Nilan

uh, koivu did't make ribs a classless little prick. ribs made ribs a classless little prick. gainey's fault for boning the trade, not koivu's...

Thanks dude. Great post.

I was taken aback by your "didnt try" comment earlier. I agree that he wasnt joe personality, but frankly, I'm glad he never tried to be. Not for nothing, but don't you think it's a bit provincial to think that "the voice" of habs fans is the uniligual star gazer who is only impressed by big teeth or historical franco glory? i have to think that the "average" habs fan is able to recognize the brilliance of a muller, green, maholvlich, robinson or (eek) gainey.... i won't say another word about this tonight. but i didnt want the comment to go by untouched. i, for one, will miss koivu immensely. he was so easy to cheer for during tough times. habs fans, french, english, or finish, are worse off without him on our team. he, was a montreal canadien.

you dont mean that do you? you're one of the smarter posters here, and you focus on this choice of language rather than hockey skill, heart, charity work, etc?

This conversation is a great summary of the leadership vacuum on this team.

i see no reason why we can't give the guy 4 to 5.5 million a year. he's proven he's tough, he fights, he hits, he cares about the team and the city. he's well spoken, and clearly has leadership qualities. 4 months ago everyone was calling him the next captain for christ's sake. he played half the year injured. he is also very young as far as d-men go. his guy's shoes are NOT easily filled.

glad we through Carbo out of the organization over this crew.

Laroque wins fights, not hockey games. don't worry, we'll see plenty of him early in the playoffs.

WELCOME BACK! SPIDEY KARMA LIFT!

those stupid rapper hats alone were enough to make me hate him. the reality is, i dont think he ever would have put up those numbers here. he needed a kick in the pants to grow up a bit. to his credit, he's matured and turned into a good hockey player. he's a classic "needed a change of scenery" type guy. wish gainey would have received more from him in the trade though.....

the whole koivu thing is being blown way out of proportion. they asked him the question, he hemmed and hawed a bit, and said "maybe" the communication wasn't perfect, but no one is perfect. what did carbo say at his press conference: my communication wasnt perfect, but no one is perfect. koivu's the captain and felt the need to not simply clam up. i suspect carbo's communication skills weren't great (I'm stil sad to see him go though). when "the truth comes out", i seriously suspect you will see about 50 issues ahead of koivu. I'm not apologizing for koivu's play - I suspect he might be gone come UFA time. but he didn't fire carbo, gainey did....

i think todd's point is that the habs have been doing it for 16 years, and havent been doing pretty good....

there's no fight left in them. look at the hunched shoulders, the blank expressions. i wonder whether the leaders on this team are going to pump the room up in between periods, or sit quietly and stare at their skates and feel sorry for themselves? where's the passion for christ's sake!??

???