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Laraque unproductive, a distraction: Gainey
posted by Dave Stubbs at 12h23 EST on Jan 21
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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).
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Loved seeing him score last thursday against Dallas, but it's time BG should have trimmed 1 year less on that contract when it was signed. Big George slowed down with that back and eating veggies Sad to see but we come from generations when Nilan Kordic Probert Crowder were lovable knuckle heads, now big money tough guys can't score look at jannsen boogarrde brashear their getting weeded out Big George is a victim of changing times. Moen and a few others can hold the load Even price making a case.
In HABS we trust.
Unproductive???
WELL WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE 3RD AND 4TH LINE PLAYERS????
That description also applied equally to Gainey's tenure as GM of this club.
I guess Bob figures that Price will now be the team's enforcer too or something. It's now officially open season on all of the smurfs on this team, since there's nobody at all to even consider looking over your shoulder to worry about. I am sure Lucic can't wait to play against Montreal again.
Well apparently Price is supposed to be so good, he can stop all shots and the Habs win by shutouts every game, but it was not to be that way, Price is no Dryden, never will be, and most of all, all Price will ever be good for is to work as a backup goalie on some middle to bottom team....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRkFp3vzk6s
Subscribe to my Habs postgame vids!
gainey is bringin us down get rid of other players b4 laraque fire jacques martin put kirk muller as our head coach bring back laraqueee
Submitted by Jordio-oh on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 14:17.
Jordon, be a man response to this, stop making asinine comments and running away like a puss:
When did BGL ever get any consistent work after October?
Answer: only thru December when he played 13 games, all but 3, and the team's record was 7-5, aside from that month, LaRock was used sporatically so how do you expect him to get any momentum going, not to mention injuries. Some of you blame his bad back, well than tell me, why not put him on IR and let him heal properly? Ya know why, because of money.
JM treated him like garbage and never wanted his on the team from the start, just like in OTT where Martin's team were a bunch of pu$$ies and bowed out of each and every playoff run without putting up a fight. Sound familar? Yeah, the team you currently watch, no fight, no grit no sense of urgency, the coaching is a joke and so is management
Wow, deja-vu.
I guess with all the banging your head has taken, it makes sense you'd post this drivel...again.
Idiot!
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
how can you stick up for BGL he didnt do it for his teammates, he cant skate, shoot and it is time.
haha i love that you posted this on two different threads.
such a cool guy..
He was the worst of all: a minute chewer who didn't chew many minutes!
We have 2 lines full of MCs. How can you rank one worse than another. Whether they're on the bench, in the press box or on the ice they're all equal opportunity MCs.
Well, you have guys like Dags that might chew four times as many minutes with nothing happening for a fraction of BGL's comp. The relevant metric is $/minutes chewed, or its reciprocal.
The timing of BGL's release sucks. If he's getting full pay and occupying a roster spot they should have kept him for the balance of the season, then bought out. Some of the tough teams will play us much tougher until the season ends.
It's Martin who should be released. He is no better, possibly worse than our last coach.
Hopefully, we can move one or two of our midgets by the deadline as this team, as it stands now, is going nowhere.
I hope Gainey's days are numbered too.
Ummm -- our last coach was actually pretty good! Much better than Martin. It's Gainey who sucks. I love everything he did for the team in the past but he has just made too many bad and rash decisions as GM.
It is too bad it had to happen this way. Would have been nice if BGL rode off into the sunset. Instead he is whining that he has so much on his plate right now. Super, now he can deal with the plate.
BGL can play hockey, he just doesn't want to. Signed then at camp what? A bad back?? Forgot to mention that at the medicals? Plays when he wants, dances when he wants, and was mean for all of 1 period in one playoff game.
I was a BGL fan until he came here. Major, major disappointment.
"Laraque was a distraction and was unproductive, and that the team could better pursue its goals without him." pot meet keetle.
Did anyone in america think that signing a 30+ year old pugilist to a long term deal made any sense? and a no movement clause so he could not be traded or demoted. I am amazed it lasted this long. Let's see if Gainey lasts long enough to buy out Gomez.
i challenge anyone to explain to me why laraque needed a no movement clause. and why montreal needs an executive whose main actions each season are to undo his actions of the prior season.
Well said!!
Whether you are pro or anti-Gainey. It was well said!
There was no value in keeping Laraque anymore. His "code" is what got him kicked off the team. The team is the code!
