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Other than Sundin, I don't know what team if any, would be willing to part with one of its good centremen.
Just wait until someone starts to falter.
Great article about Gainey. His approach is not for impatient hockey fans who want instant gratification with overpriced signings of UFAs.
it has never, but it is clear they have not had a super star signing since Kovalev & in his most productive season his reported salary is not much more than Michael Ryder will be earning for the next 3 years....The team has "lost out" on many impact players & it is always assumedthe Canadiens offers have been substantial...Or have they? This is a club that fills the arena every game & it is all a business it seems ....pricey stars are not usual in the Canadians line-up...exciting, competitive..last year for the first time in many,many years...with no loss of full house attendance...such fans should demand more..waiting for what?....How much Mr.Gainey are you willing to offer Mats Sundin? ...the PR is great but there is a $20 million on the table it seems & M. Sundin has been leaning to retire for some time....and if Mats Sundin does not sign is the extra salary cap in the owner's pocket as seemsto be the case every year with the obvious contract secrecy by the Canadiens & the obvious no big dollars stars.....
Mr. Gainey is a genius because nothing much is spent...think about who will become free agents...have any but Andrei K-who may have defected the NHL- been locked up as other teams have done ..the team has one Mike K. defensement earning too little who will be moving on unless locked up...Does Mr Gainey care?
The league's salary cap determines what a team has available to spend on free agent and other signings. Attendance only affects this number indirectly as the cap is set at a fixed percentage of league revenues.
I think Mr. Gainey realizes that he has some players to sign to long-term contracts next year. But the cap is drifting upward and some existing contracts will be off the books giving him some room to maneuvre. There's no doubt the salary cap reduces a team's options and flexibility. The Habs will have to make some tough choices at the end of next season. But so will every other team in the league.
Wow, that was a disjointed read.
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
sundin or not we need a centre who is strong both ways. don't care how its done. love bg plans to build from within but if sundin does not sign bg should make a trade. we don't have the horses down the middle we all know it and he knows so lets see what happens.
the reasons sundin will not sign are morals and values..he was a god in TO treated like the next coming and could do no wrong. to trade it all away and go to rival he would open himself up to so much abuse not even sure he could handle it. i hope iam wrong but thats how i feel.
I just lookit up fo Sh!ts'n'giggles. Bumsteen got 9 goals in 54 games, what do you think he'll do againts an NHL defence backed up by an NHL goalie?
I agree with THE CAT. Gainey can't go into the season the way things are now. He needs to make a big splash. trade for a top center. Maybe Marleau?
We don't have 2 top centers. Koivu is too small and just can't cut it anymore. I think Gillis(even he's a joke), is a much better salesman than Gainey.
In fact, 1 of the reasons Gainey can't get a UFA here, is his lack of salesmanship. Some GM's have it, and some don't.
I liked Gainey as a player, and I think he's very intelligent, but very bland when it comes to selling his team. Remember that swedish player Brumler, or whatever his nane was?
He came to Montreal to visit with Gainey with no results, and decided to sign with Dallas. Same goes for Wheeler. Maybe Gainey could take a course on assertiveness training.
Marleau sucks! Wouldn't trade more than an unkown prospect and one low draft pick. Then he would be worth it.
I think you're putting words in my mouth. I do think Plekanec is a number 2 centre and that Koivu is a number 3 centre, of course the habs need a number one centre. The habs were a team that had a goal differential of +40 (Pleks had a diff of +15, but Koivu was -4) Leafs had a goal differential of -29 yet Sundin was +17. We need that outside injection from a centre who'll not only produce but also not be scored on (something our top two centres have a problem doing), Gainey knows it, thats why he is trying for Sundin. Anybody that thinks this team as it is can go to the finals is only kidding themselves IMO, nothing wrong with being optimistic though.
I have to be honest, I used to feel the same way. But as you can see from my avatar, I took a big dump and now I'm thinking much more clearly.
I am not an animal, I just reproduce that way.
E M
I couldn't possibly top your post to set this fellow straight.
I love it, a reverse troll. Beat 'em at their own game!
Yeah sometimes a big dump is the best thing to knock all the farts outta yer head.
He sold the team to Kovalev. He sold the team to Tanguay. He sold the team Laraque.
Bumsteen and Whacker are irrelevant and wheeler is an attitude problem.
What has Brunnstrom done? Did we need him? Is he a big center? What has Wheeler done?
I asked you a question below in case you missed it.
Should we go after Getzlaf?
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
Getzlaf?? Might as well go after Ovechkin and Crosby too!! Even if top notch, HIGH PRICED guys like that are available, you don't "go after" them when you have a very good team already. He's not worth the 3 most likely 4 good players you will have to give up, not to mention the cap space he uses up for whatever insanely long contract you give him. Drafting and free agency along with good money management is how you build a good team.
