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The puck tease is finally over
posted by Mike Boone at 6h26 EST on Sep 13
Without Patrick Roy, we'd be lamenting a 30-year Stanley Cup drought.
That's borderline Torontonian.
I'm too young to remember Jacques Plante. With all due respect to Ken Dryden, Roy is the best goaltender I've seen in a Canadiens uniform.
Roy didn't play behind three Hall of Fame defencemen. He didn't have Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt and Jacques Lemaire up front – or Scotty Bowman behind the bench.
We knew that Canadiens would retire someone's number during the centennial season.
Patrick Roy is the clear-cut choice ... but I'd still like to see the team do something special in memory of Toe Blake.
• • •
Re the Plan B Boys, Lang and Brisebois:
Props to Bob Gainey.
The Canadiens general manager did everything he could – up to and including last Saturday's two-hour chat in Toronto – to persuade Mats Sundin to come to Montreal.
It didn't happen. And you have to conclude it was never going to happen.
Mats Sundin was the perfect fit for this team. If he didn't realize that on July 1, if he wasn't interested in being part of centennial season in a city that lives and dies for its hockey team .... well, once a Leaf ...
To paraphrase Gloria Gaynor, we will survive.
Throughout the long and ultimately futile courtship of Sundin, Gainey displayed the patience of Job and comported himself with dignity and class.
Imagine how Brian Burke might have handled it.
The addition of Lang and the re-signing of Brisebois – who wasn't as terrible as Breeze-bashers think last season and wil help on the PP – does not make the Canadiens odds-on for the Cup.
But Lang, Alex Tanguay and Georges Laraque are a definite upgrade on Bryan Smolinski, Michael Ryder and Mikhail Grabovski.
It's shaping up to be a great year.
• • •
Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail sees the Canadiens as one of the most compelling storylines of the new season:
All Montreal, all the time. In this, the 100th anniversary of the storied Canadiens franchise, the bars and bistros of Montreal will do a booming season-long business, as reporters descend for the all-star game, the Patrick Roy retirement ceremony, the entry draft and the as-yet-to-be announced outdoor game at the Big Owe. And if the Canadiens' surge last season, from 10th in the conference to first place, is no mirage, there may even be a playoff round or four. No Canadian-based team has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens' miracle run of 1993; in this historic season for the franchise, maybe the karma will be right again.
• • •
Robert L. found a neat YouTube tribute to Robert Lang.
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This has nothing to do with hockey, but I know Boone is a Steeler fan, so I've got to say go Steelers!
For those still bashing Brisebois....a flash from the past....it still applies!
"We don't need those people, we don't want those people, they're jealous people, yellow people," Gainey said of the fans who booed Brisebois. "I think they're a bunch of gutless bastards, to be honest."
Gotta love Gainey!
Go Habs Go!!
Habsrule
When things are going good they just boo Crosby, Malkin, that sort of classy display. When things go bad they will ride a player, then burn a car on the street and break a few shop windows.
They seldom post to blogs.
I am getting a bit nostalgic but I keep thinking it is 1975 and the Habs are lining up for the first game of the season.
LW- Shutt
RW- Lafleur
C- Lemaire
Def- Robinson
Def- Savard
Goal- Dryden
Lets hope 2008 will bring the same type of memories!!!
Now That Gainey's Dealing Is Done Till The Season Begins Here's - The Free Agent List (last updated sept-04-08) .. Weblinks ..... http://www.geocities.com/floridapanthers2000/free2008.html .................................... WWW.REFERRER.COM Has Habs Inside/Out in 8th Place ..... Top Referrers (past 30 days)
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Will Fabian Be A Hit .. by Mike Heika .. Dallas Norning News ..... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/091408dnspostars...
Duhatschek: Eskimos? ESKIMOS?!!
Excellent move, all around. I don't see Lang playing with Kovy, but he'll be given enough playing time to do some damage, plus most likely some time on the PP.
I like the Breezer move too...but I'm wondering what they'll be doing with Dandy. On the training camp roster, he's listed among the defensemen if that means anything.
-availability
-previous record
4 mil, plus only a one yr contract...
Looks good to this Habs fan....people better jump on the Wagon....cause once its starts to roll...so will the "W's"
GO habs GO !!!!
