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Would you take Yashin?


Makh2o

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What is the Obsession in thinking Pleks has to be a #3 center. he isn't big or tough enough to be a shut down center. Lets be honest, he was arguably the habs best all around player last year. He played awfull with Kovalev, but who doesn't. Once he moved away from him he was the best center they had.

He also centered the best line down the stretch, he and his linemates Kosty and Higgins were the only ones who showed up in crunch time.

So please stop he is only a third line center. If all the other high priced garbage played like him they wouldn't be struggling for an 8 spot.

I'm just looking for a C who's as good as him to play on one of our top 3 lines. I don't number the lines, but I do think Plex has the two-way ability to handle the enormous responsibility of checking other team's top forwards if needed. It's a case by case basis for me.

To me, the "third line" centre job isn't where you stick your 3rd best centreman.

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What is the Obsession in thinking Pleks has to be a #3 center. he isn't big or tough enough to be a shut down center. Lets be honest, he was arguably the habs best all around player last year. He played awfull with Kovalev, but who doesn't. Once he moved away from him he was the best center they had.

He also centered the best line down the stretch, he and his linemates Kosty and Higgins were the only ones who showed up in crunch time.

So please stop he is only a third line center. If all the other high priced garbage played like him they wouldn't be struggling for an 8 spot.

Pleks had a fine second half. The problem is that we need a significant upgrade at C - and you know that KOIVU is not going to be bumped to the 3rd or 4th line. So the only way to upgrade is to move Pleks around. And size be damned, Guy Carbonneau was the best checking C I've ever seen and he wasn't big. I think Pleks has the speed and brains to play an equivalent role. He can move up in a couple of years when Saks starts running out of gas.

I suppose that IS one advantage of bringing in a guy like Yashin, provided you can do it cheaply: between him, Saks, and Pleks, there's no overwhelming choice for #1 C. You could rotate them around, especially Yahin and Pleks, on the second or third line, depending on the situation.

But ultimately I agree with the 'f**k these overpaid underachievers' sentiment.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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wow I cannot believe the media time and attention this is getting. bob needs to make his move and put this to bed one way or another. its really getting me worried... I'm getting the impression that there is wide spead support for this idea and with no official comment from habs management I'm starting to panick. Oh wait maybe its this mornings breakfast thats got my stomach upset.

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wow I cannot believe the media time and attention this is getting. bob needs to make his move and put this to bed one way or another. its really getting me worried... I'm getting the impression that there is wide spead support for this idea and with no official comment from habs management I'm starting to panick. Oh wait maybe its this mornings breakfast thats got my stomach upset.

The habs management never comes out and says anything... they don't confirm, they don't deny... Gainey is famously tight lipped. Just bc he hasn't come out and said "NO, WE DON'T NEED YASHIN. WE RECOGNIZE HE'S A HEARTLESS PRIMA DONNA" it doesn't mean he's going to sign him. Don't get yourself riled up over what was basically an agent's sales pitch reported in the form of a story..

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GUYS, does anyone see what I'm seeing?

RW KOVALEV

C YASHIN

LW SAMSONOV

We can call it the ENIGMA line, because of how many problems this line has.

With all that talk to the media about how Kovalev and Samsonov are unhappy, they can get one last chance to prove that Carbo is wrong.

The three have no choice but to play with Russian pride and a chip on their shoulders.

Carbo should take a sink or swim approach with them. If they do well great. If they don't, we buyout all of their contracts and prove to the league how useless they are.

Just think about what they can do as a line when they have no one to blame but themselves for everything that happens on the ice.

Lets give them what they want, and we might have one of the best lines in the NHL. No risk, no reward.

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The problem with all that is Carbo isn't wrong. Problem #2 is Carbo would have a stroke if he had to coach those 3 players. If yashin doesn't work hard enough for Nolan, what makes you think he'll work hard enough for carbo.

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GUYS, does anyone see what I'm seeing?

RW KOVALEV

C YASHIN

LW SAMSONOV

We can call it the ENIGMA line, because of how many problems this line has.

With all that talk to the media about how Kovalev and Samsonov are unhappy, they can get one last chance to prove that Carbo is wrong.

The three have no choice but to play with Russian pride and a chip on their shoulders.

Carbo should take a sink or swim approach with them. If they do well great. If they don't, we buyout all of their contracts and prove to the league how useless they are.

Just think about what they can do as a line when they have no one to blame but themselves for everything that happens on the ice.

Lets give them what they want, and we might have one of the best lines in the NHL. No risk, no reward.

Oh and to top it all off, we can have Komisarek and their fellow country man Markov on the ice often with this ENIGMA line. What more could they ask for?

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GUYS, does anyone see what I'm seeing?

RW KOVALEV

C YASHIN

LW SAMSONOV

We can call it the ENIGMA line, because of how many problems this line has......

:lol:

Yes 'the Enigma' - we all know how well that one worked out for the Germans in WW2!!!!!

:rolleyes:

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The problem with all that is Carbo isn't wrong. Problem #2 is Carbo would have a stroke if he had to coach those 3 players. If yashin doesn't work hard enough for Nolan, what makes you think he'll work hard enough for carbo.

Because it will be about motivation. Yashin wants to prove he can still contribute to a team in the NHL. Also, national pride can go a long way. The reason why he'll work hard enough is because he will have no one to blame on his line except his fellow linemates so they will have to work it out amongst themselves. I say it's worth the experiment.

Edited by PurpleHills
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well they aren't worth a darn half of them anyway. They're all pre-madonnas then you could say the same about any nationality. But please lord Kovalev is enough of an over paid over the hill Russian.

