PAT HICKEY
THE GAZETTE
Michel Therrien, who is returning for his second shot as the Canadiens’ head coach, said he was “frustrated and disappointed” by the NHL lockout.
“We’re ready to go,” Therrien said at the team’s annual golf tournament on Wednesday at Royal Montreal. “The staff has been working all summer on a new structure for the team, one that I think the players are going to like.”
Therrien said he hoped to take advantage of the team’s speed, but also welcomed the addition of “character players” like Brandon Prust, Colby Armstrong and Francis Bouillon. The thinking in the Canadiens’ revamped organization is that this team has been too easy to play against, and that’s something Therrien plans to change.
Therrien noted that defenceman Andrei Markov is healthy and the coach added that he likes what he’s seen from the players on their return from the summer. He said he met with captain Brian Gionta and Bouillon before the lockout and is counting on them to provide an example.
“We can’t lose focus,” Therrien said. “Our staff was working yesterday and we’ll be working tomorrow. We don’t know how long the lockout is going to be, one week, two weeks, and we have to be ready when it ends.”
While waiting for the lockout to end, Therrien will keep busy by looking in on the Hamilton Bulldogs’ American Hockey League camp, which will open with physicals in Brossard next Friday, followed by four days of on-ice training in Sherbrooke.
(Photo by Dave Sidaway/The Gazette)
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FREE PUSSY RIOT !!!
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
Who cares. Now I have time to learn Java Script over the winter and make my self more versatile by adding one more notch to my repertoire………..La vie en rose!
Go HABS Go
It seems to me that a lot of the leagues problems would be erased with the relocation of the Phoenix Coyotes, ye Buttman stubbornly and pettily refuses to move them, even though it would be better for the league and the team. His attitude towards the Coyotes seems similar to that of a dim-witted dog owner who stubbornly refuses to euthanize his terminally ill dog.
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…… and on the seventh day, the Lord rested, and while he rested, satan created the Bruins
When I read “Therrien frustrated and disappointed” I thought I had been in a coma, and we were two months into the season,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The NHL is a bogus league. I am out as a fan.
-Far too many rules that make it boring to watch,
-too many time outs,
-out of shape players,
-overpaid players [At an hourly rate of 16 000 to 220 000 % more than the average hourly wage, nothing could be more of a farce on the planet, especially since they will be paid for not working if injured or - like Laraque, not wanted to work]
-perhaps worst of all, the NHL is not even a professional organization.
It’s going on 6 consecutive months that teams have not even practiced together, and they claim to be professional?? And they’re still going to charge us the same amount as before all the vacation time?
Mathieu Darche recently said that he thought players should be paid more because they are both the product and the worker. It’s true, but it’s sad that a worker has to be diminished to a product just to get more money, they might as well call themselves prostitutes.
A new league needs to start up now. One with just one referee on the ice (basically to drop pucks, and three off to call penalties, like judges in boxing), players paid no more than 600% over the average hourly wage. And paid only if they play and nothing if they don’t. [Talk about a way to bring respect btw players back, just take away their salary if they are injured] They’re incapable of working, so I don’t see why they should be paid for work not done.
Take the lines out, and allow continuous play until someone scores. Now that’s what I would pay $5 to watch.
OMG
I have followed the Habs faithfully since 1977, at a very young age. I could go on and on about the big games I won on my pond rink and all the Cups I hoisted as a Montreal Canadien, usually beating the Quebec Nordiques. I played the sport and I am teaching my son how to skate and enjoy the game.
Having said that, I am slipping into the majority that could care less about this sport. If this thing goes on much longer, you can send me a note telling me who won the Cup this year next summer at:
pissedofffan@inolongergivea$%^&aboutNHLhockey.com
Look both sides are stupid. The players should give the owners what they want in revenue sharing because the owners are so stupid and greedy that their going to give it right back to them with ridiculous contracts!!!! Oh by the way, don’t kid yourselves that the owners are united. As soon as a new cba is signed they’ll be looking for ways to get around it!!!!
TO BE THE MAN,YOU GOT TO BEAT THE MAN!!!
The players´only leverage is the possibility to play elsewhere.
Hence, there is no way, as some have alluded the NHL has the power to do, that NHL players should be sued if they choose to stay with the teams in Europe they will be playing for shortly. I´m not sure if this is an actual law, but if it is, it is completely exploitative.
If there is no CBA players should be able to do whatever and commit to whatever they wish. If they don´t want to come back after a new CBA has been negotiated, tough for the NHL.
Of course most players will; they can´t afford not to. Many of these players also have families in North America to support, and can´t be uprooted on a long term basis. But the star players don´t necessarily have to come back. The Russian stars and some of the Europeans can make very good coin in the KHL.
