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Audio: Part of the business; excited: Gomez
posted by Dave Stubbs at 18h08 EST on Jun 30
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Id take Gomez over Higgins anyday. Its time for koivu and higgins to go and get some new blood into our team.
We need speed skill and heart and there was no heart or desire to win last year . A new experienced coach with a winning record and a few new impact players is just what we need. Keep Kovalev please and surround him with good players. Ovechkin is the best player in the NHL but he never won because he wasn't surrounded by the players needed to win. Bob is trying to build a supporting cast around Kovalev. Gomez is a great start and you will all jump on the bandwagon when you see the results. Too much negativity from a lot of so called true Habs fans here. I stick with my team and defend them when needed. Bob prove all these naysayers wrong please!
Gomez sounds like a "class act" and a welcome addition to the family....
....now if we can only stop the rest of the bleeding our roster.......
Welcome to Montreal, Scott! and Buckle-up!!!!
When Gomez was on NJ they were playing a very defensive style of hockey. Montreal is a fast skating team that uses their speed to their advantage. A smooth skating playmaker is what this team needed and Bob gave up what he felt was necessary to help this team. Does this trade not help us?
Let's look at the alternatives:
1. Trade for Gomez and take an 8 mil salary cap hit. Approximately 5 if we consider that Higgins would command around 3 mil.
2. Keep Higgins. McDonough is still a few years away from being anything special in the NHL, if he ever will be. We'll just consider that Janik and Valentenko are not anything special.
Option number 2 still has us without a centre that we would consider anything near elite. If Koivu walks, and we can't sign any of the impact centres in the league, then what are we going to have? Pleks and Lapierre? Gainey has gone 0 for forever in signing big names during the off-season (do you blame them for not signing... take a look at our negative fans...). At least he has something secure in place for us.
"We want a big centre"... doesn't every team? You guys think that Brian Murray or Brian Burke or whoever is just pulling trades out of their ***? Look at what Philly overpaid for Pronger.
The fact of the matter is, Gainey is taking a risk, and it is about time. Is any move, short of ripping off another team, going to be ok in the eyes of Habs fans? I don't think he can win either way. How about we get Garth Snow in to make silly trades for us... see what happens to our franchise then.
We are Habs fans.. We’re supposed to be the smartest hockey fans on the planet. Let's remember that before we boo and hiss everything this team does. Be a fan, not a cynic. If you hate them and the direction they are taking, they are no longer your favorite team.
Anyone here who wants Gomez to fail just to be proven "right" is an idiot and not a real fan. I hope he gets 95 points.
But Sather had his nuts firmly up against the cap, and Gainey gave him a get-of-jail-free card.
"Let's see Glen, you've got a 15-goal man who makes $8 million a year. How about I offer you a second-round pick to help you ease your cap woes?"
"But Bob, remember those pictures I took back when we played that one year together in '74-75?"
"Ah, I see. How about I give you a younger, cheaper, former first-round pick with leadership qualities who has three times as many 20-goal seasons in his career as your man. And I'll throw in a 20-year-old, cheap defenceman that we took with the No. 12 overall pick just two years ago - and is rated as one of the top 20 prospects in the game?"
"Deal? Deal."
Victoria has some common sence, great post
Very nicely put! You're hired. lol
All this panicking is hilarious. I'll wait and see what other moves Gainey has before I lose my mind (a la a few posters here).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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
Wow.....haven't been on here in a while. Since when have bolds and Italics been available? Good stuff...
Anyway, I'm leaning toward the camp that doesn't like this trade. And it's not so much the fact that the Habs have traded for a guy who seems to be on the decline since his peak season, a few years ago, and is getting top tier money for it, as it is who we traded to get him. Ryan Mcdonaugh, if he is the blue chip prospect he's pegged to be, should only be thrown in a deal if the Habs are getting a Malkin, or an OV, or a top tier player. Not a Scott Gomez. I think Higgins and the stiff who bolted out of the organization to go back to Russia would've sufficed. I suppose that there's no guaranteeing that Valentenko will return to the NHL anyway but, even Higgins and Janik would've sufficed. sigh...............
