Hockey Night In Canada
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wQ5leZrQk-0
Thanks Ian. I always get choked up watching anything about hockey put together in that way.
Your welcome. I do as well.
Well Monday morning arrives and our Habs are still performing above expectations. I’ve always held the opinion that last season was an aberration but never did I expect that first place after 18 games would occur. Keep it going boys!
For the past number of weeks I’ve been listing the Habs’ prospects according to games, points, and +/-. I began this as something to keep me sane during the lockout (not sure if it worked). So last week I’m on the Habs’ page of the NHL website and find a much more detailed and up-to-date listing than I was doing. So friends I’m off the hook. It was fun though while it lasted. Just go to http://www.nhl.com and click on the Habs’ page and find the prospects listing.
Go Habs Go!!!!
Hey”DD!” There’s something really enjoyable in reading all your data posts along with the other “data posters’ ” facts right here on HIO rather on the official websites. It probably has something to do with the pulp fiction nature of HIO where you can go from a post with excellent facts right to a following post that tells you your mother wears army boots. “I’m still your mother’s favorite player.”
“May you live in interesting times.”
We have done good once again against lesser teams. Now we find out whether we have what it takes against bigger teams and whether we have what it takes to get into the playoffs.
To those of you who follow the west, why are the Oilers once again in the lottery zone? After three consecutive #1 picks you’d think they would at least be in the top half of the standings.
As it stands they could finish with a top 5 pick.
They try to carry the puck everywhere on the ice. Still too young and inexperienced.
Eberle’s the exception among the young players. If he’s any good in the room and off the ice he oughta be their captain in my opinion.
Maybe their coach is the problem? Who is he?
Ralph Krueger.
Very good defensive coach. Good fit to help the kids grow.
With all the talented forwards they’ve drafted over the past five or six years, they’re still near the bottom in scoring – 40 goals, tied with Columbus for second to last.
I think they are tanking on purpose again.
I think they can’t play any other way now. The habit of losing compels them!
Nice info! Steve Tambellini should be ringing up Monsieur Bergevin with an offer-you-can’t-refuse trade proposal for Andrei Markov. He could catalyze tons of scoring from that talented raw group.
“May you live in interesting times.”
They should not be! I think the NHL needs to put a rule in place that a team can only pick in the top 5, two consecutive seasons. Stop teams from ” tanking” or slowling down their progress just enough to keep drafting high! These Oilers should be a playoff team, albeit a 7th or 8th place team.
Habfan17
Drouin v. Mackinnon
Drouin’s offensive abilities and production at this point both in junior and international competition have to vault him ahead of Mackinnon in the eyes of the hockey men who know what they’re doing.
Jones and Drouin go #1 and #2 if the teams picking at those spots have any idea what they’re doing.
Just my opinion.
MacKinnon is still a beast and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him go first even though I think Drouin is going to force himself into the top spot. MacKinnon just has too much of what teams want. He is a center with eleit levet shot and speed. I think because of the early hype machine with him and what Drouin is doing, people think this is a knock on MacKinnon but he is still an elite prospect.
Hopefully both Portland and Halifax make the Memorial Cup. I really think that would go a long way to deciding the top 3 picks.
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I can’t tell if the Habs are great or terrible because sometimes they win and sometimes they lose.
Move the NHL to Portland. Seattle too.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
Good Mornin’ cranky people! More coffee!
There’s a large amount distrust and lack of confidence among the washed and unwashed. If one trusts the current make-up of the team, zany trades would not be proposed. Hal Gill netted a 2nd round pick last year but only because of the overvalued nature of the trade deadline market. A younger Hal Gill netted TO a 5th rounder from Pittsburg. An oversight in historical write-ups is to not clearly mention the counterpart, the “foil,” to genius or virtuoso performances. Remember Ralph Branca and “the shot heard around the world?” Who were the GMs who made all those trades with Sam Pollock? To those “foils,” it’s probably best that they are not mentioned or remembered. The major surprises of this season starts with the Golden Rookie. The Little Engine Who Could (no. 73) is also a major pleasant surprise. The amount of depth on this year’s team is also unexpected, and very pleasing. Couple of days ago, I mentioned last year’s 4th liners (Palushaj, Nokelainen, Blunden, Leblanc) and forgot to mention Anders Engqviist. Do you think Yannick Weber will see time on right wing again? Unless an offer-you-can’t-refuse, trade proposal comes from one of the competitor GMs, I advise against trades that eat into depth. Eating clock is OK when you’re ahead, eating depth isn’t.
