Mondays suck

When the playoffs were all said and done and that Newfie we did not want anymore on our team last season was laughing all the way back to Boston. The people of Montreal needed an outlet. Now enter Carey Price...yes I know he did not play the way we all wanted him too. But just for a moment can we please look at our Defense! There needs to be some radical changes. how many times was Carey Price left out to dry! -Markov-Love this man! Thank god we have him. -Schneider-What a pleasant surprise he was. -Komisarek- Great shot blocker...loves to hit...that's where it ends. Now enter our stellar extras. -The Breezer- Come on, really? -Ryan O'suck- For a man that size he should be putting people directly through the boards and into the Molson section. I see him line a guy up and I get so excited only to see him gently tap the guy..most of the time the guys goes around him. -Francis Boullion- I respect the "little engine that sometimes could" but when is he not hurt? - The Hammer- That nick name suits him in no way shape or form. What I would like to see is the Habs make room for P.K Subban and Yanick Webber. Those two would be quite the duo! Almost like a Markov Schneider. They would complement each others style really well. That would give us. Markov -Komisarek (if he is still here) or Markov-Schenider P.K Subban - Webber The Hammer- Boullion

Ducks win!!! Yes! What an amazing team. Aah, the joy of having an exciting, hardworking team that... I'll never know such joy. Sigh.

Seabrook, Parise, Getzlaf and Perry are all leading their teams deep into the playoffs. And no, I will not stop making this reference and I will not give it a rest. Habs scouting department strikes again. Why is Timmins so highly regarded by many? I guess same reason as Gainey... but I still don't know the reason. Anyway, Flames are out and I can't wait to go to work and see some sour faces tomorrow. Should be an awesome day. Ducks continue to amaze me if not by their skill but by their ansolutely ridiculous dedication. Go Ducks!!!

Beauchemin looks good. Hard shot, good passes. Looks like he's recovering well from his injury. He could be a good long term replacement for our pp point shot although I have a hard time believing Anaheim won't try to resign him.

I think I get it now. People think Price is a failure because he did not single-handedly win us a Cup the way Dryden or Roy did at the beginning of their careers. What people are forgetting is the terrific teams playing in front of them. Price did not even have Markov. Roy, for example, had Robinson, Chelios, Rick Green and Craig Ludwig. Price did not have Lang, Tanguay and a healthy Koivu. Roy had Bobby Smith, Mats Naslund, Carboneau, Ryan Walter, Lemieux, McPhee, Skrudland, and a young kid named Richer. Dryden and Roy were added to those teams when they were already otherwise developed into their primes. The difference with Carey Price is that he is starting early in the development stage, too. Most of the guys he will be winning Cups with are not playing with him yet. Comparing him to Dryden and Roy in this way is unfair. What would have happened if Patrick Roy was mercilessly and unfairly booed in '86 instead of '95?

Wow 2003 turned out to be a good draft year for many teams First Round 1 Pittsburgh Penguins (from Florida Panthers) Marc-Andre Fleury 2 Carolina Hurricanes Eric Staal C Canada 3 Florida Panthers (from Pittsburgh Penguins) Nathan Horton RW 4 Columbus Blue Jackets Nikolai Zherdev RW Russia CSKA 5 Buffalo Sabres Thomas Vanek LW Austria University of 6 San Jose Sharks Milan Michalek LW Czech Republic Ceske 7 Nashville Predators Ryan Suter D United States 8 Atlanta Thrashers Braydon Coburn D Canada Portland 9 Calgary Flames Dion Phaneuf D Canada Red Deer Rebels 10 Montreal Canadiens Andrei Kostitsyn RW Belarus 11 Philadelphia Flyers (from Phoenix Coyotes) Jeff Carter C 12 New York Rangers Hugh Jessiman RW United States 13 Los Angeles Kings Dustin Brown RW United States 14 Chicago Blackhawks Brent Seabrook D Canada Lethbridge 15 New York Islanders Robert Nilsson RW Sweden Leksands 16 San Jose Sharks (from Boston Bruins) Steve Bernier RW 17 New Jersey Devils (from Edmonton Oilers) Zach Parise C 18 Washington Capitals Eric Fehr RW Canada Brandon 19 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Ryan Getzlaf C Canada Calgary 20 Minnesota Wild Brent Burns D Canada Brampton Battalion 21 Boston Bruins (from Toronto Maple Leafs) Mark Stuart D 22 Edmonton Oilers (from St. Louis Blues) Marc-Antoine Pouliot C 23 Vancouver Canucks Ryan Kesler C United States 24 Philadelphia Flyers Mike Richards C Canada Kitchener 25 Florida Panthers (from Tampa Bay Lightning) Anthony Stewart RW 26 Los Angeles Kings (from Colorado Avalanche) Brian Boyle C 27 Los Angeles Kings (from Detroit Red Wings) Jeff Tambellini LW 28 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (from Dallas Stars) Corey Perry RW 29 Ottawa Senators Patrick Eaves RW United States Boston 30 St. Louis Blues (from New Jersey Devils) Shawn Belle D

Sorry, I don't know why that posted twice.

