Photo by Bryanna Bradley of The Gazette
Etienne Brodeur scored 53 goals in the Q last season.
The 5’10″ sniper is trying to impress at the Canadiens’ development camp, Pat Hickey writes.
• Réjean Tremblay hangs ‘em up. Here’s his last column
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Richard R
Pouliot was too timid. If only he had driven for the net à la Glenn Anderson and shot more often off the left wing à la Mark Messier. Maybe he will one day. On verra, eh?
Enjoying this beautiful day by taking it easy and enjoying the fruits of my labour in my beautiful backyard. I love Hockey but I’m thinking of baseball and my beloved EXPOS. I read that article of baseball in Montreal and I get totally pissed off. I supported my team but a lot of people of my generation who were big sports fan are living somewhere else due to the LITTLE MINDED PEOPLE of this province. To read an article like that the anger and frustration just boils me over. My son got me an EXPOS cap for fathers day. I have a picture of me holding him when he was just months old with him wearing an EXPOS cap. Member of Rusty Staub fan club and sadly missing my EXPOS on this Beautiful Day. Hockey has it’s season but we should be talking about baseball.( If we had our team). Sorry for ranting. EXPOS FOREVER.
L
has
Cheers Cuzzie.
Living in Ireland now, but spent many’s the summer day at Jarry Park (including a double-header vs the Reds on Mother’s Day — she had no interest in baseball but came along — DOUBLE-HEADER! — and received a bottle of strawberry shampoo.
Rusty Staub poster on the wall, at the plate, afternoon game, the covetted Staub baseball card at school. But actual favourite was Tim Foley. Still wear the hat. Steve Rogers handed out the prizes at our Cub-Scout annual dinner. Remember Carter hitting his second homer in the All-Star game?
Enjoy the memories. And who knows how things might change in the future? Stranger things have happened than baseball in Montreal — like hockey in Phoenix, Miami, Nashville…)
Cheers
Enjoy the memories
Thanks Mike. Do not know if it was in 75 or76, Russ Taylor the original partner of Dave Van Horne was going to interview Gary Carter before the game in the bleachers. By accident I walked up the right ramp and their they were. I was two feet From Gary and I was awed. He autographed my rain check. ( we had a fire in my parents house and I lost it with all my hockey cards from the 60′s and 70′s.) Gary is fighting his greatest battle right now. Gary you will win the fight!
Richard R
I’m a member of the Blue Monday club. Was there in ’81. Big Bummer.
I”ve started to wonder what the heck the issue is with Shane O’Brien?
At first I thought he might be someone the Habs could look at as an UFA signing to help bolster their blue line with a bit of extra size and toughness.
While he was a Canuck I remember hearing him getting blamed for some defensive break downs and costing his team a game or two, kinda like O’Byrne here. He was also undisciplined and took bad penalties.
But from all accounts he settled down last year in Nashville and played a very strong and steady season. He was being mentioned as a possible top four defender and played some big minutes.
So I’m surprised he’s still sitting there available. I’m guessing that his agent is holding out for a bigger offer or that he has off ice issues, which I’ve heard rumblings of from fans?
Yah Hobie, I agree in that I would have thought someone would have picked him up by now. I am guessing that the scenario in Nashville resigning him can only occur after Poile finalizes things with Shea Weber. Seems like every nickel counts there and until they know how much they paying Weber they can’t do anything else. They did pick up a 6th/7th dman in Lebda so perhaps that has made O’Brien expendable there.
Perhaps the partying he was known for hasn’t stopped. It would be nice to have his tougness on our blue line.
I’m hoping Gauthier adds a couple more depth players before the end of the summer.
White, Darche and Moen are good grinders but I’m still wondering who’s going to play in the middle on the 4th line?
I imagine once Eller comes back we could have Desharnais as the 4th line center, which I’m not crazy about…
Yah, I am guessing DD will be on wing with AK/Eller to give us a talented 3rd line. But that means White playing the middle with Moen and Darche? We all saw how misused Moen was last year, perhaps keeping him on a checking line with those guys and he plays a bit bigger? Like many have said, half of being physical is mindset, I am hoping Cole/MaxPac lead by example and all our “bigger” forwards play Big.
Having Cole on one line and Pacioretty on the other will give us a totally different look. I like our top six.
Desharnais is a talented player and I think the right move was signing him but there is some confusion in the Habs bottom six.
Can Desharnais play the wing on the 3rd line? Everybody is assuming that’s where he’ll play?
I’m leaning towards Martin splitting White and Moen up and trying to evenly balance the bottom two lines with scoring and grit.
I’d rather an ultra tough 4th line and a third line with better than average scoring punch but we’re missing that big tough center for the the 4th line at the moment.
Has White signed, I do not see his name on the list Steve?
Not yet Ian. White was not eligible for arbitration.
Thanks Frank
So with little new in Habland, how greedy will the new rat in Boston get with his next contract. Obviously Marchand should be smart enough to realize he is playing for the team that best suits his attitude/style/behaviour. But given we have seen his maturity (edit:or lack thereof) during the season and now in his post season celebration will his inflated ego get the best of him? I am sure they will come to an agreement, but I really hope he makes Boston overpay for him (not that I wish him those riches), I want Boston to regret that contract when this kid continues to become more and more of a target to teams around the league.
Drafting against the grain.
http://www.dobberhockey.com/
Nice to be identified as one of the top drafting teams along with Detroit and Buffalo.
Checked out our draft record from 1997 to 2006. We drafted 90 players of which 38 (42%) played at least one game in the NHL and 20 (22%) played as regulars last season. Potentially another 4 in the KHL could have joined them. Chris made a comment one time that 15% was the average for the draft so we draft 50% better then average.
This doesn’t include 2007 in which 4 so far have made it to the NHL.
Now if they could only learn to keep the good ones instead of sending half of them to other teams.
True that or at least get more for them.
On the other hand, who would you like back?:
Latendresse, D’Agostini, Kostitsyn, Chipchura
Grabovski, Streit, Lapierre, O’Bryne
Halak, Higgins, Komisarek, Hainsey
Carkner, Ribeiro, Beauchemin, Ryder
Grabovsky and Streit.
Streit 2 years ago and without the shoulder injury. The rest are pretty middling talents with a mix of personal issues, injury issues and journeyman talent. We lament the players and what we didn’t get in return but that list is not exactly full of all stars.
***Subbang Baby!!!***
A list of arbitration dates.
http://spectorshockey.net/wordpress/2011/07/09/list-of-nhl-salary-arbitration-dates/
There are some interesting names on that list. I wonder if PG is waiting to see how some of this stuff shakes out before he does anything else. I wouldn’t mind taking Purcell off Dr. Y’s hands.
According to TSN both Ryan Wilson and Kevin Porter resigned one year deals with Colorado. That’s 2 names to come off the list you mention. Cheers
No comments since Timo at 12:01? Really? Hard to believe.
Timo’s a hard act to follow.
The fact that he is 5’10″ should be impressive enough. It’s is not nearly as impressive as 5’7″ but still… not too shabby for a rookie.
He’s generously listed as 5’10″ which means he’s 5’9″.
Which means a 5′ 7″ player is only 5′ 6″?
OK so here’s a viewpoint that I expect to get lots of quivers emptied in response.
I think that the Gorges situation is different than Carey’s last year. The chief reason I sa this is because relative to his position, I think Gorges has a higher marquee attraction than Price had in the same situation last year. Gorges is a nice guy and wants to be a HAB but I get the feeling that he is also ‘demanding’ compensation at the topmost rung for defenseman of his ilk because he does have a very high standing right now… whereas Carey didnt when he came up for RFA.
So having Diaz and Yemelin etc etc, maybe PG should give this a couple days or so, and if no signs of progress then he should use Gorges as trade bait to either land that big gritty productive forward or big mean gritty steady defenseman…. while there may be some pickings out there.
It seems that Diaz is an upgrade on Streit who had better offensive skils than Gorges and also could influence the ‘tempo’ of a game better than Gorges.
Gorges is important but the cupboard isnt bare!
huh? a lifer in the swiss league is an upgrade over an nhl all-star? it’s getting late, i think…
As for Raphael Diaz, is he the same guy that jumped onto the practice ice a couple of years ago and took that breakaway shot on Theodore.
HaHa good one Pro, that guy was a Raphael indeed wasn’t he. Forgot about that!
Gorges not being signed right now is a non-issue. It will 100% happen. It is not like the team is against the cap, or Gorges is asking for $5 million a season. Based on previous signings everyone knows Gorges will get something like $3mil per season…
And look at Doughty, one of the best Dmen in the league. He is not signed right now. The Kings have $11mil in space so this is will be a non-issue as well. And this player will be getting a monster deal, unlike Gorges…
These RFA’s will all be signed because their teams have the money available to them…
Another case in point…Brad Marchand…He is not signed right now either. No big deal because it will happen…
So many of you Habs fans need to just relax. This is all but a done deal. There is 0% chance Gorges is going to play elsewhere this season!
I think we’re making a mountain out of a molehill with the Gorges contract situation. He’s negotiating hard with the Canadiens, he’s probably getting good advice from his agent and did the logical thing by signing up for arbitration. It’s normal that he try to maximize his earnings.
I think Mr. Gauthier will be cautious and not hamstring the organization with a bad contract. He will also want to be assured that Mr. Gorges’ knee is responding well to rehab, so waiting a couple weeks is not a bad idea, since the surgery is more recent than Mr. Markov’s.
Having said that, I think that Mr. Gauthier, having stated that he likes this team, and knowing that Mr. Gorges is fully committed as a Canadien, will recognize this as well as his leadership qualities.
We can expect a contract signed a couple days before the arbitration date and having a happy and healthy Josh joining a talented group of rearguards in camp.
One thing we forget is what a steal Josh Gorges is. We bemoan guys like Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike Ribeiro and Benoit Pouliot leaving town for little or no compensation, and whine about how we always get robbed. In this case, we fleeced San Jose, as we sent Craig Rivet, a capable veteran defenceman and a fifth-round pick, for Mr. Gorges’ services, plus a first-round pick which became Max Pacioretty. For once, let’s snap our suspenders on a good trade.
As for Mr. Diaz, the reports I read all stated that he was further in his development than Marc Streit was when he left Switzerland, but that doesn’t mean he’s as good as Mr. Streit is right now. I think he’ll be in Hamilton most of the year, with maybe an emergency callup to season him a little bit.
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Erik Cole IS that big gritty productive forward and while Gorges may not be big nor mean, he is as steady as a defenseman as they come, not to mention he plays a relatively mistake-free and rather courageous game.
A line from the SK74 article:
“(Kostitsyn) is a guy we took a chance on a year ago, he winds up our leading goal-scorer and he’s only 24. Hopefully last year is just a sign of more and better things to come.”
