Canadiens turn corner into second half

I presume it's over now? Did Bob address these heavy Vinny rumours?

So the priority is a defenseman, says Bob. Aw'ight. Personally, I think Gorges could kick OB's *** and learn to shoot like a juggernaut but ok. No, see, I've been thinkin' it over. And though it would hurt, I think it would BOOST much more in the final analysis. Plecky, Higgy, Sooby and a 1st rounder for V4? Do it. Let's do this thing. I'll cry for Sooby later. Do it. Peace Out ______________________________________________________ Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Earl of Fluppitburg, Baron of Fleenshire County and Knight of the Flannel Republic.

ALERT! The State of the Union is commencing! Peace Out ______________________________________________________ Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Earl of Fluppitburg, Baron of Fleenshire County and Knight of the Flannel Republic.

Is there any team more fun on non gamedays?

is Vinny's wife hot , really hot.......if not don't do the deal.

Your favorite esquire is havin' himself a good'ole time as "Leo." http://blogs.tampabay.com/lightning/2009/01/owners-happy-wi.html?cid=144... Peace Out ______________________________________________________ Lord Bugs Potter, esq. Earl of Fluppitburg, Baron of Fleenshire County and Knight of the Flannel Republic.

Clearly we can't keep all our team together next year so something has to give,it's all about winning with the right payroll.

Everyone's dreaming if you think Vinny is coming to the Habs during the season! Were pretty much up against the cap. Vinny is 7.2M this year, 10M for the next eon! TB will not want BIG salary back! That's why the rumour to trade him is out there. I can only see it happening around draft time when we have the cap space because we don't re-sign two of the following UFA - Kovy, Koivu & Tanquay! Can you imagine Bob announcing the trade at the draft in Montreal before our first draft pick! Anyway, which of our young studs do we trade??? I really have mixed feeling about all this. Does Vinny want to play for us in the first place? Do we want near 1/5 of our cap space alloted to one player. Remember were in a recession and the cap will likely drop the next couple of years! Maybe Bob should stay the coarse - it seems to be working well!

Here is what they are saying in Tampa: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/10/100111/sp-lecavalier-trade-talk-...

It’s a non game day so I might as well bite and fantasize about Vinny coming to Montreal. If this deal was to happen, the Habs would have to be prepared to give up quite a bit seeing that the other team is trading their franchise player. Conversely, Tampa has to realize that Vinny’s massive contract (coin and term) also undercuts his overall value in any trade. Let’s stick with the rumour mill. Giving up Pleks is a no brainer seeing that we finally land the big centre we have needed for years. We would have to drop a centre to make room for Vinny and Pleks would be that man. . MaxPac replaces Higgins, which helps ease his loss to the team, now and in the future. Both these guys are RFAs who will sign for a combined income of close to $7.7 mil, which just happens to be Vinny’s cap hit for the next 10 years. Subban or McDonagh? You have to give to get a fish as big as Vinny and we would be dealing from strength in that we have two of these guys in the system, plus Weber. You also have to remember that they are prospects, they have great potential but so far haven’t accomplished anything in the NHL. Letting one of them go for a top ten player in the league (who is at his peak) makes sense to me. Of course, that’s also the problem. Vinny has about 5 solid years ahead of him and then he starts to approach the other side of the mountain. The only negative that I see to this deal is the 10 year term of his contract. I can live with the cap hit long term, although I’m not sure how we would accommodate the $1.790 mil prorated differential between Vinny and Higgins/Pleks for the rest of the year. But hey, it’s only money! If you win even just one Cup with Vinny, then this deal becomes worth it. Going For The Brass Ring - 25 Cups In 100 Years

Here's the link to the Dreger story on TSN: http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/darren_dreger/?id=262963&lid=headline&lpos=... Does Vinny even want to come to Montreal? I would hate to part with so many bodies, wasn't that Sam Pollock's rule..don't give more bodies than you get in return? But I guess Vinny would be a pretty good body at centre. So much money though!