Oh well! I guess only time will tell if this trade was worth it.........
Anyone else also notice he called the "Bell Centre" the "Molson Centre"... Little behind in the times huh Scottie?
The Molson boys have already sent him some professional samples.
Or ahead of them?
so getting a 5'11" center is getting bigger up the middle????
Gainey, you@!$%&^(* YOU'RE KILLING THE HABS AND THEIR FANS!
We have certainly improved the size of HEART, that's for sure!!
Yes, because Gomez and his 15 goals have a much bigger heart than Koivu and his 15 goals.
You are absolutely out to lunch on that score Ian. Please, stop posting. You're embarrassing yourself.
easy there pal....take a deep breath and relax.... it's not the end of the world....if it makes you this crazy, maybe you should follow golf or something
I think there are more readers of this site that would prefer YOU stop posting, doesn't seem to stop you from constantly embarassing yourself either.
Oh, I forgot. The Habs are great and your favorite player is Carey Price. Like Ian, you haven't seen McDonagh play though, have you? Just another mindless Habs' fan that at best has seen what two Cups? You're an expert on this site boyo.
Oh BTW, Gomez had just five more points than Ryder last year and got $3.3MM more in comp. Do the math!
ian......I am reading your comments and while it is ok to be loyal you must acknowledge that this move is mindboggling ...right? we complain aobut our size up the middle and then we pick up someone who in 9 years has only hit 20 goals once, only had one season with more than 70 points, has one of the worst contracts in hockey, we gave up a great prospect in a salary cap era where a young dman is ultra valuable for fitting under the cap, we gave away a consistent 20 goal guy (although I am not all that sad to see him go but in this deal ...my heart breaks). I would understand this deal if it were done at the deadline last year almost as I could have justified it with Lang going down, crazy stab at centennial magic, etc....still would have been crazy but I would have understood it.....now.....I understand nothing about it. Higgins will be a 3 million dollar player.....gomez will be a noose around our necks (fiscally as I have no doubt he will be a great player as he is what he is) but ....Ian ...there is no sugarcoating this move.....pyatt and busto are not even prospects.....pyatt is a longshot to become a fourth liner and busto is a dman in the east coast hockey league at 23 years old. Both valentenko and mcdonaugh will be nhl players...valentenko already should be...with an organization who will commit to him...he will be back. This deal hurts....on the eve of free agency no less? we could have at elast seen waht was out there....no? perhaps the logic is that he'll attract a sniper......perhaps but his cap hit is brutal......we just made the vinny deal and got no vinny.....we basically traded higgy, 2 d prospects for a 7.3 million dollar Koivu without the personality of a koivu. To top it off Gomez has been put in a situation to fail......unless something else absolutely huge happens Gomez has just been adorned with a crown of thorns. Gomez is a great player....a guy I really like....but him at 7.3 million dollars in this cap environment is beyond crazy......it is the worst on paper deal I have seen since the cap era began. I am not going to cheer on my Habs any less or resent scott gomez...for that matter I won't resent gainey's decision as I believe his hand has been forced......but to pretend this was a good trade.....I can't do that. The only way this trade is a good trade is if we are hoisting a cup this season because after this season we are going to be in a world of hurt with that contract. Maybe it's gonna be 2010 or bust?
Koivu or gomez??? is gomez any better? yes....not much....how much would koivu cost? less money and no prospects......we could have had a beauchemin type and koivu for slightly more than gomez. This trade is esentially pleks or koivu plus higgins, mcdonaugh, valentenko, the extra 2.5 million he makes for the enzt 4 years for scott gomez. I'll pulling for gomez but he just had the habs world put on his shoulders and his only hope is that someone else is on their way over to help him carry it.
I think it was the best move out there or Bob would not have made it. Other GM,s might have wanted much more and Bob knew Higgins was wanting out and was going to cost big bucks next year. Gomes is signed for 5 years. And if you compare the two we traded up big time.
Gomes playes with a lot more heart than Higgins.
On what planet?
Higgins was one of our best players last year down the stretch and in the playoffs.
Sure he has lead hands, but you can't question his heart.