If I were a GM, I’d “take a chance” on all the Habs bad-boys. Habs management is so old school, stiff upper lip and all that. Ribiero… Grabovski, S Kost… who cares what talent they have, they’ll never make it in the NHL right? Except they do, and they do well, and the Habs get sh$t in return.
I will always be a fan of Sergei, and forever mad that they let him go.. It will be interesting to see if Pouliot gets on track in Boston, where as he already proved to be a let down in Minnesota before ever coming here.
Pouliot will be a failure in Boston. However, he will have 6 great games for the Bruins this year. It will be the 6 games Boston plays against Montreal, he will look like a super star. Just like he did for that game for MOntreal against Minnisota. And that is what is going to be frustrating to watch, along with the Bruins beating up the Habs because Goats has done nothing to address the soft issue our team has.
So far in this offseason, Gauthier has signed a power forward who was 10th in the league in hits in Erik Cole, traded a “soft” depth player in Ryan Russell for 6’4 Michael Blunden, who likes to hit and drop the gloves (even though he doesn’t win many fights), and has convinced Alexei Yemelin, one of the best and most physical defensemen not playing in the NHL, to come over to play with the Habs.
How is that nothing?
The moves you mention are good. Plus we get gorges and markov back and a real backup goalie – pg has been fine. I would have found a way to sign wiz if only to have depth in march to trade for a male forward, but we are certainly better than last year. Are we a top 6 team? No. But 2-3 years from now we could be if all goes well.
Hey LA, it’s bad enough that our forwards are known as the Smurfs. We don’t need our own fans suggesting we acquire “male forwards”.
Talk about HEAD shots,! who else noticed all the helmet spearing in the Alouetts and, Sask. game today???
Referees turned a blind eye. Poorly refereed game today I thought.!
HIO is more than just a hockey site! Its a community!
Andree and I had a very nice first meeting with two HIO posters at our home in Belleville today. They just dropped by for a swim, a beer and we had a Bar B Q.
Linda a very lively Hab’s fan and husband Bob from the Ottawa area spent the day here. First time we have met. Very enjoyable afternoon.
This won’t be the last time that we get together. They will also be going for the first time to our annual HIO Fan Summit in Mtl in OCT.
Nice, sounds like you had a good day Ian.
Meeting new friends and fans through HIO Gerald.
Alright my turn to become the GM of the Habs
(Helps that Mr. Gauthier has already solidified the roster with the addition of Cole, so it makes me look bright)
Cammalleri-Plekanec-Cole
Pacioretty-Gomez-Gionta
Darche-Desharnais-Kostitsyn
Moen-Madden-White
(Eller out due to injury)
*I was thinking that it would be better to give someone from the farm a good taste of the NHL with a spot vacant for a 4th line center. But we need someone who’s defensively responsible, a good PK player and someone who can score once in a while. Only one who comes close to that role is Engqvist. And he can’t score, worse than Pyatt in my opinion. Brendan Morrison would be a good addition, but he’ll come expensive given his stats, and he’s ideal for the third line in the NHL, not fourth. Rob Niedermayer?..nope. You know what. Veteran John Madden fits the bill. I know we all want a rough-and-tough type player who gives the other players fits, but this guy is a veteran checking center that can still contribute a lot at the age of 38. He has speed too. Would be a solid addition in my opinion. A 1 year, 1.25 M deal should be good (what he got last season in Minny).
Markov-Gorges
Gill-Subban
Yemelin-Weber
Diaz
Price
Budaj
Trade Spacek to any team willing to reach the cap floor. Don’t expect a whole lot in return, whether it’s future considerations, rights to a RFA, a 7th round pick. Chances of this happening are very slim. So if no trade goes through, then keep Jaro. He’s not that horrible that the Habs need to buy him out. It’s finally his last season here (no offence to him). And rotate Weber and Spacek. I suggest we do not play Jaro on the back-to-back nights, giving him time to rest and much valuable playing time needed for Yannick. I like him a lot (as a player).
What do ya think? Madden’s a good choice? Some other UFA signing? Someone from the farm? Should I get fired from this post?..probably haha.
Don’t mind that at all, however, I doubt they move Spacek and if JM uses him as a 6th/7th dman he can still provide some leadership and good minutes to the team. Hopefully Eller is back sooner than later and can center 3rd line with AK and DD.
Madden still averaged about 15mins. per game last year with 12 goals and 13 assists, that is a big improvment from Pyatt on the 4th line. I didn’t see his faceoff% however, not sure how much he helps us there.
I don’t like it. It’s a lateral move at best and at worst it dislodges Engqvist or somebody else.
At any rate the Habs need a R-handed centre.
FYI John Madden was 51%
HEIGHT: 5′ 11″ Not tall
WEIGHT: 190 Not heavy
SHOOTS: LEFT Wrong handed
BIRTHDATE: MAY 4, 1973 (AGE 38) Old
HH, I dont think you have to worry, cant see PG adding another forward. Just hope Engqvist is ready. Madden would be able to do lots of pk and that would free up Plex quite a bit.
Chris Drury is right-handed, although he is also under 6′. Wins face-offs, kill penalties, blocks shots and can sub on the wing. Great playoff history and leadership record. Only question is his health and the fact that his contract would be +35.
I like Madden for the defensive role, put him with Moen and they can shut down any line in the NHL. Also he can fit in seeing he played with Gomez & Gionta as well in the past.
Another guy I’d try for as a 3rd line RW with PP mins (Jagr’s original role) is Kovalev. He sucked in Ottawa, had some flashes in Pittsburgh but if he signs for 1.5, 1 yr he might be worth the risk. Worst case scenario put him on the bench for a youngster, best case scenario Kovalev & Markov make this teams PP #1 in the NHL again. Low risk, high reward IMO.
Same with Drury if not Madden.
Flashes?!! He donned the Cloak of Invisibility throughout the playoffs.
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Kovalev doesn’t play defense, and doesn’t check, and doesn’t fall in line. Itso factso, not right for a defensive checking line.
The 3rd line is not exactly a defensive line with Eller, DD, A. Kost being pencilled in. That’s why I think we should take a chance,
Kovalev loves to play under pressure, unfortunately he had nobody at all in Pittsburgh to play with. Aaron Asham and Tyler Kennedy aren’t keeping defenders up at night. He won them their 1st game he played with them with a goal & shootout winner, after that he had a bunch of slugs to play with it hurt him. In the past Kovalev & A Kost had some dynamite chemistry, maybe his old legs can give it 1 more try.
Give Kovalev 1 last run, the guy has skills and skills pay the bills. If he sucks just sit him on the bench, it would be a good insurance policy to have as well for when the top 6 get injured.
Also the “young guys” in Hamilton are non-factors. Max Pac & Subban were all that was left, nobody else worth calling up.
Good job as a GM. Please be aware that the coaches decide on line combinations, and who dresses from game to game, so I guess you’ve ousted Mr. Martin too.
I don’t think we’re winning the Cup this year, so I don’t think we should tinker with our bottom six. Rather, let that be a testing ground for the boys in Hamilton, let’s give them the icetime. This would be an investment in our future, instead of plugging a hole with a short-term solution like John Madden.
And if I’m successful with my coup and depose you, I make Mr. Spacek our #7 defenceman. I agree he will be with us this season, and if not it will be by miracle that he is traded at the deadline, maybe to a team as desperate as we were last season. I say he dresses when we’re banged up a little, or when one of the youngsters is getting that look that says he would benefit from a breather.
Oh, and sign O’Brien.
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Well Gary Bettman must be proud of the NHL these days. There are so many franchises in real dissarray yet he continues to just plod along spouting about revenues being up blah blah blah.
It was only about 4 months ago the City of Glendale coughed up another 25Million to help cover losses of the Yotes with the hopes Hulsizer would buy the team. Well now Hulsizer is reportadly looking at buying the St. Louis Blues and no longer interested in the Coyotes. Now the Mayor of Glendale who ramrodded through the payment approval to the NHL is now saying she doesn’t think the Yotes will be there after this year. And not only that she is now starting to hint at blaming the NHL for killing the Hulsizer deal.
http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/weblog/P10/
The Dallas Stars are still looking for buyers, St. Louis Blues got an extension on their loan but are looking for buyers.
Then I come across this article talking about the Islanders and explaining the rink isn’t even an NHL rink.
http://www.islanderspointblank.com/2011/07/needed-4-million-in-coliseum-repairsbusted-seats-roof-icemaker-force-nyi-to-make-request/
Darn good thing the league keeps protecting the Sabre and Leafs and don’t move one of these teams to Hamilton. As mickey mouse as they handle league discipline seems to be the same Disney standards with handling economics. How much longer can these owners enjoy covering costs for a team they are trying to beat. Oh well, Gary must host a great cocktail party to get that nice contract extension. I am guessing he serves up lots of the Jacob’s family Hot Dogs at his shindigs.
Habs are a good 3 line team. to win a cup gotta be able to roll 4 lines and the 4th line has to be a little more than a checking line…
Neutral- Then you don’t know J.Martin. He cannot count past 3.!
Ian!!!
I can’t recall you last zinger.
Good job!
On a different note, Anthony Calvillo has tied Damon Allen for the all time lead in touchdowns with 394.
AC!!!!!!
Enough said!
Yeah isn’t that great! Man that guy can throw! Always impresses me. Was a great game today too. Love beating Sask
calvillo is a good qb the best in the league right now,but he’s no doug flutie and never will be!
The problem with the 2nd line isn’t Gomez. It’s Gionta. Gomez has fed Gionta numerous sure goals but it was Gionta that flubbed most of them. He had a shooting percentage of 9.7% last season (good for 182nd over-all, Plekanec oddly enough was #183). Gionta also took the most shots on the team at 298 (7th over-all) with which he netted 29 goals. Not bad considering. Imagine if he was at 15% or 20% efficiency.
So here’s my solution. Demote Gio to play with DD and Pacioretty on the 3rd line and promote Darche and Moen to play with Gomez on the 2nd. Only thing is Gomez needs to pace himself for the play-offs so give him only 15-18 minutes per game.
——————————————————————————–
Here’s a little known tidbit to stir the pot even more for the we let SK74 go for nothing and it’s Boyd who ended up defecting to the KHL crowd; Sergei Kostitsyn led the league last season, in fact, blew away the league with a 24.7% (23 goals on 93 shots) shooting efficiency. 2nd was Sydney Crosby at 19.9%.
Chew on that SK74 was a head case and the Habs needed to trade a player valued today at 2.5M@1 year for nothing crowd.
These scoring percentages on Gionta and Kostitsyn have been on other Habs blogs since the season ended. Thanks for bringing them here and making them look fresh.
