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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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get rid of JM and bring in wayne gretzety?
Just out of curiosity: 1) how many would prefer to have Carbo over Martin? 2) Should the team bring Carbo back and fire Martin? 3) Is Boucher in Hamilton ready for prime-?time 4) If none of the above who would you bring in?
1) I had no problem with Carbo. Gainey would have to go first before he would ever be considered
2) At this point in time, Martin has a four-year contract so we're pretty much stuck with him.
3) Not yet. Give him time, though. He was extremely successful in the Q and the Bulldogs are on top of their division. He's doing something right.
4) Anyone who has an offensive-type system and can mentor young players.
I'm thinking it isn't the players that we have, it is the system that Martin has set out before them. His system is old and out dated and it doesn't work in todays NHL, we need a new coach. I know people might not like it but I think we should've hired Bob Hartley as our coach instead of Martin. He( Martin) didn't have any success in Florida, as either a coach or a GM... So why bring him to a city where people expect their team to compete every game and to make the playoffs every year. Martin did not have that success after Ottawa so my question is why???... BOB WHY????? ...atleast Carbo had us at the top once, martin is having us play mediocre game after game, we'll be luck to make the playoffs.
"To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be it yours to hold high."
by the time the season is out I expect Price to be playing on the third line....with all this practicing he's doing by himself.
I was curious to see what Quebec born players were on active NHL rosters as of today. I for one was brought up on the Richard's, Bouchard's,Plante's, Beliveau's, Geoffrion's, Lafleur's etc., I love the French Canadian element that has made this team what it is. But as you will see below a 6 team NHL and 30 team NHL will never allow the Habs to have so much of the French Canadian element on the team. How much better would we be filling in positions with these players. How willing are teams to let these guys go is another issue. I was actually surprised at how few Quebec born players are now in the NHL. See the list:
Anaheim: none
Atlanta: none
Boston: Steve Bégin, Patrice Bergeron
Buffalo: Jason Pominville, Patrick Lalime
Calgary: none
Carolina: none
Chicago: none
Colorado: Paul Stastny
Columbus: Derick Brassard, Antoine Vermette, Mathieu Garon
Dallas: Mike Ribeiro, Stephane Robidas
Detroit: none
Edmonton: JF Jacques, Jeff Deslauriers, Marc Pouliot
Florida: none
Los Angeles: none
Minnesota: Eric Belanger, PM Bouchard, Guillaume Latendresse
Montreal: Mathieu Darche, Maxim Lapierre, MA Bergeron
Nashville: JP Dumont
New Jersey: PL Letourneau-Leblond, Ben Walter, Martin Brodeur, Yann Danis
NY Islanders: Bruno Gervais, Martin Biron
NY Rangers: none
Ottawa: Alexandre Picard, Pascal Leclaire
Philadelphia: Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne, Ian Laperriere
Phoenix: Matthew Lombardi
Pittsburgh: Pascal dupuis, Maxime Talbot, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury
San Jose: Torrey Mitchell, Marc-Edouard Vlasic
St. Louis: David Perron
Tampa Bay: Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Alex Tanguay,
Stephane Veilleux
Toronto: Francois Beauchemin, Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Vancoucer: Steve Bernier, Alexandre Bolduc, Alexandre Burrows,
Roberto Luongo
Washington: Jose Theodore
Poll:
Out of these players, who are the top 3 you would like to acquire?
1) Lecavalier
2) Bergeron
3) Pominville
4)Brassard
5)Burrows
6) St. Louis
7) MA Fleury
8) Statsny
Personally I would choose 2, 8, and 6. (Although I'm a tad confused as to why Statsny is considered French? Does he play for Canada at the Olympics? Or France?
In the N.B.A. when Vancouver got the Grizzlies and they chose Big Country Reeve's instead of hometown Steve Nash.This is the first example of what can happen when a G.M.'s head is up his Whazoo.......The Habs have been mismanaged for 17 years and counting and have to go back to its roots....the Flying Frenchmen!
