option+
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I think the 2006 team has a better D overall. Desjardins and Schneider were a good Top 2 in 1993, but Brisebois, Haller, Daigneault, Ramage, Odelein, Dufresne were only an average 3-8. I'd rather have Komisarek, Rivet, Dandeneault, Bouillon, Streit and Simpson.
There's probably more top flight offensive talent this year than in 1993, but the 1993 never had the problems with offense that this year's group did. The 1993 team has much better secondary scorers/grinders than this year's addition, IMO, with guys like Mike Keane (60 points that year!), Carbonneau, LeClair, and, in the playoffs, Switzerland's own Paul DiPietro.
And as good as Huet has been, he's no Patrick Roy.
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I think Bouillon will be the odd man out, though I'm not sure I'd do the same thing myself...
One good thing about having so many D-men is that we can go with different looks. If we need to be physical, we can play Bouillon. If the PP is stuttering, then Streit is available. It's a nice problem to have.
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In terms of generating more offence, I don't think I want Montreal to go out and get an offensive reaguard.
I think I would be happy if they got a solid defenseman like Willy Mitchell, or maybe a Paul Mara who's not quite as good defensively, but better offensively.
Then I want Montreal to go out and get a TRUE #1 CENTER, that will shift Koivu to the #2 spot. I say this, because Montreal has enough wingers and with the emergence of Chris Higgins, along with 30 goal scorer Ryder and Mr. Skill Alex Kovalev, as well as prospects Perezhogin and Kostitsyn, I think a super skilled #1 center could be just what this team needs to explode offensively. I know Montreal probably can't make a deal for him, but I really think Brad Richards would be awesome. A great playmaker, who makes guys around him better, while giving up nothing defensively. And with Koivu as a second line center and not being hounded by the oppositions best checking guys, he could have a career year.
But it probably won't happen, so hopefully Montreal upgrades their defense a little. Kubina, Mitchell, Mara, Kuba, Zuyzin, Jovanovski, Brewer, they could all be out there....just need to go get one.
I'm not sure there's too much separating Koivu and Richards, except for the ability to stay healthy...
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I'd think it would be pretty bad being an LA Kings fan: only one Finals appearance ever, and the team has been pretty average most of the time. St. Louis hasn't won the Cup ever either, but the Blues have been pretty solid for most of their existence, at least.
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Same here. No more excuses, time for Perezhogin to step up and contribute. Hopefully he gets more than a one game cameo.
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Ouch I cringe just reading those names. And don't forget Patrick Traverse, our stalwart D-man...
Actually, I try very hard to forget Mr. Traverse, which is why I didn't mention him.
Traverse is my least favourite habs ever, the thought of him in a Habs uniform gives me the overwhelming urge to dunk my head in a tub of ice water. -
The Leafs Cup-less streak is only 39 years... and they already whine about it more than Red Sox fans ever did or Cubs fans currently do. Sad.
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This is definitely the best team since 1993. That 2002 team was terrible... that team wouldn't have gotten to the playoffs if it wasn't for a Hall of Fame-type performance by Théo down the stretch and wouldn't have gotten out of the first round if it wasn't for a Hall of Shame-type performance by Byron Dafoe and the emotional lift supplied by Koivu's return. The 2002 team had the likes of Oleg Petrov, Andreas Dackell, Sergei Berezin, Chad Kilger, Shaun Van Allen, Bill Lindsay and Karl Dykhuis playing important minutes. This year's edition is MUCH better than the 2002 team.
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I once shared a table at Schwartz's with Jean Beliveau. It was obvious that I wanted to talk to him, so he kept smiling at me. But I got too starstruck and couldn't talk. I ate as fast as I could and left. It's the only time I've never enjoyed a Schwartz's sandwich.
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I'd rather have Kostitsyn too. I didn't mean that Bernier should have been drafted instead. It would be nice to have them both in the lineup, however that might come to pass.
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Keen observation..... if one watches Markov his offensive talents are not of the Orr/Coffey variety.