You made my case. Nobodies who have ridiculously high shooting percentages in ONE year is an indicator of what? Here are the two choices: a prolific scorer OR somebody who got extremely lucky. In my opinion, SK falls under the latter category. Now I could be wrong, but that will only be determined at the end of next season. As it stands now, when a guy who had achieved nothing in the NHL and was regarded by most as a playmaker has the highest shooting percentage (by far) in the legaue, it’s an indicator of luck more than anything.
the thing is even with mtl he did not bad with shooting %
07-08 18.4%
08-09 10.8%
09-10 11.9%
this is considering he did not get a lot of ice time with mtl in the last 2 years
——————
The 2010-11 Stanley Cup was not won, but given
Based on HH’s analysis of Gio’s shooting percentage, 10.8% and 11.9% are hardly good. The 18.4 is excellent, but in that season, he took a career low 49 shots in 52 games.
Those are SK’s numbers.
Gio’s are:
10-11 9.7% 29 goals
09-10 11.8% 28 goals Montreal
08-09 8.1% 20 goals New Jersey
07-08 8.6% 22 goals
06-07 12.9% 25 goals
05-06 16.5% 48 goals
03-04 12.1% 21 goals
02-03 9.3% 12 goals
It’s remarkable to see Gionta’s goals total increase having come to Montreal, all things considered. If he can score at above 15% he could realistically pass 40-45 goals, possibly even toy with 50.
Gionta’s SH%’s are fine. He’s a high volume shooter who always takes a shot when there is an opportunity to shoot.
Gionta finished 7th in the NHL in shots taken, behind only Ovechkin (8.7%), Buff (5.8%) as a D, Carter (10.7%), Kessel (9.8%), Zetterberg (7.8%), Nash (10.5%), and Gio (9.7%). As you can see Gio’s SH % is right in line with his high volume shooting peers, only 1% behind the leader Carter. Players who shot a lot have weak SH%, however as the list shows these are still elite players.
I also think that’s the reason why Gomez started getting points when Pacioretty was called up. Once that Gionta-Gomez-Pacioretty line was made Max started scoring and gomez started getting assists.
very true. Lets hope that carries over to next season, which I think it will.
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro”, Hunter S. Thompson.
I’m pretty sure not even you believe this. If you actually think Gio’s shooting percentage is bad, you need to take a look around the league at comparable players and realize you’re insane. There is more to the NHL than Montreal.
Scott Gomez, Superstar.
Better answer than the one before.
1st of all it’s a ruse. I am not really promoting Darche and Moen. It’s Gomez I am demoting.
But on a serious note…
Imagine if Plekanec and Gionta scored at a 15% shooting ratio or higher though.
Were talking 25+ extra goals between them.
The bottom line is no-one on the Habs hit 15% last season. If anything the snipers need to work on their shooting as much as the centres need to work on their face-off efficiency.
I can’t see the Habs improving much roster wise however if they can improve in these two areas they’d be a force to reckon with.
I say hire an assistant coach to replace Muller that can teach them how to aim better and win face-offs and the Cup is ours.
I’m not sure what a couple of stats like this really prove. Maybe the opposition tended to focus on Gionta and Gomez knowing their history together. Too many variables at play to pin anything on these stats. However, nothing wrong with mixing up the lines a bit to find special combinations.
I don’t really care about SK. In his case maybe the opposition ignored him as his history suggested far less than spectacular results with Montreal.
***Subbang Baby!!!***
It proves nothing but it infers much. Read my reply to the battery for clues.
Unfrigging real!
I bet your parents sent you to play in the streets, like Sherbrooke at rush hour!
What, what, what?
This is the Sniper gets a tryout thread is it not. There is a headline linking to an SK article entitled SK74 signs for $2.5 million if I am not mistaken. So then what?
I am completely on topic. Sniper, Shooting percentage. SK74. It all ties in neatly.
Hope your getting a cut. Generating 14.5% (40/275) of this thread.
Have often wondered what a wood chipper backed up to cow barn would look like??
A true maestro at work!
That’s higher than Gionta’s SH%!
gio had 29 goals not 28
Thanks.
If SK’s shooting percentage is real and sustainable (I don’t think it is), what in the world is he doing taking 1.2 shots a game? If his scoring skills are so good, that he can score on one out of four shots, he needs to be averaging 3 or more shots a game.
It seems pretty obvious that SK only takes high percentage shots and passes when grade A opportunities are not available. Same reason Mikey Ribs lead the league in SH% one year.
Sergei Kostitsyn was a head case.
When he was traded he had worn out his welcome. When you have to dump a player like that, the other GM’s kind of got you over a barrel. We couldn’t expect much in return.
The great benefit we derived in return for Mr. Kostitsyn is his absence.
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Hockey Future has released their assessment of our draft picks.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/13181/montreal_canadiens2011_draft_review/
A nice reminder of how depressing their drafting was this year. Aside from the 1st round.
Your counting the eggs. Let us wait until we see what hatches!!
True. I was just hoping they would take Yuen,Grenier and Ambroz instead of Didier,Archambault,Deitz,Nygren etc. I like the Pribyl pick though.
Finally!
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Couple questions
1. How many goals does Jagr score for Philly?
2. How many games does Croaby play this year?
1. 23
2. 0
1. 19
2. 70
As for Gomez. I agree that this guy has really underachieved especially considering his contract, but the bar for this guy is set way too high by a lot of Habs fans! He’s better than the 38 points and +/- he put up last year, but he’s also not a 70 point or even a 20 goal guy. I expect him to put up around 15 goals and about 40 assists, and he’s still our best forward at bringing the puck into the offensive zone, and will usually always find his wingers if they can break free. JM had him and Gionta playing with either Moen or Darche for a good part of the season. These are fourth line players, Gomez is a play maker and he needs some snipers to feed his passes to. With either Gionta and Max or Cole and Cammy as his wingers for an entire season I think Gomez should have a bounce back season. He most likely won’t be worth $7.5M, but we can’t keep whining about s contract we never even signed. I’m more bitter cause we gave up McDonoughin the trade to bring Gomez here. I feel we could’ve had the exact same deal without him in it
ummmmmm….a little obssessed are we? Maybe I’m wrong but you keep posting the e-x-a-c-t same thing thread after thread. I’m reading your post and its like deja vu. That makes you a little creepy dude.
A little off the topic of prospects but I’d like you to see my Habs bench. http://dennis-kane.com/sprucing-up-the-old-habs-bench/
When I’m owner/stickboy, things will be different.
http://dennis-kane.com/
Our team was better last year than the year before and is better this year than last year. Im happy with that.
The only thing we should wish for is a healthy roster going into the playoffs, thats the very best thing that can happen for a team.
People saying we lack stars, if PK and Price aren’t stars, who is? I would NEVER trade either for anyone.
Think a bit, does stamkos for 9-10 million gives you as much as PK for 5 and Price for 5 (realistic salaries)? Nope, not in a million years.
PK + Price over Stamkos anyday, please.
is it fixed yet
“It’s not an obsession, It’s a way of life..”
Does somebody know what Gorges submitted as his salary expectations for his arbitration hearing? Anybody?
EDIT: I found a good article which almost answers my question:
Similar players are often used as a gauge for determining salary, and comparable defensive d-men for Gorges might be Columbus’s Marc Methot (4 years, $12M, $3M cap hit) or St. Louis’s Roman Polak (5 years, $13.75M, $2.75M cap hit).
Source: http://yourcanadiens.blogspot.com/2011/07/player-spotlight-josh-gorges.html
I think it’s safe to say that 24Cups will be buying me a drink next summit.
that sounds reasonable… if he signs for 2.75 of less long term, i’d be very happy
Dave – Just remember that $3M is considered over.
I trust that you are still drinking Scotch.
3M is even Mr. K. Nice try finagling though.
The Habs have a good arguably great goalie. Good defense and great defensive prospects. The offense needs work.
I beleive if the habs can ice 3 legitimate offensive lines, they can take it to the next level. Otherwise, unless we are lucky we will not be a cup contender unless we change our system.
The question is what will they look like next year and can they add the pieces to get there. Or are we looking out beyond next year to get there.
I would like to see something like:
Cole-Plek-Cam
Patch-Gom-Gio
AK-Eller-20-30 goal scorer missing!
Moen-DD-White/Darche
And hopefully have DD fight for Gomer’s job by the end of the year.
Do we hope some UFA can bring up his game if placed on the third line?
do we trade for a third line goal scorer?
Do we do nothing and continue to moen about this team!
I think you will see DD on the wing with AK and Eller . Don’t know what that does for the 4th line, but it will probably be someone already in the system or a small signing. DD was moved to the wing against Boston in the playoffs and was playing well in that role before he injured his leg.
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
Nice pun there Dawg! No UFA is going to provide what you are describing as missing. Would have to be trade. I think given that last year we didn’t get to see this team as a whole and now addition of Cole pg is going to see how they do without any tinkering. Our offense should be much better with a healthy Markov.
Personally, Id rather see gomez earn to keep his spot on the top two lines by having a 70-75 pt season, but thats just me lol
Agreed!! But I think I have seen enough of Gomer to realize he won’t pay off on his 3 years remaining at his cap hit. I am not saying I want Gomer to fail. On the contrary, I would prefer to see our young centers mature and improve enough to allow us to trade Gomes at the end of the year to a cap floor team. Plek, DD and Eller have the potential to be legitimate top 3 C’s on a good team.
The team will have a successful season if he does
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
I like the Moen about the team line.
Looking at the remaining UFA’s we can see that there isn’t a likely 20-25 goal man that we could plug in to our third line. Obtaining one by trade would strip another asset from somewhere else, we’d be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
I think we should head into camp with much this same roster. Let’s see if any of the youngsters from Hamilton can contribute on our bottom six. I also want to see if Mr. Desharnais can challenge Scott Gomez for his spot next to Mr. Gionta. If he earns it he gets it.
If I have my druthers, we do sign Shane O’Brien as our 6-7th defenceman, and play him as insurance when the weather calls for idiocy. He’s a good dressing room guy, his teammates love him, and he would add a pinch of confidence to our lineup. Aside from that, I really like our defence, I’m happy that we’ll have younger faster players on the blue line and that the pipeline is about to gush with more talent.
In goal we’ve made our bed, and we’re very comfortable.
We’ll continue to moan about injuries and referees, and we’ll have a good season, but we’re really looking at making a run for the Cup in a year or two I think. Let’s see how this team works together and matures, and keep stockpiling and developing assets.
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
I agree, good post. This team is on the verge I think. Great veterans, and lights out talented kids. The cup could be ours within the next couple of years with a little luck.
I like Kostitsyn, he has 2nd line numbers Goals and Assists if you compared him with our $7 m Plus dollar man I’d take AK46 any day….