The ineptitude of this year's version of the Canadiens became even more apparent as I watched the last two games of the San Jose-Anaheim series. Two tough, talented CALIFORNIA teams playing hockey at a very high level. Balls-out, tough, and talented. I know Montreal suffered injuries to key players, but if Lang, Markov, and Tanguay were 100% healthy for the Boston series, the Bruins would have still prevailed in 5-6 games. The series might have gone 7 if Halak had gotten a chance to steal a game. Carey Price a thoroughbred? Not yet, Mr. Gainey. Not yet. Make him fight for his job. And give Jaroslav Halak a chance to take it away from the Annointed One. I am no longer convinced that Mr. Price will take his place among the pantheon of Olympian net-minders that include players named Plante, Roy, and Dryden. Carey's free ride is over. He needs to become a premier goalie in 2009-10 or his days as a Hab are numbered. Komi is as gone and so is Schneider. I suspect Koivu is headed out the door as well—he's perfect as a second-line center for a team that's a player or two away from the Cup. Lang? Bring him back at a reasonable salary. The same for Tanguay. Kovalev as well. For all his shortcomings, he played his best when it counted. You keep Chris Higgins and put a "C" on his chest. You don't give up on the Kostitsyns yet, but you got some coaching and locker room leadership that help them reach their potential. The same for Plekanec. The key acquisition for next season is the Coach. No more first-timers. Bob Hartley comes to mind. Patrick Roy? He may rub people the wrong way, but I don't care; if he can get the most out of our players I say hire him. I am good at what I do and I get paid good money to it. But no one is going to pay me for past performance. I have to excel at a high level every single day. My clients expect nothing less and it's what I expect from myself. This should be the same for anyone who goes to work in a Montreal Canadiens jersey. Losing is not an option. Failure is not an option. These are the Montreal Canadiens—hockey's greatest franchise. Nothing less than a Stanley Cup victory is acceptable. This should be the prevailing mindset for everyone in management as well as for those employees who wear ice skates instead of loafers. You're not going to win it every year, but the right attitude will keep you in the mix right to the end. NO 25 IN 100

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2003e.html this pisses me off

Getting rid of Gainey would be a horrible mistake, and I am going to have to disagree with even the Living Legend of Sports Journalism on his take of the season...pardon me for that piece of heresy. Injuries were the major cause of this season's collapse, whereas all the subsequent issues were magnified as a result. Teams that were able to recover from their injuries, such as Anaheim and Pittsburgh, were able to do so because they got their players back at the right time. Anaheim had the additional benefit of having an elite level prospect who was NHL-ready, I'm referring to Bobby Ryan, waiting in the wings followed by the return of Beauchemin. Despite both Malkin and Crosby, the Pens were having a horrid first half until the return of Gonchar. Their winning ways return rather quickly with the addition of their best all-around D-man. Your Montreal Canadiens are not in need of a drastic overhaul. This season did demonstrate that we currently lack an elite level prospect currently playing in the AHL, and I say that despite the admirable performances by Weber, D'Ags, and Max-Pac. With the loss of key players who were counted on to produce, we did not having the scoring depth to replace 3 of our best players. Of the UFAs to sign, I hope the big 4 return: Komi, Koivu, Kovalev, and Tanguay. Each of those players provide a very tangible asset that the Canadiens need, and could not be replaced at this time, not to mention that they represent the leaders within the room. The loss of every single lettered player in the dressing room is not the right message. Losing Lang and Markov during the season did highlight that this team could use a large offensive centerman and another puck-moving D-man, and with 30mil in cap space I hope Gainey aims to attract those players through trades or free agency. But the core of this team is still very strong, and an overhaul would be a huge mistake. The 5 year plan is not in tatters by any means, but hampered by 276 days lost to injury. Just ask Vancouver what a healthy season can do, or Pittsburgh how valuable your best D-man is. Losing in this way sucked, but there is still a lot to be positive about.