Instead, his strengths are in the breakout support & passes that he provides, and the blueline puck control he demonstrates inside the oppositions end. He does provide offense, but it is of a somewhat less noticable sort.
He is a master at taking the blueline away from the opposition at both ends of the ice. It is a simple philosophy that wins hockey games. When you control the blueline, especially your own, then you can contain the other team much easier. If you give them the last 5-10 ft and the first few inside it then you are usually in constant hot water! Markov is very strong on the bluelines and can spring the attack as a result - and this makes the backcheckers job so much easier.
Agreed. Markov's not going to deke out the entire team or jump into many rushes, but he's still an excellent offensive defenceman. How many defence-splitting passes has he made this year on the PP? His vision and awareness in the offensive zone are as good as any defenceman in the league.
In time, he'll start rushing and jumping into rushes and doing all that Orr/Coffey stuff too. Remember that until recently Markov was a centre; he's still learning how to play D.
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I dunno. I just have this feeling that Gainey might not want to let both Bulis and Zednik go. He might actually be seriously considering Bulis in an offensive position.
Any chance other teams would be interested in some sort of Zednik/Abby package? I think we could get a respectable player for these two (although I should point out that Abby hasn't been given a fair chance to prove himself and the fans are to hard on him).
Zednik has a better chance of staying than Bulis does, if for no other reason than because Bulis is a UFA.
At this point, I'm not sure that Bulis even wants to stay. I mean, he's basically having his best year in the NHL, and he's been a healthy scratch for the past handful of games... in crunch time... I mean, that sends a pretty strong message that he's not in Gainey's plans anymore.
I'll miss Bulis. He's kind of the 2000s version of Rejean Houle: big scorer in junior, good skaters, hands of stone, good defensively, always gave 110%. I'll be a little sad to see him go.
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Zednik hasn't been the same since McLaren almost took his head off. Too much skating around the periphery... not enough driving to the net.
Perezhogin can easily take his place. Perez was averaging a point per game in the first 8 games and looked like he was headed for a 25 goal year. He totally lost his confidence when he was demoted/benched after Zed came back...
Kostitsyn can take his place too. I'm not too nervous about the prospect of losing Zednik. We could probably get a third rounder for him.
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Agreed. Huet and Danis will be the two goalies in MTL next year, unless Danis isn't quite ready and Gainey brings in a veteran backup.
Huet will be less expensive than people think, unless something very, very pleasant happens in the playoffs. GMs aren't stupid: they saw what happened with Theodore and Khabibulin after they were given fat contracts. The market price for goalies won't be as high as it was last summer, at least I don't think it will be. Either way, Huet will definitely be cheaper than what we were paying Theodore, or what we would be paying the likes of Luongo.
Briung Huet back - I'm 100% sure that he's going to be a Top 10 goalie in the league for another 3 or 4 years (and I think Gainey agrees, too) and by that time Price will be ready to take over.
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About Dandeneault... I would also add that it took him a while to learn how to play without Niklas Lidstrom. You can take a few more liberties when #5 is covering your back. It took a while, but it looks like he's adapted to his surroundings.
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Bulis a free agent after the year. I'm not sure if he's a UFA or an RFA, but his contract definitely expires after the year. There's a 0% chance he'll be coming back - too many forwards are already under contract, and too many other guys on the team bring the same skills to the table as Bulis.
I think Bulis being in the lineup instead of Zednik can be chalked up to Zednik being absolutely horrible recently... actually, he's been poor all year. Having Bulis in the lineup simply gives the Habs a better chance to win right now.
Unless Zednik's contract is expiring or he's bought out (I don't doubt that would happen), he'll be back next year.
Welcome to the board by the way!
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Is anyone really surprised? Tucker is a bum.
April 16: The Leafs play one last time in Buffalo. I'm almost 100% sure that Tucker will get his ass kicked in that game.
