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A good – and potentially very good – draft
posted by Mike Boone at 16h19 EST on Jun 27
The two players I find most intriguing are defenceman Mac Bennett, chosen 79th overall in the third round, and RW Alexander Avtsin, the Canadiens' fourth-round pick (109th overall).
Bennett has a good pedigree: his father, uncle and grandfather were professional hockey players. The kid is not big – 5'11", 170 lbs. – and played only 15 games at Hitchkiss, a Connecticut prep school.
But Charlie Henry, who runs the Gatineau Olympiques and knows a player when he sees one, is in love with Bennett and will try to lure him to the Q.
Henry says Bennett is great with the puck and would play on the PP in Gatineau. The weak part of the kid's game is his defence, which is teachable.
Bennett is supposed to play in the USHL this season and then go to Michigan on a scholarship. He'll be at the Canadiens' development camp net week, at which point maybe there will be some talks about Bennett's future.
Henry thinks Bennett will learn more and learn it faster playing in the Q. But he's biased.
• • •
Timmins said Avtsin has first-round talent but was available in the fourth round because teams are leery of Russians (only seven selected in two days).
Avtsin palyed for Moscow Dynamo's B team, which Timmins says is one level below Russia's KHL. He has nice size – 6'2", 198 – and shoots R.
You have to love Avtsin's stats: in 76 games, he's scored 56 goals, added 54 assists and has 130 minutes in penalties, which tells me he plays a North American game. The kid also came to Montreal for the draft, which suggests he's very keen to pursue his pro career on this side of the pond.
• • •
Charlie Henry said if Louis Leblanc had played in the Q (he was drafted by Val d'Or and his rights were traded to Chicoutimi) this season, his numbers would been so good that he'd have gone higher than 18th overall, which is where the Canadiens got him.
As for Leblanc becoming a freshman at Harvard this fall, Henry says the university is a great place to go if you want to be president of the United States, but not so great if you want to play in the NHL.
But Leblanc will be coached at Harvard by former NHLer (and Crimson alum) Ted Donato. And if he develops on track, the Canadiens will pull a Pacioretty and turn Leblanc pro after one season at Harvard.
• • •
Joonas Nattinen, the second round pick, is a 6'2" centre who could probably carry more than 183 lbs. Timmins says the kid goes to the net and is not afraid of heavy traffic.
Canadiens have a Finnish centre like that – but he's not 6-2 ... and he's not 18 years old.
* • •
Drummondville coach Guy Boucher, whom the Canadiens should hire for the Hamilton job, compares fifth-round pick Gabriel Dumont to Maxime Talbot.
"Dumont really annoys opponents," Boucher, who also coached Talbot, told La Presse. "He has great leadership and wakes the team up when they get sleepy. And he always scores big goals."
Boucher also praised Dumont's ability to park himself in the opposig goaltender's crease and withstand a pounding. Dumont, the coach said, has a higher pain threshold than any other player he's coached in 11 years.
If the kid is anything like Talbot ...
• • •
Is there an organization in hockey with taller goaltenders?
Carey Price is 6'3".
Jason Missiiaen, drafted last year, is 6'8".
And Petteri Simila, the Finnish junior who was the last player drafted today, is 6'6".
• • •
Draft oddity: Detroit selected only one Swede ... and defenceman Adam Almqvist was the Wings' seventh-round pick, 210th overall).
• • •
There were 102 Canadians picked in the draft, 55 Americans, 24 Swedes, 10 Finns, seeven Russians, five Slovaks, three Czechs, a Pole, a Dane, a Belarusian and one player born in the U.K.: Columbus fifth round pick Thomas Larkin, a Londoner by birth who played prep school hockey at Exeter in New Hampshire.
• • •
The OHL had 45 juniors drafted, the Dub 31 and the Q a very respectable 23.
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We have been through this more than once. I remember a time when we were taught that Jozef Balej was an intriguing pick, how good Marcel Hossa looked, who was advertised as being as good as his brother, only with a more mature defensive game. He came into the league scoring in his first five games (remember the hype?), and faded into oblivion. Chouinard was also looking good, as nobody at the time thought that he would once be vastly outshone by his then-teammate Simon Gagné.
In four years we might sit here, same persons, same aliases, lamenting the choice of Leblanc. Or maybe he will already be the team captain whom we will lament, because he freaking didn't reach the 50-goal-mark he had reached the year before.