Yeah hes underrated. People have expectations set way too high, and love to hate him. He’s a great overall player and improved his defensive game a lot last year. Hes got a sick shot and underrated passing.. All goal scorers go through slumps, he just does it a bit too often. He is also the most physical player in the top 6. ( Cole hasn’t played any games as a Hab yet..obviously )
No way I would depart with Price. put a scoring team in front of him and you won’t have to wait 18 years between cups. with a scoring team he’ll win a few…
The main reason AK is hated on here is because he was chosen 10th overall in the strong 2003 draft. That’s not his fault. But yes, he is too inconsistent for my liking.
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
Price is arguable the best goalie in the league. Why on earth would we give him up?
oops, wrong thread.
Readin about trading Price for Stamkos below got me thinking..
Price + What else do you think it would take for.. for J.Bernier and A.Kopitar?
Only people I wouldn’t package with that is Subban and Patches. Not saying LA would ever trade Kopitar, just curious to see what people think it would cost.
Why are we even discussing trading Price?!?!
I dunno, just read others talking about it and thought it was an interesting conversation.
No thanks.
During the long summer, we all get to be pretend GM.
Capgeek says we have 8.3 million to spend and nhlnumbers says we have almost 9.3. Which one is more accurate?
nhlnumbers doesn’t include Yemelin in its calculation
Does anybody know what Gorges submitted as his salary expectations for his arbitration hearing?
What would you give up for Stamkos?
I’d tell Yzerman to take his pick of anyone on my roster not named Price/Subban…I’d also take Malone’s contract off his hands.
Pleks
One of Patches/Eller/Tinordi/Leblanc
Gorges
Weber
2 1sts
For Stamkos and Malone
Not sure if that’s even enough.
I think Steve would insist on either Price or PK.
And that’s where I hang up.
I agree, but he has to bring back a franchise player in return don’t you think?
Yes and no. The Bolts still have fan faves like Vinny and Marty…plus they have Hedman who could become the face of the franchise.
But like someone said above. If the asking price was C.Price in an even 1 for 1 swap I’d do it and ask them to include Roloson.
As good as Price is, I think his production can be replaced rather easily.
Don’t worry, Yzerman already would have the second Stamkos’ name was spoken.
During the long summer, we all get to be pretend GM.
In that case it would have to be a straight up 1 for 1 trade.
Derek Jeter 3,000th hit a home run, geez this guy has a good life.
It would’ve been even better had it been against Boston!
I’m not a Yankee fan, but this guy is going to go down as one of the best Yankees of all time. To do that in this era of huge fame and fortune, unbelievable. But yah, to do it against the BoSox would have been really fitting.
I actually used to be a Sox fan but gave up on them. I just couldn’t cheer for a team that NESN covers and that Bruins fans support…
I was just taking a look at the depth charts of all NHL teams, and it occurs to me that there really are precious few teams who have that “Big, Strong #1 Centre who puts up points” that we’ve been clamouring for since forever.
Outside of Getzlaf, Thornton, Crosby, Mike Richards, Staal, Toews and possibly Stamkos (or Lecavalier)…there really aren’t that many in the league. In fact, most top line centres, while skilled, certainly do not fill the role of “power forward” at all.
BOS – Krejci
BUF – Roy
CGY – Jokinen
CLB – Vermette/Carter
COL – Stastny
DAL – Ribeiro
DET – Zetterberg
EDM – Horcoff
FLA – Weiss
MIN – Koivu
MTL – Plekanec
NSH – Fisher
NJ – Zajac
NYI – Tavares
NYR – Richards
OTT – Spezza
PHI – Briere?
PHX – Handzal
STL – Backes?
TOR – Connolly
VCR – Sedin
WSH – Backstrom
Obviously there’s some very high quality Centres in there. But the only players who I’d qualify as “Big #1 Centres” in the NHL are Getzlaf and Thornton. One of whom has a reputation for disappearing in the playoffs (undeserved IMHO) and the other plays for a team that has missed the playoffs 2 of the last 3 years.
I’m wondering – just where did the hockey world get this obsession with the Big #1 Centre?
It’s the stuff hockey wet dreams are made of. We’ve been whining of our need for a “gros joueur de centre” since the late 70′s, even while we were winning cups. We had Peter Mahovlich, but he wasn’t physical enough we said, and when he started to stickhandle he’d stop skating and lose the puck.
It was such a big problem that we passed over magical Denis Savard for Doug Wickenheiser. I remember as a kid reading in La Presse how Le Professeur Ronald Caron crowed about this selection and said Mr. Wickenheiser would soon centre Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt for years.
We’ve had the big centre in Montreal occasionally but then we’d not appreciate them enough. I think of Bobby Smith, who didn’t score enough we said, and Pierre Turgeon, who should have been more of a scrapper with his size we thought.
The obsession with size doesn’t stop with centres though, and it’s not just the Canadiens. Nobody ever brags about how they just drafted a great small winger. Nobody trades for a small defenceman because he’s small. If you have an underperforming tall goaltender or an overachieving small goaltender, who do you keep?
I was looking at the 1987 draft last night, because that’s what I do on Friday nights, and again saw how Theoren Fleury lasted until the 8th round, the 166th pick, two picks after we drafted Will Geist. He was coming off a season in the Western Hockey League during which he scored 61 goals, and 43 the previous one. Obviously production wasn’t a problem. If he had been 6’1″ 195 lbs he would have been drafted early in the first round. If he had been 6’4″ 225 lbs he would have bumped Pierre Turgeon for first overall.
Obviously the way the NHL is constituted now, how the game is played, and seeing how the Canucks were mugged of the Cup by the Bruins and the Head Office in New York, size will continue to be a deciding factor in how players are drafted and developed. Guys like Etienne Brodeur and Martin St-Louis will continue to go undrafted despite their production.
Another basic element though is what we as human beings feel when confronted with people of large size. It brings us back to when we were kids and had to crane our necks to look up to our cousin who was over six feet tall, even taller than dad, or that neighbour down the street who is a policeman who plays rugby and is so big he almost can’t fit in his Jetta. Large men catch our eye, and when a scout or GM sees a player of size, he will favour that player over the smaller one who is probably a little better. It’s a visceral reaction that is hard to ignore, and we’ll keep ascribing a disproportional value to it.
———————————
Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
…err …started, I believe, with an ol’ turnip named …Belly_full ?
…correct me, if I got da spellin’ wrong
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
With Cole in the mix, I see Pacs on a very good 3rd line with DD and White. By Spring Eller is going to force the habs to do something with Gomez.
It will be a cold day in hell before Pacioretty is bumped to the third line in favour of Andrei Kostitsyn, provided both are healthy.
Incorrect.
If both play to their potential consistently, Andrei will be ahead of Pac-Man.
Those are the rules.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Because we all know that InKostitsyn always plays to his potential.
He is proven to be more consistent than Maxpac. Mainly because Pacioretty is younger and hasn’t had as much time to prove otherwise. AK was just as consistent if not more, than Cammy, Gomez and Gionta last year. They all went through slumps, some longer than others.
good name for him.
@scrowe21 – Maxpac was pretty consistent before his injury and he seemed to have to some good chemistry with Gomer and Gio, he played a lot better with them then Ak46 did.
If Maxpac can get back to playing in that form I’d rather him on the 2nd.
If Ak46 was more consistent all season and played to his full potential then it would be different, but I don’t see that happening.
We said the same thing about Higgy after HE played well for a half-season too. Didn’t make HIM anymore “proven” either.
So no, Pac-Man has NOT “proven to be more consistent than Andrei.”
Not yet, he hasn’t.
Poolio was MORE consistent in the great stretch after he arrived than Pac-Man was mid to almost-end of last season. Look it up; I’m not conjuring this up out of thin air.
We would have a MORE solid argument maintaining Poolio was “proven” after HIS stretch than we would for Pac-Man after HIS.
Sooo, let’s take it easy with “Pac-Man is proven”, shall we?
Andrei still first on totem pole. He gets the shot first. If he’s AS “consistent” as Pac-Man, then it’s his spot.
And that’s it.
Until Pac-Man REALLY “proves” to be more efficient at it, that is.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
WE? Who’s this WE you’re talking about. Are you taking a page from John Lu’s book of phantom quotes?
Hi Tom,
Liked your posts way back on the PK in Haiti thread. Left replies long after everyone had moved on!
Cheers
I agree that Eller has the potential to push Gomez but I see his most likely linemates as Pacioretty and Cole, leaving Gionta and Cammy as likely mates to Pleks. In any case, I hope Eller fulfills that potential.
I could see this line combination happening at some point this year. MaxPac has said he likes playing with DD, and they were productive together in the Hammer.
Don’t know what ‘line’ it would be, though. 2nd? 3rd? Or maybe JM goes with more of a balanced approach, in which case it doesn’t matter.
Cammi/Plek/Cole
Moen/Eller/AK
MaxPac/DD/White
Darche/Gom/Gio
oops…did i just put Gomez on the 4th line?
Oops, you also put Moen on the second line.
He put our Captain on the 4th line too. Don’t see that happenning anytime soon.
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
Derek Jeter is now 1 hit away from 3,000.
Be prepared for all programming to be interrupted in about 30 mins. for his next at bat.
Fair warning that this post comes from a kuckle-dragger …
HIO hasn’t been too offer sheet obsessed but the topic has come up from time to time so here is a decent article by Mirtle http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/cautious-nhl-bosses-play-nice-on-stamkos-doughty/article2092259/
and a Wiki link to back up the reasoning, at least to a degree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NHL_players_who_have_signed_offer_sheets
Heh – I was just inquiring about this guy last week!
#FlaPanthers just traded former first round pick Kenndal McArdle to Winnipeg for Angelo Esposito…
Hope he makes it!
he was drafted by atlanta wasnt he? then traded to florida, now traded back?
“I have a different constitution. I have a different brain; I have a different heart; I got tiger blood, man.” – Charlie Sheen.
Who, Esposito? He was drafted by Pittsburgh, traded to ATL in the Hossa trade.
As for McArdle? I think he was FLA draft pick…not sure though
right right, thanks.
“I have a different constitution. I have a different brain; I have a different heart; I got tiger blood, man.” – Charlie Sheen.
#26 will sign on the 26th for 26 hundred thousand dollars per, for (-2)+6 years.
nice work, but i disagree haha
Just trying for form…
It’s later than you think.
Here’s something to tuck away for 2012.
http://futureconsiderationsdotca.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/fc-releases-preliminary-ranking-for-2012/#more-3551
Shucks Steve! I don’t like either the 30th
or the 60th 
picks!!
Checked out your previously mentioned veteran centers. Drury had the best FO % at 56.4% in 24 games (hadn’t realized he had played that many)
Sometimes we get carried away. In the heat of debate we make outrageous statements. Statements that our more rational selves would surely disown. And that is understandable. Sometimes we use hyperbole, we make extreme statements, sometimes we joke and it gets misinterpreted.
