Bullsmith

Thanks for the report. This is a guy I'm very interested in keeping an eye on as he improves. He's all over the place out there but as Timmons said- "It's easier to put the reins on than to get the whip out." No whip needed with PK.

We should all note that LaPierre is being sent down with the idea of converting him from Center to a versatile winger who can play either side. That's a very straightforward conversion, but it's much better done in the minors than on the fly in the NHL. I think this is a factor in him being sent down. According to Gainey, they also want to work on his face offs and PK work. Not sure why a winger needs to work at his face offs, but I guess they really see him as a Smolinski-type of versatile forward who can play any position. He'll be back. They'll all be back, although Halak is really in tight if Price plays well.

Starchoice has also added RDS at 2 bucks/month this year. Last year you had to switch over to the entire bilingual channel set to get it, which was a bit steep. Not sure if they offer the larger sports pac with RIS to English subscribers, probably.

Thanks for the great game thread as always Spider. And a great game it was! But either Carbo just cannot work the refs or they are shaving points against the habs. The refing in overtime was pretty bizarre. Pens go on advantage, more advantage, more advantage. Okay. Then things get ugly and some star Pens throw some shots. No penalties. Then a couple of Pens really say F*** it who cares if I draw a penalty I want to get my shot in and...still no penalty, despite the 2-man advantage. And then the back ref skated in blowing the whistle because his partner was acting very strangely, and they wrapped it up 3-on-3 and Kovalev scored. Is it just me or was there a whiff of pro wrestling in the refereeing in tonight's game? (Not than I'm complaining in any way, it was a hugely entertaining game depsite all the penalties. I just can't leave a good conspiracy theory lying.)

Actually I wrote that report on an HFboards thread. habs4,9,10,33 posted the link at the top.

I guess if Huet has an absolutely disastrous camp and Price dominates it's possible he could be the starter in October but... I just can't see it happening. By the same token, however, the next time Montreal plays a playoff series, be it this season or the next one, if he's healthy I feel certain Carey Price will be the goalie.

Grabovski and Maxwell are the only kids in the system who have the potential to become #1 centers, and both are longshots to make it to that level. Right now the hole in the habs lineup, especially for an offensive player, is at left wing. Grabovski has a decen shot at making the team as a winger but as a center, barring injury, he's clearly behind Koivu and Pleks. I expect he'll get at least a good look in the NHL this year, and he might well make the team. Grabs is likely first in line for top-six icetime if someone goes down, Chips for bottom six. In the longer term, Gainey tried to buy Briere as his future #1 center. He's still got cash and prospects, so I'd presume he'll keep looking for a center outside the system. Meanwhile, Koivu's coming off a career year, points wise, so he's not washed up yet.

The Flyers offered him 50 million. We offered him 40, albeit at a higher annual rate. That is the reason he went to Philly. The idea that the last place team is a cup contender is self-delusion at best. He knows he's there for 8 years and must convince himself it was a good idea. Love the guy, but I was very worried about bringing in such a fragile and small player as our big UFA of the decade. Hopefully we'll have better luck with our unspent dollars in the future. Maybe even the near future.

Right you are. Meant to mention that I was only putting up (and only know) the date for the main camp. I think the Sept 4th guess makes sense for the rookie camp. Can't come soon enough!

Sept 14 at the complexe 4 glace I believe. Some teams start as soon as the tenth (Anaheim). Most camps start 13/14th.

The habs finally took a 70 goal scorer out of the Q. And there aren't many out there just at the moment. So what's to complain about? For all their faults, the team broke in two 6'2" homegrown rookies who clearly made the team. One can skate, the other one can shoot. Rejoice.

I like Ryan McDonagh and could see him being available at 12. I really like mobile D coming out of American college these days. They can skate and hit, but have played a style closer to the New NHL than the more rough-and-tumble WHL and with much more emphasis on postitional defence than the Q. The best colleges also seem to have excellent coaching systems that really focus on the players as individuals.

This is terrible, terrible news about Emelin signing for two more years in the RSL. If Bob wants him badly enough he can buy him away from the team. Personally I hope he does. We're desperately thin on D and this is a guy Pierre McGuire has repeatedly compared to Brian Rafalski- a future #1 defenceman. I WANT HIM ON THE TEAM.

Great post. Thanks very much. As for the criticisms, they don't call it a mock draft for nothing. Myself I consider it highly unlikely that the habs will actualy use these exact picks on draft day, and even if they do the odds they take ANY of these players are minimal. But if any of them do (maybe except 12), major kudos to montreal for spotting them. If they go to a team like the Leafs, Sens, Bruins, Flyers, Devils etc. then again, kudos to montreal for pointing them out. Even if none of them ever play a game in the NHL I'm happy for the heads up going into the draft and will definitely look at this post again after the draft. ps- I meant montreal the poster of this thread, not the org.

I really, really hope Emelin comes over this year. He may have a lot of work to do making the transition to North America, but I think of the D we've got in the system, Emelin is the closest to be ready to excell in the NHL. Between Emelin, Gorges and O'Byrne we've finally got some young D ready to push for jobs and hopefully at least one of them will out play Boullion or Dandenault and take their slot. Now we need a quality vet to take Souray's minutes.