I love how people are saying we won the deal by saying Higgins was a third liner and McDonagh hasn't proven anything. It's about the MONEY. For $7.3M we could have signed a better free agent and given up NOTHING, and it's not like this is a short-term deal. This is more than the top people are signing for now, and gave away our one advantage for the coming years - cap space - for a guy who is not a top center in the league and is certainly not big. Tanguay is as good a playmaker and could have been had for less and without a trade. Koivu is the same type of player and could have been had for less and without a trade, at least before we didn't show him any respect recently.
My buddy is a Habs fan but lives in NYC - says Gomez was awful last year. Prior years? Not elite production. He's an above average player who's a #2 center, just like we had for years with Koivu. And he's less than 6 feet. Sometimes you just have to fold your cards, and Gainey has just perpetuated our problem - whatever we surround him with we'll be bubble team for years because he takes up about 15% of the cap and is not elite. I was opposed to Lecavalier because of the numbers - this is pure idiocy.
The truth is that Gainey had been saved many times before by people standing him up: Smyth, Briere, etc. This time he found a way to spend the dollars foolishly, and Sather was glad to make up for one of his blunders. And then there's Hamrlik, who he had to overpay to get and was solid for one year then overpaid last. Finally, how's Markov gonna feel about being outpaid by that much. Kovalev gonna want more? Tanguay?
What was Gainey's plan all along? Why let all those guys go? If he felt he had to splurge like this for an above average but not elite, costly playmaker, why does he believe he can get anyone else to surround him? It's time to sign Tanguay and Kovalev before it's too late, and find a defenseman to replace Komisarek. Do all that, spend all that money, and what have you got? A team on paper that is clearly worse than the one that went into the season last year (missing Higgins, missing Lang).
I've lost a lot of respect for Gainey's so-called cerebral nature.
We could have signed a better FA? Like who? Brian Smolinski?We never end up on the winning side of that senario..
Face it, we aren't signing any significant FAs unless we "sell" our team..Our team is a heck of a lot more attractive than it was yesterday..
I enjoyed reading your post and could not agree more. I will be curious to see what Gainey does next but if this is any indicator we will be in for a rough ride.
Doug, i think you are going to be pleasantly surprised once the roster is set at training camp. This is not the era of change em up Carbo every game. Chemistry between the older players and the kids left to play and develop as a unit under Martin will be a breath of fresh air.
I think I am right, but we will see in a very few months.
Ian, I'm afraid I've got to go with Doug on this one. I did some quick research and came up with some interesting data.
Over the same nine seasons I compared the regular season performance of Gomez and Koivu. They're both centres and Gomez is listed as one inch taller and 22 lbs. heavier than Koivu.
Gomez: 148 goals 430 assists 706 games = 0.82 points per game. His contract is approx. $7.36 million per year up to the end of 2014.
Koivu: 126 goals 313 assists 526 games = 0.83 points per game. His contract last season was approx. $4.75 million.
Bearing in mind Koivu's battle with cancer and the serious eye injury he incurred which has affected the total number of games played, I'd say in terms of points per game he's at least as effective as Gomez. How can the acquisition of Gomez be seen as an 'upgrade' over a much less expensive Koivu? At best he'll likely just be a similar performing replacement but at a much higher cost. Additionally, it also cost the Habs the services of Higgins and McDonagh who I assume will need to be replaced. Can similar performing replacements for them be found and at what price? Doug mentioned Tanguay as well. According to the press, Gainey was waiting to see what happens before acting on him. What?? His "wait" better not be more than a few hours or he risks losing him to another team at the expense of having to fill yet another hole. Bear in mind that Gainey wanted Tanguay so badly last year that he gave up the Habs 2008 first round draft pick and 2009 second round pick to get him. After investing those resources is he going to risk letting him walk? It doesn't make any sense to sacrifice the future and have nothing to show for it. If Gainey does want to re-sign Tanguay, what kind of an offer will he make to a 0.88 point per game player currently getting $5.25 million a season when he sees that a lower-performing Gomez is getting $7.36 million a year? The upward salary pressure and contract expectations of other players as well can't be avoided. It's made worse because unlike Crosby or Ovechkin who are in a class of their own and merit higher relative pay, Gomez is nothing special compared to forwards like Tanguay, Kovalev, Lang or Koivu.