“May you live in interesting times.”
P.S. I see eight minutes before I posted, Ian voiced a similar opinion.
No trades! Well maybe a small tweek or two.
Bergevin said it himself, we will improve continuously through the draft and development program.
Millions are spent through these programs, so why trade it away for a ringer that may not fit in here. (example Gomez, Kaberle)
We have the best scouting & development people in the league now. Timmins is one of the best scout’s in the world. Scout Vaughn Karpen is another employee that you do not hear much about.
A team that comes from the very bottom of the barrel to the very top of the barrel in one year, should not be trading.
The roster stays pat until someone is ready to move up and replace an older pair of legs.
Nicely put! I do still think that if Cole sticks to his comments and will retire at the end of the season, then it may be worth while to see what a cup contender may pay for the rental.
They are having a great season so far, I want them to be realistic contenders every season for many more to come. Like the Red Wings. I hate to say that…like the Habs of old!
Habfan17
How about Cole to the Ducks? Any goodies there?
Wild? Sharks?
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
Adding to the celebration of Vaughn Karpan Day, he attended my alma mater, the University of Manitoba (who are the Bisons but not fighting bisons).
“May you live in interesting times.”
I have sat with Vaughn at many Junior games. He is a very cool hockey man and gentleman.
Nice!
Let us assume that indeed the price for a top 3 pick in this years draft is two firsts, 1 2nd and a prospect or roster player. I am also assuming this trade can be made near the completion of the season, thus having given MB the entire season to evaluate not only the Montreal Roster talent, but also the pipeline in Hamilton etc…
Assuming again (yah lots of assuming) MB and company are thinking Beaulieu/Tinordi are going to make it, and Kristo (who we know wants to play in Montreal
)appears to be rounding in to form, at some point isn’t it worth it to give up some drafts in order to get the riches of a Drouin or Barkov etc….
I say this because look at the impact of a Galchenyuk already. It is very rare to be able to get franchise changing players, and I am hopeful Galchenyuk is one of those. Our farm system is on the verge of producing some nice depth for the team, and we will be replacing some aging veterans in the coming years. It sure would be great to have our own version of Crosby/Malkin in the form of Galchenyuk/Drouin per se.
My point is this, I would consider giving up those draft choices for an elite talent. Granted, I am assuming Rick Dudley blesses the move, as between he and Timmins they have some of the best judging abilities of talent around.
I would consider what you’re proposing for a Jones, Barkov or Drouin. Nobody else.
Habs struck gold with Chucky. Wonder if Edmonton is as happy with the Yak?
Chucky is a very special player and has shown that he is coach-able.
I’m trusting Timmins and Co. to get out there and strike more gold this draft season.
The third Subban may be available in the late second or third rounds.
Hmmmmm
Jordan I would aim for. I have read in a couple places that he skates as well or better than PK. Hmmmmmmmmm.
He’s rated 17th overall, at the moment. He will almost certainly go in the first round. He has better hands and wheels than PK, but lacks in size. He’s another soft D, something that I don’t think we need. Of course, we can’t ignore the fact that PK and Jordan — as a pairing — would be amazing. All we need now is to get Malcom from Boston and we can have a little SUBBAN MAFIA in the defensive zone!
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BOURQUE! BOURQUE! BOURQUE!
http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectbrowse.htm
Not #17
Not even in the top 30 of ISS rankings.
What I think is risky is that these days injuries are so prevalent that banking on one player to change the tide is riskier than ever.
Gone are the days when the Lafleurs and Gretzkys of the league can play game-in-game-out and really have a long-term impact for their team. Look at Crosby; he’s been great for the Pens, but when he went down, they had to look to Malkin. They are lucky that they sucked so hard that they have a rake of top picks to carry them through; this wouldn’t happen with another team.
The Rangers are missing Nash. If Tavares ever got hurt, the Isles would be (even more) effed.
Galchenyuk has done great things for the CH, but he’s one bad hit away from being MIA, as we saw with Gallagher.
I’m wary of trading building blocks for a more complete team for an impact player.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
That is a reality, but it is a fear that teams cannot allow to factor in when making decisions. When a team has good depth, they can offerd to take the extra risk In this case the reward is greater than the risk IMHO
Habfan17
Very good point.
