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Why as BG stopped chopping after getting Kovalev ?


PB

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Once Bob had used his lucky early draft pick obtain from the loterie and that the 2005 draft day was over, he had but a single week to act on buying out players that wouldn't match the team he had in mind.

The team he had in mind would have to compete on a remodeled NHL where skilled players ought to be even harder to stop than they had been in the last ten years and that this team........ would also have to be running under the 39 million cap imposed.

So he bought-out Brisebois, re-signed the un-signed players and went on to obtain Kovalev and Dandenault while leaving enought room for 3 or more prospects to join the team.

The performances so far seem to suggest that the CH might be average in goal, average on defense and most likely average on offence as well which, if the estimate was correct,.....this would put us in the difficult position to have to fight for the last play-off spot.

Regardless of injuries or initial succesfull string of one-goal difference victorys,... our team might just well be average in any given area.

Since Kovalev and Dandenault are playing up to expectations and since we can presume that BG wanted a team that would be better than average we can conclude that something as failled his estimate......so far.

I presume goaltending as not been up to his estimate on one hand and on the others the addition of Bonk on the third line and the re-assignment of Dagenais on the second line as both failled to maintain the offensive level needed to be............more than an average team.

Of those negative caracteristic, goaltenting should be the first to correct itself up to BG's predictions,.... but the offensive prowess of the team might not thought.

I fell underwhelm about the way BG as responded to the free agents signing and about his conservative vision being at odds with the anticipated NewNHL.......something I feel even more so today.

One single OFFENSIVE addition to Kovalev's signing would have made a huge difference I fell........in securing some of the guessing elements involved in appropriatly guessing the force of a team.

Many choices where availlable with all sorts of demands,... low price per year commitment a la Selane or Bondra or higher price 3-4 years type commitment a la Demitra, Satan, Palfy...

Of course, maybe he did TRY but failled to do so,....yet when I saw Hossa being shipped away at the end of a very ( best off. players bar none) successfull run of pre-saison games....it made me doubt that Gainey had tried to get more offensive players than Kovalev.

It seems to me a missed opportunitie,........anyway all this to say that I wish we had more offensive depth,.... but who knows the youngs might still surprise us even more this year,.....Plekanec as looks pretty good lately.

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oh yeah you betya ... He is shopping now at the flea market (waiver land) Now we are quite close to the cap ... pre season shopping for forwards would have meant getting rid of some more of our forwards... he shopped Defence (Dandy) and looks like it wasnt enough he's shopping for more... or at least should be..

If the guys now dont wake up i think before the deadline we'll see him please you with a purchase or two.

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Your estimate of the team as average might be correct, but I for one am happy that BG didnt sign any other FA's. We needed room for the rookies to play and if they continue their strong development we might surprize a couple of teams come playoff time.

I believe that Bob's got a plan and he's sticking to it

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I can understand some of your frustration, but your logical thinking approach is not taking into account 2 things:

(a) injuries........ we've been hit pretty hard; we've almost hit our annual quota already

(B) the future......BG is leaving his options open for next year, and at the same time giving the kids a chance to show what they've got.....I would have loved to have picked up Ian Laperriere and/or Adrian Aucoin....they're exactly the kind of players we could use right now, but i trust BG knows exactly what he's doing.

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I just wish Gainey and Julien were on the same page.

Gainey: "We're doing a youth movement, we've got some

great kids coming up"

Julien: "You betcha! So I'll just sit them every time they make a mistake, therefore hindering their development."

Gainey: *not really paying attention* "yeah yeah, sounds good, great, just great."

....that's how I envision it, anyway.

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Trizzak: I think you are mistaken if you think BG is not paying attention to what his coach is doing.

If I'm BG I look at the last game and think: "well, he kept Kost on the bench, too bad; I would have liked to see what he could do at this level. At least, Dags is going again and we won the game thank God. CJ did a good job with a short bench. Hopefully after the break we'll have everybody back except Kovy so I can get a better idea of what I need to do to improve the team ".

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Originally posted by PMAC

Trizzak: I think you are mistaken if you think BG is not paying attention to what his coach is doing.

If I'm BG I look at the last game and think: "well, he kept Kost on the bench, too bad; I would have liked to see what he could do at this level. At least, Dags is going again and we won the game thank God. CJ did a good job with a short bench. Hopefully after the break we'll have everybody back except Kovy so I can get a better idea of what I need to do to improve the team ".

My tongue was planted firmly in cheek. That was pretty much my way of expressing displeasure with how Julien is treating the rooks.

Garth Murray is called up to warm the bench? Not even one shift? Pleks makes a rookie mistake BAM moved to 4th line.

He's driving me crazy.

I admire Gainey's patience. I would have blinked during that slump and would have shipped someone out. But he waited it out.

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Murray didn't play as his fists were not needed and that is all he brings to the table. Kost didn't play and you wanted to see him? Wait until he is ready, you will. This site is become a wine fest and the team is doing better than expected, what would it be like if we sucked?

edit ps

this is the same Jullien this site had headed for the Jack Adams?

[Edited on 2005/12/5 by johnnyhasbeen]

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You guys had better get used to Gainey...if you followed him in Dallas, he has allways been very patient, and his moves are usually calculated. He will not be pushed into making rash decisions because of media pressure or panic, and we should all be happy for that, since it's all we seen from the Houle regiem. Also, in todays NHL, with the cap and all, its much harder to move players, especially if your team is close to the cap. For instance, the Lafs have been trying to move Allison, Antropov and or Ponikerovsky for quite some time now, apparently, with no success. We've seen rumors of maybe Souray being moved, but I don't think you'll see that either. Anyhow, if we're speculating, how bout this...Ribero and his buddy dags for Tyler Arneson...rumor has it that Chicago is looking to move him and get a more offensive centre...and who's more offensive then Ribs? (I find him quite offensive...)

