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About Dave Stubbs
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Dave Stubbs
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About
Dave Stubbs has been a sportswriter since 1976, which was roughly a decade after he wore the first of many holes through the knees of his jeans playing nets in road hockey (using a modified butterfly popularized by Hall of Famer Glenn Hall). He still has the welts to show on his shins from that rotten, frozen orange ball.
Stubbs kept thick hockey scrapbooks filled with game summaries and Gazette and Montreal Star stories, collected dozens of Bee Hive Corn Syrup photos and put a fortune of hockey cards through the spokes of his bikes. First book ever owned: Scrubs On Skates, the classic by Scott Young (Neil's dad).
Stubbs's fantasy is to travel back in time to the 1950s and watch the great Canadiens dynasty that won five consecutive Stanley Cups. Or a decade earlier, to watch Elmer Lach centre Rocket Richard and Toe Blake on the fearsome Punch Line. Or at least to get Rogie Vachon into the Hockey Hall of Fame – where he belongs.
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That guy sucked big time, when he played in finnish league during the lockout...
Why is everyone automatically calling the top line as Cammalleri-Gomez-Gionta? Based on the money spent? This is an undesirable mix. Hell, standing on each others shoulders they wouldnt look Chara in the eye. All three scooter juniors on the same line wont work. There has to be a banger/grinder, like latendresse, with the oompa-loompas. Again, the need for another forward, even a winger, with size is imperative.
DOnt get me wrong. I love the speed and skill, but we are going to get pushed around again by the Bruins, Flyers, et al. You have to have a mix of skills on every line. I'm tired of seeing all the slew-footed players lumped on the 3rd line and all the "skill players" on the 1st line. Throw Laps on the 1st line, for instance. That will make him a better player and open up space for the snipers to work. Every line should have a playmaker, sniper, and grinder. Can you tell I've been playing NHL2009 on XBox? It works, homies.
And pair the D-men that way, too. A stay-at-home with an offence-minded player. ALthough we are lacking one more physical defenceman. Gill and Hammer are it to pair with Gorges, Markov, and Spacek.
So we could use 2 more players, with size and toughness-- a forward like Philly's Mike Knuble (if he has anything left) and a D-man like Boston's Steve Montador or Vancouver's Ossi Vaananen.
Just watching some Gionta goals on Youtube.
Seems like he's pretty good on the shootout, as well as on the rush.
Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rftnt5h8Hgs
Bob Gainey announced 2 hours ago the signing of forwards Mike Glumac and Mathieu Darche, as well as defenseman Alex Henry, to one-year, two-way contracts for the 2009-10 season. On canadiens website.
So Henry will only play six times this season against Komisarek and the Leafs?
Question: What is going to be the major change for Komisarek in going from the Habs to the Leafs?
Answer: The dates that he gets his ass kicked by Milan Lucic next season!
I am telling you, a stand comedy routine could be gleened from these pages.
you have been thinking about that for awhile right.
No, not really. It just came to me out of the blue. Like most of the crap I post.
The new line should be called the Mercenary Line - for all being over-paid to drop in on this team to try and save it.
~ Listen to the smart dog - he knows his poop!
Here's your lesson for this week smartdog, hockey 101. Players ( I'll explain what those are in a sec) go from teams they started with to other teams to make more money. You see, sometimes team cant afford "players" once they get better at shotting that little black thing around the rink. Look it up, I'm telling you it happens. Oh and when they do that, they some time play good hockey to. Your assigment for today is to to NHL.com and look at all those things we call "players" and look how they move from one team to another. It's interesting stuff, you'll get the hang of it.
None of which has anything at all to do with players being over-paid, or GMs being overly confident in the effects of unfamiliar personalities on the locker room at large.
---- "The best fans don't embarrass our coach, they don't embarrass our team, they don't embarrass the players, they don't embarrass the goalie. When you're a proud Montreal Canadiens fan, you bleed the Canadiens; you don't do stuff like that." - BGL
Professor Tobiass... are we allowed to use spell check?