Having said that, what's wrong with this team is we don't have a 3rd line that can score every now and then! Can't remember the last time one of those guys scored as a unit. Our fourth/checking line......what fourth line? We need somebody on the 3rd with some skill and speed that could put them in the net a few times.
how many of his old teams resigned him , dont hear to many of his former teammates crying that he was gone
People are way too worried about the future/salary cap issues. Many, many things can be done to free up money. Let's just worry about NOW. The secondary scoring has dried up, and if not for the 3 UFA forwards that Bob signed, we'd be in much, much, much worse shape.
And yes, I know...that would be good cause we'd get the # 1 draft pick. Wanting to finish last is laffs mentality...not HABS!
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
BELIVEAU HAS STROKE:
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=307119
Reading this news gave me a chill driving home from school today, I am hoping for a good recovery for Mr. Beliveau, he is the finest living legend of the Canadiens and the best example that young players could look upon to draw inspiration.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
I'm thinking about le Gros Bill. Hang in there.
OMG...NO! He is the greatest living Hab in my opinion, and the link to their glorious past. I hope he makes a full recovery.
Prayers out to Beliveau and his family. We need him back in his seat for the next home game...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
That's terrible news. I'm sure that everybody here hopes that he enjoys a speedy recovery!
Wow....alot of dumb posts on this thread.
Oh...I mean a lot of very intelligent posts that I totally disagree with.
Sorry...easy mistake.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Very useful comment...I'm sure it will go a long way to raising the common denominator of the posts on the site. Bravo.
Wow...you guys are way too serious!
It's called a joke....FFS.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
Sorry, but you play this card far, far too often.
You whine whenever you feel like you are personally attacked, but liberally label other people's comments as "dumb" or "stupid". Grow up...if you don't like being called on what are clearly inflammatory comments, then perhaps a littlle thought before clicking on the "Post Comment" button would come in handy.
You know what else would come in handy? An ignore button for people like you who take this site WAY too seriously. If you can't take a little ribbing, that's a problem you need to deal with, not me.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
I don't take this site too seriously. I simply do not appreciate being called dumb. It reflects a complete lack of class on your part that you are incapable of disagreeing with somebody without calling them dumb or stupid, which you have called me repeatedly in recent days.
So, if somebody referred to your opinions and work as dumb and stupid repeatedly, please tell me whose problem that is: yours or the person who is attacking you?
Just do what I do when he replies to one of my posts.
Just type "cringe!"
The situation reminds me of a student that I taught a few years ago. His signature line was, "I don't mean to be offensive, but ____________________," where the blank portion would be the most offensive thing you could possibly say in the context of the situation. Whenever somebody called him on it, he would try explaining it away with the old "But I said I wasn't trying to be offensive!" card.
Used to love watching him interact with professors. He walked in the office of an older, crusty prof in my departement and pretty much the first words out of his mouth were, "Sir, I don't mean to be offensive, but you're not very good at teaching, so I'm having troubles solving the first problem in my assignment". Let's just say that it was a very short meeting. :)
A friend of mine who attended one of these Summits sent me a youtube video describing him. Let's just say it was a parody of the Molson "I am Canadian" campaign.
Hope you're at the next Summit LOL
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
If the full-body condom fits? Wear it!
OMG...I apologize. I will NEVER make a joke on this site if you're posting again.
I thought it was painfully obvious that I was kidding. I've even said in past posts that I have said and done dumb things myself....but that doesn't make me dumb....necessarily.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
I see you are making friends again ...
I have plenty of friends and met a few really good people at the mini-summit as well, but unfortunately people love to fight on this site sometimes, and others cannot take a joke.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
I heard from someone who knows some members of the team that today Calamari and Laps got into a fight last night after going out. And that Price didnt come to practice today cuz hes hurting or something about a fight.. unclear but very interesting. Seems like this team is breaking down. What a surprise.
--- Change is good
WHOA.
That's even WORSER than that time last year that Kovy threw Andrew Berkshire into his trunk with a bunch of Russian hookers and drove around for a couple of days, looking for a good place to hide his stash. At least, that's how I THINK the story went.
ZOMFG!!1!
The actual story is on RDS. Has been, for hours now. Cammie and Laps scuffled at practice, NBD. I'm glad to hear the guys are pissed off- they should be. It would be weird if they were NOT pissed off.