Kovalov Koivu Ryder

Zednik Arneson Perezoigen

Bulis Pleckanik Higgens

Begin Bonk Kovalov (double shift the offensive guy)

or maybe a call up for fourth line...not to shabby, eh? Especially if Julien would recall the success the team was having when he was rolling 4 lines

[Edited on 2005/12/5 by hankhab]

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Gainey's hands are tied to some degree. I'm not sure the Habs even have any trade bait. Think about who we would be willing to give up.......

Sundstrom? who wants to pick up his big $

Bonk? hasn't scored in 35ish games, big $

Ribiero? decent first year but struggling this one-little value

Streit? what is he worth?

our young guys? do we want to trade them?

Zednik? possibly the only available habs with any value. (and I think his value drops every week)

Theodore? I think the secret is out. (he is not as good as hyped to be). Not to mention every Habs fan in Quebec would drop their pants and shit directly on the sidewalk.

I'm not sure if we have a defenceman that we would be willing to trade.

What can Bob do?

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Theodore? I think the secret is out. (he is not as good as hyped to be). Not to mention every Habs fan in Quebec would drop their pants and shit directly on the sidewalk.

:?-

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just to get one thing fixed: bob din't even called dandy this summer, it was dandy who called him...before we think that bob was a genious for that one!!!

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Originally posted by marky_and_komi

just to get one thing fixed: bob din't even called dandy this summer, it was dandy who called him...before we think that bob was a genious for that one!!!

He seemed to be busy trying to land Aucoin or another top pairing dman. Dandy seemed to be very much a plan B. Sort of like "thank you for your interest in the Habs Dandy, we'll keep you posted if we have room for you. Darn, nobody is signing here or asking way too much to sign here.....we're going to end up high dry.....call up that Dandy, i heard he was about to sign in boston....we'll secure him".

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garth murray brings more than fists he is a fast skater and is big. Maybe along the lines of a john ferguson not going to score a lot but could be very usefull give him a chance

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Gainey did stop shopping.

And the Habs are 4th in the east.

He knows what he is doing, he is a great GM.

Montreal is fairly close to the cap and I imagine BG will always be looking and asking around, but whomever said he wont be forced into a deal that is so true and it makes me happy we don’t have a push over GM that will make hasty decisions.

I am sure when March 9th rolls around there will be at least one important new face on this roster.

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First, let's remember that the cap may be LOWERED at season's end. Caution is wise in this context.

Second, let's remember that it's no more reasonable to assess the Habs on the basis of this injury/illness-riddled slump than it was to conclude that they were a Cup contender on the basis of their hot start. Bob may well be giving himself more time to come to conclusions about the *real* Habs, all the while, no doubt, taking note of how players like Ribeiro are responding (or not) to the challenge.

Third, people are right to be worried about Theodore. It's not that he's bad, but the question is whether he's ultimately more than a merely satisfactory starting goalie. I've always had faith in José. But with his erratic performance this season, he risks entering his 30s without having put together back-to-back excellent seasons. Maybe he's closer to Dan Cloutier than Marty Brodeur. But it doesn't matter; with his contract - justly tendered to a MVP - he's almost impossible to trade under the cap system. I also think that it was reasonable, based on past performance, for Bob to put his faith in guys ranging from Bonk to Theodore. But I dunno, what would YOU guys suggest we do about goaltending going forward?

[Edited on 2005/12/5 by Roo-AH! Roo-AH!]

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I think they are stuck a little there, i don't think theo has been overall that bad this year. I agree that a few games were bad nut above average in most. The habs have alot of Goalie depth. The only trade that could be feasable is maybe vancouver. Something like theo and a dman for Jovanaski, bertuzzi, auld or something. Assuming the rumours are true about vancouver seriously shopping for a goalie. The window is closing a bit for them

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Originally posted by habschris

I think they are stuck a little there, i don't think theo has been overall that bad this year. I agree that a few games were bad nut above average in most. The habs have alot of Goalie depth. The only trade that could be feasable is maybe vancouver. Something like theo and a dman for Jovanaski, bertuzzi, auld or something. Assuming the rumours are true about vancouver seriously shopping for a goalie. The window is closing a bit for them

Auld is a pretty good goalie. He'll become their starter later in the season.

And had it not been for the first 10 games where Theodore was adjusting to the new rules, Theodore is having a good season. His stats our lowered by his start.

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I think Gainey was planning to get 2 specific players from the FA's market.

1) Getting one of the best offensive forward availlable, Kovalev.

2) Getting a solid all around defense player,.... which he didn't get, probably because of a higher than anticipated price that had to be paid to get one,.........and signed Dandenault as a last resort.

His plan A was a tad conservative for the occasion but considering my admiration for the man in charge,....I could appreciate such restrain.

The acquisition of Dandenault felt like a plan B to me thought,... and of course plan B was not what he had projected.

I still respect his approach in matching as close as possible his plan A with its B version,.. and sticking with it.

Other GM might have opted for a B+ version by adding Selanne to Dandenault as to make-up to the original aborted plan (something I was wishing).....but this is not Gainey's style it seems.

I respect that, BG is patient, loyal and likes team's stability,.....its good for the players and consequently best serve the team's spirit aspects and is traditionally an excellent way to go ......specially if you already have in place the minimum required elements needed to compete.

[Edited on 2005/12/6 by PB]

[Edited on 2005/12/6 by PB]

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