habscout

http://www.fan590.com/mp3s/kirkmuller-ms-2006152006.mp3 or go to http://www.fan590.com/gallery/hotAudio.jsp then click on the Kirk Muller link. I enjoyed listening to Mullers comments about playing for Pat Burns and Jacques Demers. He also talked about his role as assistant coach on the Habs and a few other good topics.

I found this follow up article about the O'Byrne signing, and thought I'd post it here and on the front page since it has more direct comments from Ryan than other articles I've read. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2006/08/14_cornell.php

http://hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=8...ded&order=0 I like reading about Fischer's leadership capabilities, and how well he gets along with this teammates.

Yes, physically he's ready. But he remains a prospect until he can show the organization and eventually us fans that he's ready. Remember that O'Bryne didn't really produce much offensively in college, even in his 3rd season. Komisarek went from 16 points in 41 games as a freshman, to 30 in 39 games as a sophomore. O'Bryne had 13 points in 28 games as a junior, and a mere 12 points during the previous two seasons combined. So, I'm saying I'm not expecting much from him offensively as a pro player. If he can develop into a solid 4-6 defenceman, who can play well defensively while making good passes on transition plays, then I'll be happy.

Sorry all, my translation was bad. I'll try and delete it.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060804...1006/CPSPORTS01 The article is from an interview with Jose Thedore, and although Hackett was called he did not confirm the story. Essentially, Theodore was asked for advice on asking Hackett to come in to the Avs training camp to compete for the backup role. Jose said he thought it was a good idea, and was looking forward to working with Jeff again. He said there would be no animosity towards Hackett based on their days in Montreal, and that both were good competitors.

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs...l=1112274690756 Basically, the Habs signed a veteran forward, Ajay Baines, to give the Bulldogs some depth. I loved these comments from Baines: "Bob Gainey called in mid July and expressed interest in me coming and joining Hamilton. That's the earliest that a team has expressed interest in me. And obviously with Bob's credentials and the fact that Montreal is a real professional organization I was really excited about it. Nothing against Chicago but the way things have been run there the last few years, this is a breath of fresh air for me."

It looks like TSN confirmed what their sister [brother?] station has reported. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=173184&hubname=nhl

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/209862.html The article reports that Bouillon had surgery on Wednesday in Vail, CO, after meeting with the specialist the day before. There's no official word on the type of surgery or the length of recuperation. Other Habs boards report that he will take 4-6 weeks to recover. I hope that's accurate as it will still allow him the majority of training camp to get ready for the start of the season.

I am convinced that Carbonneau can handle the defensive side of the Habs game. I am not, yet, convinced that the same will apply to the Habs offensive side. I'm hoping for good things from Muller, and liked the guy when he was a habs, but he has very little coaching experience, so I'm expecting him to learn on the job. I do like the youth movement that was pushed out last season with Perezhogin, Plekanec & Higgins, but I'm unsure which will improve, which will falter, and which will stay the same. I'm almost expecting each one to fall into exactly one of those categories, as sophomore seasons are very unpredictable. Komisarek finally showed some signs of settling into the pro game in the last quarter of the season. The team's new additions should be improvements over the players they replaced or surpassed [ie. Samsonov for Zednik, Johnson for Bulis]. Huet will be the biggest factor for the success of the Canadiens for 2006-07, and beyond. There's every indication to expect he will continue his superlative play, and having such a goalie for a whole season should give the Habs a chance at bettering their total points.

Souray's salary is around $2.28M versus Vishnevski's at $1.55M. I would love to see the Habs get Beauchemin back, but even both his salary [500K] and Vishnevski's salary's are less than Souray's. The Habs would have to sweeten the offer, likely with draft picks or not-ready-for-prime-time prospects, because the Ducks want to lessen their payroll, not add to it, for this season.

From today's Gazette. It didn't tell us anything new about Bouillon, and I believe we all know the status of Streit & Latendresse. It did state that Latendresse has a concussion, so perhaps that will dispel the head-injury vs concussion debate. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...39b&k=25819

Hmm, it's interesting that the expert is in Vail, where George Gillet resides. I wonder if he has some pull to get Bouillon in to see the doctor? With both Streit and now Bouillon questionable to start training camp in about 6 weeks time, the Habs depth on defence is looking a little suspect. I wonder if Gainey would consider signing a UFA defenceman if Bouillon does require surgery that's likely to end his season (under a worse-case scenario)?