I was watching the Rangers/Washington game, hoping the Caps would go away or that Avery would catch a puck when I saw Koslov drive to the net and score. I don't remember seeing a Montreal Canadiens player do that since, well a long time. Maybe Kovalev when he was torqued at the team. D'Ags a few times when he first came up. Watching the other playoff teams makes me sad. Everybody has excuses but the Montreal Canadiens team plays the same way each year. Looking at the roster the players have changed considerably just in the last two seasons alone. Guys come in, play really well for a week or two, then they become like the others. There is something wrong with the Montreal Canadiens. They do not appear to be a fast team, or a gritty team. They do appear to work hard, but don't appear to work together. They do not seem to shoot very well, very often, or from high percentage areas. The points don't seem to work together, always on the boards trying to get the puck into the corners and leaving the whole width of the rink open between them. They appear to run around in their own end and it always seems they are beaten to the puck, and more importantly the open space by just about everyone except Boone. I don't know what is wrong with the Montreal Canadiens but it has been wrong for a long time and is not getting better. Me, I'm old, so I always fall back to strength down the center, but it is more than that. The fans and media are right to be angry because it is their devotion that pays the freight for the CH enterprise. Last year the team won the Conference, and failed miserably in the playoffs while healthy. This year, same old, only injuries are cited for eight place and bowing out in four straight. Gainey's fault? Price's fault? I don't think so. I think somewhere after Grundman got the GM job for no reason, and before Savard bowed out, the team (not the players) moved somewhere else. Tremblay and Houle were just the face of the new company. This is all about making $$ now. Do you think Dion and friends want to buy the team and Bell centre because they don't have a match to burn those extra dollars? Perhaps it is time for the fans to move on as well. Ovechkin may be a hot dog, and Crosby may go after every advantage, but they play hockey and so do their teams.

Totally off-topic, but this is a rather hot way to diss Crosby. http://deadspin.com/5225245/maybe-shes-calling-sidney-crosby-a-pelvis

Seeing as how many are throwing out their ideas to fix what ails the Habs...the ideas range from sophomore jinx/aberration-type patience to a full-blown tear down and start anew...I figure I might as well throw in another name into the hat for discussion purposes only as it is not an idea I prefer: How do you think Glen Sather would do in Montreal? He was responsible for the Oilers dynasty of the 80s, that last Cup against the B's and he kept the team relatively competitive and helped develop their kids during those shoestring budget years...seeing as how he has not helped really in NY, besides signing big-name free agents (Drury and Gomez...great centermen...but not if they are on the same team)...and he is used to the spotlight...would he be a good fit? Discuss. "Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."

Markov. Kovalev is unstoppable in the play-offs. E.

This is getting silly. Markov is better than half of that list. He's easily one of the top five defencemen in the league. Half of those guys would be parted with in a blink of an eye if we were stupid enough to offer Markov. Iginla, Parise, the Sendins, and Thorton were not what they are now at 21, as Price will not be what he is now at 24 and for a decade after that. No, we don't have Ovechkin and Crosby and Thorton, but we didn't have Orr in the 70's and Lemieux in 93 and Thorton all those years we beat Thorton right out of Boston, either. Some guy (or woman) who knows nothing about hockey is going to end-up owning the team, picking a yes-man for g.m., and they're going to panic reading sites like this one and we'll end-up getting fleeced undervaluing all of our assets in trades as we were with Chelios, Leclair, Desjardins, Turgeon, Lumme, and on and on.

Quote from Boone: "Off the top of my head, players still playing who are better than ANYONE on the Habs' roster: Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Eric Staal, Zach Parise, Jarome Iginla, the Sedins, Jonathan Toews, Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf ..." ______________________________________________________________________________________ Boone, you're just toying with us now, by stating the obvious.

"As for goaltenders .... let's not go there, OK? " Oh why not? 26 degrees and sunny here and I'm at work, so I'm cranky! Varlamov, Hiller Just for you Price bashers out there..... Mind you kids, Hiller was 26 before he signed as an undrafted FA. Goes to show some goalies develop better at a later age.

Aww Boone, I'm not sure you should've went with the Boomtown Rats reference...it's kind of in poor taste. from wiki: Geldof wrote the song after reading a telex report...on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was "I don't like Mondays, this livens up the day." maybe it's not the best song to describe being bummed about the playoffs ;)

Let's add to that. All of the remaining players who would be the Habs number 1 center, and where they stand on their own team's depth chart: Pavel Datsyuk (1st) Henrik Zetterberg (2nd) Johan Franzen (3rd, 2nd line LW) Patrick Marleau (2nd) Joe Thornton (1st) Joe Pavelski (3rd) Mats Sundin (3rd/2nd line RW) Ryan Kesler (2nd) Henrik Sedin (1st) Oli Jokinen (1st) Jonathan Toews (1st) Patrick Sharp (2nd) Scott Gomez (1st) Chris Drury (2nd) Niklas Backstrom (1st) Travis Zajac (1st) Marc Savard (1st) Patrice Bergeron (2nd) David Krecji (3rd) Eric Staal (1st) Sidney Crosby (1st) Evgeni Malkin (2nd) Ryan Getzlaf (1st) Borderline: Daymond Langkow (2nd) Rod BrindAmour (2nd) Brandon Dubinsky (3rd) Sergei Fedorov (2nd) Valtteri Filppula (3rd) And that's only the remaining teams. Kinda scary. "Hey Brian, no hard feelings. Right?" ___________________________________________________________________________ "Everything's possible. But it's a long road and a long way ahead of us." - Saku Koivu

