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Apparently Price's misconduct was for firing the puck at the Capitals as they celebrated their goal.

Don't know what the second one was for.

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I agree 100% on the last bit. Like I say: size up front and a better D. No excuses, no 'we almost had so-and-so,' no f*cking around. Deliver.

The only area of dispute is over Gainey's strategy this summer. I prefer to say that he assembled a solid core that needs significant tweaks. But either way, it's water under the bridge. Going forward, I agree that we had BETTER see Gauthier moving boldly to fix the glaring deficiencies. Those moves may involve frightful risks, e.g., moving Halak/Pleks, making a final call on the Kostityns, even moving Gomez for Lecavalier, whatever; but the risks have to be taken or else the Habs are the Leafs. No two ways about it. We endured the botched rebuild for five years. We gave this year's brand-new team 'a chance.' The time for patience is over. I want results. Make us a contender. Or else.

Period.

Are you seriously saying the habs should be trading Pleks??? first of all he is a UFA, which means the return wouldn't be much. Secondly, Pleks is the guy the habs need to resign and then try to get out of the following contracts:

-Gomez

-Hamrlik

-Spacek

Anything over $4.5M for Gomez is stupid in a cap world. I wonder if a team like Edmonton who can't attract anyone would be willing to take him (if they clear out some of their bad contracts, since they are also up against the cap.

I would have liked to see them keep both goalies but if a goalie and other assets can net them a BIG, YOUNG scoring winger or center you have to make the move. I'd prefer they move Halak over Price, but if someone is willing to really overpay for a top 3 BIG forward (preferbly a center) and is willing to take one of our bad contracts as well, I'd make the deal. If you could squeeze Carter AND one of giroux/van reimsdyk in a package that includes Price and someone else from the the roster not named Markov or Subban going the other way, it would instantly make us bigger. However, since the flyers are winning right now, they probably would not be desperate enough anymore, even though the streaky Boucher sure isn't someone I'd want as my goalie. I was really hoping that that the flyers would have gotten blown away, becuase they just might be willing to really overpay for a goalie.

Gainey has handcuffed this team from being noting more then a #7-9 team with his ridiculous shopping spree last summer, as well as signing a coach who not only is lousy with young talent but CANNOT and HAS not won in the playoffs. Who cares what his REGULAR season career record is just because he has been around forever.

Lets not kid ourselves, regardless of how many injuries we had, this team is a fringe playoff contender. Had the East not been so bad, even if the habs been healthy, they would have been fighting for the 7-9 position, if Carolina hadn't gotten of to such a lousy start.

Next year, Philly should be better (if they finally decide to get a goalie), Boston, which is looking pretty good in the playoffs will probably add Sequin or Hall. Tampa should be better now that they have got rid of their dumb and dumber owners and abbot & Costello GM/Coach combo. Even the leafs should be better if Burke can sign some scoring and eats some of his defence contracts (one of my biggest fears is Pleks being signed by the leafs :blink:0. Burke stole Phaneuf from the Flames, if he can dump Finger, pickup scoring for Kaberle and sign a couple of scorers, the leafs should be in the 7-10 range.

So we are going to be in tough next year and if anyone thinks we can be successful next year if our top salary earners are Gomez/Cammy/Hamrlik/Markov/Gionta is dreaming. Not only is the core of the offense too small and one of the dman well past his best before dates, having all of these guys simply does not leave enough cap space to ice a decent team. It will even get worse the following year, because, while Hamrlik (if he isn't traded/bought out), will come off the books, Markov will be a UFA.

Gainey has handcuffed this team and since Gautheir was his right hand man, I doubt if he can fix the mess, because first and foremost, the move to make is to convince the Molsons to eat the 3 years remaining on Martin's contract and fire his ass, but Gauthier and Martin probably have too long of a history together for him to make that move. I also think that Gauthier probably was in favor of the Martin hiring to begin with.

