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About Dave Stubbs
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Dave Stubbs
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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/dave_stubbs.html
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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Never vote for Don Cherry unless it's for his removal from public funded media
The NHL PA should get rid of Bettman! He sucked when he ran the NBA and they were smart they let him go. It's all for the Americans with him! It's our game lets vote for Don Cherry!
If the NHL are the ones blocking this, I'm not surprised, just annoyed. They'd never help us out! Only the Leafs, when there's a danger a failing expansion team might threaten their "market". God forbid Leafs fans realize that some teams actually win once in a while, and switch allegiances.
"love cannot drown truth, Nefertiti"
This report says those Svenska bastiches want Georgie for goalie!
Radically yet unassumingly your
L.B. Potter, esq. Vice-Chairman of the Horde of Butterers at Flannelcom's Accountability Office and Senior Exponent of Relative Theory at Habsbros Investigative Services: http://habsbros.blogspot.com/
Georges Laraque. Not sure who this George Laraque character you mention is.
Although I did always wonder what Curious George's surname was. He has a tad of a French look to him, non?
LoL the NHL is like, NO! HABS CANNOT AQUIRE ANYONE FOR THAT CAP AND GET BETTER! How can we let them get better
From Google Translate....
Georges Laraque
stopped by NHL
AIK can be blown in a dream recruiting: "Right now, there will be no"
Unfortunately, AIK.
Right now stops the NHL Georges Laraque transition.
- It's a complicated situation that we will not be around, "says Anders Gozzi, sports manager for AIK.
A week ago, Georges Laraque, 33, fired from Montreal. They were tired of the 117 kilograms tunge Laraque did not play physically, and chose to work freeing the giant.
In the same time began AIK to connect with Laraque and his agent.
Yesterday afternoon was supposed to move to AIK would be ready and Georges Laraque would connect to AIK within a week.
Everyone says yes - except NHL
But right now there will be no transition.
Montreal has said yes.
AIK says yes.
Georges Laraque says yes.
But the NHL says no.
- They believe that he can not terminate his contract and play in Europe. It is George no trade clause that causes it and this time it will be nothing. But we should take this a go and see if we can reach a solution, "says Anders Gozzi, general manager of AIK.
Georges Laraque played 13 games during the lockout in spring 2005, AIK. He scored 16 points and quickly became a crowd favorite among fans.
Losers Even After Forty two Seasons
Thanks for the translation.
There's a missing part to this that I'm sure will come out shortly. I'm guessing BGL is ultimately blocking the move to prevent being placed on waivers. He would still have to be made available to other teams per the CBA if he's going to play in another professional league.
What a mess...
___
sports.unpluckedgems.com - your other source; we always keep it current.
Follow me on twitter! @UnpluckedSports
Just what we need....more good news!!
5 QUESTIONS:
1. The TSN panel says the Habs should trade Price because you'll get more for him and Halak is the better goaler today. Agree or disagree?
2. What is the #1 problem with this team:
a. D is disorganized and can't clear the puck
b. 3rd & 4th line scorers sucking
c. Martin not able to provide a solid system for these guys
d. Timo doesn't give the Habs enough encouragement
3. Hopefully there are some lessons from this season. Have we learned that this 'blowing up the team' idea is BS? That you can't build a team from spare parts?
4. Rumour has it Markov challenge Price saying "if you're not going to play with emotion, don't play". If this is true, is Markov right?
5. Rumour also says that some players came to Price's aid, while others supported Marky. Who would most likely support Markov in this?
SD
--------------------------------------------------- Listen to the SmartDog. He knows his poop!
I'd have to say Timo and the release of Breezer, :-)
Sheesh, so now your five part questions have four part subheadings?! It's like a tax form. It's not like I have DAY JOB or actual WORK to do or anything. ;)
1. I don't think either one should go. I don't buy into the myth that we can't keep both. But if one should go, keep the less problematic one. Halak. But I don't like the premise of this question, because our goaltenders are not the problem. AGAIN: OUR GOALTENDERS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.
2. The D, for sure. No one seems to know where to go. Execution is terrible. Who is the D coordinator? Perry Pearn? Isn't he supposed to be some kind of legend?
3. If you thought the team got blown up over the summer, wait until you see what happens when March 3 comes around and the Habs are in 13th-14th.
4. I don't know how true this story is. Boone said everything seemed normal after that game. But I would hope that Markov would say that to ANY player who is dragging his *** out there.