(not sarcasm)
Thank you, also not sarcasm!
Habfan17
Yeah… ughhh.. it’s difficult.
I’d love a great player that will get people leaping out of their seats.
But while it’s true that we have good depth at the moment, as we saw last year, injuries test that depth very very quickly, and even the deepest pool will dry up in the hot sun of man-games-lost (jeezis, that’s a tortured analogy. Never mind.).
Let’s wait for HH to log on and we’ll see what he thinks about trading prospects!
—Hope Springs Eternal—
It may be best to wait another year and see how some of the newer prospects transitioon to the AHL first. I do have to say that players like Collberg, Hudon, Bozon and Kristo have me really loooking forward to the future. The same goes for Tinordi, Dietz, Beaulieu, and Ellis
Habfan17
Matty – I think you need both. You need a Lafleur type AND you need a very good supporting cast.
Lafleur had the best team of all time supporting him. Gretzky had one heck of a backup band too.
They sure did. It would be nice if Beaulieu, Tinordi and Subban could become the next “Big 3″
Habfan17
They did, but they didn’t play in the same era of injuries that we’re in now, is my point.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
That was my point exactly. Gems and franchise players do not come around often and in Drouins case, he is sort of home grown.
Thank you for communicating what I failed to do. My point was, is a franchise player worth 3 second rounds and a first. It may not be enough, I was jut looking for opinions. I do think Timmens is one of the best in the business.
Habfan17
I, for one, really hope Kristo signs here. I’ve watched him play quite a bit at UND and he’s consistently the best player on the ice. His skill level is very high and he plays with some grit despite not being overly big (5’11″ 185lbs). Great skating, handles, and finish. Best prospect we have that hasn’t put on a Habs sweater yet.
Sakic and Stevie Y weren’t big, neither are Datsyuk and Zetterberg. For that matter either is Kane. That is not to say that Kristo is in their league, but maybe he would be close!
Habfan17
If you want a top 5 pick in the coming draft the ask starts at this year’s first round pick, at least one second round pick, next year’s first round pick and a prospect or roster player.
Or you can wait for an excellent player to fall to you like Kerby Rychel, Max Domi or maybe even Valerei Nichushkin.
and you know this how? All 30 teams should be bashing down your door to sign you as GM, you know everything!
Habfan17
Grow up.
I don’t know everything, but I know based on history that the return for a top 5 draft pick is a King’s Ransom.
And before you suggest it, no the BlueJackets won’t be taking Yannick Weber and Ian Shultz for the first overall pick.
LMAO!
Sorry Bud you are th one who needs to grow up and get real. You are constantly discounting anyone elses opinions and putting your forth ans gosple!
Stop putting your trade suggestions off as mine or anyone elses. Just the fact that youmade up that absurd trade proposal shows you really need to grow up!
I will not comment on your posts anymore, it is a big waste of time
Habfan17
Your feelings have been hurt since your Eller, Desharnais, Weber, Kristo and a 2nd round pick for O’Reilly trade suggestion was seen as laughable.
Sorry you were offended by my reply but if you recall I edited it the very second that people started to pile on because it wasn’t my intention to see you ridiculed.
If you’re going to suggest crazy things you need to be able to deal with the replies.
Sorry that it offends you but the suggestion I made about what I feel you might propose as a trade scenario while an exaggeration falls in line with nearly everything else you propose.
That’s on you, not me. Not unlike people replying to NunaCanadien with paragraph after paragraph of incoherent poetry.
Edit: And so we’re clear, it isn’t just me who replies to your nonsense. If you can’t deal with people calling your lunacy for what it is, read instead of writing.
I think Corey Perry wants to play for the Habs.
The Habs were his favourite team growing up and he’s never said publicly that he doesn’t want to play for them.
See the flaw in that lack of bloody logic?
Same applies to Kristo. When a player who can’t negotiate with any team says he wants to play for the team that drafted him it must be considered that suggesting otherwise would lead to speculation of tampering.
I’m not saying Kristo won’t sign with the Habs, though I believe it’s unlikely.
I’m saying that his words mean NOTHING until he signs on the dotted line.
Kovalev said he wanted to play for the Habs and signed with Ottawa. Plenty of other examples. Pipe dreams are like coffee.
