Huet to Wash for 2nd round pick

[Wamsley01]

I disagree with much of what you say here, but I will enjoy reading your views next year if Price has a bad month (like almost every goalie does) as your logic will dictate that he is not a very good goalie, no better then Huet. God forbid we don't win the cup this year and Price lets in a softie, I guess that means he sucks too.

I have always maintained that your evidence that Huet folds like cheap tent is very tenuous. It seems to be based on one bad goal a few years ago in a series we were already losing, his first game back after an injury against the leafs (which should be blamed on the coach for not starting Halak) and your unreasonable expectations that a goalie can't have bad games. (note, the bad games have much to do with the head games played with both Price and Huet, ie.. not knowing you can have a bad game and still be number 1). I would argue that Huet has just proven much more then Price. Price cruised to victory with a team who has already locked up the playoffs (pretty much) and was playing well. He was not playing on a team that could not afford to lose a single game. Huet just went 11-2 in 13 starts, everyone of them a pressure cooker. He started by shutting out Brodeur 4-0. None of the haters want to discuss this, as it blows wholes in their view that he "can't win the big games".

If Price keeps up at this pace, I will be more then happy to admit that we made out just fine without Huet. At the time of the discussion, Price's numbers were not that great, he had already been sent back to the minors once, and Huet a star for his play in January). I also stated several times that I saw a difference between signing a 4 year contract, and keeping the player four years. I never said that I didn't think Price would be ready until four or five years was up.

As for my bias, I don't love Huet as much as you think I do, but I dont' think he sucks either. You mistake something in my views. I don't love a rookie for their potential, I love them for what they do. I am very excited about Price, and many other rookies. But I don't start assuming they are the greatest thing since sliced bread and stop dumping on the vets that are performing. This is the same as last year when some people were all "Lats is the next great power forward, Ryder, Higgins, etc are in his way, he should be playing with Koivu every night". My view was, he has potential, but he needs to win the job, not get the job. This year, some of his greatest fans think he sucks. He was never as good, or as bad, as people make out.

So from this response I am supposed to believe that Huet has had 1 bad month of goaltending during his tenure with the Canadiens?

I am supposed to judge a 32 year old goalie with the same eyes as a 20 year old goalie?

You have no idea what my logic dictates if you think those are reasonable assumptions.

But what is the point of discussing this if you are going to 1. not even reply to my points and 2. paraphrase and generalize other's opinions as my own.

You are somehow right about Huet who is now in Washington and I am wrong about Price the Canadiens goalie.

I and guys like JMMR are the haters, basher etc. and you are the realist.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Wamsley01

[BCHabnut]

This was a great trade for both Huet and Price in the end. Both goalies went on great end-of-season runs to help their teams into the playoffs and first place in the East respectively. I don't think Washington or Montreal would have done as well as they did had Huet remained in Montreal platooning with Price as both netminder needed to be the #1 to remain in top form.

I love your avatar. Pricer looks so in the zone.

[BTH]

Forget it. Huet's gone, we got the best possible return for him (it's disappointing that that was the best possible return, but do you really think Gainey was offered more yet turned it down??) and now both teams are better off. Ribs, same thing. We traded him for (what we'll have to assume was) the best offer and both teams ended up better off. Those are called good trades - when everyone wins.

[BCHabnut]

As for the success of Ribs and Huet. I'll keep my post simple. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Some of Gainey's moves were made for a different reason that the analysts on TV and on our boards can see. He wanted the player out more than he wanted the best trade.

I had high hopes for Ribs. I even liked him after his dishonorable flopping at centre ice. (You call yourself a Canadian Ribs? Shame on you.) Gainey knew that every day Ribs was in the line up, the team Chemistry would be impacted negatively. So Bag of pucks in, skilled Partying atitude problem out. Ribiero had a stellar season because he was traded. It woke him up.

Huet was a different story. He was no better or worse than Price in the early season. He had stinkers and he had great games. He was a great guy who loved where he was, but the win and your in thing was not working. Gainey saw this and because a 2nd round pick is better than nothing, (especially with our scouts) bag of pucks in, Huet out. In the name of CHEMISTRY

[BTH]

As for the success of Ribs and Huet. I'll keep my post simple. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Some of Gainey's moves were made for a different reason that the analysts on TV and on our boards can see. He wanted the player out more than he wanted the best trade.

I had high hopes for Ribs. I even liked him after his dishonorable flopping at centre ice. (You call yourself a Canadian Ribs? Shame on you.) Gainey knew that every day Ribs was in the line up, the team Chemistry would be impacted negatively. So Bag of pucks in, skilled Partying atitude problem out. Ribiero had a stellar season because he was traded. It woke him up.

Huet was a different story. He was no better or worse than Price in the early season. He had stinkers and he had great games. He was a great guy who loved where he was, but the win and your in thing was not working. Gainey saw this and because a 2nd round pick is better than nothing, (especially with our scouts) bag of pucks in, Huet out. In the name of CHEMISTRY

[Habsfan]

Forget it. Huet's gone, we got the best possible return for him (it's disappointing that that was the best possible return, but do you really think Gainey was offered more yet turned it down??)

Agreed!

Ribs, same thing. We traded him for (what we'll have to assume was) the best offer and both teams ended up better off. Those are called good trades - when everyone wins.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. The fact that Bob traded Ribs to Dallas (his former team) gives me the impression that he didn'T really shop Ribs around. Had he done that, i'm pretty sure we could have gotten more for him that Niniima (who was finished).

But hey, that's in the past now and the team is playing well, so it makes it easier to swallow!

[TheAussiePosse]

The fact that Bob traded Ribs to Dallas (his former team) gives me the impression that he didn'T really shop Ribs around. Had he done that, i'm pretty sure we could have gotten more for him that Niniima (who was finished).

Seconded.

Ribeiro, while a cancer, was just coming into his prime, and could have fetched a much higher price if he'd been able to prove his worth here in Montreal. I hated the little prick, but he was severely undervalued, and if he keeps up his current pace, may well get compared to the Iginla trade in Dallas' "Best and Worst" recap.

Niinimaa, meanwhile, had had some great seasons, but was on the downside of his career, and surely everyone knew that.

Hindsight is 20/20, and knowing what we know now (that we wouldn't have made the playoffs), I would have kept Ribeiro around for the season, waited until he got hot, and at least got a higher draft pick for him. That way we'd be able to blame our dismal showing (anything under 8th place is dismal for Habs fans) on him, and thank Bob for making such a smart trade as to get something worthwhile for nothing (UFA Huet for a 2nd rounder), rather than nothing for something.

[Fanpuck33]

Ribeiro, while a cancer, was just coming into his prime, and could have fetched a much higher price if he'd been able to prove his worth here in Montreal. I hated the little prick, but he was severely undervalued, and if he keeps up his current pace, may well get compared to the Iginla trade in Dallas' "Best and Worst" recap.

Joe Nieuwendyk did help the Stars win the Cup in 1999, something Jarome Iginla wasn't going to do for them. It seems like he won the Conn Smythe that year. It was a year or so after their Cup win that Iginla finally started coming into his own. Obviously the Stars lost out big time in the long run, but it's difficult to argue against hanging a banner from the rafters. Iginla was no sure thing to be the star he is, or he would have been taken before the 11th pick, before "stars" such as Chad Kilger, Aki Berg, and the amazing Terry Ryan.