This serves as leverage in some sense because then the NHL is threatened with restarting a league missing some of its brightest stars. This along with the threat of a fan back lash. It´s not much but perhaps just enough to make the teams give up just enough for the season to get back on track.
To me it’s a win win, if he gets the guys goin and they have a good year, great… If all goes to the crapper like last year… Welcome to Montreal Mackinnon, Shinkaruk, Jones, or Barkov.
What would really suck is finishing middle of the pack and missing the playoffs lol.
So you support the tank…?
With the team as it is now? I say; trade Markov for pick(s), move Pleks and a prospect (within reason) for a LW and tank hard for Jones!
Why would you bother trading Markov and Pleks for a good LW if you’re positive that the Habs are going to play mediocre hockey again this season?
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
it’s not that i support the tank but i would be ok with it happening, especially if we get another top 5 pick… this draft coming up is DEEP and we have (1)1st rounder and (3) 2nd rounders… but like I said if the guys are healthy and get going, that would be great too. there’s nothing like playoff hockey in Montreal. I just hope we don’t finish out of the playoffs and draft 15th or something along those lines.
What is going on with PK???? Is Therien the problem, great way to start…………I have a feeling that as usual they are trying to hide things from the fans. WHAT ELSE IS NEW with this organization………the fans are not stupid fess up
He should be happy. With lockout he can’t be losing any games, which is what he will do plenty when NHL resumes.
Yah, but until they play, he doesn’t get to yell at the players or throw anyone under the bus.
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Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!
Will the union give 57% of their HRR to the league. That would be union dues
Hire the best regardless of language
Listening to an agent today..can’t remember his name…said a lot of players are just getting their insurance paid and a place to live playing in Europe. A player like Spezza’s insurance would be $55,000 a month.They are also opening up the cards so jobs won’t be lost. The KHL is different.
Both party’s are fk’n greedy…and for those who side with the players remember this ,Guys like Gorges are getting 4 mill a season for being a undersized one trick pony and Price got a huge pay increase for a middle of the goalie pac last place finish and no one talks about all the other unknown people that help make the product magic” venders,cleaners,retailers,refs,Zamboni dudes,etc etc”most who wake up every morning on a tight-rope trying to feed the kids and pay the rent.With their new found time off maybe these prima donna athletes, owners and agents should join Laroque in Haiti and see what “hard done by really is!”
I have just joined this theater of the absurd. The sole purpose to address ‘The Dude’ and defend British Columbia in Quebec.
Clearly the world of the Coen brothers does not include hockey. Josh Gorges is the epitome of the unsung hero. Undrafted after being the captain of a Memorial Cup winning team, he worked his way into the NHL. Last year he led the league in blocked shots! Dude, is that his ‘one trick’? If so, that alone is worth his salary. Ask his team mates. You’re looking at the next captain of the Habs.
As for Price, he’s among the top 3 young goalies in the NHL.
Jack Russell
Heh…I’ve seen a lot of first posts here over the years but this one just jumped to Number 1 with a bullet on my list of favs.
Welcome PM!
***Subbang Baby!!!***
I will 2nd what Punkster says.
I feel sorry for the dude. He’s getting as bad as nuna.
Thank you guys, for the warm and fuzzy welcome.
I agree. When you sacrifice your body like that game in and game out it speaks volumes about your willingness to do whatever it takes to win and your character. He deserves the coin he is getting and will probably be the next team captain. Its funny how everybody with actual hockey cred. like bob mackenzie have price slotted as one of the goalies for the next winter olympics and then you have some pothead says who thinks he is average and is to blame for the team being a last place team. The dude is just bitter that his man crush got traded.
Mitt Romney fans…………
zababes1; Desjardins, St. Denis and Palushaj to sign AHL deals. Won’t need to clear waivers.
And the Canadiens save $330,000…that scares me!
The Bulldogs can definitely use them.
St. Denis in particular I think will be a valuable asset to teach the 4 rookies.
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
Time for the CANADIAN HOCKEY LEAGUE.
GO THERRIEN GO!
Does it seem like I’m cheering him on….or demanding his dismissal..? I’ll leave it ambiguous …
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THE KINGS ARE KINGS!! 2012
I’ve been neutral and silent on the owners v players debate. But with Ovechkin’s latest comments (and with Gorges’ comments), I think I have to side with the players:
Ovechkin says that players might not come back because they could get more $$ elsewhere. And why wouldn’t they? We’d all rather get paid more. Nothing wrong with that stance.
And Gorges – or was it Darche? – said that the players are the employees AND the product. That pretty much nails it.
Plus, if players make more, then owners make less. Spread the wealth, I say. If that makes me a socialist, I guess I’m OK with that.
Even if the owners are losing money?
