Best Habs Team Since 1993?

[PurpleHills]

And as good as Huet has been, he's no Patrick Roy.

Don't speak too early. :hlogo:

[bebehabs]

Bouillon is a New Yorker. :hlogo:

I will make one comparison though. Huet = Roy at this point and how important he is for this teams playoff run.

well... yeah, bouillon was born in NY, but he remains a quebecer... no? i mean... i was born in montreal and i'm chinese...

[Athlétique.Canadien]

Cheers to Andre Savard. Even as a GM he manufactered the Linden, Zubrus and a 2nd round selection; Andreas Holmqvist for Zednik, Bulis and a 1st round selection; Alexander Perezhogin in 2001.

I loved it. It brought immediate help to the team and I knew Savard was interested in prospect loading.

He traded Savage for Berezin which didn't produce much. Giving Brisebois the money was a mistake but I don't mind so much. It should have been 3 million a year which is still too much. But, Brisebois was going to be a regular on our D. The organization figured that he was a cornerstone. "Rewarding" a player is great but 2.5 to 3 million should have done it. I think Savard was imagining/hoping that Komisarek and what ever other "cornerstones" he could find would create an excellent defence. Then, it would magically happen. Brisebois, who's experienced would have a nightmare D around him. He'd be on the last year of his contract. But, that didn't happen

That contract did handcuff us but that was the old NHL anyway. No cap. We were spending 46 million. But, whadda ya do?

Higgins is a Savardian pick :king:

Plekanec is a Savardian pick :king:

If Savard's only goof up was Brisebois then I don't care.

Cheers to Andre Savard. :king:

Cheers to Pierre Gauthier :king:

Gainey Carbonneau and Jarvis. :king: :king: :king:

There's alot of Kings in there. I wish there was an ace emoticon

As for this years edition of Les Glorieux? Yes, this is one of the best. The same team pretty well hit the ice in '94. In '95 Muller and LeClair were gone. We received Turgeon & Recchi. But, no playoffs. :puke:

1996 - I prefer NOT to talk about that year

1998 was cool except for Hasek.

Then it all goes downhill until Savard and Boivin ererge. THANK YOU

...And here we are today. This years Habs could win the cup. It's actually possible. That's why I have to say it ranks very high for sure.

Edited April 6, 2006 by ATHLÉTIQUE.CANADIEN

[The-Habby2919]

We'd have a great chance of winning the cup this year if ALL of the players on the :hlogo: fired on all cylinders every night and played like they are all capable of.. *cough cough* Zednik, Bonk, Ribeiro....

:hlogo:

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

They finished 3rd in their conference and only managed to put up 90 pts that year. They looked better on paper than they actually were in the end. This years team may not have a lot of big names, but they are a better 'team' = they seem to play better together. And they definitely have more potential in the current system than at the time under Houle's regime. Yes Houle did destroy a decent team, but some of his drafts weren't all that bad either? Go figure that one out, eh?

One area where this team has it all over the 1996 edition is management and coaching. Give those players to this braintrust and we're talking MORE than one Cup, by Howie Morenz.

[beliveau1]

One area where this team has it all over the 1996 edition is management and coaching. Give those players to this braintrust and we're talking MORE than one Cup, by Howie Morenz.

That may be true - unfortunately one will never know for sure? That's why that word 'if' is so big.....

Coaching & management are as much a part of a team as the players themselves. When you factor in this years staff then it pushes them slightly above the 96 Habs in my opinion. Their self destruction in the opening round that year against the Ranger's probably best defined that team from the top down, unfortunately?

They just looked better on paper than they actually were on the ice.

Edited April 6, 2006 by beliveau1

[TruthMonger]

And as good as Huet has been, he's no Patrick Roy.

Here's something interesting I just noticed while looking over Roy's career stats. While his playoff performances were ridiculously strong, his worst two regular seasons (statistically speaking), were 1986 and 1993. In '86, his GAA was 3.35 and his save percentage was .875. In '93, his GAA was 3.2 and his % was .894.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Roy was a dog in the regular season in 1986. I was one of those fans who ripped out their hair that coach Perron didn't dress Doug Soetart more often Shows what I know.

[MAK]

Cheers to Andre Savard. Even as a GM he manufactered the Linden, Zubrus and a 2nd round selection; Andreas Holmqvist for Zednik, Bulis and a 1st round selection; Alexander Perezhogin in 2001.

Higgins is a Savardian pick :king:

Plekanec is a Savardian pick :king:

If Savard's only goof up was Brisebois then I don't care.

