Leaderboard

The draft is the furthest thing from an exact science, which is why I think 95% of the discourse around draft day is sheer wind. There is no point - NONE - in raking over the coals of why we took player X instead of player Y back in 2003 or whatever it was. All you can ask from your organization is that, over time, is shows itself to be reliably effective in drafting quality NHLers. You really have to look at the aggregate rather than the particulars when it comes to drafting. Every team has plenty of examples it can point to where they 'should have' picked a different guy.

last summer he signed Semin and Traded for kassian Character seems like a buzzword... kinda like when Burke said truculence and then traded for phil kessel. That said, if the price was right, heck yes i'd sign him. He's been a scorer in the NHL, and has continued to score in Russia. this isn't a guy who has questions about his decline.

UFAs Gilbert - could be useful depth on the roster and would need to take at least a 50% pay cut for me to want him back. Bartley - would be a nice depth guy on a two-way deal. Dumont - would be a solid veteran leader for the farm. Holloway - would be a solid veteran with offense for the farm. Brown/Scott - the game is moving away from this type of player and so should the Habs. Scrivens - crease is already too crowded and he didn't impress this season in the NHL or AHL. RFAs Danault/Lessio - like to see what they could do in a full season with the team/organization. A show me contract at the very least (two-way for Lessio). Andrighetto/Carr - intrigued me enough to earn a show me contract at the very least. Barberio - I'd like to see him back as the 3rd pair LD. Hanley/Deitz/Ellis - solid depth guys for now. I'd like to see if they can step it up another level or if they've hit their ceilings. Bournival - his career is over. Too many concussions. Not worth the contract. Bennett - just isn't good enough.

Right now teams take advantage of our right wing weakness when Gally is not on the ice. If we see Markov hurt and we traded away Beau for a top six RW, teams will know to take advantage of our left defence in the zone when Pacioretty isn't there. I get that the folks who want to trade him feel he isn't going to develop as a top LD so they want him gone, but we can't trade him unless we are getting someone better in return in his position. The end of this season revealed that the centre problem is over. Galchenyuk is our guy. We got Plekanec behind him. That's #1C and #2C. We have a #1 LW and RW. We have a #1 RD, #1/2 LD, #2 RD and a #2/1 LD. Also #1G. We can't sacrifice any of those without replacing them. We need #2LW and a #2RW.

I'm no expert, really only listening to the national guys, along with the Canucks crew and the RDS crew. But heck, ignorance has never stopped me from pitching in in the past Bob Cole: tremendous sense of occasion and anticipation. Horrible, of course, at actually calling the specifics of the play (i.e., who has the puck, etc.). He really became demonized back when CBC was in its 'All Leafs All the Time' mode - I for one associated him with the Leafs for years and consequently loathed him for it - and probably deserves more respect than he gets. Ray Ferraro: my favourite commentator by some distance. Much better on radio, where he has more time to let his humour and spiky personality express themselves; but he truly brings a 'player's perspective' and does so honestly. Smart and reliably insightful. Mike Johnson: very underrated colour man. He's a blander version of Ferraro, and also has lots of useful insights from his 'player' days IMHO. Paul Romanuk: adequate. If his voice weren't irritating, he'd be more respected than he is. Chris Cuthbert: another goofy-voiced announcer - what's with guys with weird voices going into play-by-play broadcasting? (Dick Irvin is the all-time champ of weird-voiced announcers). Cuthbert is fine if you can take the reedy tones. Rich Ball: total pro. Jim Hughson: best in the biz. Many's the time my brother and I amused ourselves by referencing his patented "Nice saaaave" I love the excitement of John Shorthouse's call here: He's decent.Pierre Macguire: I LOVED him when he first rose to national prominence. Couldn't believe the depth of insight he supplied and the bluntness of his assessments. Over the years his act has degenerated into something of a cartoon. Pierre Houde: always liked his gentlemanly suavity. Great timing too. A legend. 'Et c'est le BUUUUUUUUUUT!!!!' That said, this clip is absolutely hilarious and surely explains why the slightly buffoonish Yvon Pednault found himself marginalized by RDS: Those are the ones that come to mind for me.

Nobody gets me into a hockey game like Bob Cole despite being senile for the last decade.