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I heard the Podcast yesterday, and today I have to comment on one thing. One of the items discussed was the ice time for the players, & Boone said that everybody plays double digit numbers. One of the other panelists said that over the last 2 months, everybody is getting lots of minutes, but before that there were players getting 7, 8, 9 minutes a game.
I know you guys are very knowledgeable about hockey, but you should check your facts before making statements like that. Just have a look at the ice time in the last road game in Anaheim. Do you see anybody here not in the double digits? I do. There's Ryder 5:41, Latendresse 8:19 & Lapierre 9:57. There are lots of times when players get less than 10 minutes a game.
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Boxscore&gameNumber=1044&se...
Gretzky is not a pacifist, he's always defended the role of his bodyguards, Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley.
I have always enjoyed the weekly dose of the Habs PuckCast but was quite annoyed or should I say pissed at the comments made by Pat Hickey along with Dave Stubbs and Mike Boone pertaining to Mikhail Grabovsky and digging deeper to this situation with the events folding in Los Angeles. I, for one, believe Mikhail Grabovsky is a fine young player and what he did was wrong but please let's not scold the guy especially Mike Boonne's comment saying "he's outta here" or "To Russia with Love".
As media journalists, I expected better from the 3 of you. Not too worry, I for one, will not jump the bandwagon as the majority of fans on this site and be a "Grabovski basher" based on what they read in the media by you gentlemen or voice your opinions about him.
Shame on all 3 of you.
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
No, Mikey, shame on Mikhail Grabovsky for putting himself before the team in this case. A number of accomplished, Stanley Cup-winning veterans have not been dressed for games this year, and they've sat in the pressbox unhappy with the situation but without leaving the club as Grabovsky did.
I'm sure the young man, with barely a heartbeat of NHL experience, has learned from this. I don't know what the team's plans are for him, ultimately, but he didn't help himself, or his club during a demanding road trip, by putting himself before everyone in the organization.
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
Disagree - shame on the Pod cast crew. I am not condoning Grabs' actions but your crew comes across as callous and unforgiving. I am glad your group does not manage the team because it sounds like you would have waived the kid immediately. Boone is especially quick and cavalier with his assessment of people. I distinctly remember the POD crew skewering Kovalev last year. This year he is saving the team and the platitudes coming from the POD crew are endless. Who knows maybe Grabs might be able to do something next year, assuming he is given a chance to play. However if management is anything like the "Gang of Four" then he is gone for sure.
I stood by Kovey last year and I am standing by Grabs this year.
mjames
And we, then, were alone last season in "skewering" Kovalev? Alex Kovalev didn't come to play last season on many nights. He had a bad season, and he's said that himself.
The idea of the podcast is for four guys to sit around a digital hot stove and shoot the breeze about this hockey club, not unlike hundreds and hundreds of our readers here, who shoot very quickly from the hip with opinions far more outrageous than ours.
Pat Hickey travels with this team, and knows its workings best of the four of us. Mike Boone attends every home game, blogs every one including road games, and his words reflect his opinion, both off the cuff and with hindsight the morning after a game. I'm around the club at practises, morning skates and after some games and have gotten to know a number of the players at and away from the rink. Kevin interviews players for his One-on-One features. I think collectively we can offer reasonably informed opinions.
Everyone's entitled to disagree with us, and you all can disagree with each other. And if anyone, for even an instant, thinks that what we say influences the team's decision-makers, then they are sadly mistaken.
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
I expect fans to jump on/off badwagons at the turn of a dime and react emotionally, not journalists.
There's a big difference between saying "He's having a bad year" and something along the line of "Send him back to Russia." So Kovalev had a bad year in 2006-2007. If he was gotten rid of, the Habs would be having a BAD year in 2007-2008. So Grabovski made a mistake. Its not like left Phoenix early to fly back to Europe! Some slack would be nice sometimes.
This is a long, long season. The podcast is recorded without interruption, unedited, one take. We've done 20 this season. Maybe we'd like to have back one or two words that we've said in the 13-plus hours of content. Or, maybe not. I'm not going to speak for my colleagues. But I'd suggest that a few of our readers might wish to rewrite a post or two of their own, after review or deeper consideration.
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
I understand that everyone is entiltled to their own opinions but I would never say "Get outta here" to a young kid who just wants to play, and I for one, believe he would be an important addition to our team for many years to come being on a line with the Kostitsyn brothers. Yes, you are correct to shoot the breeze and have some fun and humour on your Habs PodCast, but for all 3 of you to gang up on him is totally not fair. I hope Mikhail Grabovsky comes back with retribution and I, for one, believe he will as most Habs fans will agree.
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Therefore should I conclude that it is the POD Cast's collective informed opinion that Grabs, because of actions, should be cut or at least benched for the remainder of the season. If not what did you infer in the POD cast. Boone essentially said goodbye. Is that the informed opinion?
mjames
Guys, I'm not going to stand up or stand down for Mike. "Goodbye" was his word; I don't believe it was the consensus. He's a terrific young player who made a terrific mistake.
Dave Stubbs
Habs Inside/Out
Sports Feature Writer, Montreal Gazette
First off I will admit that I have been critical of Smokes all season. Secondly, Smokes played a great game and was instrumental in the win over the Devils. His first goal was definitely huge. Having said that, I still believe he has been a liability over the past 70 games. I hope you guys are right and that he will show up for the playoffs. But in todays NHL where all the teams are so close, no team can afford a player who floats all season only to show up for the post season. He has been soft all season, refusing to use his body and this combined with his lacking any offensive upside makes him a huge liability. He took up a spot that could have gone to any number of more deserving and skilled forwards.