Your analogy is so flawed... Basketball is game that can be centered around one individual, meaning one player can determine the outcome of the game (i.e. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James).
In hockey you MUST play as team to win, and unfortuntely the Habs have been trying to plug their holes with has-been superstars instead of focusing on depth. Instead on the Kovalevs and the Gomezes, we need the Letangs and and Holmstroms.
You talk about mismangement and bringing back the Flying Frenchmen? The days of the Flying Frenchmen are over and it's thanks to ex-players who have been behind the bench and in the front office that this team has become the cluster-fudge that it is.
god i wish we had a guy like Latendresse he is a beast. great hands. uses his size well
Eeh Guidounne!! Qu'est-ce qui s'passe mon chum??!?!?!
I wish we had the Quebec born players that Chicago and Anaheim have..
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
I wish we had a team that could play hard every night, compete every night, win more than once in a while and was made up of hard nosed, hard working players.
I wish we were coached by someone with a winning record who knew how to use his players and wouldn't stand behind the bench and shrug his shoulders when things went bad.
I wish we had a GM and scouting staff who were shrewd when it came to obtaining talent, spotting talent and surrounded their team in a warm blanket of "I WANT TO WIN" attitude.
Does any of this scream French, English or otherwise?
Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan
LOL! Motion seconded...
You DO know that Jonathan Toews is French, right?
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/
Yup, but he ain't "made in Quebec"...
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
Like Giguere who won the Conn Smythe after losing the Cup and, unless I'm mistaken, the MVP when he won it in Anaheim? That kinda "made in Quebec"?
Does Pitt win the Cup without their "made in Quebec" guys? More importantly, what difference does it make where guys come from on different teams?
None of those are Montreal.
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/
yes patrice kane , jean toews, and patrice sharrrrrp would be great
predictions for tonight >?
0-27
but we storm back in the 4th quarter to make it 7-27
this game is going to hurt unless someone who hasnt been producing starts to light it up (the whole team) .... good luck Jaro your going to face a lot of rubber tonight im afraid.
As a fan, I hope you are completely wrong...
As an honest fan, I think you are completely right...
But, we'll still watch.
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
Bugs, I am sympathetic to your viewpoint on homeboys and don't feel you are being bigoted or close minded. Having said that, the way I see it, the team must draft, trade and sign the players best suited to the roles that need filling in the organization.
Inevitably, this will sometimes be a French Canadian or at the very least a person from Quebec. When such players join the team, I think they should be celebrated and appreciated for what they are. Just as native sons are anywhere throughout the league or in any other endeavor. In addition, the distinctiveness of our home boys gives us that unique flavour.
But, as I said, the team must choose the best player when given a choice. The only time a homegrown player should get an upper-hand or special consideration is when two players compare entirely evenly yet differ in place of origin only. That situation is extremely rare however, as two players almost never offer the very same package of skills and attitude.
If the team is a success and only has two French Canadians, so be it, let's celebrate those two players, but let's not compromise the team's success trying to nostalgically recreate something that, like so many things we grow up with, is no longer a manageable and viable option. Nostalgia is for museums, novels, art, furnishings for heck's sake, but managing organizations and talented people has to be based on sound, pragmatic decisions that reflect contemporary conditions or failure and disappointment will certainly follow.
That's fine. Never said the contrary.
"The team must choose the best player when given a choice" and "the distinctiveness of our home boys gives us that unique flavour." Totally agree.
I'm saying that that distinctiveness is very important to those for whom the club was created. And to dismiss it as contrary to the ultimate goal of this club to win is a bit offensive to me because it implies we CAN'T win with frenchies. As if THAT was holding us back.
Case in point: Bob had a choice between Lemaire and Marty. He chose Marty. How is that my mindset's fault? I'm happy we got Marty, but I'da been happier with Lemaire. Better talent. In that circumstance. Marty or Bowman? Gimme Bowman.
But Marty or John Stevens or whoever middle-of-the-packer? Gimme Marty. In that circumstance.