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Markov. As poor as the team has played without Huet, they've been just as bad without Markov. And Markov has played more games.
I've been waiting all year for an "Andrei Markov is awesome!" story in the the non-Montreal press. Still waiting...
Anybody know Aebischer's contract situation?
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First of all, this is my first post as I am new to this forum, so try not to rip my opinions or you just might hurt my feelings.
Regarding Montreal's defensive corps next season, I, like many other habs fans are looking for an upgrade from either the free agency market or via trade. However, I also believe that the habs, while not the strongest defensive unit in the league, do boast a fair amount of depth. Therefore, in order to upgrade at the position, at least one defenseman in our current lineup will have to be sacrificed.
Currently, the habs have 7 defensemen who have played significant time with the big team this season: Markov, Souray, Komisarek, Rivet, Dandenault, Bouillon, and Streit. Additionally, there are fans who believe Cote could possibly be ready to make the jump (in my opinion, I don't think he'd be an upgrade on any of the previous 7 mentioned). Out of the 7 mentioned, at least one will have to be dropped or traded in order to make room for a free agent signing or trade in the offseason. Because Dandenault is signed to a long term deal, he will be harder to move in a trade. Therefore, the decision will likely come down to Bouillon or Streit. Given a choice between the two, who would you rather have on the team for next season?
I'd like to see an upgrade to the D corps too, but I'm not going to complain if it doesn't happen. Once Komi and Souray sorted out their personal issues, it has been an extremely solid unit. I don't the D has gotten the respect they deserve.
That's tough. Streit has been much, much better lately, and he gives the team a different look with his passing and PP ability. Bouillon though is much, much, much, MUCH better defensively. At this point I'm going to say Bouillon, but if Streit improves his play in his own zone, then I'd keep him instead.
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I think most people (me included) were just worried about his salary. Maybe he was a bit overpaid. Well I guess we were wrong. He'd provided a pretty good band for the buck
I still think he's a tad overpaid. But he's been excellent this year, there is no doubt about that.
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Not sure if everybody has seen the goal Steve Bernier scored on March 21 against St. Louis. It's his second goal. It's the second best goal I've seen this year, after that Ovechkin one.
http://www.nhl.com/dotcom/app?date=03%2F21...rd&service=page
It'd be nice to see Bernier play the Habs, no?
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Julien is a good coach, and he reacted to his firing with class and dignity. I'm definitely rooting for him to find another NHL job quickly.
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Scores against Carolina this year: 5-3, 7-3, 8-2, and 5-1. They've completely killed us every single time. I'd prefer not to play them, even if they're slumping right now.
Mind you, Huet didn't play in any of those games. And some of those scores flatter the 'Canes because of some, ahem, poor goalkeeping from a certain departed goaltender. Still - the 'Canes have owned our guys for a few years now.
Habs would beat either the Rangers or Flyers. The Flyers D is too slow to deal with MTL's forwards, that series would look like 2002 and 2004 against Boston. The Rangers can be beaten fairly easily by keeping Jagr's line in check: the Habs have done an excellent job bottling him up so far this year and there's no reason to believe that wouldn't continue.
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I'm personally more concerned with finishing sixth so we can avoid Ottawa or Carolina in the first round.
Who Is Your Favorite Rookie?
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted · Edited by option+
I can't believe Andrej Meszaros isn't on that list. He's been almost as good as Phaneuf this year, but hasn't gotten 1/10 of the press. Him and Lundqvist are also in the Crosby/Ovechkin class, IMO. That's 5/6 of your all-rookie team right there.
Other kickass rookies this year: Jussi Jokinen, Zbynek Michalek, Paul Ranger, Ryan Whitney, Ryan Suter, Curtis Sanford, Tim Thomas, Thomas Vanek, Petr Prucha, Jason Pominville etc.
And as for rookies that got away from the Habs, how about Francois Beauchemin? He was even in our system. He's playing 25 minutes a game for a very good Anaheim team, on the PP and PK and has a canon from the point.