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wow, nevermind the trade rumor, look at what Ek thinks we need to do to finish this team up.
I don't like to attack the guy, cause I think he does love hockey and thinks he's helping, but he's been really bad since the 1st day of free agency
jm - I suppose he doesn't do it for money then, poor Dwayne Klessal.
is that his real name?
jm - That is correct, other bloggers exposed him due to his BS,
I enjoy reading through the hockeybuzz forums because there are *some* good conversations going. For the most part the site is a good place to talk hockey, but don't ever put too much stock into Ek's post's.
Engels is a good read, and Andy Strickland is always informative.
www.hockeybuzzhogwash.com
Just wanted to thank all you guy's for all the updates on the camp this week, living out west you guy's are our pipeline. Although we live in OIL country there are a tonne of Hab fans here Keep up the good work! Gill,Mara,Spacek,Markov,Obyrne,Hamrlik,Weber,Gorges Not one player under 5'11". The biG three ufa's Gainey got are Smaller but play big and excell in playoff hockey in a close checking Physical game. Don't count on Plecks finishing the season or even starting the season in MTL. The time Gainey spent behind the bench was a good thing last year. All the players Gainey went after have character. I remember watching Gorges captain the Kelowna Rockets to a championship and Moen played with him in Kelowna for two years. I would also love to see Gorges Captain the Habs he is a Born leader with a tonne of heart with the ability to gel a team together. A team full of Gorges type grit and character isn't goin to lose many game's. This year is gonna be fun!
... Waivers and Re-Entry Waivers ..... The waiver eligibility of players has become a much-discussed (and ill-informed) topic recently. ............. http://www.nhlscap.com/waivers.htm
Okay smarta** or eager beaver...this means Chipchura has to clear waivers to go to Hamilton.
Yup, you're right on that - one would expect Chipchura to stay with the team this year. If you remember Gainey said that he had a position on the team, and it would be his to lose.
H F - I think, your the one that helped me last year so your the expert as i hate clauses and amendments.
By that estimation then, the younger Kostitsyn would have to clear waivers to be sent the farm this year. Pacioretty and D'Agostini however would be exempt. You would have expect that probably those two will start in Hamilton this year, especially after Pacioretty went down with his sports hernia during the development camp.
rf - I think that SK74, Weber and Pacioretty are the only ones to avoid waivers. Dags has played three years pro as has Stewart, Super Gui, Halak and Chips. Gui and Price exceeded their NHL games played.
Yup - I think you're right finally regarding SK74 - I see as per Wikipedia he signed his 1st contract in May/07 so I stand corrected, he avoids waivers. I think D'Agostini avoids as well as he hasn't played the requisite 60 NHL games yet, he stands at 54 right now. To be honest I'm not a big fan of D'Agostini as he played last year. He may be drastically different this year, but last year he showed after his fast start that he's streaky, and very week defensively and not at all solid along the boards. I think Sergei has much more upside, and defensive polish. It's important to remember that he played a PK role with Hunter on the London Knights. However that being said, he's a real punk on the ice sometimes, but then again so was Hunter - love or hate him, Hunter was a wicked NHL player.
Sorry if I keep mentioning this, but for those of you who want the Kostitsyn's gone, I think that notion is CrAzY...Andrei may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but when he's on, his unstoppable. And Sergei, well he got the lion's share of the cranial content of the siblings - this kid will be a 60-80pt getter in the NHL, I don't doubt it one little bit at all. Somebody just needs to wake up and play these guys together, their a force when they play together. Does anyone remember the line that the crazy Belarussians flanked with Lang?!? They were a force.
rf - I think the 60 games are for goalies, in Dags case, its three years or 160 games 'i think'. Dags style of play that got him here is to be sort of quiet and to slide into scoring position, sly is the word. It worked until Carbo pushed the back checking a little too much and it took his game away. Dags is a fit player that will perform great with two defensive forwards, like Lapierre and Moen, on the third line where he can do his thing, be sly. I have never given up on the K brothers and like when they played together, but they got to learn to use the center on their line as they only pass to each other. Dags and SK74 fate will be determined by Coach Martin, who knows.