The first and most important thing everyone seems to be missing is that Montreal doesn't have the cap room at the moment for Lecavaliar. Trading Higgins and Plekanec doesn't create enough room. Gainey will have to move a big ticket player like Lang or Tanguay to get it done. Tampa is looking to get younger and cheaper if they make this deal. Not sure they would want either Plekanec or Higgins as both will have salaries of around $3.0m next year. Not exactly a cap savings. If this deal get done, my quess is Tampa would want a bushel full of prospect that they can keep at a cheap price for a few years and use the money the save by moving Vincente next season on a UFA. To make a long story short, I think Lang/Tanguay would be headed to Tampa and a few blue chippers. Tampa then would move Lang/Tanguay at the trade deadline for a few more prospects.

I agree with Pat Hickey's comment about BGL. We need him to get healthy & fast because we can't afford other players fighting & getting hurt. We've managed thus far but if there's no light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps Gainey can look at acquiring Chris Neil from Ottawa. They seem ready, willing and anxious to unload players.

Alex Tanguay (born November 21, 1979, in Sainte-Justine, Quebec). Alex "changed" to be willing back home when he was 29 years old. Vincent Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980 Ile Bizard, Quebec). Do I have to assume Vincent does so when he is 29 years old?

There are a lot of good posts here (Big Bird and others)... about what the Habs have and might need. But the fact is we have a new problem not discussed below. It seems almost odd that the Habs are playing as well as they are, and SCORING as they are without TWO of our very best players and reliable point getters in Koivu and Tanguay. So the question is: how do you take chemistry into account? What happens when players come back? Does chemistry mean you should trade away some of our team clinic players since the team is clicking without them? Or does it mean you shake the dice? My worry is that Bob does make a trade, the players come back, three guys get sent down, and the team sputters and stumbles it's way into the play-offs. That said, which is the right priority? A. Do anything to keep The Line-up as it is! This would mean looking to trade away a couple of 'team clinic' guys for probably a solid D-man (our most obvious need) so we can build on the CURRENT chemistry up front and not mess it up. B. Let team clinic come back and displace the young guys. ...see what happens when rookies are sent down and hope we don't lose anything. C. Make any trade the helps the team This would probably be a 2 or 3 for 1, since we have a glut of GOOD players and our need is only for an added great player. Tough call to make. There's a real risk coming either way. ~ Listen to the smart dog - he knows his poop!

Does anyone know what the conference is about? Just a mid-season update? Trade? News? ana answer would be greatly appreciated!!! peace drive for 25

I wonder if Vinny would welcome a change from the sand to the snow. Does he have the balls to come back to Quebec, Montreal and Canada. So many peeps have said he wants to fly under the radar down there and cash his huge pay cheques and not deal with the pressure etc,etc. He has signed a long term contract for what seems an eternity ..does BG and uncle George want that hanging over them. Most of all does Vinny want to come back. No point in doing it if he will be miserable ..we don't need that. we need players who bleed the CH and would love the challenge.

id trade higgy,lats,dags,draft choice and my left nutt for lacavalier,if and only if we can sign him long term and dont get burned like pitt did with hossa.a proven power forward who can score and french for the media to luv.we are an awesome team now, weve improved greatly as the seasons gone on.ps: BOB, GET KOMISERICK SIGNED NOW!! dont wait.but dont give too much the salary cap is going down they say for the next 2 years, we dont wanna be burdened with a huge contract.

If anyone is like me today and have no work.....a real good Habs history site is www.ourhistory.canadiens.com. Lots of interesting reading and videos and characters galore. Check out Johnny "Black Cat" Gagnon (he was sneaky fast and centered Howie Morenz and Aurel Joliat if you can imagine) or Marcel Bonin (wrestled bears). Very enjoyable. Go! Habs Go!

Just wondering, when was the last time a Major mid-season trade like the one being discussed for Vinnie has lead to a cup that year? How often has it worked?

Hey Dave, What time is the press conference? Do you know if it's being carried live? What a time to announce a big trade. Do you think?

I'm all for Kovalchuck. He would be an awesome addition to our lineup. Vinny can go screw himself. He'll end up leaving florida when the lightning organization goes belly up and ends up in Canada regardless....