So your saying we are getting Corey Perry! Woohoo!
Come to think of it, Sid’s favorite team has always been Montreal. Before he was drafted — still playing Midget AAA — he said he hoped to play for Montreal in a few years.
Maybe we can buy out his bazillion dollar-a-year contract?
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BOURQUE! BOURQUE! BOURQUE!
Why do you think it’s unlikely?
—Hope Springs Eternal—
In the case of Kristo it’s that he can wait until August and select one of multiple offers from teams, which will at the very least force the Habs to offer him a max deal which they may or may not be willing to do.
In the case of Perry it’s money. Can’t see the Habs being able to meet his contract demands.
But there could be many reasons for him to be waiting it out.
I think that saying that it’s unlikely is as speculative as saying that it’s likely.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
I won’t argue that point Matty. But his words ring hollow until he signs with the Habs.
I’m not sure what people expect him to say when asked about the Habs. It isn’t as if the kid’s gonna go on a rant about how he’d never play for them.
All I know is that Jagr wanted to play for the HABS. And so did Shanahan. And Crosby is just checking his contract daily so he can escape and join the Habs. And Doug Weight would have liked to finish his career here. And oh yes… Ovechkin is willing to take a discount to play for the HABS.
The Skinny on Beer Prices in every NHL arena. (normalized per 12 ounces if you think the Montreal one is too low. Had to compare apples to apples, so the same size beer).
http://lastwordonsports.com/2013/02/25/the-skinny-on-beer-prices-from-around-the-nhl/
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Isn’t the Bell Ctr charging $10 for a 12 oz beer?
Nearly a dollar an oz. cocaine is cheaper!
Not sure about the accuracy of the Bell Centre price. If you like drinking beer while watching hockey, don’t go to a game. Rather sit in a pub with friends drinking the good stuff…
Just left a comment on that page.
At the Bell Centre it’s $9.57 + tax for 500ml.
Their numbers are off.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
Numbers are equalized to 12 oz size, and to US Dollars for a fair apples to apples comparison for each rink.
Data courtesy, http://www.Saveonbrew.com
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
I love the depth on this squad.
Armstrong is playing his best hockey of the year but still is a lock for the scratch when Bourque is back IMO. Moen-White-Prust is an ideal 4th line.
Wouldn’t mind seeing Pacioretty swapped with Bourque, give Plekanec a more dynamic scorer to work with.
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Lars, PK, Galchenyuk, Pac, Emelin – @J_Perez22
For those too young to remember and for those of us too old to forget here is classic and original Fonzie jumping the shark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE
Kaberle is getting the Gomez/Redden proposed treatment before the league altered the rules for them. Kaberle will not play hockey for anyone as long as the Habs are stuck with his cap hit.
Why did he skate in the warm-up on Saturday?
Does he not practice with the team?
Gomez was sent home you may remember.
It’s not the same thing.
______________________________________________________
“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”
It would be great ig the Habs could get Drouin!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am6xPcWUJmM
Habfan17
Unfortunately, I don’t see us drafting anywhere near high enough.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
I’m sure HF17 wants us to trade any player on the team for a shot.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
You would be completely wrong Mattyleg! Don’t give up your day job! unless it is as a Psychic, then give it up immediately
Habfan17
Heh heh.
It’s just that you’re always suggesting that we trade our players.
I figured it was a fairly safe bet!
—Hope Springs Eternal—
Me either, but it is nice to dream. If you were GM, would you trade the first round pick and all the second rounders if you could get the pick to take him?
Habfan17
Haha!
What did I tell ya?
—Hope Springs Eternal—
He’s not proposing to trade players, but an exchange of picks.
I don’t see how a team with a top three pick would make that trade though.
(I know, I know, but it still involved a trade…)
—Hope Springs Eternal—
You need to learn to read, I asked commandant, who actually posts well thought out posts, if he would do it. I didn’t say I would.
Habfan17
Play nice, now.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
i’d prefer Mackinnon, Jones, Barkov, than Nichuschin (spelling*), Lindholm and Drouin are pretty close for me.
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Lars, PK, Galchenyuk, Pac, Emelin – @J_Perez22
Being that we likely won’t get a chance to pick in the top 10, who are you looking at for a late first round pick?
Where is Tony Duclair expected to go?
