Log in & Sign up
You are not logged in.
Boone's Online Eeee-mail
Share the agony and ecstasy of Habs fandom and read live blogs from every game with Gazette columnist Mike Boone.
The Other Wing
The Other Wing features regular Habs commentary by some bloggers we like.
Habs Inside/Out main RSS feed
Mike Boone's RSS feed
PuckCast RSS feed
Other Wing RSS feed
Site concept and design by User Generation
Habs Inside/Out: Absolutely everything about the Montreal Canadiens
For editorial inquiries, contact Gazette sports editor Stu Cowan (scowan@thegazette.canwest.com).
For advertising inquiries, please contact your Gazette sales representative (gazadv@thegazette.canwest.com).
©2008 The Gazette, a division of Canwest Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
Terms and Conditions
Privacy Statement
FYI this podcast does not appear to be in the rss feed.
Messrs: Boone, Hickey, Stubbs and Mio,
You moan about going to Winnipeg?
At least there is an airport for fast escape which is not the case in Drummondville.
"Changes in the night with mounting losses there'll be changes in the night" ex Frank Sinatra
..
Hickey needs to pass the conch a bit more. Would have loved to have heard what Stubbs and Boone had to say.
,,, BG Strategy : 1) Give Komo moderate offer , take it or leave it. 2) Make offer to Kovy and sign him 3) Frantically work on deal for center or forward or both (Sedins) while throwing Saku and Tangy a life vest (depending on my dealings you may be in the picture.
Maybe, it's time that a lot of us/them moved on?
Holy crap, I just saw a Habs' 09-'10 preview piece. It was titled "The Pleks Wears Prada!"
OH ya, for laughs.
According to Eklund : Koivu to the ducks E4
How about this: Eklund to the NY Post for Larry Brooks and four adult entertainment ads to be named later?
BJ - Larry Brooks gets the odd scoop , he did last year on Jagr and everybody laughed at him before including our RL. Eklund is the 3% solution.
Oh please, Eklund is a 0% solution. At least with Brooks you get a whole newspaper. Eklund just invents things and writes them down. NHL insider my ass. Spector is the only respectable NHL rumourist IMHO.
I like Larry a lot. He's top shelf and right up there with my old Tuesday night pickup teammate Stu at the NYT. I was just being my usual wiseass self. The only guy who would be involved in a deal like that would have been JFJ. Even, Burke would pass.
You know Stu Hackel? He's great.
Tanguay will be in training camp this year with no problem. So much nonsense written when people don't have a clue.
Over the next 4 days we will have our people in place to sign and there will be kids from the farm to fill any holes.
Maybe 1 or possibly 2 at the most will be picked up outside the organisation to fill in for the ones of ours we don't want to sign
Ian, I like your post, your opinion and your attitude so much that I'm dedicating this special musical track (my all-time farvorite Miles recording) to you. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRfdlcQ_MZw
Thanks punkster, i love the horn and jazz
None of that BS music for you Ian!
How have you been Teats!
Well, I was fine until I awoke from my coma and found out that the Pens won the damn Cup sans Mario Lemeiux. I think this upcoming season could be the big crew cut for the Habs. It's probably time to start from scratch and get a new do. I really don't give a crap about how they enter the upcoming season. It's all about how they finish that counts. The one thing that I would be firm on though is that we are no longer tolerating asshole behaviour from the young guys. You want to be a dick and I will find the most miserable freakin' place on the planet to send your sorry ass to and eat the cost. How about a stint playing for the Reading (PA) Royals of the ECHL -- a Leafs affiliate. Reading is a great place to be these days. Evidently, it's a station stop on the meth trail. Quality nightlife and women at least the five that still have teeth.
Ship them to the Russian front if they mess up and they can bring their purses also. I hope Martin is more of a disciplinarian, for the kind of bucks we pay these guys for 15 min. of work a night, they should be able to walk the line.
sorry for the long delay in answering, large word I used and had to look up in the webster!
LOL at the punishment idea. But I can't disagree with the sentiment. Zero tolerance should be the message to all and not just the youngsters. But the young'uns should be treated with slightly more, shall we say, emphasis.