Edited by hab29RETIRED
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Are you seriously saying the habs should be trading Pleks??? first of all he is a UFA, which means the return wouldn't be much. Secondly, Pleks is the guy the habs need to resign and then try to get out of the following contracts:

-Gomez

-Hamrlik

-Spacek

Anything over $4.5M for Gomez is stupid in a cap world. I wonder if a team like Edmonton who can't attract anyone would be willing to take him (if they clear out some of their bad contracts, since they are also up against the cap.

I would have liked to see them keep both goalies but if a goalie and other assets can net them a BIG, YOUNG scoring winger or center you have to make the move. I'd prefer they move Halak over Price, but if someone is willing to really overpay for a top 3 BIG forward (preferbly a center) and is willing to take one of our bad contracts as well, I'd make the deal. If you could squeeze Carter AND one of giroux/van reimsdyk in a package that includes Price and someone else from the the roster not named Markov or Subban going the other way, it would instantly make us bigger. However, since the flyers are winning right now, they probably would not be desperate enough anymore, even though the streaky Boucher sure isn't someone I'd want as my goalie. I was really hoping that that the flyers would have gotten blown away, becuase they just might be willing to really overpay for a goalie.

Gainey has handcuffed this team from being noting more then a #7-9 team with his ridiculous shopping spree last summer, as well as signing a coach who not only is lousy with young talent but CANNOT and HAS not won in the playoffs. Who cares what his REGULAR season career record is just because he has been around forever.

Lets not kid ourselves, regardless of how many injuries we had, this team is a fringe playoff contender. Had the East not been so bad, even if the habs been healthy, they would have been fighting for the 7-9 position, if Carolina hadn't gotten of to such a lousy start.

Next year, Philly should be better (if they finally decide to get a goalie), Boston, which is looking pretty good in the playoffs will probably add Sequin or Hall. Tampa should be better now that they have got rid of their dumb and dumber owners and abbot & Costello GM/Coach combo. Even the leafs should be better if Burke can sign some scoring and eats some of his defence contracts (one of my biggest fears is Pleks being signed by the leafs :blink:0. Burke stole Phaneuf from the Flames, if he can dump Finger, pickup scoring for Kaberle and sign a couple of scorers, the leafs should be in the 7-10 range.

So we are going to be in tough next year and if anyone thinks we can be successful next year if our top salary earners are Gomez/Cammy/Hamrlik/Markov/Gionta is dreaming. Not only is the core of the offense too small and one of the dman well past his best before dates, having all of these guys simply does not leave enough cap space to ice a decent team. It will even get worse the following year, because, while Hamrlik (if he isn't traded/bought out), will come off the books, Markov will be a UFA.

Gainey has handcuffed this team and since Gautheir was his right hand man, I doubt if he can fix the mess, because first and foremost, the move to make is to convince the Molsons to eat the 3 years remaining on Martin's contract and fire his ass, but Gauthier and Martin probably have too long of a history together for him to make that move. I also think that Gauthier probably was in favor of the Martin hiring to begin with.

I'm not saying they should trade any specific player. What I'm saying is they (obviously) need to get bigger in the top-6 (or at least the top-12) and meaningfully better on the blueline. And I'm saying that anything short of serious moves to address these problems will be flat-out unacceptable to me as a fan. I really don't care which players they move in order to accomplish this. None of these guys are untouchable.

The cap is a problem, but - again - it's going to take bold, ballsy management to work within it. Again, I don't give a rat's ass how Gauthier does it. But this team had better be improved on D and bigger up front, period.

And I suggest we stay away from the 'oh dear the rest of the Conference will be better' game. Every season, some teams take a step up and others take a step back. We have good players; but we need to address the glaring weaknesses. Let the other teams take care of themselves.

Edited by The Chicoutimi Cucumber
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Anyone saw/commented on that classless act by Ovechkin against one of the Habs kid flag bearer??! I noticed in the last game he seemed annoyed by the kid, now this? wtf..

At first I thought maybe he was trying to thrill the kid. But no, the guy is just a total classless pr*ck.

