Partisan

Yeah he's probably getting offers way under Bob Gainey's offer.

My call and wishes was Smyth and Hamerlik from the start but only Hamerlik as complementary signature and not as big of a contract, I had 2 yrs in mind but hey i bet he wouldnt have came here for that kind of contract...but we'll have to work with what we got, anyway i bet that's what Islanders and Buffalo are saying hehe The situation isnt what i expected and not even where close of what i had hoped but if i look at it rationaly i check out the fact that Sourray only had 13 pts on 5 on 5, i bet Hamrlik will be a big impact player for Canadiens on 5 on 5. As for the PP, we'll be much less dangerous and we'll definitely fall in ranks....but it doesnt hurt as much if were stronger on 5 on 5, take less penalities and capitalize. Our lineup is quite versatile because A) we dont have many untouchables, some people can play center or wing easily and we have a few millions to shop later on in the year. Having Markov, Komi and Hamerlik makes me feel more comfortable as top 3 defensemen than having Sourray's I probably underestimate the fact that Sourray had a big leadership as well as Rivet did, but dont worry i think the young dogs will begin to speak more freely now, anyway our fate like previous posters said is in their hands.

In my mind are centers are for sure 1. Koivu 2. Plekanec 3. Smolinski 4. Lapierre. If Chips or Grabovsky make the team u can always shift Smolinski as a winger and make Plekanec shuts down every single star line ( he did it well in numerous occasion past 2 seasons).

Hamrlik is a honest defensemen and better than Sourray defensively but he wont be a treat on the PP. Man against man, maybe we're better off Sourray but it's hard to say with Hamrlik aging but also Do you think Sourray will repeat his season in an other NHL club? As for Smolinski he's a slight upgrade over Bonk however we have pretty much statu quo to what we had last year. Could Chip or Grabovsky, Lapierre have done the job, maybe? But then what happends if Koivu or Plek gets hurt....we would of been in a bad position...Smolinski is basically a safety signature in my mind till the young guns are fully ready. If i had 4-5 mil left like the supposition here....I would perhaps go for some RFA even if thats against the club policy to let our choices go...Why? Because we can get 23-25 age who kick ass right now... for example for a player who earns : $3.5 to $4.7 million. : would cost the Habs a first, second and third rounder. I would make an offer to Thomas Vanek and offer a 1st 2nd and 3rd choice to get hands on young guns such as Thomas Vanek or something similar /Dustin penner/ Marek Svatos. Anaheim, Avs, and Buffalo all have high salaries so if they cant equal the offer, they would get bent over and we would get the player from what i understand. Whats your take on that strategy for RFA?

aye its definitely plan F kaos, Hamrlik is a honest defensemen and probably better than Sourray defensively but he wont be a treat on the PP. Man against man, maybe we're better off Sourray but it's hard to say with Hamrlik aging but also Do you think Sourray will repeat his season in an other NHL club? As for Smolinski he's a slight upgrade over Bonk however we have pretty much statu quo to what we had last year. Could Chip or Grabovsky, Lapierre have done the job, maybe? But then what happends if Koivu or Plek gets hurt....we would of been in a bad position...Smolinski is basically a safety signature in my mind till the young guns are fully ready. If i had 4-5 mil left like the supposition here....I would perhaps go for some RFA. for example for a player who earns : $3.5 to $4.7 million. : would cost the Habs a first, second and third rounder. I would make an offer to Thomas Vanek and offer a 1st 2nd and 3rd choice to get hands on young guns such as Thomas Vanek or something similar /Dustin penner/ Marek Svatos. Anaheim, Avs, and Buffalo all have high salaries so if they cant equal the offer, they would get bent over and we would get the player from what i understand

Hammer wont register more than 10 goals in the season however he wont be minus 25-30....he's always usually in +.... Pure speculation but it can mean that we'll score less on PP....it was a given when Sheldon choose to pick an other destination but more importantly we'll get scored WAY less on 5 on 5 than if we kept Sourray with Hamerlik in our defensive ranks. As of Chipchura making the team, i think Lapierre could be a decent speedy winger with Begin and or Milroy...on 4th Anyway we'll see about that in september training camp, then we can always shift a few players.

Slight upgrade over Bonk has a 3rd line center?

and we replaced bonk with smolinski....Upgrade or not?

Montreal doesnt look competitive when you look at their line up and dont know about them much... No high point scorers....I mean if i went and picking a team out i would definitely check who were my potential linemates.... as we speak we cant use that card to attract big names...

