redondo

His one playoff season was the first one, where he took them to the 2nd round. But look at that roster: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues...0000451998.html Recchi was at his prime then, so was Saku. Vinny and Corson were not, but were reliable still. Etc. I remember Lind, Whitehall, those guys you're talking about to me symbolize the darkest of depths we had to indure, but we were still several boneheaded moves away from that point in '98. And I remember the year he was nominated for the Adams we were getting killed and outshot in most games - but both Theodore and Hackett stood on their heads more often than not.

I was not a fan of Vigneault either. He's grown into a decent coach since, but some of his Habs teams looked just as lost out there as what Martin is serving up. Come to think of it, feels like we've been getting outshot for a decade now, doesn't it?

Well call me a heretic, but part of me is kind of glad that it's coming to the last game. I know these are all NHL teams and NHL rosters, blah blah, but when is enough enough? If they can't seal the deal against the worst Leafs team since Ballard, then I kind of don't want to see these guys in the playoffs. I'm still having nightmares of last year, I don't want another "hey, at least we made it" moment followed by an embarassement unworthy of this franchise.

Boston and Toronto going into OT.....

DON'T.......JINX.....

Exactly how I feel. And if we do sign him at reduced rate, I hope it's only for a year.

I'm calling 3:2 Habs, Moen, Cammalleri, Pouliot with the goals. GO HABS GO!

The true test will be the playoffs of course, when you get to face the same team 4+ times and see what you're made of in the process. I personally think they'll do fine, and the whole size issue is overblown. I also wish we had a guy like Moen in particular last year...... By the way the very Bruins team that put the final nail in the coffin of exposing the softness of the last year's bunch is being grilled by everyone from press to their fanbase back in Boston for the very same thing. The (non)reaction to the Savard thing is just the cherry on top, but it's been going on for better part of the year and needless to say I am loving it, but I'm also curious if and how they address it in the offseason........

+1

6th the hard way?

Exactly. Dumont and PK are examples of good things that can happen when you pay closer attention to local scouting. Of course it's not an exact science, and for every Gabriel Dumont you'll have several Marc-Andre Thinel's but i'd rather take a few high-risk high-reward shots on well scouted local guys, than blow picks on middling U.S. college talent.

I would like to see us give more attention to European scouting, and local (Q) scouting. With Euros in particular, it would be great to see more Mark Streit-type picks in the later rounds, capable young vets who have a fairly developed game but still have enough upside to take it up a level or two. Obviously not all of them will pan out the way Streit did, but Jersey, Detroit and Dallas among others have shown that it's a model that can work well. With local scouting, we're long removed from in the era of territorial rights, but we should really have a better grip on what's happening in our backyard than anyone else. Every now and then a guy can slip thru a la Bergeron, but we ought be finding those diamonds in the rough too.

This team needs to be the underdog, and they should be in just about any series they play, if and when they get there. They wouldn't be without their chances, as long as goaltending stays solid and they preserve the hungry mentality they've in the latest stretch (not counting last game), but I would hate to see unrealistic fan expectations add to their already uphill climb - make the playoffs first, no complacency, no calculations....

Bob did what was in his power to purge the old core and leave a healthier one in place, though between last year's gutless collapse and the declining vets it was an inevitability. So he should definitely get the credit for what this year's team does. On the flip side, come the offseason, if we can't keep guys like Plex or one of the goalies because Bob spent so liberally on his new core (and guys like Hal Gill), he should get some of the blame as well.

Both.

Well, call me naive, but I would think one of the things a good coach will focus on is strong positional play, obviously special teams, some basic, worked out plays and good/steadily improving communication between d-men and forwards. Other than maybe PP, I see improvement in none of the above from day 1 of the season to now, whereas I would expect at least some. Martin wasn't brought here just to get the guys to get along in the locker room, he was brought here specifically to instill a system with clearly defined roles, preferrably one that plays to our players' strengths, as Fanpuck points out. I'm happy that you're happy with the results, but I'm wandering if you'd be saying the same if we were consistently getting average goaltending instead of good-to-great as we are on most nights......