Hey, I would emiserate these jackasses for their bullshit behavior last year. They disgraced the franchise and I have a long memory. I actually asked a lawyer how their contracts were worded. Are they gardern-variety personal service contracts or do they actually have to play hockey? If the former, I'd make you suit up and stand like a jockey on my lawn for eight hours a day in the summer heat. If the latter, how specific are they? I can think of at least one hundred bum f'k places you can play hockey that don't even have paved roads. Go ahead. Test me!
Or quite simply press box them and put the word out, publicly, that this one is a bad seed. But I do like the image of a one-way bus ticket to Upper Rubber Boot.
You captured Ian with that one. No Celine bullshit!
That's because The Cobber is a man of taste.
I wish I had your confidence, Ian.
I did not score 40 a year without confidence chorske, to bad it wasn't hockey!
And Vinny wishes he had Ian's charm and great looks!
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
Your check is in the mail Captain a Hab!!!
Very interesting we offer Kovy who is a RW a contract, and Tanguay is on hold. I wonder if that means Bob is looking at bringing in a C and a LW, some package of players.
He's gonna have to blow away Burke's offer to get them however. Burke looked like a moron at the draft and now he'll be looking to make some noise.
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
I think that is the logical assumption.
Looks like we're moving away from the old "rolling four lines" strategy, at any rate.
Sedins.
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
This is what I'm thinking.
We offered Kovalev a contract...source?
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/277423.html
RDS
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
Lemme throw some wild speculation out there: what if all the rumors of Tanguay not wanting to play in the playoffs despite only having minor injuries were actually true? Perhaps that would explain why Gainey is lukewarm about resigning him.
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
That's Bull! The only thing Tanguay wants is term. He said he doesn't mind th price but wants a long-term deal. And the oly way I can see Bob refusing him is if he has to take down a big load of money on to the cap coming from elsewhere (i.e. Vinny or the Sedins or Hossa, or The Breezer!).
And Eklund says Koivu to the Ducks! (not to be take that seriously)
I love how Eklund basically has no cred here. It's one of the best things about this site: the constant and well-deserved ragging of Eklund.
It's like WHAT? Koivu to Calgary for Iginla, JBo, Phaneuf, and Calgary's next ten first round picks? Who said that??! Ahh. *snort* EKLUND.
Where does Eklund have any cred? The guy is a failed singer who manages to scam gullible people out of their money.
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
So even if Tanguay might be soft we should take him because he only wants term? I would also like to see what he means by "only term". I'm guessing he won't be content with $2M a year.
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
Your speculation is a wild one alright but it's not too farfetched and could really be the reason (or one of the reasons) for Gainey holding back on Tanguay.
Ali B.
That could be a valid assumption considering Tanguay's skill. He seems like a guy who is sort of difficult to coach. I would love to see him back because he is a valuable commodity.
Is Vinny this year's Mats?
Not offering Tanguay a contract seems ridiculous to me. He is one of the rare guys out there with tremendous vision of the game. He should not be let walk like this!
Agree on both counts.
OK that's funny.
From Hell's Heart I Slap At Thee!!
If Tanguay is asking for a reasonable price, we have to sign him. He is a point-per-game guy. His injury was a freak accident because Tampa's glass sucks the big one. He is an asset.
RDS just posted that Habs made an offer to Kovalev after doing the same for Komisarek. Koivu and Tanguay are apparently still on hold.
Now we have to wait and see if either of them is going to accept the offer and sign.
Ali B.
Hey, no one has bitched about the Habs' goaltending today. What gives?
hahahaha wow, the outsourcing of the suicide helpline made me laugh my ass off.
Hickey's take on The Breeze does sadden me. He was like the one, not necessarily good, constant in an ever-changing Universe.
Save your tears boyo. Most guys who have their jerseys retired get a night. The Breezer is gonna get a full weekend. That is gonna be the major promo after the Centennial marks its official end this December!
All good things on Earth must pass, and Breezer made passing more exciting than it needed to be.
Still, thanks for the memories. Now go race some cars.
The Most Interesting Player in the NHL hangs 'em up. Now that is a headline!
He played vicariously through himself. And, all those awkward moments were just to feel what they were like! When he retires, you will be thirsty my friends!
Pff, we've got Tina Plekanec and O'wngoal O'Byrne to keep things interesting.