Whoa, indeed.
The way I heard it was the worstest: It was Ronald Corey who threw Andrew B in the trunk of the car - something to do with unclaimed child benefits on behalf of Chris Chelios - and who then later on abducted Kovy, driving him around for two days, but only because the GPS was malfunctioning and Corey was too proud to stop and ask for directions.
As a result, they were late retrieving Sergei's kidneys from some dubious black marketeers and SK ended up missing the bus to Quebec City. Cammy ended up taking the seat next to Laps, the seat on the bus usually reserved for Laps' buddy Sergei, and heated words were exchanged.
The whole thing had been building up since that time, with Cammy even coming to blows with Josh Jorges during a recent practice after Jorges sided with Laps, telling Cammy that the next time he takes SK's seat on the bus, he might end up next to Andrew Berkshire in the trunk of Ronald Corey's car.
I'm almost pretty certain this is virtually airtight.
"Worser"?
"Worstest"?
You're right! It was an Olds 88, bustin' with a trunk o' funk. And Andrew was only wearing a speedo (not a pretty sight Andrew ;)
I was taken off guard in my defense Punkster, I never meant to be out in public like that!
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
Don't remind me of that day, and people wonder why I don't like Kovalev!
__________________________________________
http://berkshireonthehabs.blogspot.com/
Hey, thanks for helping spread a malicious rumor. Either your part of the problem, part of the solution or just part of the scenery. I suggest scenery...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
you mean you didnt hear ------this was all a drug deal gone bad --- beat up by the russian mafia --- Ak and SK held guns to thier heads .....
LMAO! That's almost what I was about to reply, too!
Good lord....
Can ANYONE tell me what reason there was to keep Laraque?
I'm 100% sure no other GM would have done any better than Gainey by the way. His is the toughest job in professional sports, and Toe Blake himself would be still digging out of the trouble Bob inherited.
Go Habs Go!! "I can't hear what Jeremy (Roenick) is saying because my Stanley Cup rings are in my ears" - Patrick Roy
You are entitled to your opinion. I am equally sure that many GMs would have done better than Gainey at this point. We're not exactly talking about a particularly high bar to surpass.
Kudos to Gainey for screwing this team out of even more cap space.
Nice work, Boob.
You really don't understand how the Cap works do you? If you don't understand and cannot keep up with the conversation, then sit there quietly and mind your manners...
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
I am fully aware of the ramifications, now we are paying 500G for the next 2 years for no services. Might at well give it too charity then, at least it's for a good cause, this is just pissing money away.
Oh wait, the is Boob we're talking about.
So, in concluion, please, do tell me, I know much more than your little fickle minds knows.
Uhh... yes, while we have to pay a portion of his contract, we actually FREE UP cap space next year.
_____________________________________
Cheer for the crest on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back.
Judging from your picture there, and the 33 in your name, you're favorite goalie is Patrick Roy? I don't blame you, he was a great keeper, one of the all time best, and a Hab.
But let me take a shot in the dark here and make a prediction. You are one of those fans that is so hung up on the past that you refuse to cheer for the current roster, because somehow, they are disgracing the memories of 93, or 86, or whichever cup run you hang on to. Now you are right, Gainey's moves haven't been perfect, and he hasn't won a cup since he's been GM, or his 5 year plan hasn't panned out in year 6, but grow up. No GM in the league is perfect, as is no player or coach. Do you even like this team? Or are you still hung up on the past. This is your team, this is your GM, and if you think grumbling about it is going to get Gainey fired, then you are mistaken. Blame Gainey all you want, but that isn't going to bring 93 back.
Um...you do realize that when BGL is bought out of his last year that his cap hit for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 season is going to be 500,000 each instead of 1,500,000 in 2010-2011...so he made a small bit of cap space?
"Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."
Yes I am aware.
Are you aware of what you type before you type it, maybe you should be.
BG is now paying $1M over the next 2 yrs for absolutely nothing.
Awesome.
As opposed to paying 1.5 next year for absolutely nothing?
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
More space in 2010-11 ($1 M), less space in 2011-12 ($500 k) and carrying paying a roster player that the team isn't using for the rest of 2009-10 (no savings).
Not concerned with 2011-12 since Hamrlik comes off the books after next season...wonder which players will get double-shifted for the rest of this season?
"Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."