Boone - If you have a chance to interview anyone (especially Price, Higgins or Komisarek) you should ask them about the double-standard of their complaints. They NEVER complain when they're put up on a pedestal despite average play but they complain when they stink up the joint (really badly) might I add? Price had a 4.something GAA! Komisarek was tremendously bad for most of this season. Higgins was blind until the very end (in a checking role). Know what? 80% of the fans still love them. These guys are frustrating because they're spoiled. Spoiled by having constant, mostly positive, attention. Only two people in the last 3 years REALLY got media/fan pressure. Carbonneau (unjustly, in my opinion) and Kovalev. In both cases they were "leader" icon's who were for some reason or other underperforming. People complained about Price... for a day or two. Then everyone would say "... but he's only 21". People complained about Komisarek... then everyone would say "but he's a leader!". A bunch of whiney, overpaid, underperforming losers is what they are. We need real players not these pansies.

Depends. Are they healthy? There's not a team in the league, from San Jose on down, that can win a playoffs series missing their #1 D-man, let alone him plus two key forward and another top D-man. If the Habs were healthy, I think they would have a chance against several of those teams, yes... I don't know that they are better, I doubt it, but it would have been nice to find out and with the injuries they've had, that was plainly impossible. And in Markov, they do have a player that's better than several of those you name, although they're all forwards so the comparison is tough to make. But far from me to raise a dissenting note in the post-season bashfest. I know the Montreal sports media loves little more than to pick the Habs apart after a season. Take a deep breath. Crappy seasons happen, and the team is not nearly so bad as it showed in the latter part of the season (if it were, how come it was so good in the early going?) The worst thing that could happen is for management to be rash and ditch talented without taking good stock of their real ability and, if appropriate, their attitude (though ditching players for attitude reasons hasn't been a successful strategy for Montreal lately...) It's going to be nice next season -- this year is going to cause the expectations to be set unreasonably low, and Montreal should have no trouble beating them if they don't suffer the same silly number of injuries. One could easily argue that with all the injuries they had (never mind the media tempests), 93 points is a shockingly good result...

If anyone is dumb enough to give Komarisek $6 M a year I think he had better grab it and run. This is a team in turmoil whether those with blind allegiance believe it or not.The list of Mr. Boone's of players better than anyone on the current Habs is probably a heck of a lot longer those he noted. We hear of the montreal "core"...who, pray tell, would they be??? Other than Markov and MAYBE Koivou because of his heart and Kovalev (maybe)......what difference does it make? Georges? Plekanek? the Kosy-Snot-sons? Which ones couldn't be replaced? Remember..there are all those hall of famers in waiting just standing by in Hamilton. Courtesy of that all time great drafter, Timmins.

we suck badly, and with Bob still calling the shots it aint gonna get any better

Oh get over it boys...they're out. It's a sunny summer day today. Go outside and have a beer. Does wonders... __________________________________ From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!

A lady friend of mine (and for those of you that are so preoccupied with the name of my source send me an e-mail and I'll give you her name because I don't want to have it floating around on H I/O) was at Buona Notte on St. Laurent last Friday night (2 days after the Habs were eliminated). For those of you that don't already know, Buona Notte is a restaurant during the day and a club at night. In any case, she was on her way out when she noticed Komi lurking in one of the VIP areas. He called her over (she's a very pretty girl) and they started talking. He was with Gorges, Price, Higgins and Markov. Being a pretty big Habs fans she asked him what everyone wants to know: What happened against the B's? Are you coming back next year? etc etc He gave her the same answers he gave the media for why they lost against the Bruins i.e. too many injuries, they were a great team etc. After that he actually told her that he was almost positive he wouldn't be back with the Habs. He said the team offered him $3M/season and he was looking more in the $6M/season range (can you freakin believe that???). He said he's already looked at Dallas as a possible destination. He also told her that he "hates all Montreal fans" (quoting her directly here) for what the fans at the Bell did during Game#4. Final note... While talking to Komi she noticed that Markov was beyond drunk and that he was dancing on a table. I wouldn't be passing judgment if he hadn't ended the season on the sidelines because of a so called "lower body" injury. _____________________________ Koivu for Prime Minister :) Drive for 25!!