They're all old and washed up. Plus they're pre-madonnas. That's the last thing this team needs.

First of all, it means nothing what country they come. As to the rest... wow.

And guys we can't buy out an entire line in middle of the season. It's not an option.

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The problem with Yashin is that it is a high risk move. Either he ignites those two lazy mofos, or he joins them in sucking big time. I don't think that Gainey or Carbonneau are those kinds of high stakes gamblers. So unless Yashin comes uber cheap, I won't expect it to happen.

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Depends on what else the Habs can get.

A center is wanted and if there isn't any better player around then Yashin could be the best solution. He's got the talent and if he could accept a one year deal worth a million and a half then maybe he could ignite Samsonov.

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I don't think that Gainey and co will settle for plan E again. They will go for plan A or B, and if that doesn't work, they will work with drafting. Samsonov was a lesson well learned I think.

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I don't think that Gainey and co will settle for plan E again. They will go for plan A or B, and if that doesn't work, they will work with drafting. Samsonov was a lesson well learned I think.

I think so as well with the center position, but with the Dmen we need I bet he got loads of backup plans because we are kinda thin in that position.

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Any time a line of Samasonov-Yashin-Kovalev are on the ice, it'd be a 5 on 2 for the opposition. They'd all disappear.

Quit pretending there's an upside to such a scenario.

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Any time a line of Samasonov-Yashin-Kovalev are on the ice, it'd be a 5 on 2 for the opposition. They'd all disappear.

Quit pretending there's an upside to such a scenario.

Well for one thing, getting Yashin doesn't mean we are forced to assemble that line. We can use all 3 players on different lines, and personally, I highly doubt Samsonov is back next year anyway. But Yashin is coming off a great season yet would come at a low-risk contract.

Even if we did make that Russian line, the upside would be their controlling offensive play. Buffalo isn't great defensively either, most of their forwards are one-way and even most of their defenceman are offensive. Yet they dominate because the other team can't touch the puck.

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Well for one thing, getting Yashin doesn't mean we are forced to assemble that line. We can use all 3 players on different lines, and personally, I highly doubt Samsonov is back next year anyway. But Yashin is coming off a great season yet would come at a low-risk contract.

Even if we did make that Russian line, the upside would be their controlling offensive play. Buffalo isn't great defensively either, most of their forwards are one-way and even most of their defenceman are offensive. Yet they dominate because the other team can't touch the puck.

Your fourth Nickle dude! your on a role

I just thought... imagine the all Russian line plays average (on a scale with their respective performance level) and are capable of mixing it up with other lines (assuming they have incentives to play 20 minutes plus).. meaning sammy hits 20 goals and 50 pts and kovalev hits 20 goals and 60 pts and Yashin hits 30 goals and 70 pts... and all this for 10 million? Ok maybe the line is +- (-50) but...

I don't see that performance being to far fetched... and what happens if they play better than that?

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Your fourth Nickle dude! your on a role

I just thought... imagine the all Russian line plays average (on a scale with their respective performance level) and are capable of mixing it up with other lines (assuming they have incentives to play 20 minutes plus).. meaning sammy hits 20 goals and 50 pts and kovalev hits 20 goals and 60 pts and Yashin hits 30 goals and 70 pts... and all this for 10 million? Ok maybe the line is +- (-50) but...

I don't see that performance being to far fetched... and what happens if they play better than that?

The problem is that the Habs are trying to build a winner here. This isn't Toronto where you just try bandaids and quick fixes in a continual bid to not completely suck.

Gainey is trying to create a first-class organization from top to bottom and build a champion largely from within. The Bulldogs' triumph suggests that things are going well everywhere EXCEPT on the big team, but this will come - IF we concentrate on ensuring that we sign and keep quality individuals committed to winning. What kind of influence is Yashin (especially when combined with Kovalev) going to have on our young players, especially our young Russians? (Consider that NY spent $17 mil buying him out - that should tell you something). And what does a one-year deal to Yashin accomplish in terms of building a champion here? Exactly ZIP.

The Habs need a long-term solution to this problem at C. The Yashin idea is a trap - a way of papering over the problem - and I dearly hope Bob stays away from it.

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If he has a great season with us, we would re-sign him like Anaheim did with Selanne. Yashin would probably take whatever offer we give him because he would finally have played a complete great season. If he pans out, Yashin will be more than a band-aid.

I like to think that he would have a good influence on the young players. The fact that Valentenko and Emelin are Russian doesn't make them any more likely to learn bad habits from him. If anything, it will help them as they are able to communicate with him - they can become friends. Which is important, it's hard to have fun when you have no friends on the team.

So, how will Yashin help us out long-term? If he works out this year and we're a winning, playoff team, then the Calder Cup champions will make the easy transition from one winning team to the next and will join a winning tradition. When you're always losing, losing becomes the standard and merely making the playoffs becomes a success. If Yashin could take us into the playoffs and help towards our push just once, then even if we let him go, we will be replaced by a farmer excited to join a playoff team that can win games. It's all about the mindset, and if Yashin wants to play here, that's encouraging. Like I said, he's not my #1 option. But I think he's better than nothing if he comes as cheap as people are saying he will.

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The only Russian you want as an example is Markov.

Your point about losing is correct, which is why yuo want to rid the team of losers. Adding another loser to a team who has been losing fror 10 years isn't really helping.

Perhaps letting some veteran losers on the team ride the hamilton bus for a few months will help.

You don't add garbage to garbage, all you get is more garbage.

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You're assuming that Yashin will be garbage though. And that's the big risk that will be there no matter which UFA you pursue.

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