But this:
“The Leafs aren’t really a joke.”
this goes far beyond any of that.
In what way aren’t they a joke? They are the only wealthy team that hasn’t made the playoffs since the lockout. They are the only team that tanks through incompetence and doesn’t even get the draft picks that go along with stinking for years on end.
For Heaven’s sake, Burke’s first promise on taking over is to make his team more truculent, and he promptly signs Mike Komisarek to a huge contract!
On the night we retire Patrick ROy’s number they try to rain on our parade by honouring – who was it again – Gary Leeman? Wendel Clark?
It appears to only be getting worse. Rumours are getting really strong that Rogers Communications (who are brilliantly running the BlueJays…..) are close to buying out Teachers Pension of their share of MLSE. This is good news for us, as it will continue the current pattern in which this organization is run.
Where to start?
1. The Leafs are one of the most profitable franchises in the NHL.
2. They control decisions that the league makes. Like a franchise never making its way to Hamilton. Won’t happen as long as the Leafs have any say in the matter. And as long as they remain a financial powerhouse it won’t happen.
3. They remain competitive in spite of some poor management decisions. Brian Burke really screwed the pooch with the Kessel deal and Komisarek signing. He’s made some excellent trades that have you wondering what kind of dirt he has on the other GM. Like Versteeg for a 1st and 3rd. Beauchemin for a Lupul, Gardiner and a 4th. Kaberle for Colborne, a 1st and 2nd. He doesn’t make insane decisions that hurt the other 29 teams in the NHL.
4. You laugh at them now, but the Leafs are only a good goaltender away from being a playoff team. They’ve had a revolving door at the position since Belfour left and can’t seem to find an answer. That’s sad, but they aren’t engaging in publicly displayed unethical business practice or losing on purpose.
They may be the butt of many jokes here, but that doesn’t make their franchise a joke.
A city where a large majority of players don’t want to play, a team that engages in unethical business practice and loses on purpose is a joke.
But I agree with you about rewarding losing teams. It’s the dumbest thing the NHL could possibly do. Rewarding the Stanley Cup winner with the first overall pick and the subsequent draft picks being awarded to the next highest placing teams would create more parity than the current method. Successful teams would have to move important players to comply with the salary cap over the long haul. And it would be wise to disqualify the bottom five teams from revenue sharing.
First two reasons didn’t really address the reasons WHY they are more of a joke in the NHL than the Oilers but in building on their strong points, I got nothing against that.
But then, you say in reason 3 (that DOES address the reasons why they are a joke in the NHL) by affirming inexplicably that “they remain competitive”.
I’m sure you meant to add “for a high draft selection”.
But even at THAT, they fail.
Sooo, I’m out.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Tom – I was half-joking. But they are a joke.
As far as Burke not hurting the league, he is the main promoter of the NHL’s reprehensible attitude toward head injuries, namely: make cosmetic changes to placate the politically correct crowd.
Two years ago the Leafs and Habs were roughly in the same situation: coming off a disastrous season with lots of cap space. I’d suggest Gainey did a LOT better than Burke.
Don’t really want to wade into a debate regardin’ whether or not the Loafs are a joke, cause, in my little world, that’s tantamount to debatin’ whether or not the sky is blue.
Havin’ said all that, statin’ the Loafs “remain competitive” subjects the term “competitive” to such a low standard, it becomes virtually meaningless.
C’mon.
I appreciate it is a subjective notion, but not makin’ the playoffs for seven consecutive years hardly qualifies a team as competitive.
Good post.
The fine book “Leafs AbomiNation” spells out the whole sorry story (there’s a fake price sticker on the cover that says “Still only $19.67!”)
I’m not a Leafs hater but I would agree that the organisation is a joke. For the sake of their players and fans, and for the rivalry with us, I’d love to see them get the kind of ownership revolution they need in order to return to competitiveness.
How about a little ideological slant on this one? Pure capitalism is what prevents the Leafs from progressing because “winning”, in Toronto’s case, remains an unnecessary intangible — like ethics in journalistic practice at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World (and elsewhere, wait and see!), or in banking (see Lehmann Brothers and big banks everywhere) or duty of care in industry (for example meat-packing, see “Fast Food Nation”). Pure capitalism sidesteps those intangibles wherever it can get away with it, and it continues successfully to side-step the need for winning in Toronto. Would never happen, but Leaf fans should boycott.
Meanwhile, Molson is a capitalist, bien sur, but he allows something — winning — that will only make a moderate difference to his profits — to leaven his pursuit of profit.
I know we ended up enjoying going against Gretzky in 93, but wasn’t anyone else hoping for a Habs-Leafs final? Apart from truly rejuvenating an old rivalry, just imagine how much Bettman would hate it!
But they need a Molson first. No sign of that.
Cheers
Would you do this trade with Colorado? Send Scott Gomez, Jaroslav Spacek, Yannick Weber and a 1st round pick in 2012 for Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson.
You had me at Scott Gomez.
HFS72, I don’t know if you’ll see this as it’s well down in the thread now, but I LOL’d so hard at your post that my chest almost began to hurt.
- Honestly yours
I’m fairly certain every person here would do that deal in a heartbeat. Considering what he gave up to get Johnson, though, it would be another sign that Sherman has gone insane.
Every decade of NHL deserves a Mike Milbury like GM though.
yes!
Would I make this deal? Certainly, will it happen? No.
Sherman may have gone well off his rocker, but giving up E. Johnson after giving so much to get is not something I think he would be in to.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
But he is getting Spacek!
This is not NHL 11.
Stastny and Erik Johnson would require Price, Subban and Eller.
Next thing you’ll have me believin’ is Avs GM Greg Sherman givin’ Washington a probable lottery pick and a 2nd rounder for Varlamov.
*cough*
Still waiting for the NHL to say, Hang on, you aren’t serious are you Sherman? We can’t approve this.
Anyone on the Habs side would be insane not to make this trade. It is however completely unrealistic.
Maybe a year from now if Stastny has a bad season and Gomez rebounds a bit, the Avs would do a straight up swap of Stastny for Gomez and the cap hit vs actual salary on the last two years makes sense for the cap floor hugging team…
But honestly, no one is going to take the Gomez contract now. If he has a decent year then he is movable at the deadline or after the season.
Of course if he is has a decent season then maybe you don’t need to move him. after 2011-12 the main negative of a non-productive Gomez is he blocks the way for Eller or whoever really should be the #2 Center and cascading down through the roster
“Et le but!”
Jack Todd is the equivalent to Glenn Beck for sportswriting. He writes opinions which is all fine and good, but I never seen Todd actually write a post game report. Does he have locker room access?
Shiloh – are you Jack Todd?
Because of you are I think it is borderline unethical for you to defend yourself on a Gazette board via a sock puppet.
And if you aren’t Jack Todd, then good day to you Mrs Todd, and apologies if all this talk about your son upsets you. It’s all in good fun.
LOL!
From the admittedly limited exposure I’ve had with Jack Todd it seems exceedingly obvious that he’s not a “journalist” so much as an opinion-writer.
Either you agree with that opinion or you don’t. The game is to make that opinion as extreme as possible so even those who disagree with that opinion will feel compelled to read it – if only to reaffirm their hatred of that opinion.
It’s the print version of talk radio.
and I avoid talk radio like the plague
I understood why last year it took awhile for PG and Price to come to an agreement on a contract. There were many reasons for why that was a difficult contract to have both parties in agreement.
I don’t quite understand why Gorges is taking as long, and I especially am concerned that this goes all the way to the arbitration hearing. i don’t think the relationship between Mgmt and Player are ever as good after going through Arb.
Is PG perhaps talking trade with teams and Gorges part of that equation? I have said before, I don’t think PG wants to pull a Doug Wilson and sign Gorges one night and trade next day.
Thoughts anyone?
I suspect that Gorges wants a longer-term deal at close to $4M per based on his previous body of work and his perception that he will only get better since he has had this nagging injury for so long and now it is “fixed.”
I suspect that PG is hesitant for many reasons such as previous experience with Markov’s injury, Gorges not having the type of potential reward that warrants the risks taken on Markov, and a huge stable of young defencemen who will be pushing to make the squad in a couple years.
Gorges is great. I love his competitive level, I think he has tools that make him a great shut-down defenceman, and if he is recovered having him will mean an improved squad this season. But, because his upside is limited and he’s coming off of surgery, I’d be giving him a 1-2 year $3M offer to fill a gap between now and when some of these young studs inevitably push him out of the lineup.
I guess when he looks at the windfalls for other Dmen this summer he must wonder why not me. It is my understanding that in arbitration UFA contracts cannot be used as comparisons, but rather only other RFA contracts. Anyone know if I am at correct, or just too trusting of a former GM on a certain radio station in the GTA. And yes I do realize this former GM is no rocket scientist, but he stated this rather matter of factly.
I google translated the french canoe article above on Gorges arbitration, and it seemed to indicate that Gorges agent says he hasn’t had much of chance to get negotiate with PG yet.
Since PG qualified him we know he had his rights locked down, so it’s not like he was under any pressure to get it done right away, especially since both sides have indicated they want to do something with term. So he puts him off for a few weeks while he deals with more pressing issues and free agency.
It could be that he will get to it before the arbitration date, next week or the week after. Or like you say, maybe he has considered moving him in a big package, and doesn’t want to pull a Doug Wilson, and sign him long-term, then trade him the next day.
It’s safe to assume that Gorges isn’t “untouchable”, as I’m sure PG would move his rights if the right deal came along… but at the same time, I can see an argument being made that he wouldn’t be worth as much on the trade market, as he is worth to Habs on the ice.
IMO, the Habs will sign him this week or next(my crystal ball still says Friday July 15th), and he’ll be a Hab for years to come.
I will join you in support of your crystal ball, provided there was no involvement of crystal meth while utilizing its powers! Cheers Hal!
Gerald – I wouldn’t get too uptight about Gorges not being signed. The arbitration date has been set and now the cat and mouse game can begin in earnest. It may even go right down to the wire.
Gorges’ agent is probably looking at all the insane contracts of the past few weeks and figures that he can squeeze out some more coin. His leverage is that the Habs would be in a spot of trouble without Gorges while the Habs would counter with the uncertainty of having a player who’s coming off a major operation.
Marc Methot is similar to Gorges (except that he’s bigger) and he just received $12M over 4 years. I would think that’s the starting point for serious discussion between the two parties.
Gorges is a good, but not great Dman. If he goes on to be an UFA, the Habs may lose him to a team that will overpay (lots of examples this month). That’s why the Habs may have to up the final bid in order to compromise and retain a player that they have developed over the past few years.
$3.5M for third line forwards and 2nd pairing Dmen is not out of line these days.
