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"Blow It All Up" say Jack Todd


kaos

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I agree with him to a point - but "blowing it up" may be a little strong of a term. We definitely need one or two blockbuster, team-shaking trades, but there are a lot of nice pieces here, even Todd says as much himself.

Kovalev and Samsonov neet to go, yeah, but I don't see the benefit of trading Koivu, unless he wants to leave of his own free will to go to a contender. I think for a team that has had problems attracting free agents, trading the one player that takes pride in being here would be a death knell, damage that can't be measured in points that Koivu currently provides (or doesn't provide). Even package Ryder if it brings us a good return, a real first-line center who makes those around him better.

The D is mediocre at best, and when you take out Markov (hopefully he comes back this summer) it's even worse. There's nobody else I consider untouchable there, including Komisarek and Souray (whom I hope we resign in the offseason, and then deal for some much needed assets afterwards).

And while we're waiting for Price to be ready, anybody else feel that we should have given Danis another shot this year at some point? Couldn've done much worse than Swiss Cheese Aebischer, and is still relatively young, with some upside. Even if he doesn't fit into our long-term future, proving he can play in the NHL consistently makes him somewhat of a trade commodity as well, much like Garon a few years back....

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I remember raising the point recently that we seem to be in a perpetual rebuild, the apologists were all over me for that one. It is a valid point, and I'm sick of it. The Canadiens need to get into shape.

If there's any deluded souls who think Montreal will make the playoffs - ponder this: In the past 35 games, the team is 12-22-1, good enough to slip from 2nd in the East to 11th.

The team's a mess, on and off the ice. Gainey has to move out some bodies in the offseason.

The sorry bunch that has disgraced the CH need to be traded. Let's start with the obvious departures of the ridiculously overrated Alexei Kovalev, the wannabe starter who can't even be a backup David Aebischer, and Sergei Samsonov, who deserves a fresh start somewhere else.

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I disagree with the perpetual rebuild. The D has to turn over for a Blow up or a rebuild. This has not happened. The Core besides Rivet is still here. You can not blow it up or rebuild it have any reminance of that garbage core here. rebuilding means building it new, The Habs still haven't completed that task. I hope it happens this summer.

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2-3 weeks too late for that. It is funny that everyone has 20-20 hindsight in the media ... don't know if we should trade Souray ... if he wants to stay on, we should keep him. Having Souray re-sign would send a message to the NHL that some stars want to stay.

If we can unload Kovalev and Samsonov, that might be good. But the cap hit idea is wrong. Put them on waivers, and if they clear, send them to the minors. Pay them, just don't take a cap hit. I guarantee that after a few months riding buses, both players will walk ...

We have been half assed re-building for a while ... I think we need to make a wholesale change .... and as much as I love Koivu, I think that this season he has shown that something is seriously wrong with him. Don't know what ... but something is.

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I disagree with the perpetual rebuild. The D has to turn over for a Blow up or a rebuild. This has not happened. The Core besides Rivet is still here. You can not blow it up or rebuild it have any reminance of that garbage core here. rebuilding means building it new, The Habs still haven't completed that task. I hope it happens this summer.

Nah, this actual "rebuild" could be faster, we CANNOT trade vets for only youth and picks, cause we're gonna be at the kindergarden next season.

I'm just "speculating" :

Marc Savard could have an argument with Lewis, etc... trade is needed, trade Koivu for him.

Prior to this season, Isles would have accepted Kovalev for Jason Blake

The Rivet trade is along these lines, Gorges being an immediate filler, who's not worse.

Samsonov in a Asham-for-Czerkawski trade!

etc etc..

Could even trade Perez and such for a different player of the same age group.

only keeping the core of younglings

Ryder, Higgins, Komo, etc.

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Those trade ideas are nice but KNOW ONE will take the Habs high priced garbage. Who in there right minds would trade for samsonov, Kovalev?