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What they need to do is forge and identity and acquire players that fit that mold.

I don't care what their names are as long as they make us better.

I was thinking just the same.

It's tough to like this current Habs edition because it's not the type of team, the type of hockey most fans seems to want. Of course winning makes every team looks better, but even when we won there was always some bitter after taste.

We definitely need to get bigger and more aggressive. It's been a problem for so long, I can't believe it's still is a problem.

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I'm not saying they should trade any specific player. What I'm saying is they (obviously) need to get bigger in the top-6 (or at least the top-12) and meaningfully better on the blueline. And I'm saying that anything short of serious moves to address these problems will be flat-out unacceptable to me as a fan. I really don't care which players they move in order to accomplish this. None of these guys are untouchable.

The cap is a problem, but - again - it's going to take bold, ballsy management to work within it. Again, I don't give a rat's ass how Gauthier does it. But this team had better be improved on D and bigger up front, period.

And I suggest we stay away from the 'oh dear the rest of the Conference will be better' game. Every season, some teams take a step up and others take a step back. We have good players; but we need to address the glaring weaknesses. Let the other teams take care of themselves.

It's the same old story. We need size. Gomez disappointed me a great deal down the stretch and now in the playoffs. Gionta is a nice little trash-goal scorer, but he can't pass worth a damn. Together those two are nothing more than secondary offense. Very expensive secondary offense.

Having to work with what we've got now, what we could be hoping for is to trade for a big young RW stud to play with Cammy and Plex. Upgrade AK46 for a big guy, a force. A Nathan Horton/Chris Stewart kinda guy.

As for the D... we're paying for the lack of foresight by the organization in the early 2000's. They try to play catch-up and draft D's in recent years but Fisher isnt developing and McDonagh's already gone. We also missed the boat on Emelin who might have grown into a fixture right now.

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Hal Gill has been one of the best defensemen on the team. He can't handle Ovie, though the idea is that it's Gorges that has him. Of course, just a simple cut across the ice and it's Gill. Gill is the biggest reason the Caps didn't have a PP goal in their first 3 games.

Hamrlik has been awful all series and there's no sugarcoating it. He's done.

Martin should have played Markov-Gorges when Spacek was ruled out. But he didn't.

Francly (is that a word?) I don't really care how good he can be on the PK. He is just awful in every other aspects of the game.

But you're right about Hamrlik. Worst. Habs. These. Playoffs.

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Hamrlik and Gomez to play in Hamilton for the rest of their contracts PLS! Unless of course someone picks them up from us. The Caps did it to Nylander so why cant we do the same? Wouldnt that save us some cap room?

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I feel pretty good about that game. We dominated the best team in the league for most of the game. They get some lucky breaks and favorable reffing combined with superior talent what do we expect.

We can't blame anyone on our team. They played to the max of their abilities (except maybe AK). Even Martin shortened the bench and played our best players for 20 plus and the rest for 15 minutes (Hammer was around 15 and Markov was 30).

I can't see how Gautier can fix this mess other than to ride out some of the bad contracts.

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I'm not saying they should trade any specific player. What I'm saying is they (obviously) need to get bigger in the top-6 (or at least the top-12) and meaningfully better on the blueline. And I'm saying that anything short of serious moves to address these problems will be flat-out unacceptable to me as a fan. I really don't care which players they move in order to accomplish this. None of these guys are untouchable.

The cap is a problem, but - again - it's going to take bold, ballsy management to work within it. Again, I don't give a rat's ass how Gauthier does it. But this team had better be improved on D and bigger up front, period.

And I suggest we stay away from the 'oh dear the rest of the Conference will be better' game. Every season, some teams take a step up and others take a step back. We have good players; but we need to address the glaring weaknesses. Let the other teams take care of themselves.