A GM will have to be exceptionally brave, if he had a chance, to draft Drouin above Jones and McKinnon. But let’s say you are sitting and watching the draft go by and those two players are drafted 1st/2nd … then, especially if you are the HABS, you do the very very best to get Drouin. It would be a win win situation.
Is it a certainty that Price is starting tonight?
No.
I just want to make it clear about people saying Kristo doesn’t want to come to Montreal. A friend of mine met him in Las Vegas and they started talking about Montreal and my buddy doesn’t watch hockey at all but Kristo told him he got drafted by Montreal and he WANTS to play in Montreal. So Ppl stop making the assumption that he doesn’t want to.
He’s declined multiple contract offers.
Until he signs it’s fair to be of the opinion that he doesn’t want to.
Reckon he weanted to finish school.
Not unreasonable!
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What does the Commissioner of the NHL do?
In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.
They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.
******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.
Not when you opinion is not based on fact, it is illogical. Kristo has never said he does not want to play in Montreal publicly, except for what rated_R just posted. He did say he went back to UND to try ti win it all as he felt he and they fell short last season.
Sure you can say he may not sign, but stop being so damned stubborn about it. It is just your opinion and is not based on any information currently available to any one of us, the general public.
It would be one thing is you specualtaed that due to the depth the Habs have on right wing, he may decide to sign with someone else, but to say that since he declined multiple offers makes it fair, makes absolutely no sense. Up until now, I have read of one offer past season. Up until then, he wasn’t progressing very well and had that “injury” I doubt the Habs offered him mutliple contracts before that. It makes no sense, They can only have so many players under contract at one time and they did not have to tie him up then, they had time.
Habfan17
For the last time…..
HE HAS DECLINED MULTIPLE CONTRACT OFFERS FROM THE MONTREAL CANADIENS.
Interpret that however you want. What isn’t open to interpretation is that he would rather finish school than play for the Habs.
Does that mean he doesn’t want to play with the Habs? No, it doesn’t. But he’s had the opportunity to join the organization on more than one occasion and has opted not to.
And quite frankly actions speak louder than words. If he signs with the Habs I’ll believe he wants to play for the Habs. Until then, I’ll remain skeptical.
AND AGAIN FOR THE LAST TIME…..
The reason I’ll remain skeptical is because in August he can wait for offers from ANY NHL TEAM.
Agree with you that the assumption cannot be made he doesn’t want to play in Montreal. All we know at this point is that he wants to try and win a College Championship with UND and most likely get his University Degree. Two things which in my books are admirable.
Well said, I agree! It shows strong committment, loyalty, and maturity.
Habfan17
You’re calling a kid who’s been suspended by his own program and got frostbite from walking around drunk with no shoes on mature.
He wasn’t mature then.
That was a couple of years ago, and lots changes quickly during teenagehood.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
It does pose the question… who sits when Bourque returns to the lineup?
Armstrong has been setting up Moen for goals, White is winning faceoffs, and the rest of the gang is either too valuable or just rounding into form… so I guess it’s Armstrong.
That was easy. Nice problem to have…
Has to be Armstrong, no? And yes, it is a nice problem to have.
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It wouldn’t surprise me if they gave Prust a night off. It looked like he was really hurting Saturday night.
That makes the most sense. Give Prust a day or let Bourque recover until Wednesday.
Over a month in and no Habs on LTIR. It’s hard to fathom.
I am leaning the same way, however, I heard them commenting on how many consecutive games Prust has played. I think he takes a great deal of pride in being in the lineup, night in and night out. However, he has taken a beating in recent games and some therapy would bode well for him.
Markov is playing it safe not to get injured. He’s still one of our best defencemen.
The only questtionable move of the off-season: wasting one million on Armstrong. Not convinceme he brings more than White or Blunden.
Looking at the team so farit is mostly chock full of good stories. There is something that to me is slight cause for worry:
Markov, after eighteen games, does not have A SINGLE point 5 on 5.
It´s great that we have him back on the PP, but this, coupled with the fact he is minus two, is slightly worrisome. Has he turned into a one dimensional player?
Marky, cole, and Bourque (until he performs for a whole season) remain question marks for me, though I am more encouraged about Cole after last game.