No, I'm wondering, since all three our four players have such different styles of play, whether Gainey has one more person in mind to finish what seems like one or two strong lines. Its like you have the strength of Gill, the speed of Gomez, the scoring touch of Camalleri but there seems to be something missing there, you need someone who can anchor these superstars, like Gretzky and Messier, without Messier Gretzky's scoring drive all but dried up, in the same way, to take advantage of Camalleri you need someone that can play with Camalleri etc. This is why I was wondering if Gainey has some bigger plans in the books....
i am holding an opinon just for that reason , he talked about getting talent and needing talet to make big trades , so i wouldnt be surpised to see a little more action from bob
Gainey's plan was to throw money around. Now he's got no more money and thus no more plan.
Well the habs official site shows a very pared down roster. I wonder what other great moves Gainey has if any. If Gionta, Gomez and Gill don't click with Camalleri, wonder if it'll be the boot for old Bob.....Maybe we'll see some bigger trades outa Gainey yet!
Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?
Tiny bit of triviality to throw in today.......the last pick in this year's entry draft, 6'6" Finnish goaltender Peterri Simila (drafted by Montreal), has been selected 21st overall in the OHL's import draft. Selected by the Niagara Ice Dogs.
Timmins seems to like Giant Goalies lately, add any of these two to Price... (in a few years) YIKES!!!
Taken from canadiens.com porspects - one is Canadian & was drafted last year by the Habs. the other Simila dead last this year.
Jason Missiaen - 6'8" / 193 Lbs Born April '90 Ontario, Canada
Petteri Simila - 6'6" / 189 Lbs Born April '90 Finland
You can't teach size and if they continue to tinker with the rules about the size of goaltenders equipment what other option do you have?
How wide it he? I'm trying to figure out how much of the 24 square feet of net he would cover if he just lied down on his side. We could call this new style "The Roman Senator." My guess is that it would cut down on injuries too. We have to get on this quickly. Rumors are that Burke has been in contact with Fat Bastard.
Could the Habs turn him into a defenseman?
Comon Gainey, ues the last bit of cap to Sign Kovy, Tanguay and either Beauch or Schneider then call er quits!
Never judge another man's decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
I'd be really dsappopinted if he doesn't sign Tanguay. It would be a waste of a first rounder.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If a man speaks in a forest where no woman can hear him, is he still wrong?
Tanguay never wanted to play here...
i've never heard anything to back-up that statement. Do you have a source?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never judge another man's decision poor until you actually have proof of it failing!
Just listened to the Komisarik interview on Fan590 ... what a load of BS. Just lost a ton of respect for Komo. He says that he "likes the direction Toronto is going".
He doesn't want to blame injuries for his poor season.
Completely side-stepped a question about Lucic, basically saying its a "good rivalry" ... LOL
Glad he's happy in Toronto. He gave the same politically correct, pablum-type answers that made the Montreal media so fond of him.
It's obvious he signed for $$$$. Anybody blaming Gainey for Komo's departure is SO off base ... he made the decision himself.
...I have a feeling Komisarek is thinking twice whether he made the right decision
...his choice to sign with Toronto was likely influenced on getting away from the 'make-up' of last year's Team ...but today looking at how much we have changed ...I bet he might have some regret
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I heard Komo being interviewed at 12:40 on AM 640 in Toronto. He claimed the Habs were in the running until the very last minute.
He signed for a measley $500,000 more per season, which tells me that yhe Habs probably had the second-highest amount of cash on the table... so yeah, the Habs would have been "in the running" until the second that Komi put his signature on that contract, counter-offer or not.
I find that hard to believe ... according to everything I've read, the Habs were never presented with a counter-offer, then found out Toronto signed him.
It is impossible to expect loyalty from a player when the league (NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA etc.) does all it can to maximize revenue/profit. Professional sport is a business - period. IMO you either cheer for a player and follow him around the league, or alternatively cheer for the franchise and accept heart-ache when your favourite bolts.
Credit Koivu - he stayed and could have left a long time ago. See where that gets him in the end?
--I will die a delirious fan and never apologize for it!--
I saw Jersey play the Leafs in Toronto this year. Leafs won in a shootout (Jason Blake did the spin-a-rama move for the winner). Gionta was all but invisible. I saw him get steamrollered in the 2nd. I had to check the stats online to see if he got hurt and missed the rest of the game. He didn't. He played a regular shift, but no one could see him and he did nothing.