There's no limit on personnel for any team. That's an area that the CBA does not apply to since the issue is strictly management oriented.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060728...1006/CPSPORTS01 The article mentions that Guillaume was meeting Canadiens' physicians this morning to assess his head injury, as it could be a concussion. He'll miss the rest of the Canadian Junior Team camp as a precautionary measure. Guy said he's in good spirits and expects to be ready for the Habs training camp in September. When the La Presse reporter asked him about the blow his head took from teammate Steve Downie's shoulder, Latendresse replied "you should see his shoulder!". ;-) Note: two translations of this text interpreted the term "épaule" as shoulder, but I believe it is supposed to be elbow. Note 2: I've read the article. "Épaule" is definitely "Shoulder", not "Elbow".

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/209293.html What I found interesting is that Morel has no scouting experience. Gainey must have liked something about Morel to hire him for this type of position.

http://lfpress.ca/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=14...s&s=knights Good news, although I was very certain he would return to London.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060727...0/1002/CPSPORTS Apparently, he injured his knee while off-ice training, riding a bike in the Montreal training room. The diagnosis was tendinitis, and after the playoffs he initially declined an invitation to play for the Swiss in the World Championships. However, he later accepted the invitation to play in Riga, Latvia for the Swiss, stating there was "no pain" in the knee. The writer says that Streit was interviewed recently, and admitted that he should have taken the time off since the knee is not responding well. His movement is limited, and he cannot jog yet despite undergoing physical therapy. He hopes he will be ready for training camp in September, and is planning on training with his former Swiss team starting August 2.

http://tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story/?ID=172510&hubname= Damn, I hope it's not a serious concussion. Does anyone know if this is his first one?

Great news! I found the official link here and posted it to the front page: http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect...newsItemID=5121 The article mentions that the Habs added a few people to their management side. Michel Boucher has a great deal of hockey experience, with over 25 years, particularly on the junior hockey scene in Quebec. He and Denis Morel, a former NHL referee who retired from the NHL in 1994, will be covering scouting in Quebec. Doug Gibson was the New York Islanders head scout for Canada for the last 2 years, and was a former pro player in the 70's. He's also coached at the AHL level. It's likely that Gibson was let go by the Islanders, or left willingly, under the recent turn of events on Long Island. I like the fact that an additional person will be added to the Quebec area, to replace Andre Savard and complement Trevor Timmins, who also scouts this area a great deal.

I can't help but feel that Ryder will leave the Habs as a UFA when his first opportunity to leave comes up. He was a contract hold out last fall, and now he's the only habs to go to arbitration, unless they settle sooner but I doubt that will happen. He seems to not want to play for Montreal as much as the rest of his teammates. Does anyone every remember reading or hearing Ryder say he was happy to get a chance to play in Montreal, or enjoys playing here, like some athletes do? I hope I'm wrong, as I'd like to see Ryder settle in long-term in Montreal. If he could just improve on his defence a little, he's round out as a decent two-way player. At the moment, he's still pretty much one-dimensional.

I recently read some comments from Samsonov's agent about his signing with Montreal. Gainey was on the phone with him from 12 noon of the first day of free agency. There were 4 teams in the running, and some were offering him longer (4 year) deals. The Canadiens' offer was the most appealing, as Samsonov liked the idea of having two good seasons in Montreal, then testing the free agency waters again at age 29. Read the details starting near the bottom of this article [registration required, but it's free]: http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins...gophers/?page=2 http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins...gophers/?page=3

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20060714...1006/CPSPORTS01 Essentially, the article talks about how the Habs are hopeful that Ryan O'Byrne will forgo his last year of college to sign with the Habs this summer. The Habs have not directly made an offer to O'Byrne because that would cause the player to forfeit his college eligibility. Trevor Timmins had comments that, and I'm paraphrasing, Ryan has adapted well to the rule changes in College last season. He emerged as a leader, and was used in all situations. He is physically ready for the pro game, but the decision to leave college is his. Personally, I think it would be great for the Habs & O'Byrne to start next season in Hamilton. The Habs need to build up their depth of defencemen, and Ryan could be a good player. However, another season in college won't hurt his development either, as he's still very young.

http://www.hockeyfights.com/articles/210

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=171005&hubname=nhl So, it looks like those previous rumours about Grabovski were accurate. I'm glad to see that, as I hope that one of these forwards will be placed at centre, and excel at it to put additional pressure on Ribeiro.