I had another poster question my fitness as a Habs fan because I wasn't 100% behind the team no matter what condition it finds itself in. My reply to that sort of opinion is that while fan is short for fanatic, it shouldn't mean that anyone who considers themselves a fan has to abandon rational appraisal in favour of an unthinking acceptance of everything the organization does. Eventually, any team...even the Habs... that takes their fans for granted does so at their own peril. The first signs of discontent were starting to show this past spring.
I hope you're right, Ian. I won't get over the cap hit, though. It's far, far too much.
Rangers fans are sounding like Habs fans. They're all angry at Sather because now they have lost their #1 centerman, the only guy who was able to move the puck on the PP, and are expecting a guy like Lecavalier to be signed tomorrow in his place.
It's interesting because Gomez did have a bad year, but he was still the highest point getter on the Rags (I don't count Antropov since, while he was the highest one by a few points, he got them most with the Leafs). Despite his bad year, he seemed to wake up when Torts came in. Also they're angry in the sense that they're screaming "We couldn't get Pacioretty or D'Agostini instead?!".
His salary is around 7.3mil which is way less than 10mil. And he's got that limited NTC, so he can still be traded anyway...
Sorry to see Higgy go. (My brother JUST bought a Habs shirt with #21 Higgins on it...he'll be kicking himself today). I'll miss his awesome goal celebrations and his impossible angles. Hope Torts treats him right! (Wilson totally misused him in the IIHF).
Odd, the Rangers fans I'm reading are jubilating that they're rid of an overpaid underachiever.
Vinny's cap hit is the same as Gomez. It averages to around 7.4. You can be damned sure Sather is gonna sign a big name tomorrow. While Bob is sleeping, the rest of the leauge will be at work.
Ah right, cap hit. Vinny's is a 10mil salary to Gomez' 8mil. But whatever. He's not going anywhere anyway.
The part most negative whiners seem to forget is the Point gap between Vinny & Gomez this past year. Gomez costs us 2 Million LESS.
And we didnt have to sacrifice MARKOV (now THAT trade would of made some fans here go crackers - without a doubt)
What ever happens over the next few days, we are going to be more competitive next year. We will be able to compete with the top 1 third of the league.
No cup for a few years it will belong to Pittsburgh"s young team for a while.
I guess the question was too tough. Sorry Ian.
I have a serious question for you Ian, and please refrain from any sarcasm. I have always respected your opinion in the past because it bore the wisdom of experience and tenure. So here it goes. Would you have made the trade?
Just spoted this, I never thought about Gomes before but if bob went shopping and this was the best fit available then ya it works for me. Maybe no one else wanted Higgins, who knows. But I like Gomes, always have.
Fair enough. I think you are missing a few, but you are entitled to your opinion. :-)
Funny but if your going to call out someone for "missing" a few - maybe you should change your avatar first, I think at least Ian has a respectable attire.
You - not so much :P
P.S. trying to make light in here - too much tension.
P.P.S the more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards Ian's thinking, this move is a good one. Seeing as the Habs wish to improve NOW.... not in 3-4 years when McD hits the big show.
We didn't trade Timmins, he can still draft us another Mr.Hockey if you all like them so much.
+
We still have a Mr.Hockey in David Fischer who is closer to NHL ready then McD is....
ian.....i don't think anyone can debate gomez is good...i like him too but we just strangled ourselves fiscally for him...he is not that good.....on top of his ridiculous contract we gave up higgins who despite my 3rd liner opinion of him would have gievn reasonable return for his cap hit.....then we gave up 2 guys that eventually would have been affordable dmen which are perhaps the most valuable commodity around in a cap world. This almost certainly means that webber/gorges and ob are part of our club this season........in an ideal world they are fighting for maybe a 5th more liekly a 6th or 7th spot......now they are our 4,5 and 6 in all likelihood. Maybe there is more to follow but right now this move makes zero sense.