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/
I gathered we saw things similarly, I was hoping to present your vewipoint in a way some others could appreciate without making a mess in their beds.
As for Lemaire, Gainey didn't have a choice, I don't believe Jacques has any interest in retuning to coach here. He felt the unrealistic media scrutiny was too much and unproductive in the mid-eighties. Enough so to leave his position. That situation has only become far more intense.
Well, Deuce, I hereby name you my spokesperson, because I'm making an awful mess presenting this viewpoint. Your composure as well as the respect amongst others that you receive would better serve my purposes than anything I could myself muster.
As for Lemmy, he was all for comin over but his demands were too rich for Mr.Bob Gainey.
Though I like Marty, gotta say I woulda preferred Lemmy. And woulda paid'm.
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/
Bugs, while I appreciate your kind words, I think you are the last person in this place who needs a spokesperson. You do your spokining better than nearly anyone else in here. You just need to sharpen your feather grooming skills, cause you got the rufflin' side of things down pat, that's fersure. I'm proof positive of that.
In the case of Lemmy, if that's true, he was willing to come home and he didn't, quibbling over beans, I'd be upset, cause Lemaire would have been a better choice at this juncture, I reckon.
We still would have had half the people complaining that our team was too defensive if we signed Lemaire. In Montreal you can never satisfy everyone.
they did a poll obn the TEAM 990: who is in favor a rebuild: rsults so far
53 YES,
6 NO the Yes's have it!
rebuild! rebuild! rebuld!
but first fire Gainey, Martin, Gauthier.
bring in a team that is capable of developing young talent, because this group CAN'T!
Don't think we should rebuild. I just think we shouldn't be buyers...
We could probably shed a few players here and there for picks/prospects, but we have a good enough foundation that we don't a need complete overhaul of the team.
As for player development, Gainey got back on the ball when he hired Guy Boucher. I don't think this will be an issue in the coming years.
that would be a better poll
Fire Gainey
yes or no
please vote !!
YES 1-0
Was it halak who shut out the canucks last year? or was it the year before
I think that we should trade the entire Canadiens team for the entire Flames team.... who with me...!!!...lol j/k
"To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be it yours to hold high."
RDS got an update, Cammalleri is out 6 weeks (as expected) Is it just me or is anyone else tired of all the injuries, especially to key guys for long periods of time. (Gionta, Markov, now Cammalleri)
It seems like every year there bad injuries. I'm sure most of us remember the 90's when Montreal set the record for man games lost, then broke that record the following year. But almost every year since then it seems like where missing someone.
It would be nice to see a full roster a some point this year, besides the first game of the season.
Size matters, but he did fall on it awkwardly.
They call me Shane
It could be because Habs players are such easy targets. I mean, anybody who is anything in the NHL can take a healthy run at any Habs player without fear of repercussion. I know, I know, we have bad luck, blah blah... just throwing it out there.
Except technically Bergeron injured one our guys, several have been hit by pucks, Markov was injured by a freak acciddent and Cammy went down awkwardly. We don't usually get injuries due to hits, just crap luck
buddy i think u forgot AK46...he was a monster until he went down
Btw, anybody get a chance to watch the Philly/Calgary or Buff/Pitts games last night?
Wacthed both, and IMO Pittsburgh looks like a serious team once again. We all knew they would be good, but this team looks poised for yet another long playoff run. Crosby looks like he's a crack-head on a mission to find his fix. The kid's insane.
2nd, Philly's coming together and also look very good, just that their defense is still a question mark. I think they'll go far too this year. Buffalo on the other hand, I'm still wondering how they're so high in the standings. Oh yeah, Ryan Miller. If anyone watched last night, you can notice that yes they're a fast team with above average skill, but they'll only go as far as Miller can take them. They don't have enough offense to oovercome a bad goaltending performance.
Then, there's the flames. WTF is up in cow-town? What a mess this team is. They're big and fast, but that's it. Kipper is Kipper, always keeping them in games. The defense is good, but not great on rebounds. And the offense, well can't comment on it because it's inexistant. Like seriously, there best chances were from Pardy and Bourque, and both shots came from the slot but missed the net by a landslide. That team ain't going nowhere....