5. Again, this story sounds like crap to me. It's more likely both players were told to cool it, and that there was plenty of blame to go around.
1. Who cares what TSN says about anything? Keep Price.
2. IMO expectations exceeded actual ability; the others options are varying degrees of obvious
3. stay the course, i think they had to blow up the team, they had no heart, they still have no heart but at least now they're looking for the wizard of oz maybe there's hope for lion after all.
4. no, when his d play in bis zone is above reporaoch then bitch at others' efforts, until then do your job.
5 who cares (again) it's a tempest in a teapot and we are the ones giving it a life it doesn't deserve.
1. Trade Price -- not because one goalies is better than the other, but because there's no sense in spending the money to re-sign two goalies this good, and because I'd rather have Halak and what we can get for Price, than Price and what we can get for Halak.
2. A. The D is full of guys who aren't bad but who for soem reason are bad together.
3. Dunno about that. Almost all the new guys brought in since this time last year -- Cammy, Gionta, Gomez, Moen, Pouliot, MAB, Metro -- have ranged from just fine to really good. It's just last year's Habs and the new D-men who haven't clicked.
4. Markov or any other player would be right to say that to anyone if it's true.
5. That's a hugely unfair question with answers that can only go badly. You're basically asking: "If a rumoured incident happened, which it may not have, who out of a group of 23 guys you don't know at all would have been most likely, hypothetically speaking, to react a certain way to the potentially non-existent incident, and which guys you don't know would have been likely to react differently?"
1-Trade both
2-Gainey
3-True(not in 1 year)
4-Yes.
5-coach.
1. Agree. Price will get more in return and Halak is better goalie right now. But I still wouldn't trade Price.
2. c) I believe that JM is stifling his players and not using them to their strengths.
3. Disagree. I believe that we have a solid team, but are underperforming. Basically all of our youngsters who were supposed to break out this season regressed (Price, Lapierre, Chipchura, Latendresse, MaxPac, Dagger) and we've been hit by some big injuries.
4. Sure, cause guys playing sports together are supposed to call each other out and push each other to succeed.
5. Whoever had a negative (+/-) rating for that game
1. Disagree (but I don't want either traded)
2. You shoud have provided an "all of the above" selection. But it's between a and b (so I'll go b)
3. If your objective is to win a Cup within one season then no, this is BS. But I sincerely doubt anyone in the Habs organization set the Cup as a goal this year. The delusional fans did that. It's the start of a complete rebuild with the knowledge that you won't get high draft picks so you better start somewhere. You can build a team from spare parts over time but not in one season.
4. The big question is "If this is true...". I tend to take any media comments with a grain of salt until they are proven to be fact. "If" however he did say it...then RIGHT ON!!!
5. Rumour again...even less to support this so no comment.
1. I saw that too. However, MacKenzie said to keep both. I dunno how we could sign both along with Plecks and still be under the cap... He also said "What if the Pens had given up on Marc-Andre Fleury? What kind of team would they be then?" I tend to agree. At this point, Price can't get any worse. He has so much potential, he's been a winner all his life and I'm sure if we got rid of him it would come back to haunt us (Vokoun anyone?). Price!
2. All of the above. Defense sucks hard, aside from Markov and maybe O'Byrne we could scrap everyone including Hamrlik and Spacek's huge salaries. Every good team nowadays rolls four lines. Doesn't necessarily mean four SCORING lines. What we need is a shutdown line that's not one of our scoring lines. It's only Martin's first year with a brand new team so I'll cut him some slack... but his "system" has not and will never work. Lastly, Timo makes me laugh so I take him for what he has to offer.
3. A "Frankenstien" team might work in other sports like baseball, but not in hockey... end of story.
4. As somone said yesterday, it was probably more like "No heart? Go home!" He is right. Markov is arguably the best player an unofficial captain of the team. Price needed a fire under his butt and Markov lit it for him.
5. I support Markov. Markov doesn't always talk the talk, but he walks the walk. Price doesn't necessarily talk the talk either, but when it comes to walking the walk he prefers to hail a taxi.
1. The answer to this question (in my mind) depends on one key factor and that is - is Price salvageable? I think he was mismanaged from the outset and that has retarded his development. The media has now gotten involved and all of this negative noise and fan lash back has got to be affceting him mentally. So, if the powers that be believe he can be salvaged maybe by trading Halak and getting a veteran netminder to help mentor Price, making goaltender coach changes, sending him to Hamilton for a conditioning stint or whatever, then yes, keep Price and trade Halak as I still believe Price will bring the ultimate higher return. If the powers that be believe he is unsalvageable, then regretfully, I would say trade Price, keep Halak and hope like hell that Halak can develop into a true #1 which I personally still doubt.