Cheers to Andre Savard. :king:

getting komisarek :king:

getting kostitsyn :king:

getting trevor timmins :king: :king:

[JMMR]

Trevor Timmins = HUGE

[CerebusClone]

If Savard's only goof up was Brisebois then I don't care.

It wasn't, but that might have been his worst mistake. However, at the end of last season, we were stuck with a highly over-priced Brisebois, as well as Traverse and Dykhuis both playing with guaranteed NHL contracts with the Bulldogs. That was over 6 millions of mismanaged money that could have been used for so much more. That's not even mentionning Juneau, Sundstrom, Dackell, and a few other overpaid guys that gave us very little in return.

Negociating contracts just wasn't Savard's strength... not that Gainey has done that much better with Bonk, Sundstrom (again), Dandeneault (1.5M for this guy!), Theodore, Zednik, Kovalev (that's one long hefty contract for a guy that only shows once in a while), and maybe to some extent Koivu (although we have absolutely no one to replace him, and I doubt he would have gotten less on the open market anyway).

But again, as a talent scout: Bravissimo!!

[Athlétique.Canadien]

getting komisarek :king:

getting kostitsyn :king:

getting trevor timmins :king: :king:

Thanks, I hit my emoticon limit on that post. Hail Trevor Timmons.

I hope we spell the Sens their DOOM!

Aebischer has to be better crafted by now (hoping). There's been sufficient time for Melanson to maybe have an effect and hopefully Aebischer starts to settle comfortably in to his role. I hope so.

Go :hlogo:

[option+]

It wasn't, but that might have been his worst mistake. However, at the end of last season, we were stuck with a highly over-priced Brisebois, as well as Traverse and Dykhuis both playing with guaranteed NHL contracts with the Bulldogs. That was over 6 millions of mismanaged money that could have been used for so much more. That's not even mentionning Juneau, Sundstrom, Dackell, and a few other overpaid guys that gave us very little in return.

Negociating contracts just wasn't Savard's strength... not that Gainey has done that much better with Bonk, Sundstrom (again), Dandeneault (1.5M for this guy!), Theodore, Zednik, Kovalev (that's one long hefty contract for a guy that only shows once in a while), and maybe to some extent Koivu (although we have absolutely no one to replace him, and I doubt he would have gotten less on the open market anyway).

But again, as a talent scout: Bravissimo!!

Trading Asham for Czerkawski wasn't his greatest moment, either. But we're really splitting hairs here, aren't we? We're lucky to have the likes of Savard, Timmons and Gauthier in the front office. All three of those guys could be GMs elsewhere.

Here's something interesting I just noticed while looking over Roy's career stats. While his playoff performances were ridiculously strong, his worst two regular seasons (statistically speaking), were 1986 and 1993. In '86, his GAA was 3.35 and his save percentage was .875. In '93, his GAA was 3.2 and his % was .894.

Not overly surprising, all things considered. Patrick is known for his pride/ego, so it would make sense that his two worst regular seasons would be followed up by absolute blinders in the playoffs. Also, it's not surprising that he was so good in the 1996 playoffs considering what happened earlier that year in Montreal.

Edited April 6, 2006 by option+

[CerebusClone]

Trading Asham for Czerkawski wasn't his greatest moment, either. But we're really splitting hairs here, aren't we? We're lucky to have the likes of Savard, Timmons and Gauthier in the front office. All three of those guys could be GMs elsewhere.

Not overly surprising, all things considered. Patrick is known for his pride/ego, so it would make sense that his two worst regular seasons would be followed up by absolute blinders in the playoffs. Also, it's not surprising that he was so good in the 1996 playoffs considering what happened earlier that year in Montreal.

We are splitting hairs. It's not like Aasham was doing much for this organization, and besides his increased production, which has a 100% correlation to the fact that he played a lot with Alexei Yashin, he didn't do much for the Islanders either. At least there was a small chance that the Polish Prince might have given us 20-25 goals, and considering that we were extremely short on talent at that time, that's a gamble that Savard had to take.

[Athlétique.Canadien]

We are splitting hairs. It's not like Aasham was doing much for this organization, and besides his increased production, which has a 100% correlation to the fact that he played a lot with Alexei Yashin, he didn't do much for the Islanders either. At least there was a small chance that the Polish Prince might have given us 20-25 goals, and considering that we were extremely short on talent at that time, that's a gamble that Savard had to take.

