habscout

He sounds like an interesting prospect. An 18 year old forward with 6'4", 200 lb size, who plays with physicality is welcome. However, the Habs scout [Pat Westrum] predicts he'll need at least 3 years of development at college, and that his skating and quickness need improvement. http://www.habsworld.net/out.php?4478 or http://www.thisweek-online.com/2007/June/29conboy.html

I found this article about one of the Habs scouts, Pat Westrum. He lives in the Minnesota area, and has had some significant input into the Habs selecting first rounders Ryan McDonagh and David Fischer. The article mentioned that Fischer had mononucleosis earlier in the season, and although it must have affected his play, he was playing better by the end of the season and the playoffs. http://www.habsworld.net/out.php?4477 or http://www.thisweek-online.com/2007/June/29sportscolumn.html

It seems that Salmelainen was put on waivers, likely for the his eventual release. The Habs must have talked to him about playing for them, either at the NHL or AHL. Perhaps his plans were to return to Finland anyways. So, the Samsonov trade ends up being a simple salary dump. The positive thing about it, is that the Habs will not have to deal with his negative influence on the team. The negative part is that he's likely to have a good season in Chicago, due to his possible first line ice time and the fact that his play this season will have a huge influence on his next contract. If he plays outstandingly well, then maybe Chicago will extend his contract, re-sign him or he'll become a UFA with a bigger contract. However, if his play is bad or just average, then it's very likely he will become a UFA, not get a sniff from another NHL team, and eventually move back to Russia to star in the RSL.

Kevin Allen from USAToday.com wrote a good article about all the UFA's http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/...ts_N.htm?csp=34

In today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it mentioned that the Penguins did not give a qualifying offer to right winger Michel Ouellet, which will make him a 25 year old UFA. He is listed as 6'0" 201 pounds, and his stats last season were pretty good, with 19 goals, 29 assists in 73 games. He had a hamstring injury twice which caused him to miss 9 games. The TSN scouting report about him says: Assets Has the potential to score plenty of goals in the NHL. Displays excellent hockey sense and awareness at both ends of the ice. Flaws Isn't big or overly physical, and can be dominated along the boards. Career potential Top six winger. If he played with Crosby last season, then his stats may be a little inflated. But if he plays a good two-way game and is willing to do so on the 3rd line, then what's the harm of signing him? If I recall correctly, he always plays well against the Habs. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07177/797132-61.stm

I submitted my mock draft list to the HW contest, then thought I'd post it here too: 1. Chicago Kyle Turris 2. Philadelphia James Van Riemsdyk 3. Phoenix Patrick Kane 4. Los Angeles Karl Alzner 5. Washington Sam Gagner 6. Edmonton Jakub Voracek 7. Columbus Ryan McDonagh 8. Boston Alexei Cherapanov 9. St. Louis Angelo Esposito 10. Florida Nick Petrecki 11. Carolina Logan MacMillan 12. Montreal Kevin Shattenkirk 13. Toronto Logan Couture 14. Colorado Jonathan Blum 15. Edmonton Keaton Ellerby 16. Anaheim Thomas Hickey 17. NY Rangers Mikael Backlund 18. Calgary Brandon Sutter 19. Minnesota Alex Plante 20. Pittsburgh Nick Ross 21. Phoenix Trevor Cann 22. Montreal Bill Sweatt 23. Nashville Lars Eller 24. St. Louis Tommy Cross 25. Vancouver Zach Hamill 26. St. Louis Stefan Legein 27. Detroit Oscar Moller 28. Washington Maxim Mayorov 29. Ottawa Max Pacioretty 30. Edmonton Colton Gilles

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/colu...ock-draft_N.htm If those are the two players the Habs end up getting, I will be pleased. Shattenkirk is listed at 6'0", 185 lbs, and could become a #1 / 2 defenceman in the NHL, with good offensive upside. His style is very similar to Andrei Markov. Eller is a Danish player, who was playing in the Swedish junior league. He's listed at 6'1" 195 lbs, and has a high skill set. I believe he could develop into a top 2 line centre [preferred] or winger in a few seasons.