;-)
...BUT Fool ! ...THOSE are JUST A PART of the overwhelming Burdens Of Being A Fan
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049Habs drafted ranked C minus
http://www.edmontonsun.com/sports/hockey/2009/06/28/9960461-sun.html
LOL-Thanks for sharing that with us Exit. I'm already feeling somewhat agitated about the situation.
TO NEXT YEAR...
@ Boone: There was also one German draftet. A defenceman who went to the Sharks (of course).
Mike - I saw Louis Leblanc practicing last summer and playing the year before for the LSL AAA Lions. The first thing you notice about him is his electric speed - his first step is lightning fast. He will be a great NHL player - because besides his speed there is no one out there working harder than this kid - everyone who knows Louis will tell you that his work ethic is extraordinary.
I'd like to share a quick story about Louis. I was watching him closely at the Telus Cup Midget AAA tournament in Lasalle 2 years ago. I noticed him standing - the entire game - at the end of the bench. Then, just before he'd jump on to the ice, he'd stick one leg over the boards for about 5 seconds.
(His coach has a reputation similar to Mike Keenan (or Vince Lombardi), and the night before - during a game - he'd sent 2 excellent players back to the dressing room to change out of their uniforms because he felt that they were not bringing enough to the ice.)
Louis was so respected by this coach that he was given the green light to jump on to the ice when HE was ready. That's why he sat alone at the end of the bench and had his leg over the boards - so that he could easily change at his OWN pace.
Midget AAA is a competitive league - it's not Novice hockey.
Louis is so hockey smart that he was given the ultimate respect by one of the most authoritarian coaches you'll ever see.
Louis Leblanc will be at least a # 2 center in the NHL, and those who have seen him play will not be surprised.
... from Larry Brooks/NY Post ....... ' Only one Nik will be back with NYR ' .....
Sather meanwhile categorized the contract demands from impending unrestricted free agent Nik Antropov, whom the Blueshirts acquired from Toronto at the deadline for a second-round pick, as "ridiculous."
"Based on the first volley from [agent] Mark Gandler, there is a slim chance [of Antropov returning]," the general manager said following the fifth round of the Entry Draft. "There's a snowball's chance in hell that's going to happen. It's ridiculous. I hate to criticize an agent, but let's have a little bit of reality here."
I would take Simon Gagner in a heart beat. How does this sound:
Gagner-Lecavalier-Tanguay
Think that might keep the masses happy?
Beauchemin should also be a major objective
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049... from Bruce 'Rumour' Garrioch : ' Briere could be Plan-B for Habs " and more bull ....... http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/06/27/9958416.html
How is Briere a plan B? He is the exact opposite of what we need.
Trading for him would be just plain stupid.
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"Obviously it would be great, but they don't really hang conference titles in this rink. They raise Stanley Cup banners." - Carey Price
I like the fact that most forwards Timmins picked were centers.... we all know that centers can easilly be converted into wingers if need be.... they offer more versatily to the teams who picked them up then wingers do.
Another excellent feature are the fact that alot of them are right handed.... those are always in short supply, specially with our own Club in this last ten years and it seems that everytime Gainey was trying to bring players over here from the UFA market or what not they were right handed.... Shanahan, Samsonov, Brière, Sundin, Lang, Metropolit.... three left handed forwards are simply not the ideal PP recepe to have for a great first wave.
I feel good about Timmins work and procedure, Chicago is the only organization who had more prospects (14) turning NHLers in some capacity than the CH (13) since Timmins first drafted here in 2003..... I specially like how he can come up with the like of Halak and S.Kostitsyn in the very last round of the draft.... not to mention a true gem like Streit which our own GM failed to retained at a bargain price of less than 2.8 millions.
Remember Streit's first star performance at the Bell late in our last season ? This guy is as good if not better than Rafalski..... Streit had a tremendous season with the Isles and its no wonder that their fans were clamoring to get him named captain of their team at the end of it..... things could change with Tavares around but that just show you how irresponsible Carbo and Gainey were..... had they assigned him to a bigger role with more responsabilities they would have discover how good this guy really was.... what a waste, anyway all the credit goes to Timmins for drafting him in the last round of 2005.