I still like that guy's idea on another thread for them to play the Sabre Dance at the Bell when the Habs are on the PP. I can't think of a more fitting tune to watch a bunch of pucksturbating perimeter pussies by.
The following is from TSN:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283236
MONTREAL CANADIENS
If there is a big-name player available, preferably a centre, via free agency or trade, there's a good chance the Montreal Canadiens are in on him.
Montreal would still love to be able to do a deal for Tampa's Vinny Lecavalier but, so far, they've been stonewalled in that regard. If the Sedins don't re-sign in Vancouver, the Canadiens are expected to be in hard on them.
Failing that, Montreal might be inclined to take Scott Gomez and his big contract off the hands of the New York Rangers. Or perhaps Danny Briere or Simon Gagne from the Philadelphia Flyers. (How about no to both...)
And if Martin Havlat doesn't end up back in Chicago, he'd be another prime consideration. Havlat, by the way, desperately wants to remain in Chicago as a Blackhawk. Desperate enough to a take a pay cut on his $6 million salary if it's on a long-term deal, but the Hawks, so far anyway, have offered him a raise but on a one-year deal.
With Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews slated to come out of entry-level at the end of next season, Chicago doesn't have a lot of long-term flexibility, even for a player who was the Chicago fans' choice as top forward and team MVP.
Cap space is precious. The Canadiens have it and a strong desire to add at least a couple of top six forwards. That's presuming of course that they re-sign Alexei Kovalev and restricted free agents Tomas Plekanec and Chris Higgins. It certainly looks like Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang won't be back in Montreal, but that may also depend on whether they land any big fish.
Personally I still think bob is going to pull off a blockbuster trade for Vinny :)
Dreger says the Sedins will be asking $7M+ each if the Canucks don't sign them to that long term deal that was being discussed. Agent JP Barry has not made any progress negotiating with the Canucks. That's pretty expensive but they would ba a great addition to the team. Dreger points out that in terms of consistency and production, they are in the same league as Thornton, Ovechkin, Crosby, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk etc. I am sure BG is crunching the numbers to see if it is possible to sign them. I prefer to see them here than Lecavalier or Heatley.
Actually what Dreger said was his opinion that the twins should be worth 7 mil each (by comparing to those other players).
However Sedins, have always maintained their desire to be playing together and for that they were ready to make some reasonable concessions (i.e. 63 mil for 12 at 5.5 mil per) so that they can achieve their goal of staying together in the same team.
IMO, if they were separated, each would easily worth 7 mil but 5.5 cap hit is not unreasonable. I agree with you, I would prefer to see them in CH instead of Vinny or much less Heatley.
Ali B.
Yes A.B., the package of the 2 of them should be a reduced value. But those numbers of 5.5M were presumably the home town discount. So maybe we are looking at $6.5M for the two of them. It would seem we have an advantage bidding for both as we have so much cap space.
Mckenzie is a funny guy. We might not re-sign Koivu but then we acquire Gomez ? Now, that´s really insane...
Man, I would let Sather just twist on his contract. If he couldn't bring it for the Rangers, why would he bring it for the Habs? There are better ways to spend that coin.
fernando torres? wrong sport.
but gomez is overrated...lay off of that! that one year of free agency was embarrassing...both briere and gomez got 10 million per season contracts...drury got something ridiculous like that too.
- Pride + Envy = Second Place
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283236
bob mckenzie weighs in on our free agency.
- Pride + Envy = Second Place
... from RDS : Habs have extended qualifying offers to Higgy, Pleks, Lats, Dags, Stewart and Chips.
doubt any of them are going to sign them though..but good news that we intend on keeping them on board.
- Pride + Envy = Second Place
Well, six forwards is a start.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=283235
3.325 average cap hit.
krejci got about the same thing...boston with the steal? or hawks with the overpayment?
either way this affects plekanec's camp
- Pride + Envy = Second Place
... RFA Steve Eminger (RD) was not extended a qualifying offer by the Panthers - Reason: ....... Sexton left the door open regarding some of the players not tendered offers, including Eminger, who was acquired for a third-round pick late last season and defenseman Noah Welch.
"It’s not that we’re not bringing him back," said Sexton of Eminger, who scored one goal in nine games with the Panthers after having 23 points (19 assists) in Tampa. "I talked to his agent today and he has a fairly strong arbitration case and I'm not prepared at this point to put the organization at risk for a significant arbitration award. His agent and I had a great chat. If after July 1 he'd like to come back and chat, we can."