In business, if you are losing money you either revamp your business or declare bankruptcy … no? If these 30 owners were selling coffee, the ones losing money would find a new career. Why is this different? The money makers do not need the money losers to make money. In fact, they’d make more money if they played the other money makers more. This makes no sense.
They don’t seem interested in subtracting teams so do you have another idea?
There is no rational solution to their irrational issues. I especially like the alleged 1 million dollar fine to be levied against any owner breaking ranks and saying something against the lockout. I think that perfectly illustrates just how “unanimous” the owners are.
And fines are not HRR, so hopefully it will go into Revenue Sharing
STUCK, But they are not selling coffee, they are selling entertainment. They are 30 business enterprises under one roof. The rich franchises need the poorer franchises, because Bettman got a deal with NBC based on the southern states eventually excepting hockey as a national sport.
They have no interest in Buffalo for example. The money makers (your words) are dependent on a truly competive league. They compete against football, baseball,basketball, college football, ufc etc. NBC invested 2 billion dollars in the NHL. Pay-per-view is also huge…..that is why Bettman earns 8 million a year….a bargain for the owners.
Owners see the big picture, fans see their team.
wjc
$2billion over 10yrs. Works out to about $ 6.5 million per team per year.
The old contract was about $3miilion per team per year. Not chump change but not going to solve the problem of deadbeat franchises
In the harshest terms possible, why should a player care if the owner is losing money? It’s the owner’s job to make money, just like it is the player’s job to earn as much as he can.
With the exception of Geoff and maybe a very few others,what passes for NHL ownership today is a loud,giddy whirl of thieves and pretentious hustlers,a dull sideshow of quacks clown and phillistines with gimp mentalities. So yes, amigo,you have figured out this clusterf*ck. Saludos.
Why the exception of Geoff Molson, can he not be painted with the same brush. Gimp mentalities, phillistines, dull sideshow quacks.
Do you know these people, do you think you know Geoff Molson?
wjc
Geoff stuck up for Patches during the Chara mugging. My kinda guy. Sorry, I didn’t know you had to” know” someone before you could post about them. I will try to be more carefull in the future.
two things twilight: Lets see Ovechin make more money.
Number 2: Lets see the product, right now.
Oh you say they need a team and a place to play and a schedule and tickets that have to be sold and promotions to hyperventalate the fans into a frenzy.
No, the the product needs the owners. If being an owner is so easy grab a thousand guys and throw together 10 million each and set up NHL-2
Or perhaps the players can set up NHL-2…..didn’t think so. The product and the venue to perform have to be compatable…50/50 anyone.
wjc
I am pretty sure what ovechkin was saying was that if a player can make more in a different league, he should do that.
Would you stay at your current place of employment if you were guaranteed to make more doing the exact same thing at a different company?
He can threaten all he wants, but last I checked he still has about 9 years left on his contract.
How many here are aware there was an opportunity in June to solve this and cover all the main points of both sides but it didn’t happen because….
because Gary Bettman is a F***ING IDIOT
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Jack Edwards is a clam.
Gary Bettman is a bobblehead.
Can you finish off the sentence after because with the rest of the story?
Didn’t happen because, it could not have happened. It didn’t happen now, why would more time make it happen?
Didn’t happen because players/owners do not want to give in.
More time just does nothing.
wjc
Habsfuture: Sebastian Collberg is playing with Frolunda’s junior team today. Didn’t get any ice time in last night’s SEL game.
…physically, He may not be quite there to play with men …they’re easing Him in
Plus they use him as a checker with the big club when the kid is a sniper.
Good. Get him away from Kenta Johansson.
…I hate to be a negative Nelson, Stu Cowan, but this ‘machinegun’ approach to post disjointed copy & paste threads is disconcerting and annoying
…write a column that covers the excellent material you media guys received, for instance, at today’s golf tournament and write a single comprehensive HIO column, with opinion
…and, again, I say the best man for the job is Mike Boone
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Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
Campaign to Retire Toe Blake’s Number 6 !!!
…and, last, but not least: FREE PUSSY RIOT !!!
So did you fail that Dale Carnegie course also?
…haha, yeah Frank, I’m probably pissing off more than a few today, huh ?
The older gazette guys will never figure this out. But it’s pretty simple – one post per day, add to it when there’s an update.
So frustrating.
Seriously. 2nd post for the day is for liveblog or any news in way of trades, firings, signings. Someone’s quote doesn’t warrant a new thread does it?
“Therrien said he hoped to take advantage of the team’s speed, but also welcomed the addition of “character players” like Brandon Prust, Colby Armstrong and Francis Bouillon. The thinking in the Canadiens’ revamped organization is that this team has been too easy to play against, and that’s something Therrien plans to change.”
FINALLY the hockey gods are listening to me! The way off the Smurf is slowly being swept away. Travis Moen is going to have some backup!