Probably one of the reasons why the Devils didn't offer him a contract.
Yeah, the Devils definitely evaluated him based on one game in Toronto and decided against resigning him.
Did anyone else happen to catch Gionta in a single game last season?
Ya I saw him, I also saw Malkin miss in a shootout once, maybe they'll dump !!!!!!!!!!!!!
60 pts in 81 games is nothing to write home about.
He was a 2nd liner at best in Jersey. We expect him to be a 1st liner here?
Too small, only ever had one good year in the NHL. Not worth $25 over 5
I had a great game of hockey last night... I guess that means I might get signed?
Looks like Kovy rumor is Friedman jumping the gun...
Go Habs Go!
Another Puckdaddy Kovy rumor 2 years 9 Million...Habs
This is killing me!!!
Go Habs Go!
You now have me hooked to the running chat on his site. He has got some pretty respectable journalists contributing. Fascinating stuff.
It's a little cheesy and over the top sometimes...but it is my second favorite after HIO of course!
Go Habs Go!
how do i get to this place? the running chat thing?
"I went to see a fight the other night...And A hockey game broke out!" ~Rodney Dangerfield~
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy
I don't know if this is where all the conversations have gone to, but did anyone see Burke's moronic signing of Grabovski???? $2.9M!!!! He's killing other teams with similar players. Way to f up the market Burke!!
Just playing around with lines in me head and I came up with this potential lineup:
Cammalleri-Gomez-Gionta
Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kostitsyn
Pacioretty-Metropolit-D'Agostini
Stewart-Lapierre-Latendresse
Personally I'd be very interested to see what that 3rd line could do. I think having a hard-nosed (and surprisingly quick) veteran C between the kids could be fantastic...one things for certain, it is up to all the forwards to play to their potential - no more excuses for any of the holdovers...it's their team now, time to own it!
I'd rather keeping Lats and Laps on the 3rd line together and playing them with Patches or Dags. Martin usually uses his 4th line sparingly, so that would work well for laraque to stay energized with metro and stewart. Besides Laps improved too much to bump him down the lineup
Yeah, I see your point. I wasn't sure about how often Martin plays his bottom lines. But I was sorta thinking that the bottom six could almost be a 3a and 3b line. The hot line getting the better ice-time (and of course the inevitable injuries will alter things a lot)
We'll see though. One thing is for certain, it should be an interesting season eh?
Sergei used to play centre in Junior. I have this strange feeling that Plek's is not in the long term plans. Seems like Bob is going for grit. Could we see a late summer trade? Depending on how what happens with Plekanec, something like this might work?
Cammalleri-Gomez-Gionta
Kostitsyn-Kostitsyn-pacioretty
latendresse-Lapierre-D'Agostini
Stewart-Metro-larocque
my volume isnt working. can anyone give an overview on what was said please.
Briefly: no offer from New Jersey, a handful from others but the best offer came from Gainey ($ talks, ...walks).
--I will die a delirious fan and never apologize for it!--
Komisarek will be on Toronto talk-show at 3H20 this aft at http://www.fan590.com/listen/
G
Talking about Pat Burns, I was wondering after seeing his weight loss on T V, how he is doing with his illness??.
Burns is one of the best and I hope he beats this thing.
Grabovski signs 2.9 mill for 3 Years!!! haha
Now Pierre McGuire will call this a GENIUS signing by Brian Burke and talk about how smart he is. UGh...
err 2.9/year for 3 years...total 8.7...in case anyone was confused by that
Phew! and I was worried when Burkey took over for Tranna.
haha they lost two 20+ goal scorers from last year and have nothing to show for offensive signings other than Colton Orr!!
Bob should keep Lang & give him the C. He is a great player & can communicate with the players. He can speak good english....