I don't know CC, while I agree with most of your post, middle of next season seems pretty generous - I would hope that at this point in the season (almost the end of regular season) we would have seen some improvements, and at least better positional play. I understand this was a 1/2 new roster, but that was back in September. While some guys are rounding into form nicely, that's more individual (or developing chemistry between couple of guys or a line) than truly team/system play, I could be wrong, but I would say that at least based on 25+ games I've had a chance to see this season I hardly see any improvement. Finally, it also seems that Martin is unable or unwilling to match the tactics to the opposition, and this is especially worrying for the playoffs, if we make it. Guess we'll see.....

Except that the same way there is no guarantee Halak won't bolt to the KHL, there is also no guarantee Plekanec will resign with us even if we do have the $$$. We really don't have a great FA retention record, do we? Also, if you're presumably trading Halak for NHL-level help up front, that player will have a salary that has to be paid as well, unless you just wanna trade him for picks hoping we get to sign Plek. Suddenly the savings may be not as substantial as people assume. In a not overly far-fetched worst case scenario (and I say this with all faith in Price btw.) Carey could be perfectly on track to becoming the franchise goalie we are hoping for and STILL not be fully ready to be a #1 for 50-60 games next year in which case I can see him being crucified by the fans and shipped out of town, only to blossom into the next Roy elsewhere. IMO, better to hang onto your insurance policy in goal (Halak), re-sign him and then if Price ends up being all that he is supposed to be you ease him in with far less pressure and THEN trade away the insurance. If we can make room elsewhere to sign Pleks great, but honestly the way I see it, even if this team stays intact (so with Pleks on board) next year, we are not a competitor. And if this season ends up being an aberration for him - and it's possible, you just handcuffed yourself even further for years, with no true game-breaking talent on the roster. Ouch. If it were me, I would package Pleks and one of Hammer or Spacek instead, not for sake of keeping Halak, but for sake of getting back some much needed cap manouverability AND an interesting piece or two back. But that's just me.

Weren't we trying to sign Brunnstrom as an undrafted FA and Dallas got him instead? Anyway, from our end this seems a little unappealing especially since we'd be giving up the player with the highest potential ceiling going forward, but a few other questions come to my mind.... First, why on earth would Dallas wanna do this deal? I thought at first it may be just trying to shed salary, but looks like Richards' contract will come off the books at season's end anyway, so he'd be a rental, in which case Edmonton is probably the last place that makes sense for him.

LOL I guess Gainey can't log into his account anymore, too bad, I'll miss his updates. I wonder if there will be a Gauthier Facebook page....

+1 Don't we have a thread about Olympics somewhere else already?

I wasn't comparing Latendresse and Subban skillwise, I was talking about their FA eligibility. Again, I'm not sure how the eligibility thing works and this may be moot, but if he is the future star you think he is (and I don't necessarily disagree), wouldn't you rather have an extra year of him at the reduced RFA rate on the other end, when he's fully developed, or the remainder of what is turning out to be a meaningless, transition year?

JCPetit, I think you're right as far as where PK is skillwise, he has been a joy to watch, but there are unfortunately other, off-ice factors here as well. If I remember Latendresse's case correctly, bringing him up too early not only (eventually) led to him not being able to be sent down to the AHL due to having played too many games and become waiver-eligible, but also accelerating his free agent eligibility by a year. I'm not sure what the number of games is that would change PK's status (sorry if someone posted this already) but I'd hate to risk losing a potential monster of a defenceman to free agency a year ahead of schedule by having him play out a season in which we have no chance of competing for the Cup. I will continue to support this team, but this bunch, with this coach, is going nowhere this year, with or without PK Subban. Nobody is saying hold him back for four years, but letting him finish out the season in the AHL and then hopefully making the team out of camp next year is not really that huge of a delay....and it feels like a right thing to do for his development.

I guess this was gonna be the statement game?

GO HABS GO!