Ian - I am comfortable with this trade as well. I think Gomez gives us a sense for the type of team Martin wants to build... some offence and defensively aware.
someone had to have hacked your acct
Ian, with all due respect, I think you have totally lost it. Either that, or you are taking some really powerful ***.
Wow. I am never reading another one of your posts again.
Rangers, with Gomez and BETTER PLAYERS AROUND HIM, were worse than last years Habs. The only reason they won games was the goaltending of Henrik Lundquvist.
Conversely, the only reason we sucked so bad was the poor goaltending of Carey Price.
Now we're just like the Rangers, only with worse players around Gomez, and a worse goaltender. That puts you competing for the top 1 third of DRAFT PICKS.
If you don't read my post's anymore craz11, you will languish in the minors. Let me know when you would like to progress my friend!
Last year he had two injuries, did not play his speed game under new coach as he can. Higgins will get put to the wolves in NY, and do very little for them.
They will be singing Gomes's name within 10 games at the Bell, just like Kovalev. This guy will make Kovalev better.
Gomez is top drawer!. He is a first class playmaker and brings heart and soul every night. He is popular in the dressing room and leads by example.Just what we need. Never mind the salary; he didn't get that by not being good! Thumbs up!
then tanguay, koivu, kovy and pleks are all top drawer too.......gomez has one season with more than 70 points, out of nine seasons one season with more than 20 goals and he is no upgrade in the grit catergory over koivu although slightly over pleks. Gomez brings a great 2 way game but his contract is a roster killer.....he is the equivelent of a 2-3 million dollar buyout contract onthe books for several years......he is a 5 millionish dollar guy...that i'll give him...he is a winner, he's fast, he can playmake with the best of them....but he his contract means he is basically depriving us of another 2-3 million dollar player...no different than a buyout. To rub insult to injury we give them 2 men who will play in the nhl and take back 2 guys whom i can't find any indication on the internet stand a chance of ever playing in the nhl.....maybe someone knows something about them noone else seems to but I am not able to see the good in this deal. I would be up in the air about signing gomez as a free agent....for nothing! in the end I would knowing our difficulties but to pay to get him...waht we paid....holy crap....
Hi Fred, Gomes always scared me when he played against us in New Jersey. We have improved a lot over Higgins.
I dont think the Rangers had better players around Gomez last year than the Habs had. The Rangers have had trouble scorign for years, some of it may be Gomez's fault, but it may not be too. We shall see.
And there were plenty of reasons beyond Price that the Habs were a very average team lst year.
Did you see the NYR's line up on defense? Kinda hard to score when you are in your own end helping out in your own zone all night, eh?
If u think we're pissed off, imagine what the Molson family are thinking. If Bob doesn't pull a rabbit out of his *** soon, adios amigo.
"Crosby poops in da diaper, Malkin changes it"
Gainey got rid of a guy who want's a lot of money next year and we have a much better player that is signed for the next 5 years.
We are better already. Have a Molson on me Bob, you deserve it , great move.
With ya, Ian..Some guys are just blind and don't read enough into the deal..
Simply put, we subtracted Higgins and added Gomez..
Ian, it's not about HIGGINS! IT'S ABOUT LOSING MCDONAGH!!!
We can't keep all our kids yeats, He was a couple of years away from playing in this league. I liked him but we have a lot of Kids left to develop yet.
MCD was a prospect...Last time I checked you get them free at a thing called a draft every year..lol
It's called asset management..We had a weakness, Gainey addressed it..Nuff said..
Have either of you actually seen McDonagh play?
deuce6: You still have the weakness, i.e. no size up the middle.
I guess the answer to my question is NO?
Did I hear correctly? ... He doesn't have a no-trade clause, but he did have a list of teams he provided. Then he says "obviously Montreal wasn't on it" ... then says something like "f$%&" in the background realizing the just screwed up. Did he really say that? Did anyone else hear it that way???
I'm thinking he's not really all that excited.
you heard it right............wow.............i like the part at the beginning where he says how he someone mentioned it at softball.....ahem..cough...i mean watching softball lol......"noone has ever said anything bad about that place.....i mean Montreal"......ol Gomez doesn't quite seem ready for the media bombardment he is about to face.