Picky Picky. well thought out comment!
or Kovalev who always says, "like I said" when he never actually said it...
and laraque who said "and stuff"
"Long before I ever wore the jersey, I wore the jersey.” Dryden
LMAO! HAHAHA god he did use those words ALOT in interviews...Ya know
"I went to see a fight the other night...And A hockey game broke out!" ~Rodney Dangerfield~
You know the freaky part? Of all the sports pundits, the ones on Sportsnet gave the most balanced assessment other than Mackenzie:
Bob Mackenzie: not sure what to make of it (very honest)
Sportsnet: Kypreos said that the Habs have improved the most in terms of skill...BUT their entire panel agrees that size is still a BIG issue (nothing new there)...HOWEVER, they were high on the new #1 line, calling them all hard workers and not afraid to go to the dirty areas to get the job done and yes, Montreal had to overpay to get them...strangely enough, they are currently NOT that high on Komi...
Everyone else believes that Gainey has lost his marbles.
This is a huge gamble by Gainey, I will watch it and pass judgement after the season starts because we all know SFA without a game being played....but if a change in culture was needed, you have to remove A LOT for the change to occur...
GO HABS GO
"Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."
Gee, you wave $25 million at a guy and the concerns about his kid's education in Quebec suddenly become irrelevant.
Score that one Gionta and Gainey 1
McGuire and the naysayers Stinko.
I can hear Dave's questions loud and clear but can't hear the answers. Well that was enlightening!
http://moeymusings.blogspot.com/
Actually, I am looking forward to the fall, can't wait to see Gionta and Gomez in a Habs uniform and most of all to see Cammaleri and Gill and Laraques, man we may not have real size but we got some skill now, but I wonder, are they any better than what we lost? Are we just replacing Kovalev and Koivu and Komasarek and getting much of the same but with a bit less defensive capability in the end in the hopes that they will click and score enough goals to overcome Price's floater style?
We now have MORE defensive capabilities with our new player's.
Take your meds... please.
"I'll take Bi-polar for $5000 Trebec!"
"I went to see a fight the other night...And A hockey game broke out!" ~Rodney Dangerfield~
Um....you have been flipping back forth between dumping on everything to being supportive...I assume you are adopting the "Let's see what happens on the ice." stance like most others here are?
"Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."
yes they are better I guarentee it.
Anyone notice that the Habs don't have a single d-man that shoots right (other then O'byrne and Weber).
Markov, Hammer, Spacek, Gill, Gorges, all shoot left.
so your saying OB and Weber dont count? if we had 1 more lefty that would be better? 3 of 7??
yep. 5 shoot left and 2 shoot right. but forgetting those who shoot right, we don't have any who shoot right :)
so... we can agree that just over a third of our D shoot right, then? okay.
Haha. Not including all the players in the league that shoot right, there are only left-handed shot players in the NHL.
lol but he does make a point, its going to be harder for these Lefted hand D-men to play on the right side..that was the only issue i saw with the two signings on D, but i dunno maybe it isnt that much of an issue.
Anyone know any more mighty midgets we can add to the freak show called Montreal? Man, we could put on a traveling Barnum and Bailey's Circus act, in this corner the worlds smallest professional hockey players, wonders to marvel at, microscope comes with a season's ticket so you can see the world's smallest Pro Hockey Players!!!! heck, the junior habs in Hamilton will tower over the real habs, isn't that funny? Our farm team looks more like a pro hockey team than our real hockey team????
Funny? How?
nuna nuna nuna nuna BAtMAN!!!
Patrick Kane, Martin St-Louis, Theo Fleury...
I guess you would have prevered the likes of Turner Stevenson, Jason Ward and Eric Chouinard?
THe new first line doen't have size but they have speed and grit. Deal with it!
Mats Naslund, Maurice Richard...
I gotta admit Nun, I've read your posts and you have nothing of any value to say.
Don't wanna hear you runnning down new Habs who have yet to hit the ice, don't wanna hear about Price in 09; that's old news.
Nothing is happening today... I am kinda bored.
So what DO you think of all this, Timo? Adopting the wait-and-see approach?
"Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."
Bob PLEASE TRADE AWAY TOMAS PLEKANEC!!!!!!!!!
price wil excel this year, he is the real thing. all those bad goals are from inexperience , he still will let in softies but alot less as years go by. he is still a year or two away but like koivu said "this kid (price) will one day win the stanely cup. i hope its with da habs
did we ever sign a new goaltending coach??
yes markov will be captain if kovalev is not around. there is no one else.