I dont think Gainey or Boivin have to hide, they offered best offers for Briere and Smyth and the players choose to go an other way. At some point it's not in their hands anymore. It's pretty sad but let's face it, players dont really have Montreal as a prenium destination...

http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/232062.html Well it seems that Colorado is Smyth pick afterall... Looks like Zubrus seems like a logical choice for us now....Many nice names on defenses were signed too...let's face it Montreal is the plan F of several agent

Season Ending award to a woman comment on the game : I cant tolerate Plekanec turtleneck anymore, i'm thru with this guy!

Even if it was at 5 million i think Markov worths it. he's + 2 and been consistantly playing with a team whos +- are way way in the cave. That shows to me that whenevers he's on the ice we score more goals since he always is creative on the attack and make good pass and secondly he usually plays against the best lines.....so he pretty much conteracts all his opponents.

Will Sergei be able to make the big team or Hamilton? In my mind Sergei will do a year in hamilton then join the big club. What is great with Sergei is that he's already adapted to the north american hockey, speaks english, isnt afraid of the physical aspect, decent passer. I truely believe he has the chance to become a good NHL player, he might not repeat his impressive stats in the profesionnal leagues however i think he'll always have a presence and more importantly he has been in a winner team which should boost his confidence.

Or simply wait 2 more years until he's UFA. You know in my mind Vinny would be a perfect fit for the CH but does he really wants to join the club. The fact that we have 2 picks in 2007, i wouldnt mind give out my 2008 pick. so Huet, 1st pick of 2008, Grabovsky, David Fischer (pick of 2006)- Strong D prospect. Partisan

Great news

And that 7th european draft pick isnt worrying about stirring up the shit, he hits in open ice baby. First european in the OHL in 6 years to get more than 100 pts...Awesome some bad mouth will say okay hes 20 but still very impressive considering he's older and considering that he played with Kane and Gagner. However you still gotta put it in the net... He also has lots of PIM per game. That guy looks like a power forward to me, he has a great arsenal of shots. Anyway good signature for the Dogs.

For 1.9 million, i would say it might be a lot for him. Would he sign for less? I liked him during start of season but then it went downhill in my mind. Downhill not in a "theodore" way of things, but i wasnt impress with his play afterwards... What do others think?

On a SRC article, it was mentionned he was elligible to sign an AHL contract and could join along with Mathieu Carle ifor the continuation of the hamilton series. http://www.radio-canada.ca/sports/hockey/2...anisation.shtml

consering Aebisher, Bonk, Johnson, Samsonov are gone... Interesting UFA on defense : Hamrlik, Hannan offense : Smyth, Drury, Brière

Your know in a progression and considering what we gave for Kovalev...it wasnt a bad move in my mind in acquiring him by Gainey. It's the long term signature that i'm questioning. However lets not put Kovalev situation out of the context like the title suggests...he isnt interested in comming back into the role that was given him during the last half of the season. Frankly, i'm not disagreeing with him. I have nothing against Lapierre and Latendresse but we are actually MISUSING his talent with the lines done, the offensive strategy 5 on 5 which is really pure crap. I believe Samsonov will be out but Kovalev will be kept. Why? Because with a proper other winger and or center, hell do stuff. I might be in the only ones, but i think he'll want to rebound after this bad year...granting Carbo and him communicate better, he has a good meeting and maybe put with better linemates. Bad season end of story for me, i think he can rebound. Will he put out 90 pts again? No...did we sign him for too much? Yes however he can still give stuff to this team. Is he an asset on PP? YES people talk all the time about Souray, but Kovalev creates room for others just like Souray does...Some may disagree with this analysis but i think it's often too unidimensional without many nuances. Can he give more? Surely but granting his 2 years left...i would still give him a chance for the following year...than buy it out next year if he collapse once again...

Great news that Price is good in the net but also to make passes outside of his net. Is he better than Halak on the second department?

an other factor of the underuse of player such as perez is the fact that he never plays on PK and canadians takes a lot of penalities and i havent seen him on the PP either. I'm also a fan of giving the guy more time. Also, he's gonna be 24 yrs old on august....he's still a young kid in my mind. Off course, some recruits start producing younger, but i bet they have been put in a better context of developpment with better linemates...

That's bad, i was under the impression he was RFA. Also, i was thinking this kid could become pretty good if he had more opportunities The kid is talented for sure...well i still had hope for him.

Yesterday on Au-dessus de la mélée Radio-canada sport show they said that the canadians deny that there was a meeting with Gainey and Kovy.