I definitely heard him say "obviously Montreal wasn't on it"... Real nice you douchebag!
the list was teams he did not want to go to
Actually it sounded like "awww ***". A promising start. Although i do agree with his awww *** statement. From every angle, it sure smells like it.
I couldn't make out the part in the background. Sounded like he was talking to somebody. But I definitely heard the rest, and it was just as you heard. Great.
I've read the first part but the swear word afterwards is hilarious.
He doesn't want to be here.
Bravo Bob.
A $7 million plus malcontent.
Genius.
heatly to montreal ....martin and heatly go back together.....throwing it out there.
I think Gomez is a very good player but I am going to wait until December to evaluate this. We should have a better sense of things by then.
I just can't stop laughing. Scott Gomez had a whopping five more points than Michael Ryder last season. And, Gainey sent not only Higgins, but McDonagh to the Rangers? I heard that since this deal was announced every single GM in not only the NHL, but also the KHL is trying to have a chat with Gainey.
Yeats wanna hear something MORE funny - maybe you won't be able to wrap your brain around this... Maybe not because Facts seem to evade you
Gomez only had 9 less pts then Vinny.... and the Habs save 2 Million !!!!!
Not bad for a DEFENSIVE Center eh ?
Not bad for not playing with Martin St.Louis eh ?
This is the problem with Gainey ,he makes decision biased on hunches ,just like George W Bush!lol ,Gainey is our decider .......
I could produce the biggest pile of ***, but ol Bob has outdone me. I'm a Gainey supporter from way back, but now I'm on the fence, and can be knocked off it by a slight breeze.
I am not an animal, I just reproduce that way.
Friends don't let friends deal drunk!
I'm with you on this one Brian, this simply does not compute.
I am not an animal, I just reproduce that way.
Giving away McDonagh was just about the dumbest damn thing he could have done. And, it wasn't necessary. But then again, this joker traded Mike Ribiero for f'n Janne Niinima!
At first I was outraged by the trade but as it settles in and I look at the intangibles to the deal I can see where Bob is coming from.
First of all, can someone PLEASE name a big name signing that the Canadiens have had in the last 4 years?!
You can't and thats why Bob needs to go the trading route. From what I hear, Higgins wanted an arbitration hearing expecting a hefty raise from the 1.9 million salary he was making last year, now look at the difference between keeping Higgins at 1.9 and lets say 2.9 or something of that nature just for arugement sake. Then Gomez becomes a little more reasonable and Higgins a little more expendable. McDonagh is a blue chipper but you know what, he's still playing in the NCAA and it could go either way. Why not attract your first line center by grabbing him without the compeition that year after year leaves us empty handed?
How many years have we been disappointed because another team grabs the guys we want??
The mainstay of the deal requires Bob to get some talent around Gomez and if we can sign Tanguay, Kovalev, Latendresse, D'Agostini, and Pleks for an average of 3.5 million (which is beyonnnnddddd reasonable) then we'll have $10 million left to sign either an impact guy (havlat, hossa, etc) or 2 depth guys like a beauchman etc.
The move gives Bob some talent, albeit at a cost (which we wont see until 5 years down the road when our prospects will already develop) while still giving us some cap space to work with.
Take a second look at the deal before going crazy.
I must admit I am glad I waited before posting, because when I first heard about this trade. I was about to get in my car & hunt Gainey down.
I'm not neccesarily defending BG here... BUT I like the way you thought your post out, much better then the masses who have been posting since the trade was announced.
I highly recommend many posters walk away from the computer, maybe for at least 24 hrs.
I am 100% upset we lost McD... it's a shame really.... BUT that is the price you pay for getting talent, and like it or not - Gomez brings a different element to our team. The guy does not know quit, he has been groomed Defensively in NJ, and plays to win. Something the Habs certainly lacked last year. Without a Doubt in my mind, if I forget the cap hit. This trade is a good one.
P.S. - I much prefer this deal to the rumoured Vinny proposals.