Yep...but Markov and A. Kostitsyn must be re-signed or replaced that year, which will eat up a significant amount of the savings from Hamrlik's contract.
Personal opinion: AK46 should not get a huge bump from his current 3.5MM...Markov hopefully gives a hometown discount and can be had for 1MM or so above his current 4MM+...in this best case scenario, that leaves plenty...
"Even Roy can be run out of town after 2 Stanley Cups."
There's some potential there. I don't see Markov giving a second straight hometown discount (many agents felt he signed for below market value on his last deal), especially given that this is likely to be his last big-money contract. I think he's going to be more expensive than his current $5.75 M cap hit, but by how much is anybody's best guess.
AK46 will probably get something like $4.5 M if he can put up another 20 goal season. He's still young and has proven that he can score at the NHL level. If they don't sign him, we see that the team is severely lacking in top-6 forward depth, so they would have to go to free agency to replace him. It's a bad market this summer with so many teams scooping up their UFA's, so AK46 would probably represent the best deal.
Hal Gill's contract also comes off the books next season, as do those of Gorges, O'Byrne and Pacioretty. Gorges and O'Byrne will either be let go or signed for the same amount, while Pacioretty probably stays in the $0.8-1.0 M range on his first RFA deal. So there should be some money to work with after all, depending on what happens with Plekanec and Price this summer.
And kudos to you dumb-dumb for consistently making moronic posts...
How is that dumb, we are still paying BGL , but at a discount and no services are tendered, yeah real smart, Boob.
He didn't stick up for his team, and Gainey did what you he had to do.
Hardly ever a factor on the ice.
Now lets get some scoring!!!!
They call me Shane
"Now lets get some scoring!!!!"
Ummmm....yeah....there's this new thing called a salary cap, I know it may me a difficult concept for you to grasp but.
Essentially, we are still paying BGL for the next 2+ years, so we won't be "getting" anything anytime soon.
If you don't understand the Cap or the best options out there, you should keep your opinion to yourself.
There may be other teams, but only ONE Club De Hockey...
"Now lets get some scoring!!!!"
That there is the rub. Because Gainey did what he shouldn't have done, getting scoring moving forwards is going to be an awfully tricky demonstration of salary cap gymnastics.
If Laraque was unproductive, then what have Moen, Lapierre, D'Agostini and Pacioretty been in the last 15 games? Laraque has more goals than those 4 combined. Safe to say Moen has provided us with some solid service this year, even I didn't think he would get to 10 goals. This move made sense financially, but whether or not it helps the team we'll see. Does Montreal really have team toughness? Just looking at the way we play physically, most teams are able to impose the body on most, if not all of our forwards. Example, see TJ Oshie last night..
Unproductive but not a distraction?
So what happens now, do we bring up Neilson and keep him around for the tough teams? Without BGL (and I'm glad he's gone), we still need someone to step up and not let us continue to get pushed around and out of the rink.
I believe it was posted earlier that we do not have the roster space to do that. BGL will still be a roster player even though he will be home watching movies...
Thanks for clarifying that for me..... that's just great, like you said, now he'll be watching at home, sippin on V8, while watching us get run out of the rink every night.
I'm hoping Moen will step up and play like he can. He's tough, he can fight, he can play with energy and he can even skate and score the ocassional goal....
thats going to be the name for the Gainey Loyaltists ... The Yea BUTTs ..
Yea butt he is doing his job as we speak ..
Yea butt was need a tough guy to win, so we were losing because we didnt have one ..
yea butt we are working on a trade ... yea butt I know we traded Ribiero for a bag of pucks .. but Yea Butt my next trade will be better ...
Yea butt its not my fault .. yea butt its not my coaches fault .. yea butt its not my drafting, development or scouting's fault .. yea butt it cause we lost our MOJO .. yea butt the good news is Carey got it back for us ... yea butt if everyone on HIO was nicer we'd win more games ... yea Butt you all werent positive enough ..
yea butt maybe the GM isnt that good .. hmmm ... nah ... cant be that
YEAH BUT. I love it. In two concise words the entire reasoning for surpporting the unsupportable job Bob is doing is encapsulated. LOL
Not sure if anyone else has commented on this but according to RDS, Lapierre and Cammallerri were fighting today as well as Cammy and Moen. Yay team chemistry! http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/291079.html
They were just practicing their fighting now that BGL is gone.