Bn - Great post , speaking of our point about the Habs having 13 players turning NHLers since Timmons is only a testament to how bad our team was before and same goes for the Hawks, that would never happen in San Jose. Granted Streit had a good year in NY but he plays well on bad teams with his extra ice time. He always looked good for the Switzerland National team but if you put him on the Swedish National team i'm sure he would be replaced cuz he can be intimidated. On weak teams the opposition plan is to give a full effort but on a strong team the opposition goes for the obvious weaknesses of the enemy and Sreit would be the #1 target. I liked the draft yesterday for the most part but did not see too much grit coming from the Habs table so i'll say that Timmon's team are a soft bunch and Mr.Boone will love them naturally.
Your analysis of Streit is spot on. That is why he folded in the 07/08 playoffs and that is why Gainey would not offer him a big contract or give him guarantees of playing D.
Great post... both Mike and Bouleau... I agree totally in both of your assesment of this draft, which I think could potentially be one of our best. Where I disagree is in terms of Streit, who definately was missed last season, but who is not worth the money they pay for him on Long Island.
And especially with what is shaping up to be an incredible D next year (I think that PK will make the team out of training camp -- and remember this is the kid who upstaged Tavares at the World Juniors last year -- combined with Weber. When you add to that the fact that one of our Minnesota wonders will probably surprise a few people this year or next, I think that we can afford losing Streit, seeing that Subban is even more of a pure rover than he ever was.
HFiH - Subban has raw talent but is completely lost defensively and needs a crash course on 'D' in Hamilton. It's amazing how a coach like George Burnett in 4 years did so little to improve that aspect of his game, another Kilrea.
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049Subban's D doesn't match his offence. Give him a season in Hamilton and he'll be 100% better. Habs D will be young, but better than what we've had. Unless, of course, the Breezer gets signed...again.
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Beliveau is the best that ever was.
Breezer MUST be signed.
Wow, such originality. I've NEVER read that one before.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The patience that Bob Gainey showed me when he could have gotten rid of me years ago, I am just really grateful for it." - Mike Modano, June 30, 1999
That's sarcasm right?
The only way Breezer should be returning to the Habs is as a defensive coach. He is way to slow/old/fragile to play at the NHL level and is a complete defensive liability.
And spare the B-S about how he scored a goal here-and-there. He cost us just as many as he scored.
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"Obviously it would be great, but they don't really hang conference titles in this rink. They raise Stanley Cup banners." - Carey Price
I'm really excited about Joonas Natieen. If he adds some pounds to his frame he can be the big centre we've been waiting for in a couple of years. Great pick.
B - Time for my rant. No matter what size you are you have to play big to be big. Ten extra pounds isn't going to help someone that doesn't want to play big. So many people on this site think its all about the Toledo scale. Its about heart , strength on the puck , balance and the willingness to go in traffic when needed that makes you big, Mike Richards isn't big but he has all those assets. Lets hope that if we pick up any players this next week or so that they have some of those assets.
Agreed... look at laraque... he is what, 300 lbs? we all know how he plays
Are you implying this prospect that was just drafted Doesnt want to play big, has no heart, strength on the puck, balance and the willingness to go in traffic ?
Yup that's what your implying, because YET again you come out with a Rant and talk out of your rear end.
YES we want those kind of players, but your post had nothing to do with the prospect UNLESS you where implying that Finnish prospect had none of those qualities ?
Understand ? And BTW - your wrong, MANY MANY MANY MANY young kids need to add some weight, not so they look like your overweight self, more so to add some extra muscle weight, because at 18 they can tend to be scrawny, but YOU DONT BUY THIS. Makes you look "Oh so inteligent" when you Dont buy Biology 101.
;-)
Bill: Your last sentence has a few grammar errors. :P
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Ya! The Habs Rule!
The Habs always have the best coaches, players and prospects. Their not having won a Cup since 1993 has a big whiff of conspiracy about it!
Trevor Timmons isn't paid to be optimistic.
He's paid to be good.
He's paid to select quality draft picks. Leblanc was a steal, given that he was 17th, and the Habs picked him 18th as a "Home Town Boy." Naatinen was supposed to go earlier, and went later.
A good scout is neither an optimist nor a pessimist. He's a realist.
Good scouts pick Leblanc, even though he's going to Harvard.
Alexander Avtsin is actually eligible to play in hamilton or cincinnati(echl) next year. I would love to get him out of russia to play here before the khl gets their hands on him. It may seem unwise to do such a thing but i think the longer he stays in russa,the better chance he never comes over here.
That's right, the more the Russian govt. gets to see his skills, they'll key in on him.
Give the guy an ahl contract which doesn't affect his 7 years till ufa status. This may be too extreme,but its just a thought on how we can get players to come over here instead of staying in russia.
