Audio: Latendresse out 4-6 weeks

Yup, which means I still have a half dozen or so knee jerk personal attacks before I reach my quota...:) Go Habs Go

I agree, the only reason Latendresse is in the NHL is because of his name. Had he been english, or european, he'd still be skating in the minors.

AK27 - I agree with most of your points except the comparison with Max Pac. Max is very young and you got to give him time to develop (sound familiar) and seriously is not the same type of player that Lats is. Finally Lats started playing good with Maxim and TK with working hard, hitting and going to the net but he read his press clippings and went back to trying to be a finesse player (Guy Lafleur), going to soft spots, hitting just for show and hogging the puck in other words it's all about Gui (ask Gorges). Max and TK were on different lines and didn't miss the later Lats a bit and the team will get a lift in skill and hard work with him out. The amazing thing is that Lats thought he was playing great when the injury happened (last 10 games 2G - 0A minus-4 - 15:54mins,/game), imagine if he was playing bad. I'd be the first to praise him if he played with jam and got himself dirty and be an asset to the team as that is the only way he could be of value to the team (he's been screned for about 200 games, don't they get it).

I didn't refer to any of your comments, so why are you treating my comment solely as an attack on your point of view? But to answer the question about why I make the comparison, it is to illustrate the point: speed is not everything. Kovalev is not nearly as fast as Plekanec and Kostitsyn, but he has tons of other talents that can make him a second-team NHL all star. Latendresse is not as fast as Kostopoulos or Lapierre, but he does little things that they do not. My point is that a VERY young Latendresse is very effective WHEN he does the things that I mentioned (I chose the word carefully), and if he learns to do it consistently then he will be that much better...he still has a good ceiling in terms of his development. But your explanation for why you dislike him is puzzling to me: because of the French media's hype. So it is the player's fault when people expect more than they should of him? Higgins, Plekanec, Latendresse, Brisebois all suffer from this...instead of focussing on what they bring, we focus on the things they aren't bringing that we think they should. Hell, we can easily throw Kovalev (why isn't he scoring 40-50 goals per year?), Markov (why can't he be more physical?) and Komisarek (why can't he do anything offensively?) under the over-expectation bus if we truly work at it. To answer your question, I believe that Max Pacioretty will ultimately be the better player. As a first round draft pick, I would expect nothing less, I might add. But its not an either/or scenario. I would very happily have both guys on my team.

Sorry, man. Numbers don't lie. Latendresse had the most goals per minute of ice time on the whole team last year....at 20 years old! He'll only get better as he matures. I'm quite sure you are wrong about him, but time will tell. Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy(Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy

Wow, nothing to say, you DO know your hockey. No question about it. "Why didn't Laraque score 50 goals this year?"

Yep, I honestly do. I know it seems radical, but I truly believe it. I think we are better as a "team" without Lang. Everyone meshes much better now. Sure, Lang was good as an individual player, but since the summer day which Bob traded for him until now, I never liked the fit. He's big, but soft. He's one of those players that racks up points, but seems invisible unless he scores. Tanguay is a similar type player.

Sheesh Chester ...I am 53yrs old and could replace that bum...heh heh !!

...is Brisebois faster than Lats?

I many not agree with everything you say but your positive outlook is refreshing, constructive and appreciated. mjames