Andrei reminds me of a savant; he seems to bore easily, so he needs to play with someone to remind him why he's on the ice. Lang kept him focused and increased his productivity, and I suspect that a Gomez/Gionta would do him a world of good, too.
Or we could spike his Corn Flakes with Focusyn. :)
I think you're right, that's most likely where Andrei will end up this year. He can play a similar role that Elias did on the Gionta, Gomez, Elias trio that was so succesful in 05/06. An interesting lineup may be:
Gionta-Gomez-AK46
Lats-Pleks-Cammy
Moen-Laps-SK74
Chips-Metro-Stewart (switch Chips to wing, he struggles big-time on the dot)
I think D'Agostini stays with the team, and Pacioretty starts with the farm this year, as mentioned in a prior post, we can pull Pacioretty up from the farm if needed without him having to pass him through the waiver wire.
D'ag and Stewart are like Chips. Fourth year Pro's after signing first contract at age 20. They don't have the NHL games but it is an OR not an AND criteria. That means all three cross into having to pass Waivers to be sent down to Hamilton.
I too like the K bros but after last years tomfoolery, they must toe the line and produce.
Good morning everyone, I have been asked by a few of us about this years Summit, tour of the Bell, pregame meal, game and after game get together. So here goes what I have been thinking.
First I am waiting for a call back from my guy at the Bell who we have done business with the past two years to discuss getting to a more popular contest this year, Toronto, Boston, Ottawa or some team that we all want to see play.
Second I want to get better seats also, that means together and much closer to the ice. This means tickets will be a few more dollars but if we are going to travel a fair distance, we may as well get better seating.
I was very pleased with the accommodations at the Baton Rouge restaurant for our pre game meal, but open to suggestions.
I would also like to find a quieter place for us to meet after the game, where we could have a drink and be able to have conversation.
Please let me know what you are thinking so I can start making plans. E-mail me using this site or phone me in Belleville please.
Ian
Thanks for starting the work on that Ian. Yes, I would be in favour of better seats at the game. More together doesn't hurt, but better would be a priority for me. Good idea about finding somewhere quieter after the game, but I have no suggestions as I am based in Toronto and don't know Montreal very well. Mind you the sports bar across the street wasn't too bad last year. We pretty much had our own section and the UFC fight was interesting to watch too. The Baton Rouge...well the food sucks, but they pretty much let us do what we wanted in terms of raffle, giving us our own section etc. Location 1 block from Bell Centre is hard to beat as well. So again, a better suggestion I can not make, unfortunately. But if someone knows somewhere where they have decent food AND we can have the run of the place, that would be better.
Leafs, Boston or Ottawa would be awesome.
..there's a little pub on Metcalfe, 2 minutes away from the Phone Booth that's pretty much always empty.. good ol Dominion pub where you can get some good ol pigs knuckles
db - That was looked into last year and your right it was empty when we inquired on a Saturday game night. Having people spend their time and money to come in for this special event the Dom Pub didn't seem appetizing, BTW the kitchen was closed. We were told we have to inquire with the manager to open after midnight but it may be a back up if thinks don't work out, this year.
... Phillippe Boucher's Day with the Cup - Stanley Cup Journal ..... http://www.hhof.com/html/exSCJ09_04.shtml
Well this morning I thought, I will peek at what Eklund the wonder dolt came up with today.
Apparently the Habs are trying to work out a deal with the Blackhawks for :
a top 6 Chicago Forward & a Top 4 Chicago Defenceman.