So with Max catching a break from Shanahan, and the fact McDonagh appears to have just a bruised face, soon Torterella is going to have to face the music regarding how his team is playing. Habfan 10912 brought up an excellent point the other day regarding the benching of Gaborik. If Arthur Fonzarelli indeed is losing his top players ears, he may indeed soon get the thumbs down from Glen Sather (Mr. C), especially with a coach like Lindy Ruff hanging around the NHL unemployment office.
Another big game tonight, and it doesn’t appear Craig Anderson will be in net for Ottawa, would be nice to see the Habs take advantage of this.
All is working out according to The Great Plan of 2013 as devised by G. Molson and M. Bergevin. Soon, many teams will quake in fear when they face the Habs. Ok, maybe not.
Lindy Ruff being on the market will make a lot of coaches sweat in the coming days, weeks.
Morning bud.
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The Rangers remain one point out of eighth with a game in hand on the Lightning.
They’re obviously underachieving but expecting them to stay where they are or worse for the remainder of the season is a bit silly in my opinion.
That roster is too good to “expect” them to finish out of the playoffs or near the bottom of the seeding. It may happen, but I wouldn’t be wagering anything on it.
That is exactly why Torts is on the hot seat Tom, that roster is too good to have the record they currently do.
Still early buddy.
Tortorellii has the wiggle-room that they’ve been bitten by the injury bug; Nash, Del Zotto, Powe, now Girardi.
Sather would have to be pretty cold to dump Tortellini when he’s down men.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
Sather – cold? Look up Gretzky, Wayne.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
Yeah, but Gretzky was in on that, thanks to Janet.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
The team has taken 13 of a possible 14 points in the last seven games and I just read that the captain should be scratched.
Am I still asleep and dreaming right now?
Yup. Welcome to another day in the asylum.
Gio also got some great looks at goals last game, they may not be going in, but in light of what role he and Plex are currently providing the team, the fact he is still getting good looks is great news.
Plus Gio was a rock in the penalty kill for us Saturday night.
12-4-2 not 4-12-2.
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Gionta has many upsides. Leave him alone.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
I think it’s a kind of fear of commitment.
It reminds me of Seinfeld’s reasons for breaking up with his girlfriends.
Eats her peas one at a time. Man hands. Won’t have a bite of his apple pie.
Man hands was justified. Did you see those bear paws?
Agreed
__________________________
☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
Perhaps the lighting has been bad on the nights Gionta was playing? Those shadows can make someone look much worse.
Bad lighting on the porch!
In the end, I was surprised Patches didn’t get a game. It looked to me like McDonough thiught that if he continued behind the net, he would get plastered so he turned back, only Patches was able to adjust and out guess him. What goes around, comes around.
I am all for either sitting Gionta or moving him down to the 3rd line and cutting his ice time. Gallagher has proven he can handle more ice time and has been way more effective and is more of a scoring threat at this point.
If Cole still wants to retire, or simply play in the US and would honour his contract, then I would say, trade him at the deadline. He is starting to get points but the Habs have depth on that side and could get something for him rather than have him retire and get nothing.
I would also entertain offers for Gionta at the deadline. If the plan is to keep Galchenyuk and Eller at centre long term, then Bergevin will have a tough decision to make this off season. Eller could be a 3rd line centre, however, Pleks, DD, and Galchenyuk are not and you can’t have 3 top 2 centres. Someone will have to move or change positions. With the depth at centre and right wing, I would say someone will be moved, but who?
It s nice to see the Habs with options for a change.
Habfan17
Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec are consistently drawing the assignment of covering the other teams best line. A prime example is the NYR game, where such a good job was done that Fonzie in all his brilliance decided to bench Gaborik for the 3rd. While it would be great if Gio had some more goals, he is being very responsible for the entire length of the ice, thus the teams excellent record to start the season.
Also, Gionta still is getting himself open for scoring opportunities, he is presently snake bit on getting goals, but this too shall pass. Just as Cole is starting to shake the rust off, I would look for Gionta to start getting goals, but even without, he is helping this team a great deal.
These quality shifts by Gio and Plex are allowing Therrien to get players like Galchenyuk into matchups favouring their skillsets.
Sometimes I think individual stats do not show what players are doing on the ice to help the team win. End of day, our team is playing excellent as a team.