What a bust the Prince was. He sucked for Toronto too and now Boston has him in and out of the lineup over and over. Savard's error was annoying but forgivable.

I'm not sure Ferguson Jr. nor O'Connell can say the same.

Czerkawski = :?-

[HABBER-oooooKNOWS]

Just looking at the Habs record today while going over the standings. Man if wasn't for that month the habs deflated and Theo played like crap. We would be up there, challenging for first. That one road trip where we lost like six in a row. Damn!!!!!

Or just the friggin games we let the Pens have. I think we should be a sronger team then on paper. Hopefully Ottawa and Carolina won't expect it. Ottawa knows for sure, but Carolina doesn't. We just may catch them off guard.

Stanley Cup?

[BTH]

Just looking at the Habs record today while going over the standings. Man if wasn't for that month the habs deflated and Theo played like crap. We would be up there, challenging for first. That one road trip where we lost like six in a row. Damn!!!!!

Or just the friggin games we let the Pens have. I think we should be a sronger team then on paper. Hopefully Ottawa and Carolina won't expect it. Ottawa knows for sure, but Carolina doesn't. We just may catch them off guard.

Stanley Cup?

The slump was actually 2-3 months. But I also think we're better than the standings say we are.

[simonus]

since the olympics, we have definitely played above our rankings, but to be completely fair, many of our easier games were backloaded. Our schedule has been easier than much of the earlier portion of the system (our SOS went from like 2nd or 3rd before the break to 16th now)..

[kaos]

The greatest test of all is coming up. We'll find out jsut how good this Montreal team is very shortly. With Games against Buffalo and New Jersey. The Boston game will be a good test as well. To find out if this team can keep the intesity and not lose a "let down" game against Boston.

Then of couse it'll be interesting to see how the team fairs against Ottawa or Carolina. If they win the series or lose in 6 or 7, then yes they are probably a very good team. If they get blown out, well then we kinda know where we stand.

It'll be interesting to see hwo this team performs over the next 3 to 4 weeks.

[simonus]

The greatest test of all is coming up. We'll find out jsut how good this Montreal team is very shortly. With Games against Buffalo and New Jersey. The Boston game will be a good test as well. To find out if this team can keep the intesity and not lose a "let down" game against Boston.

Then of couse it'll be interesting to see how the team fairs against Ottawa or Carolina. If they win the series or lose in 6 or 7, then yes they are probably a very good team. If they get blown out, well then we kinda know where we stand.

It'll be interesting to see hwo this team performs over the next 3 to 4 weeks.

well said, though I think it's pretty safe to say that regardless of what happens, we have a pretty good set of players to build around.

[kaos]

well said, though I think it's pretty safe to say that regardless of what happens, we have a pretty good set of players to build around.

Absolutley. Higgins, Plekanec, Perezhogin, Kostitsyn, Ryder, Komisarek, Price, Danis. Great job by the scouting department. Maybe need a little more emphasis on defensman with the next draft or two?

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

The best thing about our making the playoffs this season is that this makes us more attractive to free agents...don't be surprised if that good nucleus gets beefed up by at least one significant signing. (Arnott?)

Definitely need some young D. Too bad about the loss of Hainsey, who seems to have become a stud for the Jackets. Looks like I was wrong about him, as were the Habs :puke:

[simonus]

Absolutley. Higgins, Plekanec, Perezhogin, Kostitsyn, Ryder, Komisarek, Price, Danis. Great job by the scouting department. Maybe need a little more emphasis on defensman with the next draft or two?

I like your list, but dont forget that we have a good nucleus of:

Markov, Souray, Rivet: who can be part of a strong D-core

Koivu: Who can definitely contribute to a cup-worthy top-6

Kovalev: Who is amazingly talented and can really turn it on (hopefully to be teamed up with teammates who wont let him turn it off)

Begin: Necessity for a top team

even Bonk: Who is starting to really look like that shutdown guy

likely Huet/Aebischer

I dont think this team needs much more (perhaps even just pipeline stuff) to go elite.

[kaos]

The best thing about our making the playoffs this season is that this makes us more attractive to free agents...don't be surprised if that good nucleus gets beefed up by at least one significant signing. (Arnott?)

Definitely need some young D. Too bad about the loss of Hainsey, who seems to have become a stud for the Jackets. Looks like I was wrong about him, as were the Habs :puke:

If the Habs have a strong playoff performance I'm not so sure that they are going to sign any free agents. They may stick with what they currently have. Even if they have a weak performance I'm not convinced they'll sign anyone of note