What do you guys think?
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
flames were shutout last night, I wonder if the sutter's find it suprising that the players that helped toronto get to 29th in the league didn't help them win last night.
Beyond Iginla they have no goal scoring (kind of like Habs) and their D is a hit and miss kind of thing. Jokinen was a total bust. Players are probably no longer afraid of grumpy Sutters and Kipper has had some crappy nights as well. They only thing that's going for the Flames is some good old heavy metal they tend to play during stopages.
And, as a huge fan of Iginla I feel bad for the guy. He should be having his career years right now and going through long playoff runs. For his sake, it would be nice to see him in an offensive system where he'd actually have players who could make him even better. Immagine him in LA, WSH, SJ or Philly.
WOW.
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
I am not a fan of Iginla, but I won't deny him his talent. He doesn't have linemates that come close to his level. Hey, maybe Higgins is the missing piece (NOT) :)
Mike, are you a rdp-er?
St-Leo...y you know me?
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
pretty sure i do.. check your fb, il message you there and see how it goes
Don't have Facebook, so you're probably mistaken...
Anyways welcome to HI/O..
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
seen you in a team america movie, I think
lol, seen you in many movies...hows the wife back in Kazakhstan?
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
which one? I have a harem full of them...
Pitsburgh is the only team in the east with a Legit shot against a San Jose, Chicago or Van city.
NJ will crumble and lets face it, Buffalo has only been winning cause of Miller and he will eventually fall off.
I made the mistake of underestimating Brodeur's magic before.
Never again.
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/
Ummmm, Washington?
Not going to rely upon a win tonight the way the Canucks are flying around unless they put Raycroft in nets, which I doubt since this is a hometown game for Luongo. We're too banged up and they've got almost everyone in the roster, JM might pull out one of those magic game plans like he used against the Rangers and Devils the other week but let's not expect that to happen.
Probably lose, but I'd rather see Price focused on starting against Boston later this week as he's 1.00 GAA with them this season.
- I shall always remember Captain Koivu. http://habsandhockey.blogspot.com/
JM is saying that due to injuries we have to play an even more solid defensive game. I expect a lot of habs backing across the blue line ...
I expect to NOT see the "system" that we saw against the Rangers and Devils.
"even more" suggests they played solid defensively to begin with. Which they didn't.
Well, it's Loui Luongo in nets tonight. You know what that means!!!!
Montreal born goaltender, playing for the opposing team in Montreal with his whole family watching.....
What's even worse is that he's pissed he got pulled in Toronto on Saturday, and that he's an All-Star goaltender.Montreal-born Rookie's in their 1st NHL games come here and shut us out, or make 45+ saves, and always get the win...Expect Roberto to do the same, and I'll predict he might even score a goal lol..
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
Is it just me or does Greasy Lu look like a dead ringer for Danny DeVito's Penguin in Batman Returns?
He looks more like the foot-fetish butler in Mr. Deeds
Definitely - John Turturro?
botson is the lowest scoring team in the league as well
Brilliant stuff. . .
http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2010/02/hacked-gary-bettmans-gmail-account....
lame....
I BLEED BLEU BLANC ET ROUGE!!!
lol
sweet...
lmao...nice find.
"These head movies make my eyes rain" -Simple Jack
Best post of the day. Well done, Doug!
Elisha Cuthbert... lmao!
Halak starting tonight according to Team 990!
Not big fan of bouncing from one goalie to another every game. Martain should go with the one guy and stick with him.
Montreal needs an experienced goalie to help with the younger guy. And not no Curtis Sanford, a guy whose been in the league a while, like the way Moog helped Thibeault, the year they were together both guys were solid.
OK - he's earned it.
Martin changing the "System" Eh...
Looks like Price won't get the chance to redeem himself from the loss to Van. earlier this season unlike Halak against the Rangers....