It's worth it. Been waiting for Yemelin for a while and now he's gone. It's worth the risk.
Hear is some hockey trivia for you. Who was the goalie for the bruins when the rocket became the first to score 50 goals in 50 games goal in nhl history. Answer: harvey bennett, grandfather of habs draft pick mac bennett
cool piece of trivia.
We can put them out of our minds for the next 4 years now. The real roster starts to be put together next week.
I have been putting together the roster of keepers, bringing up a couple from the farm and looking at some pretty big holes to fill.
Lang, Tanguay, Koivu, Kovalev, Komisarik, will be here I believe.
I hope we replace Lang with a younger player like Marleau or Horton or we are essentially the same depressing team of losers we were last year. No offence to Lang who played great for us but we need changes (hopefully the Bro's K and Pleks, Brisser are gone)
I'd like to see lang back if he is fully recovered.He was on pace to score between 30 and 35 goals last year.Its not like he is injury prone,it was a freak accident. He also brought a spark to the brothers K who played their best hockey when he was centering them. Obviously for not anything near his same salary but we could use his size at center and his right handed shot. At least offer the guy a tryout if he doesn't get a contract offer.
I Bob can't get a number 1 center in a trade I would be OK with giving Lang a tryout. I would rather him that see Gainey sign Antropov. I just don't want the same team we had last year. From the All Star game on, it was by far the worst display of hockey I have seen from the Habs since the late 90's.
I am not that excited about the UFA list either so it is going to take some trades.
It may sound callous, but I would never re-sign a guy who had his Achilles tendon severed under any circumstances. Go convince another GM about the wonders of modern medicine.
"but I would never re-sign a guy who had his Achilles tendon severed under any circumstances."
Then I guess we better let Chipchura go as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The patience that Bob Gainey showed me when he could have gotten rid of me years ago, I am just really grateful for it." - Mike Modano, June 30, 1999
Chips should be let go. His skating holds him back. Too bad, too, because he's a smart player that's too slow to play center.
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Beliveau is the best that ever was.
Absolutely, barring a miraculous improvement in his play, I have him to go as well. I'm sick of endless debates about fourth-line forwards. They're a freakin' dime a dozen.
We got a whole new crew of them this weekend too!~
Ahh, positivity, it's everywhere.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The patience that Bob Gainey showed me when he could have gotten rid of me years ago, I am just really grateful for it." - Mike Modano, June 30, 1999
Exit honestly never has ANYTHING positive nor remotely constructive to say.
I think he's related to Bruno, er, I mean Timo.
Don't like this team, find another. There is after all 29 others to choose from!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The patience that Bob Gainey showed me when he could have gotten rid of me years ago, I am just really grateful for it." - Mike Modano, June 30, 1999
He's a closet laffs fan. Or Bruins fan. Or whichever team the Habs are playing next.
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Beliveau is the best that ever was.
Have you actually seen any of them play? Because Caron may be big, but he's sloooww. I'll take Leblanc, thanks.
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
I haven't seen Harvard's schedule for the upcoming season, but Leblanc will be playing against some very big boys in NCAA D-1. Remember many seniors, especially at big-name programs, are well beyond the 21 years of a "normal" college student.
So what was the average height per player of our draft this year? :D
Bigger. ;)
But I've said this before: everyone thinks our team is small because of guys like Bouillon and Koivu. But the stats actually show we're at or above league average; in fact two years ago, when complaints about our size peaked after our exit in the second round vs Philly, the fans clamoring for more size neglected the fact that the Habs were, on average, BIGGER than the Flyers, and we had outplayed the crap out of them. The difference in that series, unlike what many people think, was NOT size. It was aggressivity, goaltending experience, and heroic play by unexpected guys like Umberger.
...and, dare I say it, better coaching.
Now, the hard work begins. Should be an interesting week. Lots of cap room and lots of players available.
Heard on TSN that Jokinen is again available due to the JBO sweepstakes. What a surprise. NOT.
A few GMs are tight against the cap and will be forced into something drastic; hello Holmgren and Sather. I hope the Habs can use this to advantage and pry out Carter and Gagné from Philly and let them eat Briére's contract. Re-sign Kovy and Tanguay and that wouldn't be a bad top 4 out of 6. Nice to dream in summer. Must be the heat.
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Beliveau is the best that ever was.
Holmgren would be a colossal imbecile to get rid of Carter.