Points taken, although I did say that Gallagher was more effective, not just a scoring threat. He also plays the full ice and wins more battles than Gio at this point and is faster. I agree Gio still brings value, so put him on the 3rd line and make that the shutdown line and then the Habs still have potential offence too! It is nice to ba able to have these discussions. It has been too long since the Habs actually had options.
Habfan17
I think Gionta’s ice time is reflective of matchups, this may lead to be called the number 1 line. I do hope GIo gets some goals soon, would be good to see him get rewarded for his hard work.
Did you by chance see him on L’Antichambre after the Ranger game? Was excellent to see our Captain fielding all kinds of questions in that forum. Another sign of how different our organization is being run with MB at the helm.
No I didn’t see him, I am sorry I missed it. Nice talking hockey with you! I hope Gio has a bit more success on the score sheet too. I do agree, some of the biggest contributions never make the score sheet.
I am thinking long term when I speak of moving Gio and Cole at the deadline if they get something that would help them longer term. I think they have enough leadership now that they could afford to make some moves. Although I am not sure what is up with Gorges and PK. They played great as a pair last season and now Gorges seems like he wants nothing to do with PK. Very weird and not cool if he will have a bigger leaership role in the future. Maybe Gorges should go if it can’t be worked out?
Habfan17
I think next season, MB is going to have some big decisions to make as it relates to veterans like Gionta and Markov. We may be able to graduate a defenceman or two from Hamilton, and perhaps another forward.
Of course if attendance continues to improve league wide, our salary cap could go right back up in 2 years time, which will give MB a great deal more flexibility.
Have a good day Haban17!
Gallagher is way behind Gionta in terms of development. And no, he isn’t noticeably faster. Gallagher has been protected by MT so he can shine when he is on the ice, the same as Chucky.
Throwing away Cup winning veterans is what a poor GM would do. Habs are winning. Why shop anyone besides the bench warmers?
http://calshabsongparodies.weebly.com
x2
And Gallagher is going to learn a lot from his Captain, Brian Gionta.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
HA! Fonzie…
Had to chuckle at that too.
U need those guys for the playoff , as well the young guys are just that young ,let them learn from Gio and Cole ,next year cloud be the time to let them go
Come on man, Gionta’s the captain. Captain’s retain the benefit of the doubt as long as they wear the “C”.
[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.
Tell that to Mike keane and Saku Koivu!
Habfan17
The team has to work on their pk as it is 16th overall…they are getting away with it now but as the season goes along and potential playoffs 16th will not be good enough….Argo was okay but every year there are dozens of movies of the same quality…
I was thinking of seeing Argo, maybe I won’t go out of my way to see it now. Just so I can gauge your taste, what did you think of Looper?
Argo is OK. You don’t need to go to the theatre to see it. I give it a 7.8 out of 10. The revisionism that makes the CIA guy the hero pissed off the Canadian Ambassador to no end. The usual Hollywood BS treatment… Still, it’s harmless.
Looper was a much more novel concept. You don’t really end up giving a rats about the protagonist and that’s its downfall, but otherwise it delivers a decent amount of suspense. 7.4 out of 10 for Looper.
Jimmy Carter also publicly stated the film did not give credit to the Canadians, who came up with the plan.
__________________________
☞ The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. ~ Richard Feynman ☜
All this hoopla over a film about a CFL team? No thanks!
God I love seeing rangers fans this butthurt. It’s like their team was always healthy and never went through adversity or injuries. They need to get a fucking grip. Starting from their fanbase to the players to the coach, they have their heads so far up their asses it’s like an infinite loop. Look at the injuries we had last year. Pacioretty has had so many serious injuries, if i was him i would have plowed McDonagh even harder than that, suspension or no suspension.
McDonough was on the flight outbound to NYC!
Even Dr. Recchi would question a 3 hr concussion recovery!
The guy had a bloody nose and cut lip!
Likely held him out in order to draw a suspension nothing is beyond Tortelini.
———————————————————————-
What does the Commissioner of the NHL do?
In short, a league commissioner is the action man for the Board of Governors.
They tell him what they want done and he works to make it happen through his subordinates while making sure that individual franchises play by the rules.
******** Translated if you haven’t won the Stanley Cup in 40 years your NHL team is becoming irrelevant in a sports mad city long behind MLB, NFL and NBA teams, you just tell the commissioner(who you gave a new contract at 7 plus million per) to make it happen and the rules are bent sufficiently to action the command.