Are you about to cry?!
Hahahahahahaha
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
Good. Either way we are going to get destroyed tonight, and all of the wonderful fans would be up in arms blaming Price for it.
Yeah, better we blame Halak, eh.
Good to see you're a LOYAL supporter of the Habs...not.
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
Sorry, my point was that if Halak is in and we get killed, people will not blame Halak, they will blame the team. However if it's Price, it will be all Price's fault.
Oh, right. I forgot how we operate here. lol
Sorry about that. I'm just fed up with the goalie debates.
We win as a team, we lose as a team.
----------------------------------------------------------- "Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them." - Sam Pollock
I thought you made that pretty clear in your post above. I agree with you too.
Well unfortunately the camera does not lie, what you see is what you get WYSIWYG with Price. If its a floater, its easy to see, especially when the score is tied and its the third period and Price has blown a 3 nothing lead, I thought the Laffs were bad at that, but with Price, its almost a given each time. Price is Hot and Cold, every now and then he is brilliant and shows he has what it takes to be a potential top 18 goalie, notice I didn't say top 6 or so goalie, but Price is good enough to be in the western conference in some middle of the road team, not with the jewel of the Canadian franchises, although the habs have been nothing but a mud flop under Gainey.
Well, since the HIO Mods “Absolutely Suck” & my reply get removed, I will post again.
Back up what spews from that hole in your face! Name the games where Price has blown a 3 goal lead this season?
Bob should be trying to unload some his D for a 20 goal scorer. MAB, Mara, Gill , Spacek. Hammer. The trouble is finding a taker. Gorges ,Markov. O` Byrne keep them around and Weber. We need goals and i don`t think Darshe and Maxwell are the answer
I agree with unloading some D (Hammer/Spacek/Gill make a combined 11.58 million) but I'd rather we use that money to lock up Pleks, and both goalies (or in the event of a trade, whichever we keep).
I know this year wasn't great, but when healthy I think we have two very good lines. Benny-Gomezo-Gionta, and Cammy-Pleks-AK are a solid start. What we need is more secondary scoring true, but I'm not sure we can afford to have 20 goal scorers on the bottom two lines (cap wise) unless they're brought up through the system or signed cheap.
I think Maxwell/Lapierre with Sergei is the start of a 3rd line that could be effective (a 30-45 goal line if healthy) if we get a good finisher on that line. Whether that finisher is someone we have in the system (Dags, Patches, Trotter, Desharnais, etc.) or someone we bring in through trade or free agency, it's clear we need some help on the 3rd line.
That leaves a good amount of choices for 4th line, with Moen getting an obvious spot. Metro, Lapierre, White, or Pyatt. could all fill the bottom line.
Bergeron is almost a 20 goal scorer.
Almost..He has 10.. He`s halfway there. Plus he caused prolly 25 goals. The math don`t equal out.
Yeah but 10 goals from a defenceman is like 20 goals from a forward lol...
Some people will blame Price even if Halak starts and we don’t win…
The snow is falling upwards!
Halak is in net after a loss!
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/
hmmm, very intersting AND against the grain. Some would use this as fodder for trade speculation. I just see it as the right move. ( not starting anothe goaltender debate....easy you guys....just mu opinion.) Let the speculators speculate.
This team needs to....
1. Abandon the short sighted idea that players, coaches and management have to be represented by people of francophone descent. This is the only team in the league that restricts it's choices on personnel to people who speak a certain language.
2. Abandon the expectation that the Cup should be here every year and further to that, abandon the idea that this team will be able to compete against Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Washington for a chance to play for the cup within the next three years. Sorry, it isn't going to happen. Gomez, Gionta and Cammalleri are stop gap measures until this team's young talent is developed and ready for everyday roles in the NHL. The young centrepieces are there. The goalies, Kristo, Leblanc, O'Byrne, Subban.
3. Keep Guy Boucher in Hamilton. He's done a great job so far. You don't bring the guy doing a great job of developing talent to the NHL. You keep him there to develop your draft picks.