Would hate to lose him, he is one of the guys I think that is really key to our “dressing room cohesiveness”. Really like our core of guys and would like to see them get a chance to have a full season void of season ending injuries to key players. Can live with the 2,3 and 4 week injuries, but fed up with 6-8month ones.
Hopefully, he’s talking to Gorges and letting him know he can’t break the bank so we can sign JP Dumont for pocket change.
Born and Bred in Enemy Territory (Boston).
I posted this comment to the Gazette website today after emailing Todd about an article he had written bashing Bob Gainey and saying that the Habs had enjoyed success almost exclusively because of Andre Savard.
“I’m confused. I’m curious how you can attribute the success of the players drafted under Andre Savard’s tenure as General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens to him specifically? The coaching staffs in Hamilton and Montreal are directly responsible for the development of each player taken in a draft and not of the General Manager who ultimately announced the draft choice. Keep in mind that scouting staffs are generally those who make the selections. I also don’t believe it’s fair to call Bob Gainey’s tenure one of panic. From what I’ve read and heard Vincent Lecavalier could have been acquired if Andrei Markov were sent to Tampa Bay. Not shipping out your most valuable asset for another valuable asset seems like a logical lack of action to me. Panicking would have been completing that trade. Panicking would have been signing Alex Kovalev to an expensive contract to please fans even though he doesn’t fit the direction of the team as seen by that same General Manager. Finally, it’s unfair and immature to compare the 2008 Eastern Conference regular season champion team to a group that has played nine games together. There isn’t a person alive who knows what the successes or failures of the current version of the team will be. I would rather have a team that placed eighth in the regular season and won the Stanley Cup than a team that placed first and lost in the first or second round of the playoffs. The next time you decide to write an article perhaps you should consider all of the evidence that does more to discredit your opinion than the weak premise that you have to support it. I suppose Bob Gainey selecting Guy Carbonneau to be the coach of that first place team was a panic move too right”
He replied to my comment with “Oh for God’s sake, get a life”
There’s his brilliance in a nutshell. If you disagree and support your argument with fact and well articulated thought, you don’t have a life.
The Canadiens have not won since 1993 Tom. The brand of hockey they’ve played for nearly two decades has been defensive hockey and until PK and MaxPac et cie. their post-Pollack drafting (with the notable exceptions of Roy & Richer) has been abysmal. Their ‘hire and fire’ coaching choices have been bizarre, even unprofessional. Many would argue Martin is the wrong choice, note the way he treats young players.
Why not reproduce the ‘offending’ article in the interest of fairness?
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
Without citing the article. If the team has been so dreadfully unsuccessful since ’93, what made Andre Savard more capable as a GM than Bob Gainey. Gainey has a ring as a GM. Savard has nothing.
The point is that the GM is not the direct line of player development. The GM is the man responsible for putting the correct people in place to nurture that development. And since Savard’s draft picks developed under Gainey, their success can be better attributed to Gainey’s delegation than Savard’s eye for talent.
Over half the current NHL fraanchises haven’t won since before 1993.
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
“If you disagree and support your argument with fact and well articulated thought, you don’t have a life.”
I think he meant that anyone who bothers to engage with Jack Todd is wasting his time.
I equate Todd’s comment to Shatner’s at the Star Trek convention.
There is a very big reason that the Edmonton Oilers are the joke of the NHL.
Now, having said that, when Steve Tambellini became the GM of the Edmonton Oilers, I thought he was doing a good job. But if it’s true that he didn’t tell Dean Lombardi that Brule and Fraser weren’t medically cleared to play, he’s going to have tarnished his reputation around the league. Much like Brian Lawton did prior to his dismissal.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/08/kings-gm-dean-lombardi-%E2%80%9Cwould-have-rather-invested-my-money-with-bernie-madoff-than-invest-in-edmonton%E2%80%99s-word%E2%80%9D/
Oilers aren’t the joke of the NHL.
Not with the leafs and Isles still in it.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
The Leafs aren’t really a joke Bugs. And if the Isles are a joke, they’re a sad one. Just my opinion.
The Oilers on the other hand are a hilarious joke. Kevin Lowe signs Tomas Vanek to an offer sheet without finding out first if Darcy Regeir will match. So he essentially forces the Sabres to sign Vanek to a deal around $3 million annually above market value at the time. Does the same with Dustin Penner. One team isn’t in the same conference and the other team isn’t a threat to the Oilers at all because the Oilers weren’t a threat to anyone. Kevin Lowe drove prices up for free agent player with his little spending spree. He made his own job and the jobs of twenty-nine other general managers more difficult in less than a week.
Now they’re trying to trade players who can’t play without disclosing injuries to the teams they’re trading with. So their current GM is putting up a sign saying, don’t trade with me, I’ll screw you over.
Should Tambellini not be fined $3 million and have to forfeit multiple draft picks like the Devils did for their cap circumvention? Two different issues of course. But the Oilers broke an important league rule just like the Devils did.
I’m sure I could pull out a host of examples showing gaffes made by the Wings and the Devils too, Tommy; just because you pile it on for the Oilers doesn’t show that they’re more of a joke than the leafs or the Isles.
I think it’s pretty clear. Also would’ve added Atlanta to the list but…they’ve paid for their ineptitude already. Surely, you had them more of a joke than the Oilers too.
Big picture; not culled examples out of limited timeframe.
Don’t recall seeing leafs or Isles anywhere NEAR Cup Finals last 5 years…
A team that does THAT…ain’t the joke of the NHL.
You must agree with this, Tommy.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Sure I would agree with that. So perhaps I should have said that the last two general managers of the Edmonton Oilers organization have made themselves two of the biggest jokes in the NHL. Perhaps a FarSide NHL Calender could be written. January – Brian Lawton, February – Kevin Lowe, – March – Steve Tambellini, April – Mike Milbury, May – Garth Snow, June – Don Wadell, July – Brian Burke, August – Darryl Sutter, September – Jay Feaster, October – Dale Tallon, November – Bryan Murray, December – Cliff Fletcher.
Let’s not make it a 15 month calender cuz I’m running out of jokes. K?
Yes, you should’ve said that.
Cuz “the LAST TWO GMs of the Edmonton Oilers organization have made themselves two OF THE BIGGEST jokes in the NHL” is a FAR cry from “Oilers ARE joke of the NHL”.
Yes?
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
i agree i find it sick how everyone is praising the edmonton oilers last year and this summer and how they are (building a team the right way). i think they should be disgusted with themselves for finishing last place 2 years in a row and don’t tell me they didn’t lose games on purpose at the tail of this past season to position themselves for a lottery pick which i believe is another league violation that they won’t be called on because there is no proof.
i find watching tambellini being soooo happy with a huge smile on his face when talking about being a last place team disgusting. hopeully they will start losing respect from other teams and be noticed for what they are
It’s the Pittsburgh Penguin Textbook and they’re following it step by step.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Rewarding teams for finishing last is another problem with th NHL.
In football (soccer) you finish last and someone else takes your place next season.
Agree Tom, Tambellini had a chance to recticfy the image of the Oiliers from his predecessor. He has started poorly.
On top of that, I really lost respect for Ryan Smyth and how he handled his trade demand. Really took away all leverage from LA, who did nothing but give him a nice contract for his time in LA.
Since Burke took over the leafs, he’s hardly been a shining light of team-building efficiency either…
He’s taken a headless-chicken crap team…and made it worse!
I’m not makin anything up. Tally the pts total over three years he’s been in office and compare it to pt total of three years before his tenure and it’s not even close!
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Good TSN Story on our prospects.
Man, we must have the best set of defenders in our system of all NHL teams:
> http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=371273
PS: I have all the ‘Gorges Contract Contest’ guesses in a doc. May the best guess win. Uh… I guess it will, but anyway…
Gorges will get 3.2 at the least, and 3.8 tops. he is worth it.
No way a #4 defenceman deserves that.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
Gorges would need to gain 10 to 20 pounds, develop a mean streak, and stop falling all over Price to be worth that kind of money Ian. He’s going to be fighting for a spot on this roster soon with all the talent coming up.
I’d like to see Gorges locked up for 3-4 years at around 2.5-2.75M.
That’s too much ian. I like the guy but he isn’t worth a minimum of 3.2 million. I would give him 4 or 5 years at 2.5 to 2.75 max. Hope your having a good summer buddy. Looking forward to seeing you at the summit.
seeing the arbitration date set to July 28th, I’d like to change my signing date to July 26th ( if I can ). My July 18th guess was based on arbitration for July 20th. I will keep my 13 Mill over 4 years for a 3.25 M cap hit.
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
Don’t know if this has been pointed out before but very interesting story about Matt Dunigan and his battle with concussions. Here is the link to the article and check out the video clip titled “Solitary Confinement”.
http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=371211
In terms of size (height, weight). Are we the smallest team in the NHL?
Believe it or not, we weren’t last year but can’t find that link right now…maybe in forwards but not overall team for heights and for weight we were even higher.
The Smurf tag not withstanding.
Hall Gill, Alex Auld and Carey Price skewer the results.
I’d be surprised if we are thanks to Gill, Price, Patches, Cole… but now with Mara and Sopel gone… we did shrink a bit in the off season. Yemelin’s big too though…
No, Habs as a whole are not that small. The issue is they’re small in key areas. The top 6 and down the middle.
The Dmen aren’t that big either.
As pointed out by HabFab.
http://www.allhabs.net/feature/team-bennett-vs-team-pateryn-at-development-camp-scrimmage/
Thanks Steve. For those who read that article I would like to point out one thing. Pateryn was a first pk unit player for the majority of the season. Not second unit.
Every time I’ve seen Pateryn play on TV I’ve come away impressed with his package of skills and size. He has good skating ability for a stay-at-home type D, who is more than willing to play a physical game. IMO he has great pro potential to be a bottom-pairing guy, who can cover for a smaller more offensive D like Bennett, Weber, Diaz, etc. in the future.
I think he’ll be a more physical version of Gorges for what it’s worth. His strength still needs improvement because he gets bounced around just as good as he gives.
Sounds like Gorges himself.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
Pateryn has room to develop strength and fill out more. Gorges doesn’t.
Good points. Given his size, adding strenght should not be an issue.
There are a whole list of articles about this camp and the previous that you have to search out. Here is one on the first camp;
http://www.allhabs.net/canadiens-prospects/avtsin-dazzles-at-habs-development-camp/
Nice read on Avtsin, I like the kid I hope he can make the big club someday.
Sorry to see Rejean Tremblay go.
I didn’t always agree with him or share his views, but it’s good to have a bit of antagonism.
Just like Quebec. I’ve always maintained that without Quebec, Canada would be an INTENSELY boring place. Mutual antagonism (with respect) is also what makes Montreal such a vibrant, interesting place. Which is why I came back here after 10 years in Europe. I needed the daily clash. Keeps us from getting smug.