2. BG and JM, period. I have alot of respect for BG, but I am now convinced he has made some significant blunders and one of those blunders has been to attract skilled players who want to play an offensive style and then put thos players in the hands of a defensive style coach. The team BG has assembled seems to be struggling mightily to fit into JM's system. And JM seems completely unable to right the boat so he too must take responsibility.
Yes, D is a big problem as well but ultimately the blame for that must rest with BG. I have heard alot of talk of "we need another top 6 forward". Hogwash in my mind. We need another top 6 D man. And we need to make some trades to fix the D that we currently have. Puck control in our own end has been a huge problem all year and alot of that problems lands squarely on the D.
3. It's been a complete fiasco. All I gotta say...
4. I don't believe it a) Markov seems like a pretty quiet guy to me, b) way to verbose a statement for Marky to make. Put yourself in Markov's shoes for a minute and imagine him saying "if you're not going to play with emotion, don't play". It's funny to even imagine him saying that. As I said in a prior post, if he had said any such thing, it would have been more like "no heart, no play". And for him to say that for the St Louis game of all games where Price tries to put the beat down on Janssen and keeps the team in it to at least salvage a point? Don't believe it...
5. It would be the younger guys who might be jealous of Price - guys like Laps, OB, Dag, Patches, etc. The older, more mature guys who can see past their noses, would not support such hogwash.
1. trade him before he's ruined !!!! Great back up for Luongo + he's be home ...I wouldn't blame him for wanting out ... Did this all stem from letting in all those goals during last season all star festivities ...maybe ?? I still think he's the guy !
2. E -the 3 big signings in the off season although talented offensively are board and hit shy ....and are just not big enough to win the battles for position & the puck. also d ( Timo )
3. agreed we've not only used up all the spare parts .... our GM of the parts dept might get his pink slip !
4. MarKov also had a few costly goofs .... why is always about Price . Why not he call out some of the forwards /defenseman by name !!! This stuff should stay in the room .... was it right ..see 1.
5. probably big mouth Cammy ..pip sqeak Gionta .. but to be truthful with all of this ..see 1.
If that is how it really is. All the players who are blowing points because of Price should get fired or traded... Gotta learn to respect people, especially on your team no matter how much you dislike them... We're not paying the players for a relationship war, they get payed to play hockey....
5. Halak :))
Good one!...actually Halak will say (insert boring hockey cliche about teamwork and getting along)...JR we miss you!
The "System" does not have a "Code" that Bob Gainey is aware of...The system is productive and not a distraction!
LOL
--------------------------------------------------- Listen to the SmartDog. He knows his poop!
our poor habs suck :( be golfing early
Let's start over with Crosby and Kovalchuk and get rid of the rest of these guys and bring up the bulldogs. And I'll take George back to take care of these two superstars. Robinson to coach, Muller and Boucher as assistants and Yzerman for GM.
Cheers to that
Shaker
In what parallel universe???
Earth, where we are right now!
Cheers
Shaker
Wow for a 4th liner, follows his code, often injured no show he sure is getting alot of coverage.
BGL is not the answer to the Habs problems thats for sure, enough of him plz.
Hey George why don't you focus on fund raising for your families homeland? Buh bye La.
The coverage of BGL at this point is because he relates to Habs 23-man roster and salary-cap hit.
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Columnist/Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
• On Twitter: twitter.com/habsinsideout1
I understand, I wasn't attacking HIO, was just venting and completely frustrated with all of the comings and goings of this team in recent days and the whole season for that matter.
Keep up the good work Dave and HIO.
Seriously, what the heck is wrong with this season?
There is more Price vs. Halak talk on Slovak hockey sites that there is on HIO.
Sickening
I see an opportunity here! Bring Laraque back and make him our goalie! Heck, he's 6ft plus and 260 lbs. Put the gear on him, tell him to lay down in front of the net and voila! An impenetrable wall. We make use of a roster spot, get good mileage out of Laraque and trade both goalies for high draft picks.....
im pretty sure the league has a problem with an NHL team paying his salary while he goes to sweden to play for another team for free.
if that report that I read was true that Laraque was going to play for free
Is this Laraque story here just to detour us from the massive egg the Habs just dropped down south?