Ekputz strikes again. lol
Whatever hes doing, it must be working, I cant come here one day without somebody talking about what hes saying. So I guess hes not that much of an idiot.
yeah I just saw that. The only players that would fit the description and Chi would trade are Sharp, Campbell, and Seabrook. There is no way we could take on Campbells contract, so that leaves it Sharp and Seabrook. Can't imagine Tallon moving an affordable top line dman and if he did for some reason do this trade, it be so he could lock up the RFA's next year (Toews, Kane, Keith) so not much salary could be coming back, but the only way we could fit an extra 7 million is by sending back salary and talent to make it worth their while, like Hammerlik, Plek, and the Kostitsyns. Which makes absolutely absolutely no sense.
I'd love to see some of the Hawks in a Habs jersey, and I think Sharp would be possible, but Ek's trade rumor here is completely ludicrous
Lol...he's got it right...b4 he used to dish out rumours that logically any person could guess but now he's just giving as stuff out of the blue so we just sit around and scrach our heads.
I wonder who has a better record with rumours, Eklund or the Russian sports news guys?
For the people who got bent out of shape about the leafs signing francois allaire as their goalie coach and us getting some no namer like pierre giroux from florida. Last years goaltending duo of vokoun and anderson in florida ranked 2nd and 3rd in the league in save percentage,only thomas was better. As a duo,vokoun and anderson were best in the league save percentage wise.
so then why didn't we get Vokoun and andersons goalie coach !!!
we did that's who showey's referring to david groux the panthers goaltender coach!
Need more coffee ? lol
showey said "and us getting some no namer like pierre Groulx from florida"
I think that implies we did get the Florida guy.... ;-)
They did, the day he came on the market. Then they formally announced it last week.
I know, I was being a smart ass
Showey,I think we will have no problems withe the coaching staff we have this year.We needed a change and Pierre will get it done.
& the even more key factor to all this
Melanson = Butterfly Specialist
Allaire = Butterfly Specialist
Groulx = Hybrid Specialist
Price = Hybrid Goalie.
a Butterfly specialist tried to change Price. What Price needs is someone who can improve HIS style not change him into another style.
I like your math!
There you go.
Bill,How true..I think Price will be at his best this year.He will have help with the coaches and the new defence.
I still don't get the Komi hate...He played his guts out for us, he played most of the year hurt and NEVER took a shift off...Why is he a traitor, I guess if you were offered a 1/2 MILL to switch jobs you wouldn't...
Signing with the Leafs? The hated Leafs! Division rivals the Leafs! Like Yeats (if memory serves me correctly) said earlier, something like:
Question: "What's going to be the biggest change to Mike Komisarek's game now that he's a Leaf?"
Answer: The dates that he gets his ass whipped by Milan Lucic!
"Why is he a traitor"
Because he never planned on coming back to the Habs. Plus, he signed with the laughs. Can't get much more traitor material than that.
"I guess if you were offered a 1/2 MILL to switch jobs you wouldn't..."
Well, I would first give my original team a chance to match or increase the offer. Unlike Komisarek!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
so I guess he should stay and play somewhere he didn't want to be...LOL...right!!!!
Nice the way you ignored everything else in my post.
My point, he had ample oppurtunity to let Gainey know he had no intention of signing here and he could have signed with any other team, except he chose the laughs. Traitor material, imo.
But hey, you can continue cheering for Lucic's b*#ch.
Is that LOL enough for ya'?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
In his case, it's good riddance. There should be +/- for shot blocking defensemen. The plus would be shots blocked and the minus would be shots in opposing shin pads or shots towards the net that go nowhere near it. Komi would be a definite minus player.
Why is Mike Komisarek a traitor? So the overrated guy signs in Toronto for the big bucks. That's all that matters in today's athletes. No more loyalty for the same team that drafted you and you play for until you become a UFA.
I would do the same thing as these others players. Gionta wanted to stay in Jersey orvplay in Buffalo......he decided he got a ridiculous lucrative contract from Bobby and signed on the dotted line. Not bad for a 30 yeard old smurf.
Democracy, ain't it beautiful?
"We will win the Cup one day only with a mature Carey Price in the nets"
Komisarek left the Habs for 500K more in Laffs land.