It was a joke dude, chill.
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
sorry, didn't look at who posted just saw the quote. my bad teach!
Is getzlaf at all available?
unlike most delusional habs fan, I don't see Sundin signing with the habs. So I think, Gainey shouldn't sit on his hands waiting for something that's not going to happen. Instead he should concentrate on makin a trade to obtain a big center. We have never signed an impact UFA, and this year, (even tho it's our centennial0, will be no diiferent. Sad that Gainey did so little in the offseason to improve this team. Without further additions, we won't have as good a record as last year. In fact I think the habs will finish in the middle of the pack, fighting it out for 7th or 8th place.
we're past the free agent frenzy, and i doubt many big trades will go down before the start of the season. let's wait for an answer from sundin, because honestly there's nothing to gain from making a trade today vs. in mid august.
Sorry, no offence intended, but I think you're the one who is delusional.
Last year, we were told by all the hockey experts (TSN, The Hockey News, and probably you) that we would not even make the playoffs. Well, they were wrong. They didn't take into account that our young players would have another year under their collective belts, and this in turn, would make us a power to be reckoned with.
Now, we are coming into a new year, where Mr. Gainey's draft picks are not only a year older, but we have picked up Alex Tanguay, a potential 80 to 90 point player (Keenan is an idiot, who purposely sabotages players careers because they don't fit into his demented mold, so Tanguay's 58 points last year is an aberration) and a top notched heavy weight who can give you an honest effort as a 4th line grinder.
It's funny how your people of your ilk always bank on free agent signings, or lack there of, as a yardstick on how well a GM is doing.
I have one question for you. Did the acquisitions of Toskala and Blake put the leafs over the hump, as many of the so called experts predicted?
Toskala was a very good acquisition to be honest, but Blake not really, but there was that cancer business, don't think that helped any. I think it was Maurices fault the leafs didnt make the playoffs. The leafs lost too many games early in the season by making the number one goalie position up for competition, and the lack of defense mindedness. Near the end of the year that was a dangerous team over there.
Toskala was drafted by SJ in the 4th round, 90th overall in 1995. The leafs gave up a 1st, 2nd rounder in 2007 and a 4th rounder in 2009 to acquire him and Mark Bell (35 games, 10 points, 2007/8). That's just bad management, hardly a "very good acquisition." In fact, it's a suckers bet, in my estimation.
Furthermore, Toskala was a back up goalie in SJ, with Nabokov getting most of the work and playing against the better teams. He is an average goalie, who was drafted accordingly. I'm sure Doug Wilson laughed all the way to the bank. Mike Milbury would be proud of this deal.
Now the leafs are delegated to starting a "new" 5 year plan, which includes, purposely choking this year (or giving your fans the Finger) to try and win the Tavares sweepstakes.
Aren't you glad we have someone like Bob Gainey at the helm, who promised us at the beginning of his tenure that he would right our ship, through drafting, but it would take 5 years. Right on schedule, Mr. Gainey!
They gave up a lot thats for sure but Toskala is pretty solid though, hes a goalie that can win you 10-15 games on his own in a season, hes a number one. I don't know why Nabokov has such a long leash in SJ, he always gets outdueled by the opposing goalie in the post season.
I kind of feel sorry for JFJ and all the rest of the leaf ex GM's. Dick Peddie is the one, who in my opinion, is breathing down these guys neck and forcing them to trade away their future. It's kind of like a junkie mentality.
Cat, I know we don't see eye to eye on Mr. Gainey tenure as GM, but you have to admit he has stabilized our farm system to the point where it is the envy of the league.
BTW I still think Tosssedsalad is over rated by the toronto media.
Of course I admit that. I never said Gainey sucked. The main point of my disagreement is the hockey philosophy the Gainey administration seems to have: turning up their nose on size and toughness (until now). And my other big point of disagreement was how the goaltender situation was handled. The rest is good but those two points are big ones I have had a hard time digesting.
Sorry, Mr. Gainey and Timmons have drafted players of size including Ryan O Byrne, Pacioretty, Paquette, McDonagh, Conboy, and Stewart, but I think the real point is a GM should draft the best player available at the time. It does a team no good to draft a player simply because he's big, if he can't skate or play the game, what's the point? You can't have it both ways, you admit that we have the best farm system, but they're too small?
If your talking about Huet as the goaltending issue, well then again, I respectfully disagree. We are probably the only team in the league who will have two quality young goalies, for under 2 million dolars and at least 6 years of trouble free netminding. Sorry, I don't believe Huet is worth 4 million a year.
All those extra dollars he saved will be used to acquire a large number one center (preferably with no hair and a fondness for Swedish meatballs).