I found this recent article on the Montreal English newspaper 'The Suburban' about Angelo Esposito and thought I'd post the URL here: http://www.habsworld.net/out.php?4413 or http://thesuburban.com/content.jsp?sid=131...mp;cnid=1011905 The one quote that stands out to me: "I grew up in Montreal and I’d love to play for the Canadiens but I’d play for any NHL team”

It's more of a reporter's description of what it was like to meet Dryden, and a few references to knowing Steve Shutt when he was a junior player. I think it's an interesting, but not deep, read. http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/portals-c...4968&more=0

That RDS article is pure propaganda straight from Mark Gandler. I'm sure that Yashin & his agent will be expressing their desire to play for any one of the 29 other NHL teams [make that 28, as I'm sure Ottawa is not stupid enough to sign him]. While he technically fits the need of having a big, talented centre, he's not the type of player the Habs need. His disappearing act/lack of effort/character issues are well documented. If a master motivator like Ted Nolan cannot get a full season worth of effort out of him, then Carbonneau stands no chance. Also, I'm not convinced that Yashin's knee is close to 100%. If by some miracle, Gainey decides to give Yashin a chance, it must be only for one season, and for no more than $1M. I will say that the Las Vegas bookies are giving odds that he will go back to the motherland, play for a team in the RSL and "earn" his $1-$3 M that some people claim the top players make there.

This file has a great deal of detail about this year's draft eligible players. Enjoy. http://media.nhl.com/media/app?docKey=gDlp...ice=fileservice

I agree, that we fans do not need to see the game's talent levels watered down any more. Of course the NHLPA will approve of such a move, because it will mean more members to add to their union ranks. There is a double-edged sword to expansion from a business perspective. The NHL owners would not have to include any expansion fees into the league revenues considered for calculating the salary cap. So, the owners would be receiving pure profit from these expansion fees just for allowing new teams to enter. During the last round of expansion, that cost was $80 million for a new team, and the rumours are that it may go up to around $150 million. However, by adding new teams, once those teams are underway, then their revenues would go towards the salary cap calculations, which should drive up the cap. Again, the NHLPA would be happy to see expansion, but I can't help but wonder what the small market teams would be thinking. Eric Duhatschek has an excellent article on this expansion issue: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...g20070606185927

Yeah, Milbury is still an advisor to Wang, but it's not related to the Islanders part of Wang's business. This May 30 Newsday article mentioned that Milbury will still be helping Wang with his Project Hope program, to help promote hockey in China. There has been speculation since the start of June that Mike wants to get back into the NHL as a broadcaster. In a foreshadowing kind of way, the article also discussed Yashin: "Despite his decision to leave Islanders management, Milbury said he remains close to Wang. Asked if there was a conflict over the owner's recent decision to keep Alexei Yashin rather than buy out his contract, Milbury said: "No, there's nothing going on there. I've been very removed." http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-sp...ockey-headlines

I disagree with you. I based this on the Newsday article I read about the payout. You can check out my blog for the Newsday URL, as I don't have it handy: http://hockeyranting.blogspot.com If you look at both the TSN & Newsday articles, you'll see a lot more details and quotes in the Newsday one. I also checked the CBA about the payout issue, and it confirms that payouts are covered over a period of twice the remaining years on the players contract.

I *completely* agree with this assessment. On defence, Streit played better than Dandenault, and was vastly superior to him offensively. As a forward, Streit was very effective, handling both offensive and defensive responsibilites light years better than Dandenault, who had much more experience as a "rover" player than Dandenault did to start the season. At this point in time, I'm disappointed that Dandenault still has 2 seasons left on his contract with the Habs, because I'd rather see a younger player be given a chance at his spot. I can't help but believe that Gainey will no longer hand out 4 year contracts to 30+ year old UFA's any more, as the returns are not outweighing the investments so far.