Any other team would have been understandable, going to Toronto - even Komitraitor should know that is blasphemy.
I would only add that after the hatchet job Gainey did on his veteran UFA's, the word loyalty has absolutely no value to players. Teams sure aren't showing any, so why should a player take a finanical hit to stay?
Gainey showed plenty of loyalty to his team...Firing his longtime friend Carbo..Staying put at the DL announcing to the media he thinks this team can get it done in the playoffs, etc...
Simply put, Gainey realized he did not have the horses to get the job done on the ice so he decided enough was enough with the BS...
Komi's game took a significant nose dive this past season and I, for one, was glad Gainey walked away from TOR's rediculous offer for Komi's services...Paying a bottom 4 d-man 5M a season? Please..
Gainey offered Komi fair market value to stay here..He chose to go elsewhere, which is fine, but to TOR?
But, I really feel bad for him considering he has to play Moen, Lucic, Neil, Kaleta, and in the near future Kassian 6 times a season...
I look at it differently. Each of the last three seasons the team has quit at some point during the season/playoffs. The players just ran out of excuses is all. Mr Gainey isn't a quitter. He appears to be a practical man. In this case the foundation of the team was not the best. He wasn't going anywhere with the 2009 Habs team, so he decided to re-construct the 2010 Montreal Canadiens.
I agree with a lot of people that you can't build a championship team with FA signings. But Mr Gainey didn't have a team. He had a collection of individuals who liked the money, the fame, all the cute stuff that comes with being a Montreal Canadien en ville, but did not ever produce anything except disappointment.
Since the UFA's are older they are supposed to have matured, and bear responsibility for the outcome. You can only blame a good but stubborn coach, the color of the seats, or rock and roll, so much before you need to look in a mirror. Those guys couldn't cut it, so they got cut.
Regardless of whether the house-cleaning was in order or not (a different conversation, to my mind), the Habs had players (Koivu and Kovalev, first and foremost) that had contributed greatly to a very good Habs team two seasons ago and who had extensive roots in Montreal. Both guys WANTED to stay, but were forced out to clean house.
So in this case, I struggle to see how people can toss around words like loyalty. Its a business, folks. Gainey was ruthless this season, for better or worse. I have yet to see any compelling reason why the players should not also be ruthless...they are the ones that are one elbow to the head or one cheap shot to the knee away from the end of their career.
They didn't get the job done..IDK about you, but I am a Habs fan 1st and foremost..I want my team to succeed...Players come and go..
It makes no difference to me who wears the CH as long as we win...
.
PK Subban will be a star and a force in this league, eventually. I hope it's with us.
I see a Mike Green in the making. He likes to jump up in the play a la Green and really roams around looking for that right opportunity to cash.
Retire Saku Koivu's #11 jersey.
I predict Big things for PK. I think he's going to be an allstar defenceman within a few years.
He's grown since we drafted him and should add another ten pounds through filling out. That'll put him close to 220lbs.
He skates well, handles the puck amazingly, can shoot, all he needs is the experience and the positioning and he's good to go.
Im thinking Ray Bourque type good by the way.
Weird that both rds and tsn says that chipper's new contract is for $500,000.Didn't me make over 900.000 last year? Unless this is a one-way contract instead of the 2 way contract he had in the past.
It is, as you suspect, reportedly a one-way contract. It looks like he will stay with the team this year. but I do recall Gainey saying that the fourth line center position was Chipchura's to lose. It appears that Metropolit may be doing platoon duty with Chipper in that last center position.
I remember watching a game last year when chipper played left wing with lang and didn't look out of place as a winger.This might be a better fit for him since his foot speed seems to be an issue and i also recall him struggling in the faceoff circle.
I think they will try him at centre, but yes, he needs more polish in the faceoff department - he may well be very useful on a Moen-Lapierre-Chipchura line. That's a solid shutdown line - we can make teams hurt as both Moen and Lapierre are fast, and Chips and Moen can swing 'em as well.
not possible as Lapierre and Chipchurra are both centers.