At last we can forget about the Swedish meatball. I personally didn't want him on the team to begin with. It's Koivu's team for better or worse and I saw the ex-Leaf captain as an unwanted usurper. Nothing was guaranteed with Sundin anyway. I thought the team was good enough with the addition of Tanguay and Laraque. This whole season and any lengthy Cup run all hinges on Carey Price's performance. I believe he will be up to the task and with a little helping of some overdue Montreal playoff magic, the stars aligning correctly or Mike Boone using a voodoo doll on the opposition's goalie, you never know......
Looking forward to a good season and watching some old fashioned fire wagon hockey.
the Maritimer
Isn't fire wagon hochey refreshing to watch.... Lemaire's legacy in Montreal is over..... we are back to our roots.
The newcomers hardly signal a change in our approach to the game. We're tougher, stronger up the middle, but everyone still has to play within the system. Last I checked, the Carbo system was still based on responsible two way hockey. The emphasis is still on responsible D and goaltending. Why crap on Lemaire's legacy?
Don't know if anyone's had the pleasure of playing NHL 09 with the Hab's Centennial team. It's absolutely awesome. Skating down the wing with the Rocket or the Flower...a scintillating save by Dryden. I can just hear Danny Gallivan calling it! Not to mention Gros Bill, Geoffrion, Harvey, Morenz, Big Bird, et al. Way to go EA sports!
In the regular league I have Lang on a line with SK and Lats. Good luck!
Me too. I've got
A.Kost-Pleks-Kovy
Higgins-Koivu-Tanguay
Lats-Lang-Sergei
Laraque-Chipchura-Lapierre
Wow! No Begin or Kostopolous? I figure one of them will play any given night.
This is all bad news for Dandenault, a great guy I like but who now finds himself in a tough place. Brisebois back and O'Byrne needing ice-time to develop - not much space on D. As for playing on the 3rd or 4th forward lines? The fact that you could come up with decent lines that don't use Begin and Kostopolous tells us a lot about the Habs depth. And Dandenault makes too much money to be easily traded.
I think his best chance is to wait for some team to be devastated by injuries on defense. His veteran presence would be worth it to them.
Keep in mind these are also NHL lines, so the ratings were taken into effect a little bit
But you're right... the fact that we can field a good team and leave guys off that would be the envy of many teams' third lines says a lot about our depth
The Morning Skate : Prospects Take to the Ice , Radulov's Reasoning and No Mats for Montreal and much more .. by Stu Hackel .. NY Times ..... http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/the-morning-skate-prospects...
Good on you Mike. Nice to see you that you aren't always lock-step with Red Fisher.
How can you stay in lockstep with a man who walks that slowly?
Off-topic, but poor ol' George is feeling the heat in Liverpool...
http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=249343&lid=sublink06&lpos=headlines_m...
I like a man who isn't afraid to admit he was wrong. I'm glad you've come around on the Roy issue.
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
Maybe there's hope for me on Ryder, eh?
I wouldn't go that far. I'm just happy you'll have to buy me a beer when he scores thirty with Boston.
http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com
There's not a chance. You should read McKeen's assessment on him though, as you are very high on that magazine. They do say things which are in line with your thinking, but I think you might have trouble breathing when you read their assessment on his stickhandling skills.
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"by Sarah Palin..L.A.Times". OK, is this just a test? The Kings do have some great young talent though.
Ed - You are the winner of fresh air, lol. I was reading the Bush Doctrine this morning, sorry.
Also caught the 24 Cups dig. Bryan, buy me a few drinks at the Summit and I'll balance your books and complete your 2008 taxes for you.
The Original 24 Cups
Mike's comment about a 30-year cup drought is chilling, isn't it?
Late last week, all the guys on La Zone, Radio-Canada's 11-PM sports panel, picked Patrick Roy in their list of top-5 all-time habs. I was surprised by that but, then again, what do I know?
As for this season, just remember, we may be just one 20-game injury away from fighting for 8th spot at the end of the season.
Adding Lang deepened the scoring depth of our team and was a necessary step that needed being taken in order to secure above average performances from our team if faced with a compromising injury our best player...... believe me, despite the parity and all this team will not fall like a dead leave if one of our very best player went on missing for a prolonged period..... our scoring depth and our judiciously balanced set of qualities as a team (partly described by IAN in the post bellow) is just to real by now.... this team seems built to meet successfully the widest range of the challenges find in the NHL nowdays.