The more i watch this team the more i beleive they shouldn't resign any free agents. Just the restricted. Put Koivu between Kovalev and Samsonov so there play doesn' infect the 9 other forwards.

Sorry to disagree, but yes they should be trading for youth and picks, that's how you turnover a roster. The simply need new hungry blood instead of the trading and replacing fringe players saying we are a few players away. They are not, they are like 15 players away.

Youth will atleast bring life back to the orginazation. I would much rather see youth play hard, make mistakes and lose then the crap put on the ice this year. They don't have any heart, pride or talent.

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Interesting article from Jack Todd and its hard not to agree with him

Link

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...5c4&k=78670

Good to see a reporter atleast take some serious note as to whats happening with the Habs these days. The message needs to get across to this organization.. All that has transpired over the season has embarrased players and fans from around the world..

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Here is my rebuilding : Samsonov, Kovalev, Ryder, Johnson and or Bonk, Murray, Downey, Dandenault, Souray, Niinimaa, Aebischer would all be gone by the next summer and the next season.

Grabovski and Kots and Halak with the team.

Latendresse - Koivu - Higgins

Kots - Grabovski - traded player

traded player - Plex - Perez

Bégin - Lapierre - traded player

Komi - Markov

Bouillon - Streit

Gorges - traded player

Huet, Halak

The best would be Koivu and Latendresse on the 2nd line because we would need a better 1rst line center and better winger.

That would drive the team way down to the 29th place and then got a top 2 draft pick for 1 or 2 drafts, I dream of Tavares !!!

That's rebuilding ! Rebuilding do not means trading Samsonov and Souray for 2 yongsters.

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you know what? and that pisses me off to say that, but with hindsight, we should have OVERPAID for Arnott

The bidding stopped at 4.5M

and we thought BG was wise to stop there... Cause, last summer, Jason Arnott didn't look like a 5M+ guy...

However, Sammy has a 3.5M cap hit

and Niinimaa a 2.5M cap hit.

that's 6M

Say, with hindsight, we dumped Ribs for a pick instead of Niinimaa (we didn't use the "######er" anyways, we just kept on giving him "chances")

Still with hindsight, we offer Arnott 6M to sign with us, he cannot reject that!! that's for sure!

Latendresse Koivu Kovalev

Higgins Arnott Ryder

etc.

IMO, the team would NEVER have had that endless awful 35+ games slump.

but that's with 25/20 hindsight.

(I'm 1/20 without any glasses or contact lenses and I'm 25/20 with my contact lenses... so yes, my hindsight can reach 25/20 :P!! LOL)

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This team needs to start playing forwards who deserve to play for what they show on the ice. Perezhogin hasnt played in awhile, but when he does he gets 11-14 min with players who can't do shit with the puck...Then we have mr.French ( latendress ) on the 2nd line or first here and there on te Powerplay...and what is he doin SUCKING THE BIG SAGGY HAIRY SACKS !

Halak should be brought down, Abby the starter even if hes doing bad...give the fkn guy some damn confidence, we brought up halak played him one game then abby the game before and abby never got a start before that.

Kovalev well not much to say about him all the talent but just cant use it he must have lost his manual. Then Samsonov well who is he playing with Kovalev wich is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to slow for samsonovs speed and plekanec wich is just doing the job.

theres so much more i can talk about but ill stop here.

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Well, the team last won a Cup in 1993, and Todd first began stealing money from the Gazette for his lazy, obvious, and half hearted sports reporting in 1994, so I guess we know who to blame.

I wonder how much painstaking research it took to come to the conclusion that Kovalev and Samsonov are overpaid and expendable? Geez, who woulda thunk of that? Dumping those two is really "blowing up the team". :puke:

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I agree with Mr. Todd here ... although some of us here don't want to hear the word "rebuild" .. they've never done it right. The Habs have a bunch of young talent ... why not give them the riens and struggle for a few seasons ( like they are now ) and get some high solid picks to build on.