Hasn't he already proved that by signing Briere and yesterday's trade?
Jokinen should be a last resort player for us. I really don't like his work ethic.
It is really odd about Joke. Last couple years there was this big campaign to get him the big bucks. But if you look at last years stats he is about the same ppg as Saku, worse faceoff, worse plus-, worse...well worse.
He is big though, so he's got that going for him.
I don't buy the criticisms of his work ethic- everyone on the Flames praised him when he went to Calgary, even though his productivity slowed down after an initial spike. He still ended up with almost a point per game. And he was awesome in the playoffs, 5 points in 6 games, played his *** off.
I'd LOVE to see Jokinen in a Habs uniform. Kovalev's and Price's work ethics worry me more.
I wouldn't mind jokinen. I've heard rumours about his attitude but you can't deny his on ice results.He has put up some very good numbers on some bad florida teams which were not known for scoring goals. Quite honestly,after vinny what are our options when it comes to a big first line center?
s - Jokinen and Jacques Martin are not golfing buddies, lol.
I have a REALLY good feeling about Leblanc...
Looks like a pretty nice draft to me, Alexander Avtsin and Joonas Nattinen look to be good players to fill out particular roles on the team, with any luck we don't lose Avtsin to the KHL, Nattinen develops like we need him to as big centres have been absent too long on this team.
Next year's 6th round pick. Don't listen to exit, he's just babbling more crap. Seriously dude, you're as bad as Eklund.
Komisarek's negotiating rights.
Great post Boone, and great comments. Who knows if they're good picks, but it could have been worse.
I'm going to go through the list of players we drafted and look at their numbers but so far this looks like a good draft for us. On the surface, apart form Leblanc (who I like) maybe Avtsin is the catch of the day.
...which IS The Way It Should Be !
...now Bob ...LOBOTOMIZE Us !!!
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049My memory goes back more than 18 months. We missed the playoffs a couple of years ago, so this year was not the worst.
...My memory goes back 60 + years ...I repeat ! ...Worst Season In Living Memory
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049your memory is fuzzy it seems in the late 90's & early 2000's then eh ?
Last season was NOT as bad as you would seem to think, yeah a multitude of events transpired to really kill this past season, but I would rather think this past season was a learning experience at least for the youth.
Compared to 10 years ago when there was NO talented youth to learn from the experiences of losing, IMO that was a worse stretch.
Food for thought ;-)
...those WERE indeed dry, barren and disappointing years for a Fan that had been spoiled by many preceeding glorious Canadiens seasons
...those Teams (mid-nineties to pre-Bob) though ...played within Realistic Expectations ...talent wise
...Our Centennial Team did NOT
...above & beyond the Injury Curse ...the lack-of-Character of many of Our players ...the sub-standard coaching from former-Habs that I had The Highest Opinions Of ...more than a few questionable GM decisions ...contrasted to My own Expectations ...made THIS PAST SEASON ...THE Worst Season In Living Memory ...on many levels
...THAT does NOT though make me despondent ...as I realize (...after MUCH experience) Life often times throws curves
...soooooo Bill ...In My Opinion ...this past season WAS the Worst In Living Memory !
...if You have a different perspective ...THAT's cool too ...I won't lose sleep tonight if You don't agree with me
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049Well when you describe it THIS way I can see your P.O.V. at least - & I can certainly respect it... Still don't think IMO that this past season was the worst in MY Living memory, but I guess my expectations where a tad bit more realistic then yours WHEN things started to fall apart.
Simantics. (Sp?)
How about a season where your number 1 goalie gets hurt and a kid comes in. The kid plays well enough to get you back into contention for the playoffs, one game to go and it's yours, just hold the line. But the coach decides to play the returning number 1 goalie instead, to get him ready for the playoffs. Only there won't be any.
No this wasn't the worst season I can recently remember. But I am looking forward to a coach that doesn't blame individuals for his lack of ability to adapt or to learn from coaches that are better than him.
LMAO - Only the way you described it... DID NOT Happen - you are obviously one of those twits who jumped on Carey Price and blamed the season on him. Go back to watching baseball Genius, because your 3 months of being a Hockey fan are not doing you any credit here.
The reason Gainey put Price in nets, is because he KNEW the Habs had no chance of making a Legit Cup Run, and losing like this was a learning experience, Carey has not lost many times in his career, make no mistake this was a LEARNING experience.
If you thought the Habs had a snowballs chance in hell of getting past the first round with all the injuries we had, your a COMPLETE Dolt.