Goodbye R. Tremblay; when you were here I couldn’t wait to see you go, and now you’re gone, I wish you were back.
—Hope Springs Eternal—
If I lived 10 years in Europe, I would need a “daily clash” of Jack Daniels.
Good Markov compilation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQsznxtVHv0
Yup, the team will be much better this year.
MONTREAL (July 9, 2011) – Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today the club has signed minor pro legend Neil Anderthaal to a one-year, one-way contract for the 2011-12 season.
The 24-year-old, 6’10″, 275-lb forward from Denmark has played his entire career overseas.
“He’s a solid player with decent scoring ability. He’s terrorized professional hockey leagues throughout Europe, as well as North Africa,” Gauthier said.
When it was pointed out there are no professional hockey leagues in North Africa, Gauthier responded: “I know. He terrorized North Africa.”
The Canadiens GM said Anderthaal will add a key element to the team’s makeup that’s currently missing: a sociopath.
“He’s also a pretty good face-off man,” Gauthier said.
European scouts who have seen him play say Gauthier was understating Anderthaal’s prowess in the circle. “He’s NEVER lost a face-off,” one scout said. “Other centres are petrified of him. They wouldn’t think of winning a draw.”
Another scout agreed he’s an intimidating presence who puts opponents off their game. “Last season, a bunch of players were fighting for the puck in the corner and one of them broke Anderthaal’s stick in half with a slash. When the guy realized whose stick it was, he immediately took off his helmet and knocked himself out. Twice.”
He summed up Anderthaal’s character by quoting a Danish proverb the hulking forward amended for his own use as a motto, which he recites to himself before every game: “Eggs, oaths and players’ bones are easily broken.”
Gauthier was asked why the team signed a rookie, known as Canute the Great and King Canute, to a one-way contract. “He’s 6’10″, 275 lbs.,” he said. “Next question.”
Gauthier expressed confidence that having a Dane, Lars Eller, already on the team will ease Anderthaal’s transition to North American hockey and culture.
The team said it’s paying Anderthaal $1.5 million, in weekly installments, direct deposit, every Thursday after 4 p.m.
I don’t like it. He’s too short. He doesn’t add enough size and grit to the team.
We should have signed a big Russian Kid.
Another blunder by PG. Our last place finish is assured.
LOL, nice work. Very creative and it gave me my first laugh of the day. Thanks again.
Furthermore, it is my opinion that Carthage must be destroyed.
You one crazy mofo. Please keep it up!
Richard R
A Viking Warrior. That’s what this team needs.
Rejean Tremblay? I could never figure out why they had a guy writing about politics in the sports section.
Or why he wasn’t fired after the Richer slurs.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
HIO kids day must be over, mature comments are reported today nice to see….
Can Hockey Inside/Out please add a forum to the site? It’s not that hard to do and would give an organized place for fans to discuss and debate the thoughts of Hockey Inside/Out as well as their own opinions. I’m a habs fan stuck in leaf nation and could really use a good place to talk Habs.
umm… how is this much different from a forum exactly?
Hard to follow different threads in this format.
Agreed. Would love a forum portion here.
All Habs have a number of interesting observations from the Prospect Camp that just finished.
Yeah, some really good stuff over there. They seem really high on Mac Bennett’s skating, vision, and passing. Coupled his highly productive freshman season in the CCHA, Bennett is one to keep an eye on.
Jeebus Cripes what is the average height of a Quebecois?
“I figure PG has one or 2 moves left to bring the Habs that extra step closer to perhaps being the best in the league.” – Einstein
The issue of censorship on this site.
It appears a whole raft of exchanges were deleted yesterday, consisting mostly of a fairly intense argument relating to that TSN reporter.
I understand that the Gazette can’t allow potentially libelous statement on this site.
I can also understand that outright obscenity, racism and the like should not be allowed.
However the statements in question fell into none of those categories.
As this site has evolved into more than a place for anonymous comments on sports stories, and more of a social networking environment, I would suggest that deleting posts should be kept to a minimum.
Social Net working.?? Go to Yahoo or get it going on FaceBook.
This is a flash fight sight.( for dickheads )
“I figure PG has one or 2 moves left to bring the Habs that extra step closer to perhaps being the best in the league.” – Einstein
hey Bill, he used a bad word on the internet. where’s the outrage? what about the children? for god’s sake bill, WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!
I found a video of Bill J on the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2sWSVRrmo
Not sure of your beef but most of last night’s crap is still there. And the site does belong to the Gazette, their prerogative and even obligation to censor away.
I noticed on a thread last night when you clicked on it you only saw some comments, but when you clicked “view more comments” or something down below then you saw other comments, including more recent ones. Seems like a software glitch or something?…
Well the issue I have with deleting posts, is that the guilty party gets a new clean slate every time.
The poster I exchanged posts with last night, had colorful and straight up derogatory names. The rules of the site state that will not be tolerated… Children visit the site, and they do not need to see that type of language.
Bill, couldn’t agree with you more, and those posters should be deleted permanent
you’re the only child here. you think I was colorful yesterday, try calling me out in person. I really don’t like pedantic little crybabies like you who get all butthurt and call out other posters (which is the definition of trolling) when they don’t agree with their opinion on a certain subject. the only thing I’m “guilty” of is having an opinion that John Lu is not a “scumbag” and an “ultra anglo”. SOOOOOOOOO SORRY THAT OFFENDED YOU!! Soooo sorry that offended you so much that you felt the need to bring it up at the top of a new page and call me out , by name, making a back-handed insult at me. Soooo sorry that my reaction to your childish back-handed insult hurt your feelings so much that you are still here crying about it. I suggest you go see a doctor, you need help.
Great! Your back. YAY!
I never left troll. Is that how you work, you disagree with someone’s opinion, so you start trolling them in hope’s they will get banned responding to your garbage? you’re PATHETIC!!!!!!
Listen little boy, I am no troll. But the way you speak to people you are lower the the worst of trolls.
Get a life, or get a clue. You’re only making yourself look like a fool.
listen little dirt-bag troll. Don’t call out people here if you can’t take the heat that follows. anytime you want to meet me I’m game. I’d love to see you run your mouth at me in person. but no, you do better on the internet don’t you little coward? now run along and bother someone else you pathetic loser.
Incorrect.
MANY of the comments fell into the “obscene” category and it was right that they were deleted.
And I agree with Billy that the worst of it is that the poster in question now gets a clean slate.
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
I specifically said I understood the deletion of obscene language. Many of the posts that were removed were not obscene.
It’s the whole thread that gets zapped.
Even Mother Teresa’s posts woulda gotten deleted if they happened to be in the same string with the obscene one(s).
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Mother Teresa consorted with dictators like Ceaucescu and fetishized poverty and suffering more than she remediated it.
try googling Christopher Hitchens Mother Teresa for some interesting reading. (Hitch is a hoot, maybe not the great wirter that Jack Todd is …according to Shiloh…
Anyhow, her posts might not have been as inoffensive as you suggest. I grabbed a Ouija board and conjured dark forces to ask her opinion and she was just having a beer with Kordic and Probert and bitchin’ about Gauthier not signing Konopka.
“Et le but!”
On a team that struggles to score goals why not give Brodeur the chance? There is nothing to lose. Q success doesnt equal NHL success but its a start. Put this kid with Eller when he comes back and BAM!…goals. Still a mystery to me why the Habs have not thrown some money at Morrison or JP Dumont. Even a guy like McCabe could still help us, or even O’Brien. I am also a supporter of bringing back Brent Sopel. I think he knows JM’s system and will benefit from his stint here. A decent shot blocker and not afraid to clear the front of the net. Something the Habs lack, and without Wiz or Hamr, they wont have anyone that will do it unless Yemelin tries to make a statement.
Sopel blocked shots but the rest of his game is poor. No way to bring him back. Mara would be the man.
“I figure PG has one or 2 moves left to bring the Habs that extra step closer to perhaps being the best in the league.” – Einstein
Sopel’s a good shot blocker, and he certainly tries hard, but I don’t recall him clearing anyone from the front of the net. He’s not really big enough to do so, and his foot speed is rather slow as I saw him lose many a race for the puck in the corner. If we’re gonna bring in an extra Dman who can play physical when he actually gets to play and won’t cost much, my vote is for Paul Mara. He’s big enough to clear the front of the net and he’s willing to fight if we need someone to step in and do that.
- Honestly yours
Mara is a big tough boy but his foot speed is slower then Sopel’s.
How did you determine that? No way anybody is as slow as “snowmobile boots” Sopel.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
What!!!! Sopel could skate circles around Mara carrying Gill on his back!
WARNING; Please don’t try this at home. Only professionals were used in this demonstration and no animals were hurt!!
Both Sopel and Mara only play the left side.Markov,Gill and Yemelin don’t need help. The 8th Dman needs to play the right.Gorges and Subban are ok but Weber and Spacek could be replaced against teams like Boston. If we pick up another Dman he needs to be a righty.
“Wanting is often more pleasurable than having.It is not logical but it is often true.” – Spock
Soft soft soft. Nobody’s been afraid to stand in front of the Canadiens’ net since the Ludwig-Chelios era. And who’s going to break Chara’s nose???
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
hirky could be age with Morrison and Dumont a one year deal they’d be great for our 4th line. they can put the puck in the net for sure….
Lets get Etienne under contract. I’ve never seen this guy play but 53 goals in junior is nice. If he can skate and shoot the puck, then he’s got a chance at the show regardless of height.
Apparently his skating is very weak. Much like Ryder was when he started however get him the puck within 30 feet of the net and he is going for a shot.
Didn’t Ryder win the Stanley Cup this year? Maybe Pouliot will next year.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
Interesting – S Kostitsyn gets a 1 year deal at $2.5M. He’s their top scorer and that’s the best they can do? Looks like they don’t have a lot of confidence in their top scorer, or in his maturity or commitment to the team.
Attitude, maturity, character, leadership, etc.. will get you an extended contract than just being a top scorer for a team.
“We will win the Cup one day only with ? in the nets “
Poor retrospankey,wrong yet again about another player. Wrong about subban,wrong about sergei and so on and so on. Perhaps you should stick to coupon clipping at your local food basics or the serbian soccer team and leave hockey talk to those who actually know the game.
I think you’re reading WAY too much into it. It’s not abnormal for a player who is good, but not truly established yet to take a one year deal. If kostitsyn has a better season than last season, he will certainly clean up on his next contract.
SK was invisible during the playoffs.
Had he shown up …
I’m pretty sure management would’ve felt more comfortable in coughing up a longer term contract with more money. This contract says, “You put up some good numbers last year, but we’re still not confident in your ability to show up day in, day out.”
