stjrandy

I would be shocked to see anything of significant value going to Toronto. My guess would be a pick and a player like D'Agostini. Higgins is too much alone for a player who is gone for free in 2 weeks.

I have never liked the Cube and would welcome him to take a flight out of town. Hopefully Dandy will accompany him. I'd prefer to see Gorges and Cote out there.

I like him and would welcome him back.

Well I recall that Gainey said in a recent interview that no other UFA's other than Souray would be receiving a contract offer so Johnson and Bonk are gone. I like the Lahti move and am sure that he's ticketed to play in Montreal. He's a LW which is a position where the team is soft and undertalented. His size at 6'2" and 200lbs is ideal for the team. Those who believe he's smaller need to remember that most stats are listed initially when a player is 17-18 and somehow never get updated. He's 25 so he's certainly a lot bigger then he once was. The Russell move shows that the team is seroius about making the atmosphere in the AHL as ideal as possible for the best prospects. I really can't see Locke in the NHL with Montreal. He's just too slow to be effective with a puck pursuit team as Montreal seems to be becoming. He's a player who should thrive with much better offensive players around him. I'm looking for to seeing how they draft this year for further evidence of the direction of the team. I think Gainey wants large tough 2 way players to make the team better 5 on 5. I see the new players in the fall as being Lahti LW Jancevski D O'Byrne D(maybe) Ferland RW (hits hard and plays 2way) Chipchura C (takes over 4th line on the way to the 3rd) call ups - Grabovski , D'Agostini, Milroy I assume that Kosty will be on the team again and don't list him here because he was on the team when the season ended. The UFA I think Gainey will sign will be Keith Tkachuk to play with Koivu and Kovalev. I can't see them getting a #1 center in the offseason.

The team is caught in hell really. They don't have any players who are really proficient at playing defense or offense. All they have are players who are average or slightly above average. The team has not had a skater who was a top player points wise since Mats Naslund had 110 in the mid 80's. We haven't had a 50 goal man since the late 80's. We haven't had a norris or selke candidate since the 80's. We have had only one player in the running for a calder since 1985. This is a problem that can't be fixed quickly. Right now we have some maybe's in the stream. Maybe Price or Halak becomes a Vezina type player Maybe Chipchura or Plekanec is a Selke type player Maybe the Kostitsyn's are Calder calibre players Maybe Maxwell or Grabovski can be better than a point a game centermen. Maybe Emelin is a top quality defenseman. All in all a lot of ifs and maybes without any slam dunks anywhere.

The team needs to be reinvented sometime but that's probably not before the off season. Right now the problem with the team has been lousy goaltending. This causes the skaters to try harder to score and that leads to breakdowns and stone hands. Perhaps losing huet for the season and the emergence of Halak will right the ship.

With another 2 points tonight Pleks now has surpassed his totals from last year. He now has 31 pts on the season which although modest are more than okay for one of the lowest paid players on the team. He's only getting better and may be a 60 point player next season.

Kostitsyn just turned 22 on Feb 3rd. He's now tied for the team lead in Hamilton and is a plus 23. He's not going anywhere but to Montreal. Perezhogin is a player who has upside who can be moved. He's not old at 24 and he's not really improved this season. I could see him being a possible chip to be moved for a mid range player like Nagy. Personally I'd like to see a trade for Nathan Horton. He can be our big 2nd line center. Give Florida Perezhogin and a prospect like Milroy along with a 3rd round pick for Horton and a 4th.

I watched the game in Momesso's restaurant on Upper Lachine Rd. with my buddies. We drank numerous pitchers of beer while eating all those delicious sandwiches.When the game ended we were jumping around and screaming with excitement. We were going to walk over to the forum to see if we could see some of the players but of course the riot broke out. I remember it like it was yesterday. Soon after I was transferred to Toronto with work and had to listen to all the moaning about how they were screwed out of a "guaranteed" cup win by Gretzky's high stick. :-)

Perezhogin has been terrific this year. His +/- is not padded by any special teams play. He generally hasn't even killed many penalities this season so his numbers haven't been inflated. I also don't think that his year so far is because of Bonk and Johnson at all. He has skating as his forte and the others can't skate for him.

Healey is a clown. He used to have a show on local cable when he played for the Islanders with Pat Flatley called the Heals and Flats show. He speaks to hear himself. Since all the "national" stations are really pandering to the T.O. crowd he can be stupid and unbiased. It'll be a miracle to hear anybody at TSN or The Score or Sportsnet give the Habs any love. Just expect the worst and smile patiently at the complete ignorance. They still refer to the 93 team as being mediocre despite the fact the team had more points than ANY Leaf team...ever. I got over it long ago.

WHAT? Tampa had Richards to lead them. I also disagree about the cube. He won't be around in 3 yrs. He might not even make it past the trade deadline of this season.

I have liked Niinimaa since he was a junior player. He's had some physical difficulty the last few years but is far from washed up.He automatically becomes a top 4 on the habs. As for ANYTHING that TSN has to say about non-Leaf hockey well they are a total disgrace and shouldn't be taken seriously. I would say that even when it comes to Leaf hockey they are an uninformed disgrace as well but I'll keep it quiet. :-) Back from the Abyss

1984 the famous novel about a future where technology has created an anti-utopia. A world where "big brother" monitors your every move. A classic novel of the 20th century. I really like the reference and am really impressed by the idea.

I am personally hoping for Grabovsky and O'Byrne to graduate to starting the season with the big club.