Like Alex said about Arnott .. in hinesight the habs should have thrown more money at him instead of sammy and niniima. They shouldn't repeat that mistake. Throw the bank at Marleau. he's got speed , size , hands , leadership .. everything you could want and build around. he's still under 28 as well.

also give the kids like Kotsy and Guy higher minutes.

Trade , Kovy , Sammy , Prez , ( is Souray is kept ) Bouillion and Dandy

Let go , Ninnima , Abby

So here is the possible lineup

Higgins , Marleau , Ryder ( or better UFA )

Kotsy , Koivu , Guy

Plecks , Bonk , Johnson

Begin , Lapierre , Milroy

ex Murray

Markov , Komi

Souray , Defensive Dman !

Georges , Trade Player or Emilin , o'byrne

Huet , Halak

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I would like to point something out: we are rebuilding. We have been rebuilding (properly, not half-assed) since Gainey took over. We should see good to great results in the next 2-3 years. Expecting anything more would be wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

The guys who Todd wants to get rid of, aside from Koivu, are all filling holes until our young-uns are able to take full time rolls.

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i've been saying they should blow the core of this team up since the end of December. Gainey missed his chance on getting something for his impending free agents - Souray, Bonk (why would they want to come back to this mess of a team??).

In today's nhl, it is INCREDIBLY STUPID to have a policy of not signing free agents to contracts during the season.

The habs should have dumped kovolev in the off season or very early this season. I don't care how talented he is. What is the point of having a guy who doesn't show up for 5 out of every 6 games. With the exception of his first playoff series with the habs, the guy has pretty much been a bust.

Aebeichar should have been traded at the start of the season when there were people stupid enough to think he is any good. The guy is always flopping around on his belly like a fish out of water. He has got to have the worst positioning of any goalie i've ever seen in watching hockey for 32 years. It was a joke that he was even considered a possible 1A. The only redeeming quality he has is that he allowed us to dump Theodore.

Dandenault and Bouillon are at BEST 6th or 7th defencmen. but hey they are french so I guess it's ok that they were both signed to long term deals.

Why the hell arn't Koitysin and grabowsky (spelling - too pissed off to bother check for spelling), not in the lineup???? You may as well bring up some more kids from the farm to play rather then let this sorry bunch play or even be around the team (murrey, downey, Bouillon, kovolev, samsonov, aebishar).

I hate to say this, considering how many coaches montreal has had, but this team needs an EXPERIENCED head coach. Andy Murray would have been nice. But oh wait, he is not french and probably isn't bilingual.

This team obviously has a problem developing home grown talent -mainly because they will take the few offencsive prospects they have and empahsis defence so much that they forget how to play offence and they have not had any GOOD experienced defenecment that could mentor young d-men since the 2-3 year window where they lost Robinson, Green, Ludwig and got robbed by giving up Chelios for a has been.

The only thing that the habs can develop inexperienced FRENCH coaches for other teams (Lemaire, vigneualt, Therrian, Julian - hell even Tremblay is an assistant in Minny now).

In the last 22 years i think the ONLY experienced coach (other then Gainey's short stint behind the bench last year), has been Jacque Demers.

I would like to point something out: we are rebuilding. We have been rebuilding (properly, not half-assed) since Gainey took over. We should see good to great results in the next 2-3 years. Expecting anything more would be wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

The guys who Todd wants to get rid of, aside from Koivu, are all filling holes until our young-uns are able to take full time rolls.

This team has been re-building since 1995. This is starting to remind me of the Ballard Leafs (as much as I hate to say it). Gainey made a mistake of bringing in a young inexperienced coaching staff with a YOUNG team, especially when the some of the key older guys on the team (kovolev) are lousy leaders.

Saku is a great leader by example, but he does not seem like the type of guy who can grab someone and give them the lashing when needed. Souray does do that to an extent, but it is hard to take a guy seriously when he tends to make a brutal give away or be a pylon 2-3 times a game.

Nah, this actual "rebuild" could be faster, we CANNOT trade vets for only youth and picks, cause we're gonna be at the kindergarden next season.