I really think that now is the time for Gainey to approach Mats Sundin. Think of his stint in Vancouver as the equivalent of "red shirting."
WHY?
Sundin didn't do jack in Vancouver for the 5 mil he got. If he were any good, Gillis would have him back in a nanosecond.
And he's what 38 years old?
Ali B.
I don't think he was at all being serious, but who knows? There are some bold visions of next year's team out there.
... on podcast by Hickey - Pat brought up a point that i have wondered since the signing of coach JM, besides dressing a soft team. Martin often has gone basically with three lines so will this come into play when determining the roster.
How our scouting staff is ranked against the others in the league
http://www.dobberhockey.com/content/view/2028/1/
Thanks for that, Showey.
They do seem awfully sanguine about some of our dudes, but I'll take it.
What they don't mention is that our pro scouting sucks pucks. I always get the feeling that we head into games unprepared. Here's hoping Martin shakes things up a bit in that department.
I'm usually a defender of Gainey and Timmins, but that report is overly rosy. The assessments of Maxwell, Pacioretty and even Subban are too positive. Listen, I like Subban, but don't start touting him as a captain of the Habs. I see potential for him to become a Brian Campbell or Dan Boyle, but there is no guarantee of that. Max P is hardly a lock for an elite power forward. Maxwell just might become a second line centre, but even that is optimistic.
And "if Price develops some consistency, he could become a superstar." How about becoming a legitimate starter in the NHL first? Yes, he needs to show consistency first.
safe to say that our recent draft years have all yielded multiple NHLers and in very little time.
- Pride + Envy = Second Place
Arf! Arf! - translated, 'good post'
~ Listen to the smart dog - he knows his poop!
Yup, we do a great job at scouting/prospects. It's totally useless if we let them go at UFA time for peanuts. Either this management team gets in the habit of signing players well into there prime or we are just everyone else's farm team.
which one of these prospects did we lose as a ufa?
I'm sure that the scouting staff has them and that they would never allow them to see the light of day, but I would love to see what the organization's timelines/projections are for the guys they draft. Like the cap grids on NHL Numbers, they must have forecasts of what the roster will be several years out. It would be a huge help in determining what UFAs they should go after and for what term.
This smells.... like Sundin fever.
While Gainey is putting all his eggs into one basket, all others are falling to the ground. Last year I was one of those who thought that Sundin was a big distraction and a waste of attention. This seems the same - even worse since there are so many players at stake. There are two ways this can go bad: 1) we don't get Lecalvalier (or whoever it is that Gainey is fixated on), or 2) we get him but we grossly over-pay.
If I'm Tampa right now I'm thinking I'm in a sweet spot. Bob's balls are on the line - he NEEDS to land Vinny. What do you want? couple of roster guys, a strong prospect or two? our next two first round picks? How about all of the above? Given the Pronger deal, that's possible, very possible. For the right to pay 10 mil per year for a strong center who is good but just a little bit over-rated.
I may be wrong, and I'll be the first to admit if I am. But this stinks. And I bet that's just how our UFA's feel too.
~ Listen to the smart dog - he knows his poop!
LOL I had to re-read your post as I wasn't sure if you had said it smells like Sundin Fever or Bob's balls. I guess if any poster here would know what our GMs balls smell like, it would be a dog. However, I do agree with your main point. So I just hope you are wrong. On the positive side, look who is calling the shots in Tampa Bay. Those guys aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, so I would think Bob wouldn't allow himself to be outmanoevred by them. More likely it is the posters here that are being taken in by all the hype.
Absolutely agree. This post summarizes everything that bothers me about the Habs Obsession that is Lecavalier.
Mats was no mere fever. He was a freakin' pandemic!
I just can't see holding off on the free agent signings due to a Vinny trade. We would send money the other way in that trade, so our cap would probably go up, but not by much.
I am assuming that the Vinny ship has sailed, and Bob is now looking at going over the top to get a center via free agency.
I'm kindof getting excited to see half out team walk so we can be forced into a young lineup, either tanking or being underdogs
That will quiet the evil press and fans. Well, if Gainey wants his head to roll, that's what he should do.