Regarding Higgins: How quickly we forget...two or three years ago, we were all hot to trot on Chris Higgins, seeing this kid who we thought would be an excellent third line centreman blossom into a very serviceable 2nd line left wing that could fit in on the top line in a pinch, providing 20-30 goals per year with potential for more. He's already an assistant captain on the team at 25 years old, his teammates love him, he plays an all-around game, he seems to always be available to the media, win or lose, in a tough media market. Higgins has established goal-scoring consistency (23, 22, 27 goals in his first three seasons) while improving his assist totals each season and performing well on the PP and on the PK. He's fast, he's got decent size, he forechecks...all the things people are braying about Pacioretty or D'Agostini having potential for becoming are already there in Higgins. Now let's look more closely at Pacioretty. He's one inch taller and the same weight as Higgins. They are both guys with good wheels. They both hit. On the top-line, Pacioretty blossomed for 15 goals in 37 games with Michigan in his first and only season as a 19 year old (as opposed to 14 goals in 27 games for Higgins with Yale as a 18 year old). He immediately turned pro and scored 5 goals in 31 games with Hamilton as a 20 year old (as opposed to the 21 goals in 67 games that Higgins put up with Hamilton as a 20 year old in his first season). Pacioretty was drafted 22nd overall by the Habs, although some felt he could have gone as high as 15th-17th. Higgins was drafted 14th overall. In World Junior Championship play, Pacioretty (albeit suffering from a thigh injury) put up 0 points in 6 games while Higgins put up 7 goals and 5 assists in 14 games over his two tournament appearances. So at the same levels and ages, Pacioretty has been out-performed EVERY TIME by Christopher Higgins. None of this means that Max Pacioretty will not become a better player than Chris Higgins...but an objective person would have an insanely difficult time proving to me Pacioretty will definitely be a better player like many of the posters here seem to believe.

A lot of heavy talking going on between Bob Gainey and Brian Lawton according to Darren Dreger of TSN. I said already that I'd take Vincent Lecavalier in a heartbeat but I'd like to hang on to Tomas Plekanec also. Send Christopher Higgins, Jaroslav Halak, Matt D'Agostini, Ben Maxwell,and a 1st round draft pick. Go Habs Go! I think I'm going to have to change my blogname. He was my favorite, but I'm getting tired of waiting for the breakthrough. Maybe when he gets healthy, he'll show me.

Question for Habs historians: when was the last time the Habs scored 23 goals in one week? Sunday: 6 vs. Panthers Wednesday: 6 vs. Rangers Thursday: 6 vs. Maple Leafs Saturday: 5 vs. Caps

All of this Vinny talk is interesting but I would really, really hate to lose Pleks in the deal. I think Pleks could be resigned reasonably based on his numbers this season. Higgins is a big loss but one that I feel would have less impact due to Max PAc and D'Agostini's emergence. Lats is playing better and the Kostitsyn's are overcoming their difficulties. Pleks is our glue guy IMO ...he can do everything from kill penalties to play on the pp, he's a responsible two way guy, well liked, virtually mistake free. I would rather sacrifice a top notch prospect like a Fischer than lose Pleks. Can you imagine our team with Koivu, Vinny, Pleks and LAps up the middle? We already know that Markov, Hammer, Gorges, and Komi are going to be with us for some time. We really only have two spots to fill on D...we know Mcdonagh is one of them....then we have Subban, Weber, O'Byrne, Yemelin,Valentenko, Carle,etc fighting for the 6th and 7th spots. So you lose two of those defenseman....of all the teams out there we may be able to afford it. I'd rather throw in two more b grade prospects or one blue chipper and keep Pleks as he is ready and primed for our run over the next few years. I understand the logic is probably financial in that Vinny's salary probably wouldn't be much more than Higgy and Pleks together will command. The same thing could be said about Lang though as he could be let go after the season (or he could be signed affordably perhaps to be our 3rd line center again). I guess a good argument can be made for both sides......I would just hate to see Pleks go as guys like him are very hard to find. He isn't great at anything but is better than average at nearly everything ...and he never stirs the pot, never takes a night off and is the consummate professional. I'll ride the fence again on this one. I know you gotta give guys up to get guys like VInny in return but surely we could do it without giving up Pleks. I know that would mean we have 5 centers but surely someone could move to the wing for the season. In all reality this move sounds like something that if it were to take place would be better suited to happen during the offseason. FOr now let's get a dman and then get Vinny in the offseason when we have the flexibility to make an offer or not to Lang.