I'm just "speculating" :

Marc Savard could have an argument with Lewis, etc... trade is needed, trade Koivu for him.

Prior to this season, Isles would have accepted Kovalev for Jason Blake

The Rivet trade is along these lines, Gorges being an immediate filler, who's not worse.

Samsonov in a Asham-for-Czerkawski trade!

etc etc..

Could even trade Perez and such for a different player of the same age group.

only keeping the core of younglings

Ryder, Higgins, Komo, etc.

What Vets other then Koivu do we have worth keeping (although I think we need to move him - coz we are a long way off from being a serious contender, and really, who else do we have that someone else would acutally WANT)???? Souray would be one, IF he wasn't going to cost between $5.5 and $6.5M. The habs need veterns to guide the kids - espically on the D. The biggest problem i see with this team (other then not showing up half the time), is that they simply CANNOT move the puck out of their zone. They have the worst transition game in the league and their D-men give up possession more times then I've seen ANY habs team do - including the teams during the Trembaly-Houle era.

You have to move the core - Koivu, Kovolev, Samsonaov, Boulliian, Dandenault, Ryder and try to get good prospects and try and get some character guys to help guide the kids. This team really doesn't have character guys with leadership skills (i won't include Begin, because, despite him working like the energizer bunney, he takes too many stupid penalties to be a true leader and example for young players).

Edited by hab29RETIRED
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you know what? and that pisses me off to say that, but with hindsight, we should have OVERPAID for Arnott

The bidding stopped at 4.5M

and we thought BG was wise to stop there... Cause, last summer, Jason Arnott didn't look like a 5M+ guy...

Who says BG didn't offer more than $4.5M? BG offered Shanahan $4.5M or even $5M and he signed with NYR.

Quebec is not a very nice place to live in for outsiders.

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OK So Jack Todd knows how to run the habs better than Bob Gainey, and knows how to coach the Als better than Don Matthews. Im sure there are plenty of other things this draft dodging loudmouth is a super armchair expert on (oo how about American foreign policy, Jack? Im sure you have some great 20/20 hindsight opinions on that too). Jack Todd is a hack who will never be more than a shrill sensationalist at a small time newspaper.

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Frankly, I think much of this article is hot air. Gainey is ALREADY COMMITTED TO DOING what Todd tells him to do: namely, develop young talent and look to the longer term rather than short-term results. That's been his explanation for not being more active at the trade deadline (everyone wanted picks and young talent).

Granted, he's signed veteran free agents like Kovalev, but I believe that the thinking there is that young players develop better when surrounded by accomplished veteran talent. Now obviously Samsonov (and to alesser extent Kovalev) haven't worked out, but that doesn't mean the thought process is wrong.

So the only useful suggestion here, IMHO, is the proposal that we buy out Kovy and Sammy if we can't trade them. I agree with that - but only because I also think that guys like Perezhogin and possibly Kostityn can reasonably be expected to give good value as offensive or two-way wingers next season. Or else, you can re-invest the savings into a good UFA signing.

Todd...a mostly ignorant windbag, and this piece does little to change my mind.

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Yeah thats right, what are we building anyway? Another "Sagrada Familia", something that never ends!

haha yeah, I'd love to see Jack Todd fumbling over this reference...

and if Todd ever did have anything reasonable to say I would point to the broken clock that is right once a day...

Edited by by a hair
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Signing Arnott to 6 MIllion a year???????

You think we are in rough shape now? I would take Samsonov and Ninimaa at 6 MIll this year and Sammy at 3 next year because they will be gone after next season!

Arnott would have been a 4 year contract which means we would have 30% of the cap wrapped up in Koivu/Kovy and Arnott for three years including this one. I don't see Arnott making much of a difference.

Sammy and Ninimaa ARE GONE after next year! Who needs 3 overrated Stars on one team. If you toss in the theory that Tavares is the ultimate goal...then I can understand.

Good Plan

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