I had a feeling that Valentenko would be the one to sign with the Habs. I have not seen him play very much [once at the previous WJHC tournament] but I'll predict that he's at around the same level as O'Bryne was at this time last year. However, Valentenko faces the typical culture shock and language issue that all Europeans (especially Russians) face when they sign an NHL contract. To my way of thinking, that will mean he'll need at least one full season in the AHL for seasoning, and two seasons would not be disappointing. Having said that, if he plays well and impresses the Habs staff he may also benefit from a callup or two during these next two seasons. Look for Emelin to arrive next season at the earliest, since his current contract will have expired then. Of course, his current head coach is his father, so the nepotism part could work against the Habs convincing him that he should sign with the Canadiens. How Emelin will also fit into the then Habs depth chart may help him decide whether or not it's worthwhile for him to try to make it to the NHL. By that time, the Habs he could be facing a much more difficult task of making the Canadiens.

I'm not interpreting this move the way some of you are. I believe that Wang had to be convinced by his current coach, GM and other staff that buying out Yashin was best for the team. For years now, Wang has been told otherwise about Yashin from Mike Milbury. Since it's Wang's money, Wang should have the ultimate decision, especially since it must be particularly difficult to pay an ex-employee to do nothing for your organization for 8 years! If anything, Mike Milbury leaving the organization must show how much of a Yashin supporter he was. 'Mad' Mike was the one who had the idea to sign Yashin, and he must have convinced Wang that the idea of such a long term, big salary contract was a good idea. Milbury's short-sightedness [ie. rating Yashin's talent over his professional committment, previous history of money over playing for sitting out a contract year] was not just a matter of "hindsight being 20-20". If he had talked to any Ottawa Senator's fan In short, it's no coincidence that Yashin and Milbury has left the Islanders organization within 1 week of each other.

Hi Joel. I think you did a nice job with that article, as you helped describe Jarvis' background, to illustrate his character as a player and a coach.

Unfortunately, I found the TSN link too. I wonder if Andre Savard had anything to do with it?

Nice prospects update Dan!

Here's another good article about Price, courtesy of today's Hamilton Spectator: http://www.habsworld.net/out.php?4304 I found it very interesting that Rollie Melanson mentioned that a goalie needs around 100 AHL games to be mentally prepared for the NHL, but that a playoff game counts as 4 games. The article talks about his superior stickhandling a lot, but it also mentions that the Habs do not expect to rush him to the NHL. I'm interpreting this article as saying the Habs expect Price to stay at least one full season in the AHL [barring injuries to either Halak or Huet of course]. I predict that Price should get at least 50 games next season, and that the Habs will not retain Danis, instead turning over the backup role to Desjardins.

If these reports are true, then Elias has really been screwed over by his former agents. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...ortsHockey/home

James Mirtle from the Globe and Mail examines the records of the Original 6 teams since 1967. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/WBhockeyblog/

Shares? I believe Saskin was sharing the player's funds long enough. I'm not surprised by this dismissal in the least. What remains to be seen is how much Saskin will try to sue the union over either wrongful dismissal or back pay/severance. Now, the NHLPA has their work cut out for them, if they want to hire someone with a strong labour relations background, who knows something about pro sports, and has integrity. This time, picking someone with two out of three will be bad.

I'll wager that the $1.7M U.S. is for a 2 year contract. I don't believe that Alexei Morozov, who was tearing up the RSL last season, was making that much money in one season there. I *really* question that $3.4M figure. His agent must not know what the currency exchanges are if he thinks one can simply double the American currency to calculate the Russian or Canadian currency. ;-) Part of me is disappointed, because I had hoped Perezhogin would develop into more of an offensive player. This season, he seemed to excel at times on the 3rd line, and at times he was excellent at forechecking the opposition due to his quickness. However, I said "at times" because he was very inconsistent in his play. At one time this winter, during a shootout, I remember Perezhogin winding up for a slapshot and missing the net! How can a forward miss the net in a shootout?!? The Habs must feel strongly about their other offensive oriented forwards [eg. A. Kostitsyn, M. Grabovsky] that are closer to ready to not worry about Perogi. Maybe he will show up in the NHL again in the future, but for the season or two we shouldn't bother thinking about him.