The ultimate gladiator (Jarred Tinordi) is going to get his feat under him with the Bulldogs this year and in 2013/14 we’ll have a 6’6″ beast on the blue line. My dream come true. Dalton Thrower a couple years behind him…wish we could hit the fast forward button
.
The NHL should look to the CFL to help find its way out of the mess the league has created for itself. Don’t laugh. The CFL has shown remarkable tenacity in surviving against all odds. Most instructive is its willingness to correct mistakes, even if it means eliminating teams.
So what lesson does the CFL (“Our Balls Are Bigger”) have to offer the NHL (“We Have Bigger Asses”)? Dual ownership.
Dave Braley owns two teams: the Lions and the Argonauts (his first buy was the Ticats; this guy is a serial owner).
Unconventional, and no doubt a conflict in interest, but somehow it works.
And, unlike the NHL, the CFL has never had a work stoppage (league-wide; the Bombers seem prone to them this season – sorry, Burl’).
So what does this have to do with the NHL? It appears half of the teams lost money the last three years.
Yep, HALF the teams had a net shortfall between expenses and operating revenue. Not a good business model. That’s why the CFL’s way of doing things seems like a reasonable solution worth emulating.
The 15 hockey teams that didn’t lose money should be allowed, no, REQUIRED, to buy the 15 teams that did.
The NHL argues the larger presence it has in the United States is what makes it a national sport; without teams scattered across the country it never would have landed the mammoth television deal it got with NBC.
But having half of the clubs operating in the red is not a formula for long-term success. So why not let the fellows who seem to know what they’re doing apply their Midas touch to franchises who have muffed their operations?
It would be an immediate twofold increase in the league’s accumulated financial acumen.
Sure, there would have to be details worked out to guard against the stocking up of talent in one-half of a team owner’s holdings (otherwise known as ‘in-house transactions’). Such as a limit on the number of players that could be traded between one-owner clubs, as well as a cap on the total salaries involved and the disparity in size of contracts (for example, two players earning $10 million could not be traded for two earning half that amount; the aggrandizement of talent would be too obvious).
Also, the teams could not be in the same division.
The acquisitions would continue to operate autonomously but as business leaders will tell you, any maneuver of this kind achieves economies of scale, in that duplication of services would eliminated. The result: one scouting staff, one goaltending coach …
It would also make fat cat owners aware of the special challenges faced by teams situated in markets that have no natural fan base or are suffering economic hardships. They might come to realize that what’s best for the NHL as a whole is also very good for them.
The Canadiens and Lightning – seems like a good fit.
But you know what’s best of all? TWO Summits!
Great idea!
Shut down the Sens this year.
Bring them back in 3-4 years.
Shut them down 3-4 years after that!
Cap salaries at $300K, and replace the seats with benches, to cram in more people.
And two teams would be allowed to have the same name.
The Montreal Canadiens. The Seattle Habs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, Les Éclairs de Québec.
I think you have something there….
Bri’, just to be clear. All 30 would continue to operate as now, but with only 15 owners: the smart ones …. hahahahhahahahahahahahahah
Sometimes I crack myself up.
Since the compliments are flying, you crack me up too.
I would say it’s the general (concen… consin…consun… thank god for auto-correct) consensus around here.
Or is it conSensus?
Test
1.) 17
2.) He was the third prime minister
3.) Two teaspoons of vinegar with a glass of water.
4.) Van Gough
5.) Hearsay evidence is admissible in certain television legal dramas.
How’d I do?
Gotta tellya, that was one weird test. No questions. I had a heckuva time finding the answers online.
80%
Obviously you didn’t look properly.
It’s that third-eye perspective.
no. 4 was Mathew Haswell, the famous van Gogh impersonator.
I gave extra marks for your cocktail.
I, myself, prefer vodka to vinegar.
THE SHERBROOKE LEAFS
wjc
The Huntingdon Hardhats.
Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.
I’m glad your working on this but looking at those figures, the biggest problems appears to be REVENUE variance not management.
It’s my belief that facts will only take you so far in life.
I normally would have a chuckle here but my sense of humour has been locked out
You might find a good laugh in Europe. I hear the English are always good for chuckle.
I like looking at figures, mostly in bikinis though.
Do they play football in the CFL.
Some of the teams do.
About the same proportion as the NFL.
First AGAIN!!
WOO HOO!
That’s gotta be some kinda record.
God, I’m good.
Are you a wizard?
Go Habs Go!
Check out Top Shelf Prospects, my Team by Team prospect reports
http://lastwordonsports.com/
By day, a common man, by night, a spandex-toating green freak.
This only happens after I sit in my recliner with Guinness in hand, turn to RDS, to be reminded that there’s no hockey…..ARRRGGGHHH!
BTW Ben, with the hockey-related knowledge you possess, who’s the wizard?
You ARE good!
I’m green with envy.