I think I brought up most of the points I am hearing back in January/Feb. The anomoly for the Canadians is the half a dozen games they strung together to wiggle into the playoffs and the game and a half they played against Washington. The reality for the Canadians is how they played for the most part through the season "UGH" and the last of the Washington series. The best move they could make in the off season is getting rid of MARTIN.

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I feel pretty good about that game. We dominated the best team in the league for most of the game. They get some lucky breaks and favorable reffing combined with superior talent what do we expect.

We can't blame anyone on our team. They played to the max of their abilities (except maybe AK). Even Martin shortened the bench and played our best players for 20 plus and the rest for 15 minutes (Hammer was around 15 and Markov was 30).

I can't see how Gautier can fix this mess other than to ride out some of the bad contracts.

I agree. Very impressive series so far against the league #1 team. In the Star Cox was saying we should have been winning. Hard ot argue. Jaques Martin, in my book greatly improved this team from the start of the year and has run an excellent series.

Go HAbs GO!

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Apparently Price's misconduct was for firing the puck at the Capitals as they celebrated their goal.

Don't know what the second one was for.

Penalty #1 was for shooting the puck at the Caps along the boards after they scored .... they weren't even celebrating near the net for christ's sake ... you cannot act that way as a professional period.

Penalty #2 was for trying to trip Backstrom while sitting on the bench after he scores the EN goal. Again ... so juvenile I don't know what to say.

This kid just keeps losing his starting job, and even when he gets it back he finds new ways to embarass himself. He needs to take a long summer and figure out if he wants to be a pro goalie, because right now he is acting like a spoiled little brat.

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They are being beaten by a far supior team team calm down.

Gomez'a line actually hasn't been bad except the fact they can't finish which is obviously what you need to upset a better team.

Funny how you pick on Price's dumb penalties, how many have Pleks and Ak46 have?

They have the same problems thye had a the beginning of the year, so let's not go crazy and pretend they were some dominant team put together.

1. The defense is incredibly slow, soft, can't pass the puck, Other then Markov and MAB shot they have no offensive ability at all. Subban will help, They have to rid themselves of Spacek or Hamrlik for sure.

2, Scoring: Minus injuries Cammi and Gionta probably each would have had 30 plus goals. Gomez when playing with NHlers was around his average. Pouliot has been streaky with finishing, i don't think he is a natural scorer but should get 25-30 when healthy. Pleks had a great year for Pleks, but still wasn't even a ppg guy. He isn't worth a huge contract.

3rd and 4th line chipped in nothing along with the D.

3. Team toughness, too small and soft to compete with the big boys.

They have some pieces to move, Rumor has it the GM likes bigger physical teams, we'll see if that is true.

The team needs are top line center, (Pleks is UFA)

Top 6 forward int he Horton, JVR mold This can be traded for (Goaltending, the kosty bros)

3rd line C and LW, they could resign Moore who is pretty good, Need a Torres type winger for that line.

4th line RW and C, Lapierre is a joke. I think Pyatt and White will be the 2 wingers on that line. They need a player like Mair, Meyers, smeone who can fight some, check and hit, kill penalties and win faceoffs. A 13th forward who can fight and win. Cote can be had for nothing.

They can move a goalie, the kosty bros, Lapierre, Hamrlik, Spacek,

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I have hopes with Pax next season, he had great speed down the win, just couldn't seem to finish, if he can develop more of a finishing touch I can think he can do top 2 duties.

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Too many injuries, i think he will be a good player just needs 1 full year at Hamilton to deal with the pro game. The coach is a good teacher from what i read.

He could be added to a deal and get soem one really good back. Halak Paciotetty, Hartnell and JVR. Soemthing like that. I know it'a a dream but a deal something like that.

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I am frustrated with the senior Kosty...why can't he be like game 2 ALL the time..such a dominating player, he's too inconsistant to be in your teams top 2 lines.

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Since we have nothing to lose at this point, we might as well bench Hammer and call up Subban.

And put Gill in the net; he is so freaking tall

Edited by rafikz
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They are being beaten by a far supior team team calm down.