At least if your going to criticize Carey Price, come up with some valid points.
Melanson better then Price ? --- LMFAO now I know your an Idiot. Tell me how many awards/or Championship Trophies Rollie has won as a GOALIE....
Now tell me how many Price has won ?
P.S. in the first half of the season when Carey Price was among the BEST of the NHL as a Goalie, and the Habs where fighting for the top spot in the eastern conference. I Take it - that was all Halak's doing ? DOLT!!!
Halak did "well" while Price was injured, but the team SLID back in the standings under his watch, the team did NOT get better under his watch" The Habs went from being the #2 in the east to #5 by the time Price returned to a healthy form just in time for the smart fans like you to dump on him, so you can tell me all you want about Halak "saving the season" but all I see is another Hab goalie who could not shoulder the entire team on his shoulders because the players in front where all too injured or too young to compete.
Like I said - go back to watching baseball.
...it was NOT that We lost More Than We Should Have Lost last season ...it was HOW We Lost
...dysfunction ...indifference, lack of pride of too many of whom I expected MORE ...brutal coaching and leadership on the Team = (...to Myself) THE Worse Season In Living Memory
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049Still not debating your oppinion, I can see your P.O.V.
However.....
I did not refer to your expectations at the begining of the season, I am refering to your expectations at the END of the season ;-)
What I said -> "but I guess my expectations where a tad bit more realistic then yours WHEN things started to fall apart. "
How we lost ? - we had no healthy talent, why can you not see this, ? we had a buncha young players, throw in a few prima-donna's with the letter K in their last name. It was a mess. Yes. Do you honestly believe it was not a learning experience for some ? IF I'm wrong and the team did not learn, yes this could go down as the worst season in the Habs history, but if they learned, still makes them better then the teams of the late '90's.
P.S. - The Habs WHERE fighting for first by the mid-way point of the season, what happened ? Oh yeah INJURIES!!!! to MAJOR components of this team.
...at this stage, I will THINK optimistically ...and HOPEFULLY ...for a potential gold nugget late-pick in Alexander Avtsin (...just his name sounds like positive karma)
...maybe reality will later bite ...but right now I feel 'good' about this draft
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049I think it seems to be a pretty good draft.
I'm not familiar with all our picks... but it gives me something to do (looking them up) going into rookie camp and training camp..
;-)
I was happy that Leblanc was taken... I was slighty worried about Timmins and company if they would have picked someone else..... (possible riot???)
Out of all the picks, Avtsin is one that really interests me.... because of his stats, his size and the fact he was in Montreal for the draft. He said in a short interview with Renau Lavoie that he was very happy to be drafted by Montreal.
I'm also interested to see Joonas Nattinen.. good size....
Well done Mr Timmins.
- Yves http://yvesonhabs.blogspot.com
Considering how the season turned out for the Habs, I really wish they'd been able to keep the second they traded for Schneider. There were a lot of really promising players in the second round. But, overall, I'm happy with the picks today.
So, Detroit picked a Swedish defenceman at 210 overall? Just watch him become the next Lidstrom!
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
Yeah, I am as well. I will be happier if the team actively develops them rather than just keeping an eye on their progress.
The Habs have come a long way in drafting over the last few years. Makes you wonder if Mr Cory's only interest in the team was getting seats on camera.
So, Detroit picked a Swedish defenceman at 210 overall? Just watch him become the next Lidstrom!
- J.T
Those were my thoughts exactly!
- Yves http://yvesonhabs.blogspot.com
Given that the russian pick was actually in montreal for the draft gives us some sort of optimism.
I got the same perception.
By drafting 5 centremen we obviously increase our chances of one of them (or more) to become NHL roster players. Good moves by Timmins. Avtsin would be fun to watch. Stack up the goalies! They'll reach the rafters of the Bell Centre.
I posted it somewhere else to someone else noting Our goalies heights ...BUT I think the IDEAL proportions for a Great Goalie is 5'-0" and 600 pounds ...butterfly ...schmutterfly !
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049"5'0" and 600 pounds"!! That is kind of short and heavy don't you think. I'd rather have a goalie 6'1" tall, 4' 1" wide and 48" deep at the butt. Then he could lay across the crease and they wouldn't be able to fold him into the net.
Yeah, Tim Thomas. Price if he keeps those burgers flowing.
Tim Thomas?
Put him on a toboggan with blades to slide him out into his crease.