Are the Habs practising this morning? Really? Gee, I hope they don't have to get up too early.
On another note, during the broadcast last night they showed a view of the cars in the Lightning parking lot. Pretty impressive. No doubt the Habs lot looks much the same. To me, it kind of says it all, know what I mean?
Yes they are practising today.
The Habs parking lot looks like a bunch of black SUV's because we have something here called winter.
Lol...Good analogy...although I was in DC with our team last week and we happened to be in the parking garage at Kettler when OV pulled up in his Lamborghini for practice...and I think OV plays to the level of car he drives!
The "System" does not have a "Code" that Bob Gainey is aware of...The system is productive and not a distraction!
I know the NHL has a whole bunch of weird rules but couldn't Laraque "retire" from the NHL and then "make a comeback" to play in Sweden...?
How did the Devils sneak Shanahan's contract off their books?
Unflushable!
We blew up last years team for this!
This team is a disgrace.
Bob Gainey = Epic Fail
Ok Dave, I gotta ask. I believe the ads on this blog are paid placement, is that right? That Tide ad has been in the top right corner a long time. That would be best position short of the banner ad position. I know 25% of the readers here are women but jeepers, are they clicking that ad enough to warrant Tide keeping that ad there? Funny thing is I see that same damn Tide ad on other sports sites. Kinda scarey. Getting me creeped out. All you guys out there that bloody domesticated?
Ok, here's my HIO survey for the morning:
1. Have you clicked on that Tide ad in the past week, yes or no?
Be honest now, the answer to this simple question will speak volumes!
When people are sitiing in their parents' basements reading and writing Blogs who needs to wash their clothes? Cheetos, Skittles and beers and nothing more needed, except for an internet connection to telepathically connect to.
I mean? Washing clothes is almost, *GASP*, civilised. We can't have that around here...
< /snark >
I didn't even know there was a Tide ad on here, that's how focused i am on the posts. (LOL)
I wonder how long it will take before the first woman jumps on your comment suggesting they are the only ones that do laundry.
"A month before the season I stop putting ketchup on my french fries." -Mario Lemieux on his off-season training.
Yeah, honestly. "Domesticated"? My clothes get dirty. Which means they have to be washed. Does that make me domesticated?
"love cannot drown truth, Nefertiti"
I know all about Tide.....my wife won't touch my hockey gear!
my wife won't touch anything... me included
I sure havent
“Well, he’s a thoroughbred, and maybe your wife doesn’t recognize that, but then again, I can’t bake bread all that well. We all have different skills.” ...Bob Gainey "Classic"
I haven't a clue about the technical development or management of this site, and that's just the way I like it!
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Columnist/Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
• On Twitter: twitter.com/habsinsideout1
But....you did not answer the question, hmmmm...
<this space intentionally left blank>
Hahaha...
Its getting worse and worse. I'm truly wondering where this management is taking the team. Unfortunately now that we have celebrated our glorious history it seems that the "Habs", "Flying Frenchmen", "Les Canadiens sont-là", "La Sainte Flanelle" is becoming the "Habs-been". Not feeling too hopeful from the top down.
LOUD NOISES!!!!!!
Jeff...Could not agree more...posted my Bob must go thesis on the last nights loss link below this story...
Geoff Molson is scaring the hell out of me with his comments about Bob on CBC...he may be GM for life :(
The "System" does not have a "Code" that Bob Gainey is aware of...The system is productive and not a distraction!
This season is going south.
Too many distractions, and a team that's on a bubble to make the playoffs at best.
I was really looking forward to this season. Long, almost 6-month-long waiting for my Habs hockey, and this is what we got..?
Last season: mafia, Kovalev, centennial disappointment. This year: Sergei Kostitsyn, Laraque, Price vs. Halak, Markov vs. Price, more Laraque...
What's next?
I no....the media just goes too far at the end of the year, they all act like GM's start up controversies to sell papers and we buy into them
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
OH ya, and the team just wont play hockey
“Well, he’s a thoroughbred, and maybe your wife doesn’t recognize that, but then again, I can’t bake bread all that well. We all have different skills.” ...Bob Gainey "Classic"
I'll be all right. Soccer - Slovakia @ the World Cup
And all the soccer leagues start.
But I love hockey the most..
Betteman sucks!!!
Bettman and Robin.