Not so, he was good until the last series when the whole team disappointed.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
They want to see if he can be consisitent, which always was his problem. Do it again this year and he’ll get rewarded.
“I figure PG has one or 2 moves left to bring the Habs that extra step closer to perhaps being the best in the league.” – Einstein
There’s not much out there in terms of Hab news. Same goes for the NHL.
If you’re looking to catch a video tonight, you might want to try Barney’s Version. It’s a film that is well worth your time.
Cups I wouldn’t go that far but it was fairly entertaining for what it was.Still had that low level Canadian production values though.
“I figure PG has one or 2 moves left to bring the Habs that extra step closer to perhaps being the best in the league.” – Einstein
Not much left. We’re still pretty weak down the middle so older guys such as Madden, Drury or Stillman might be worth some consideration. I’m not sure that Morrison is a 4th line type of guy. A one year deal for under 2M should do the trick.
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41291-With-NHL-free-agency-slowing-a-few-intriguing-names-remain-available.html
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=568376&navid=mod-rr-headlines
I think we over-exaggerate the Habs center weakness. As players, they are pretty good. However, the glaring weakness is face-offs. I’ve never seen a team thrown out as often as the Habs. Can not 1 of them get better at placing their skates forward so the linesman can drop the bleeping puck?
Well, if Todd ever took the time to back up his opinions with anything resembling fact, he would earn more respect from the public. Tremblay probably knows Todd on a much more personal level than the casual reader. Todd is very good at identifying what issues the naysayers have with the Habs organization and exploiting those issues without foundation.
Anybody who thinks Jack Todd is a good writer is too be busy looking at the pictures.
Except for his ill-concieved vendettas against members of the Habs organization of course.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
Really? I’ve read pieces of his about Bob Gainey and Trevor Timmins’ draft record being horrible. Yet we have the most draft picks currently playing in the NHL. I’ve read pieces of his about Carey Price not being able to handle pressure.
What did he have to back those opinions up with Shiloh? Nothing, because there isn’t anything there. He’s a fan. When the team doesn’t do things the way he would, he gets pissy and runs off at the mouth projecting himself as an authority on how to build a hockey team. When he dislikes a player, he takes them to the woodshed and infers that they’re trouble off of the ice.
He makes things up as he goes along. Great writer if you’re into fictional accounts of a real hockey team and it’s members.
Hilarious. Todd’s body of work is opinionated fluff. His articles are devoid of any substance or content. He’s like the Kraft Dinner of sports writers.
His articles appeal to the lowest common denominator. Come to think of it. I understand why you love him so much.
More like anybody who thinks Jack Todd is a great writer has the mental capacity of a 4th grader.
Luke Shiloh. Anybody with half a brain knows what good writing is. Jack Todd is not a good writer.
His coulmns, articles, opinion pieces, whatever you want to call them, are like the mindless ramblings of a drunk dude who’s had too many beers and is speaking a little to close to your face. I can list off at least 10 members of the HIO commentariat who write better than that hack.
You’re not one of them.
Shiloh – Vladimir Nabokov is a great writer. Jack Todd? Not so much.
I’m interested in writers who can support their claims with something other than hatred for the subjects of their writing Shiloh.
Where’s Andre Savard right now? If he is such an outstanding GM candiate why isn’t he in that position at the moment?
Andre Savard drafted extremely poorly outside of the 1st round of the draft over three years save Tomas Plekanec, of 20 names selected outside of round 1 over those 3 years, only Tomas Plekanec is a regular NHL player today. He did not bring in any useful free agents and while we can thank him for Pleks, that’s all he has left to the club today. Komisarek, Higgins and Hainsey are the rest of his entire legacy as an NHL GM.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
Too bad most of them are playing for other teams.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
i before e except after c.
Beliveau, The Rocket, Pocket Rocket, Bouchard, Cournoyer, Savard, Hainsworth, Blake, Carbonneau, Gainey, Harvey, now those were captains to remember. Champions.
Ya Price goes on his knees way to early and often to ever become a great goalie in this league……
Two things that bring out the Neanderthals:
1. Mention anything about St. Halak that isn’t over-the-moon gooey-eyed love.
2. Dare to point out anything negative about Jack Todd.
The one thing I must say about Jack Todd is that I’ve rarely seen him on television talking with hockey people or writing and article with quality quotes regarding an issue.
For years he’s been writing his Monday morning opinion piece from an educated coach potato’s perspective. No real solid facts or interviews and he basically sounds like someone who’s had a glass of wine too many at a dinner party.
Sometimes when a large group of smart people agree on something it doesn’t mean they have all been drinking the same kool-aid…sometimes it means that said thing is true. (tongue firmly in cheek)
I’ve already given you my explanation for why I don’t feel that he is a great writer. I’m not going to read his novels to further my Jack Todd experience when I can’t stand what he writes that only goes five five hundred words in length.
He may very well write a good novel. And if he does, I would suggest sticking to it.
Richard R
Jack Todd has written more than just novels. Try ‘A taste of Metal’ on for size. He’s a Nebraskan born Yankee. Started his career writing in small provincial newspapers in B.C. some forty years ago.
Exactly Hobie. Never any facts, never statistical support. Just the World through the eyes of Jack Todd.
Good answer, a guy that’s won 2 playoff series in his career gets way too much love on here. I’ve seen him compared to Patrick Roy. I am glad he got hot in the playoffs and he’s largely responsible for our 2010 run to the Conference finals, but I always said that we kept the better goalie, not the goalie who played better the last few months.
“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952
Kids these days. It’s because he only lived through the Koivu era and never saw what the great Habs teams were about.
Watching highlight reels from past games is nothing like having watched it live on the edge of your seat way back when.
I’ll never forget the euphoria I experienced when Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau hoisted the Cup.
When the team was rebooted for the 2009–10 season it was the 1st time in Habs history that there was a full season without a captain.
The problems that were part of the Habs locker room and the Habs team identity weren’t Koivu’s making nor were they his fault. He inherited the captaincy of a fractured team that was both a poor product on the ice and a poorly managed team from the top down.
He was however the sacrificial lamb for all the Habs failures. For that alone he deserves recognition and I think in the long run, even though he never won a Cup, his number could very well one day be retired.
You really have some issues the way you find it necessary to troll me for being a Saku Koivu fan.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
Carey Price was All-Rookie in 2008 (which pushed Montreal to their first Conference Title in over 15 years) and was a leading goaltender in the first half of the 2009 season. His struggles lasted a year and a half at most, not two and a half.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. Habs and Hockey.
SF09 on Twitter
Price’s .920 SV% in his rookie season is forgettable? He also had a .921 SV% in his first 24 starts of 2008-09 before getting hurt in Tampa. More like one and a half forgettable seasons. But, hey you’re a Jack Todd fan so facts don’t matter anyway.
admit it shiloh you would have traded price for a bag of pucks.
i remember the comments you were making 2 years ago they were unforgivable
Mind you, I love Lewis Black blasting Beck. Awesome video.
Richard R
A Certifiable Psycho. Is he on methadrine?
Maybe so, but the fact remains that Halak has won more playoff rounds in ONE appearance than the Priceberg has in 3.
Just sayin…
Gone figuratively fishin filibusts L. B. Potter, esq.
Send the rain south will you Shiloh, bone dry down here in the Golden (Brown) Horseshoe.
So, we’re supposed believe that you’re not Todd, just because you say you’re “home in Thunder Bay”?!
You’re gonna have to do better than that, “Shiloh”.
Nice try changing the subject.
Let me know if you need any logging equipment up there Shiloh, I have a TigerCat 822 in storage up in your neck of the woods.
So in short, anyone who doesn’t agree with your views on Jack Todd, just hasn’t read enough of his books.
And anyone who doesn’t think that Carey Price wasn’t a dud up until this season, despite his junior career, AHL career, and his top-notch rookie season in the NHL, is a “kool-aid drinker”.
I’m going to have to read more, and work harder on getting my opinions right.
Tom Boswell? You mean this guy?
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where is Gainey ? Gainey was the 2nd worst GM in Habs history. I can list a bunch of reasons … first and foremost he was supposed to bring stability to a franchise that sorely needed it, it was a coaching carousel here … 2nd, he made alot of mistakes. traded Ribiero for Niinimaa, overpaid for Gomez, signed Samsonov who turned out to be useless, overpaid Theodore, who he then traded for Aebischer, who was equally bad. We’re lucky he wasnt able to complete half the things he tried to do like, 1) sign Kovalev 2) Sign Komisarek 3) Sign Souray 4) Allegedly traded Pleks , Gorges and a prospect for Lecavalier, which was done but supposedly was nixed by Bettman because of the state of ownership in TB.
I know he did some positive things … he made some decent moves ( like trading Rivet for Gorges and MaxPac ) , and if he would have made a few more of those type moves, it might have made the Gainey era more palpatable, but, taken as a whole, it wasnt pretty. In his defense, I am going to guess that because the centenial was approaching, there was some pressure to make things happen, prematurely. Whatever the case is, his record isnt glowing.
I totally agree that Andre Savard did start the ball rolling to get this franchise pointed in the right direction. I am not sure, but I think he hired Timmins as our Director of Scouting, and that was certainly a smart move.
Damn, I was wrong again… even though you’ve toned down your rhetoric quite a bit in the last few posts. Imagine if you had just said the Price developed some alarming habits after a great start to his career, instead of starting out with the kool-aid bull shit, trying to make everyone feel stupid who doesn’t see things your way.
Give her a Jack TOdd column and see what she does with the paper? LOL
Worse yet, I work for them. Teachers purchased a big chunk of the company I work for. They still won’t give me Habs/Leafs tix though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ0mdxXw8Ac
Freaking Hilarious 24, thanks man!
I’ve got a huge Bernese Mtn. Dog, age 5 he discovered how to lift his leg and mark. My walks have just tripled in time it takes to do our route.
Patrick Roy came close to being a franchise goalie? I think maybe you misspoke. He went well beyond the franchise goalie tag. He is a Hall of Fame legendary goalie we’ll tell our grandkids about.
We’ll tell the story of the wink.
We’ll tell the story of the 10 consecutive OT wins in ’93.
We’ll tell the story of how he got me laid with his OT heroics against the Rangers in ’86. Well, maybe I’ll tell you guys at the summit instead of the grandkids.
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Let’s do something like this again: 1) Mike Cammalleri 2) Brian Gionta 3) Hall Gill
http://relentlessineptitude.blogspot.com/
Shiloh, I haven’t lived in Montreal or Canada since the late 80s, so I haven’t read enough Todd to agree or disagree with you. But! Fair play to you for enduring some pretty heated abuse in such a sanguine manner!
Guys! Please! We don’t usually see that temperature here except for visits from Bruins trolls!
Cheers
Richard R
Mmm, Lolita.