- Losing Markov would have hurt SO much more then losing Higgins & McD
- The Cap hit is about the same as Vinny's - but for 5 years, in about 5 years Price will cost the Habs 7 Million per - so good timing on this. Where with the Vinny trade, we would have likely lost Price to UFA in about 5 years.
- Gomez does make the Habs (on paper) a better and more appealing team for players to want to play with, sorry Koivu fans yes Gomez IS better then Koivu, and younger too.
- We had a abundance of depth on LW & D.... Higgins's will be replaced quite effectively (IMO) by MaxPac / & on D if people can't see that it would have been impossible to ice EVERYONE of our D prospects... well before calling me blind, I invite you to count the D prospects we have. McD is a loss, but we didn't trade Trevor Timmins for crying out loud, Timmins can go ahead and draft another Mr.Hockey winner next year. So be it...
Anyways - I think for me the key was taking a breath, walking away from the computer. Regardless of how the team looks, the dumbest thing a fan could do would be to boo Gomez - he is NOW our more expensive investment, we had better stroke his ego as much as possible. Booing him, will not result in great results....
As for Gainey and the constant bashing he seems to be getting from some of you "so called" hockey experts, I've said it time & time again, unless one of you guys IS a member of the NHL - I would like you to explain to me how YOU think your know more about Hockey operations then Bob Gainey.... And if you DO have the cohuna's to actually reply to this post saying you DO know more, be carefull - I'm warning you NOW.... I will ask you why you aren't already a GM or Coach in the NHL.
We are the fans, don't like it ? - don't go see the games, allow others like me to see it. Want to cancel your season tickets ? please do.... I will gladly jump on the oppurtunity & I don't even live in MTL.
As far as I'm concerned your either a fan - or - your not.... Any complaining posts (if you are inteliggent) should end with, "And I'm considering cheering for another team" - I know this sounds like a lame comeback to some, but only because the truth hurts.
I do understand how legitmate fans are upset, but I wonder how many of you have been led on by the Negative whinners that claim to be fans, but have yet to actually say anything positive or constructive in the last 2-3 months.
S_Dot
You're trying to reason with a sensible post and IMO, that's a waste of your time with the zoo that's going on here this afternoon.
Everybody here seem to know better who to get and how to get them and at what price except of course "*** for brains" Gainey (as quite a few posters labeled him so) and Jack Martin (wait a couple of months and he too will be on the fecal roster of these posters).
What amazes me is that most of them were bitching until today noon for BG not doing anything and the other half was asking him not do anything so the team ends up last to pick high draft choices, RIGHT? No, WRONG, now a trade is done and everyone is disgusted and insulting to no end.
Besides we want the best players to come to Habs but we don't want to give up any players, like Higgins, to whom everybody was dumping on only a couple of months ago. We have a saying back home that goes like: "after a blind man dies, everybody starts saying how beautiful brown and almond shaped eyes he had" (I guess almond eyes were desirable!)
Go figure.
Ali B.
It's the conundrum of being Habs fans I guess eh.
I seem to remember everyone going apedoo over Gainey trading nothing for Kovy, who is now fan favourite and our best player especially when playoffs come 'round (regardless of what certain people may think). I also remember just a few days ago people were already trying to run Louis Leblanc out of town! Hilarious stuff.
******
the notwithstanding clause - The general consensus of an ordinary Habs fan in Montreal
That is part of the fun for me on here Ali, I am the only one that really knows what is good for our team my friend. Enjoy tomorrow.!
Gainey must have something else up his sleeve. No matter what his price tag or cap hit, Scott Gomez doesn't make us a Stanley Cup contender. If you're not going to get a legit star who re-makes the franchise, why blow $7.5 million in cap space, especially when free agency hasn't even started yet? Gomez was still going to be there in a day or two. I don't see the point in spending that money or moving McDonagh in a deal that is only slightly above lateral in terms of our strength at centre. What does this get us? One win in the first round next year?
And where is the big centre we've been begging for?
Nope, this must be part of something bigger. It doesn't make any sense all on its own.
Yeah I'm hoping that you're right... Because if this is all thats left, I'm going to just start doing the no.2 in my drawers.
It'd be great if BG threw up a huge smoke screen, and then came out with something brilliant