GHT120

The good news is that they feel he is unlikely to re-injure the thumb were he to fall on that hand ... otherwise they would not allow him to be skating, or at least skating aggressively ... and it is obviously great for him to be working the legs and, to a degree his cardio, to prepare for the eventual return.

Your memory is better than mine ... but apparently it is not entirely a done deal ... The NHL and the players' association want a decision from the International Olympic Committee regarding the league's participation in the 2022 winter games by the end of next month ... The NHL and NHLPA agreed to Olympic participation in 2022 and 2026 as part of a modified collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified in 2020 prior to the league's return to play. Some details - including finances and travel insurance, among others - still need to be ironed out by the league and IOC before NHL players can officially participate.

With ESPAN and Turner Sports now the national NHL broadcasters in the US, the NHL now has one less reason to allow NHL players to play at the Winter Olympics next year ... NBC has the Olympics rights but no longer has any relation to the NHL ... it will likely be "an interesting discussion" between the NHL and the NHLPA.

I agree ... but the rational minded are not those that need convincing ... the unknown is what percentage of the media and fan base would not be convinced by such an approach ... and what degree of backlash the Habs would face, for how long and the financial impacts ... I have to expect the Habs have done substantial research and understand the risks. I have long felt that if the Habs still feel the GM needs to speak French, then when MB is replaced (this summer or later) if the best available GM candidates do not speak French then the team needs to hire a francophone Team President along with the anglophone GM ... the President could then be the face of the franchise to the media when required.

Credit for the Merrill acquisition but adding Gustafsson, a player that has to be protected from doing what is supposed to be his job, has tied the cap into the knots that have made managing the roster such a mess last few days

They have the depth to rest defencemen at some point and could rest forwards by playing 7 defencemen ... but all once they are completely comfortable they have a playoff spot; which they may already be ... because if they lose some games when load managing for the playoffs and then miss the playoffs they will be a joke

That he did ... and no it doesn't ... but the huge heart won't help if the brain has been bounced around too much ... I wish him the best but fear the worst in the decades to come

Unfortunately they generally don't get better with time

With the acquisition of Merrill he still had 7 NHL defencemen without Mete ... the mistake was the desperation to add a BODY on defence ... at that he seemingly could have had (for approximately) Ben Hutton for a 5th, Erik Gudbranson for a 7th and marginal AHL defenceman (Brandon Fortunato), Hayden Fleury for a 2022 6th and 29 yr-old 3rd pairing defenceman (Jani Hakanpaa), Jordie Benn for a 6th ... EDIT: Realized as I was putting my dog out that I had intended to cross-check those names to the salary-cap ... but that enthusiasm has depleted ... so apologies if any would have been worse cap-wise

Imagine if his $1.5M wasn't on the cap ... but "you can never have enough defencemen" ... even if they can't play defence

I do not believe that NHLers for whom cheap-shots or other physical play is an integral part of their game are ever stopped from doing so by being punched hard ... not even by being beaten up.

If a team is inclined to cheap shot Caufield they would get the added benefit of the "cheap-shoter" taking Anderson off when Josh challenges/fights him ... Anderson tends to be more valuable to the habs than "cheap-shooters" are to their opposition

Not quite a scratch ... he is effectively in the AHL/on the taxi squad ... when the Habs again have 12 healthy forwards and Caufield's emergency recall ends they will have to choose which of them gets to play again this regular season by using their last regular call-up.

For all the back&forth there were only 11 shots (Habs 5, Flames 6) ...

True ... but I don't know that Anglo-fans would be very happy if the most brilliant hockey mind on earth was a uni-lingual Russian and all interviews/announcements had to be conducted through a translator

So once they have 12 healthy forwards either Caufield gets called up and Romanov is on the taxi squad/AHL until the playoffs, and the Rocket season is over (dlbair pointed out earlier today in another thread that: the four-recall rule is in effect until Laval's season comes to an end. That's currently May 15th but would be extended if there are AHL playoffs after all) ... or Caufield's emergency recall ends and Romanov gets called up ... much will depend on how Caufield does in the short-term

Because Bergevin needs this team to do as well as possible and trading Tartar for picks would at best a lateral move ... scorer for scorer ... in the immediate term maybe more scoring but more likely about the same at best ... when everyone is healthy the team will have a legit Top 9 with scoring ability

LOVE that we get to see him play HATE that Tony Marinaro was right ... even an idiot can occasionally get a good tip ... but he will think he is the new Bob McKenzie

Understood ... but We win if Caufield plays, lose if he doesn’t is a bit much isn't it ...

When the ONLY source is Tony Marinaro I have little confidence it is true.

NOT my list, but my favourite French HockeyBuzz (Hockey30) has suggested Patrick Roy Martin Brodeur Roberto Luongo Vincent Damphousse Stéphane Quintal Martin Madden Jr Martin Lapointe Scott Mellanby (if he learns French). Claude Loiselle Damphousse and Quintal strike me as Team president options more than GMs ...

Interesting option ... he has been the owner of the Halifax Mooseheads but don't know that he was ever their GM ... he was their coach for one season ... Bobby was the Phoenix Coyotes first GM (1996-2000), but that was 20+ years ago ... strikes me as someone who may not be interested in the day-to-day job of a GM ... perhaps a short-term Team President?

This is an agency with a specialty in coaches and management positions (over 60 Pro Coaches and General Managers in the NHL, NFL, NBA and many European professional leagues ... such as <click here>) ... I suppose he might need an agent to negotiate with Quebecor about his role as GM/coach of the Remparts ... but more likely Patrick is preparing for a run at a NHL positions(s) ... let the hand-wringing begin

Best wishes to an honest warrior ... just hope he doesn't come to regret not doing it much sooner

But ... as has been pointed out ... backdating does no good if there remains a need to address the current Drouin, Tartar and Byron injury/emergency re-call dilemma ... Gustaffson dressed when Drouin was out and Evans for Byron ... if all three are out tonight I'm not certain the Habs could even dress 20 players ... that tends to point to the need to rush at least one back when ideally they shouldn't play Of course, all three could be healthy tonight and the issue disappears.