Gomez'a line actually hasn't been bad except the fact they can't finish which is obviously what you need to upset a better team.

Funny how you pick on Price's dumb penalties, how many have Pleks and Ak46 have?

They have the same problems thye had a the beginning of the year, so let's not go crazy and pretend they were some dominant team put together.

1. The defense is incredibly slow, soft, can't pass the puck, Other then Markov and MAB shot they have no offensive ability at all. Subban will help, They have to rid themselves of Spacek or Hamrlik for sure.

2, Scoring: Minus injuries Cammi and Gionta probably each would have had 30 plus goals. Gomez when playing with NHlers was around his average. Pouliot has been streaky with finishing, i don't think he is a natural scorer but should get 25-30 when healthy. Pleks had a great year for Pleks, but still wasn't even a ppg guy. He isn't worth a huge contract.

3rd and 4th line chipped in nothing along with the D.

3. Team toughness, too small and soft to compete with the big boys.

They have some pieces to move, Rumor has it the GM likes bigger physical teams, we'll see if that is true.

The team needs are top line center, (Pleks is UFA)

Top 6 forward int he Horton, JVR mold This can be traded for (Goaltending, the kosty bros)

3rd line C and LW, they could resign Moore who is pretty good, Need a Torres type winger for that line.

4th line RW and C, Lapierre is a joke. I think Pyatt and White will be the 2 wingers on that line. They need a player like Mair, Meyers, smeone who can fight some, check and hit, kill penalties and win faceoffs. A 13th forward who can fight and win. Cote can be had for nothing.

They can move a goalie, the kosty bros, Lapierre, Hamrlik, Spacek,

I like most of what you say here. You are correct that this team is not exactly garbage; there's a nice nucleus. But it needs substantial tinkering to become a serious contender. I especially like your measured assessment of Gomez and Plekanec. I don't know what the stats say, but to me Gomez has been much more of an impact C when he's been on the ice in this series; that the team was completely lost when he took those penalties in Games 2 + 3 was an eye-opener in that respect. Due to salary, we tend, as fans, to overrate Pleks and underestimate Gomer. But neither of them is any kind of sacred cow. Pleks should be re-signed. But then he can be dealt if necessary. Like I said, everyone on this roster should be considered tradeable if it means getting better on D and bigger up front.

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Hamrlik and Gomez to play in Hamilton for the rest of their contracts PLS! Unless of course someone picks them up from us. The Caps did it to Nylander so why cant we do the same? Wouldnt that save us some cap room?

Sure it saves cap room but the players still actually have to be paid - I don't know about you but I don't see the Molsons willing to pay $13.5 million next year to those 2 in the AHL. In fact, I'll go as far as saying it will not happen under any circumstance.

I'm not on the fire Martin bandwagon; 1 AHL year I don't think is enough for someone to step in at the NHL level right away, especially in Montreal where rookie coaches have a tendency to get eaten alive (we've seen enough examples over the years). We/management know where the flaws are on this team in the system that it currently plays; rather than change the system and go through a whole extra year of adjustments, change a couple of players to ones who better complement that system. It's certainly the cheaper way to go cost wise and doesn't throw the organization into another state of uncertainty - what if Boucher doesn't work out? Then what? With Martin, the players will know what to expect going into next season and can train accordingly which will put the team in much better shape coming out of camp than it was this year.

And after all this, we still need to remember that this season isn't over and that the Habs are showing they can (for the most part) keep up with the team who finished 1st overall in the league. Let's get through the remaining game(s) of this season before we start the organizational overthrow many seem to be clamouring for. The season is not yet over.

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If I wasn't hoping for Boucher to be the next coach of the Habs, I'd be hoping that Columbus would consider bringing him in.

I read somewhere that he's on a preliminary short list of candidates for the Jackets, though the Habs would have to give him permission to talk to them first. Heck, that may be better off for Boucher, go learn the ups and downs of the league first...then come to Montreal (fewer growing pains that way).

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