I do not disagree with your assessment. Valid
mjames
Carbo for Jack Adams? If he gets it, he can thank Kovalev!
The whole Grabovski story is being blown out or proportion. I'd like to see him come back next year to the Habs. Seems like many people want him to go to Russia... isn't that what a lot of fans/reporters here said about Kovalev last year?
I agree. The media likes to blow things out of proportion and the fans believe whatever the media says. As my father always said to me, "Son, there are always 2 sides to a story and the media is always first to report their story so they can sell their paper first"
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Have to say that I am surprised by the Hickey's and Boone's comments about Grabovski as well. Maybe they know more about the situation than we do, but unless someone with the inside track knows what management is intending to do, it seems premature to write the guy off for what I would characterize as a misdemeanor. Then again, I'm no hockey insider and maybe it's the kind of thing that's a complete no-no. Maybe Mike can give us a little better perspective?
I would like to ask Pat, Mike, or Dave to have a feature on Mikhail Grabovski one on one and either air it on a PodCast on this site or a feature article so we may all judge the character on him and voice our opinion on him. Too much negative feedback on the kid!
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Kevin:
I am glad you spoke up. Yes I agree Grabs did not make the smartest decision. People make mistakes, unfortunately it appears some of us on here are not a very forgiving group. I guess we do not make mistakes.
With experience I think this kid can be a valuable member of the team. I would not be so quick to discard some of our assets just because the team is doing well now. I sincerely hope he decides to re-sign with us and not go to Russia.
mjames
Especially since we're going to have some openings up front with the departure of free agents. I'd like to see Perezhogin come back to North America as well too, if nothing else, to be able to trade him and get a draft pick or packaged for a decent, NHL-ready, younger forward who could easily be moved back and forth between the NHL and AHL without going through waivers. Seems like we'll be fresh out of those soon as Chipchura replaces Smolinski as the 3rd/4th line center next year!
GREAT puckcast gents...best one yet...no coincidence it parallels the HABS success.
"Learns from his mistakes" = CARB
not sure who said this but you are CORRECT 100%
He has had 10x more faith in SMOKE than 99.9% of us here, Carb is starting to look like he made the right call. When Smoke first joined the Habs I thought it was a good move, a Veteran who is respected throughout the league could only translate to positives on the ice....but I think the long haul of 82 games takes the edge off of Veterans that play the role of SMOKE...its not like KOVY dazzling with his 2 sniper linemates, its easy to stay 'upbeat' when your playing that style.
Smoke will be worth his wage now and into the playoffs when the men and the boys become more separated.
lets face it...IT IS REALLY REALLY DIFFICULT to find any FAULT at this time with last nights lineup.
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1. WE ARE DEAD MEAT WITHOUT OUR OWN POLICING
1. Feb 19, 2008 - History was made.
2. Thank GOD we have Alex Kovalev.....at his PRIME
3. The BELL CENTRE should be rebuilt to sit 80,000 fans
4. We will win the CUP
Last year in the playoffs when the Canucks were getting schooled by the Ducks, Smoke was one of the few guys that was still grinding it out. I was impressed at the time.
I'm sure Gainey was also....
---------
1. WE ARE DEAD MEAT WITHOUT OUR OWN POLICING
1. Feb 19, 2008 - History was made.
2. Thank GOD we have Alex Kovalev.....at his PRIME
3. The BELL CENTRE should be rebuilt to sit 80,000 fans
4. We will win the CUP
Just noticed on the TSN power rankings, we were in third spot last week and we dropped to 9th spot this week.
I noticed we dropped significantly on a few sites' Power Rankings after Price let in 6 goals in that loss to San Jose. You have to take those with a grain of salt, i think.
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Will the Habs beat Ottawa on Thursday?
Is Guy Carbonneau a serious contender for the Jack Adams Trophy?
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I believe the game where they were eating poutine and smoke meat was in L.A... RDS showed a clip of it, I'm pretty sure...
Regardless of this year's final outcome, one man, not too often mentioned here, deserves a lot of praise for his work in the Habs organization. Those HIO bloggers in the Hamilton area would already know this and I, like many, can only go by what we see on RDS, HNIC etc, so cheers to you Don Lever.
This group of Bulldogs that have been called up this year have been finetued to near perfection. Yes, a touch here and there, but so far these young guns are battle ready and set for an exciting career in the NHL.
So, Mr. Lever, should you see this, I salute you for your tremendous work. Please keep it up, you have other outstanding and promising prospects on the way this summer and may you and your staff continue to provide the Habs current and future stars the way you and your coaching staff have.
CHeers.
i would agree. and beyond the outstanding job of mentoring and coaching these youngsters who are making a significant impact on the "big" team, it's gotta be hard to keep things going down in Hamilton when you keep losing your best players! i assume it's expected when you coach a farm team, and i guess the consolation is, you know you're doing your job well when you're lineup gets "pillaged" :)
Kudos!
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damn i wish i could listen to this at work.
Amazing stat: The Habs are the ONLY team to not have a 4-game losing streak. Nah, Carbo has nothing to do with it.
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