Any center can play wing in the NHL - and Chipchura, I suspect if he is going to have any success in the bigs, is going to be converted to the wing. He is, and never really has been, good in the faceoff circle - which is a big responsibility that we expect out of a 3rd and 4th line center. You want those guys to be shutdown guys who can win you late game, in-deep faceoffs.
I like what I hear about this Stejskal kid. Good skater, puck-moving defenseman who can hit like Scott Stevens. Is he a surprise development or did he just have a good outing?
Always been a big hitter, there were U tube videos of him in high school showing these monster hits when we drafted him. Last year he also scored some goals (7) at Dartmouth in his second season there.
Wondering whether I should order a Price jersey or Cammalleri.......
Anyone interested in two slightly used Komisarek's? Signed even, i think it says "traitor"!
Retire Saku Koivu's #11 jersey.
it should say RICH!!!!
Wondering if I should order a new jersey #09,or keep my #27..
Habs Fan 4 Ever & Ever Amen.
Go with Price!
i was just at the Bell Centre boutique this afternoon. Kovalev and Tanguay t-shirts were on-sale :) although, from what i saw, the huge Koivu banner behind the Bell Centre is still up.
ps. both Cammalleri and Price are excellent choices but i'd go with price as well. he'll have a stellar rebound season, you'll see.
A big thank you to Harani, Cobb and others in MTL who can keep us out-of town devoted Habs fans informed on the development of our future players. It is tough to stay abreast of local developments from the USA. Thanks guys. We really appreciate your efforts/posts.
Ditto, thanks to all of you. (It ain't much easier to follow Habs from the left coast either).
Ali B.
No problem, my pleasure!
Took the words right out of my mouth. Great job and well appreciated!
+1
Here are my impressions from today's game:
- Subban played better than Weber. He was more involved in the game. But I still think he needs to play a year in the AHL to get bigger and more mature in the positioning of the game.
- Desharnais was the best center out there. He anticipated the game well. Unfortunately, he is kind of small.
- Avtsin challenged the defense but his skill is still quite raw.
- Stejskal's hit on Bennet was solid. Reminded me of Komi.
That's all I can remember.
Just ordered my #13 Cammalleri jersey...
Go Habs Go!
anybody else notice gomez, gionta, mara and gill are all american? we're getting a very american flavour on the team lately. and no i am not saying that is a bad thing, im just saying i hope the fans dont boo the american anthem anymore, since our new key players are all american so we need to show support!
i really hope the (belligerent) fans take it down a notch or two from last season. that was just horrible. a disgrace. but i'm still not sure most of them understood yet.
...the Montreal Americans ? ...this World IS going to Pot
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
I think the boos are more a manifestation of the opponent ie Boston Bruins!
Retire Saku Koivu's #11 jersey.
"another"???
...the Montreal Americans ? ...this World IS going to Pot
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEY
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049
Funny, they seemed to have no problem booing it when we had:
Komisarek
Higgins
Bouillon
Schneider
oh, and of course an American owner.
I applaud your sentiment, but unfortunately boo's drown out respectful silence and there are more than enough clowns at the game who decide it's a fine time to make boobs out of themselves and sadly the great city that is hosting the game.
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
Booing another countries anthem leaves me feeling very uncomfortable. And that's when I'm sitting in my living room. It would be even worse to hear that while seated at the Bell Centre.
TO NEXT YEAR...
IMO, they shouldn't be booing even if we didn't have any US born players. That's not only tacky and disrespectful but also shows to everyone else that the boobirds are a classless bunch.
Ali B.
Ditto - It's disrespectful and makes our city look bad.
Hey Guys! As promised, here are the pics and videos:
Yannick Weber's Penalty Shot
P.K. Subban's Penalty Shot
General Play at the Scrimmage
Pictures from Camp and Scrimmage
Pictures I took at the NHL Entry Draft last month