BCHabnut

actually one of my supervisors has season tix and I can get them for face value. 330 AA. Not the best seats, but not bad either. Does the new screen help up there in the nosebleeds?

read the whole excerpt on Shutt. I'm not trying to draw parallels, but it is pretty amusing. Talking about his defensive weaknesses early, his making a living on garbage goals, and how he was rarely noticed until they checked the score sheet at the end of the game. Remind you of anyone? shutt

I think this will be a 25 goal year for Lats. Our top 3 lines are loaded with talent. So it doesn't matter which one he is on, although I wouldn't be surprised to see Lang and Tanguay together later in the season, because Lang can finish. That would allow Lats to play with Koivu later in the season 25/14/39

I hope we can sign Higgins. He works so hard when the team isn't on a high. When we are winning, everyone on the ice plays like a superstar, but Higgins just works his butt off every shift. Regardless of the score. He has the best work ethic on the team in my opinion. I remember we went to the Nov. Leafs/Habs game last year, and my wife saying, "That Higgers guy is the only one trying." I laughed when she said Higgers, but she was right.

I decided to start a new tradition. Every year I will take a trip to Montreal, to watch 2 games. Last year was amazing and I fell in love the city and the area. I'm even contemplating buying a cottage in the Laurentians. So this year I think I will go to the Dec. Tampa bay and Washington games. If I can't secure tickets to those games, it will be Feb. Bruins and Pittsburgh games. I am so pumped.

Well it's time for my 37 cents regarding our boy Lats. I remember when I first saw him. I was so excited that we finally replaced Claude Lemieux. Lats was awesome. Hard to the net, hard on the boards and playing with passion, and what seemed like a little hate for the other guys. Then he started injuring some guys. When I was 18, I think that this would definitely affect me mentally. I knew right away, that he was scared of hurting more people if he threw everything he had into every hit. He needed to learn the pace of the game, so he could time his hits. How much would we all love him if he kept hitting the way he did, and ended a few careers on what could have been called dirty plays. Not because they were dirty, but because his timing was off, and he crushed them from behind? In his first year, someone got hurt. I can't remember who. I think it was Higgins ankle, when the Habs looked so Bad ass. Lats looked great on the first line. I remember myself, as well as many others on this board saying, "Wow, what are we gonna do when Higgins gets back? Lats looks so good with the first line." Then Lats disappeared to the fourth line. His +/- was horrible, but so was the entire team at even strength, so that stat means absolutely nothing to me. The +/- stat for the Habs was improved because the team improved. Then last year, I remember thinking, "Where the hell is Lats?" I felt that his performance was exactly the same as the year before when he he was on the third and fourth lines. So I sort of agree with both Kozed and Clone. He hasn't shown that he can have a huge impact like a dominating power forward, but he HAS shown that he is very effective when given the opportunity. Was Steve Shutt as dominant as Phil Espisito? No way. But he was awesome when he played with Lemaire and Lafleur. He popped in so many garbage goals it wasn't funny, and I loved him for it. I think it's time for Lats to play his style with a good line. If he is still invisible playing on a top line, then we can discuss this again in 6 months, but from his past performance, I think that won't be the case.

Getting away from Maxpac and back to last night's game, I saw a lot of posts with people saying that Lang was useless. While his lack of speed was definitely noticeable, I thought he had a decent game. He wasn't a stand out, but he wasn't useless.The give and go along the boards with Kovy and Max was strong. While he didn't hit, he looked hard to knock off the puck, and he made a few excellent back checks as well. I didn't pay attention to his faceoffs, but the few I paid attention to, he won. Huge upgrade from Smoke in my opinion.

Ya that was an awesome game. Then when they got back to the Forum, they rolled ROOOOO.....AAAAAAHHH on the screen, like saying Ah that's nice, Roy's back there, we'll be OK.

I remember the Andrei hit as well. It was behind the net. It was freakin hard.

Carbo will have to find room for the kid if he keeps playing like he does. Or Gainey will later. I am so impressed with his play. And I don't think you can compare his style to Lats or SK. He goes to the net at top speed, and nobody stops him cuz he's a big guy. His top speed is much better than Lat's as well. I don't think you can send Lats down. I think you play Lats with some talented players for a year and give him some minutes. Someone mentioned trades earlier, and this kind of depth bodes well for a mid season trade. I know that Weber was weak last night, but he could be the Streit replacement we need later in the season. And we really don't have a 4 Dman. We have 3 Dmen and a bunch of 5s. So you could trade a winger for that 4th Dman and insert Maxpac into the lineup. Even if a trade doesn't occur this year, the pressure should be off of Gainey this year a little, when he has to sign most of the talent on the roster. If players go crazy looking for more than their value, there is some room to let a few of them go and let the prospects in. Except Komi. Sign Komi today Bob WTF?

I think Vertigo is way better than that crap. Oh well if I get to hear it a whole crap load of times then who cares. I still think the ghosts liked Vertigo, and that's why they made their way over from the Forum.

I guess Carle is OK and should be back with the team. Saw it on ESPN.com CLICK

I hate the sound of that. Sounds more like poor pick.

They are both correct, but the he decided to go with the "North American Sergei" I would just stick with my real name, but hey, I guess I'm not the one trying to fit into a new culture.

That's the nicest line combo I've seen yet. Lang is a great faceoff guy who can score, Sergi is a great setup man, and Higgins is the energizer bunny. He never gives up on plays. This would be our first line in 2001.

Excellent points. Another thing to note regarding possession is Laraque. You can't knock that big bugger off the puck when he's against the boards in the offensive zone. It's pretty hard for the other team to score when some huge monster won't let you have the puck. Two goals were scored against us in our second game against Pittsburg by this method.

I think that the price for trading Komi should be very high. He is a beast, and last year was really his coming out party. A guy like him is harder to replace than we think. Komi was hurt in the playoffs, and look at his battle with Lucic. He is too big a cog in this machine now. I know what you guys are saying, but it kind of hurts to imagine trading him. He battles with the top players of every team.

Dude Furious george is perfect

I'm glad "that guy" hasn't signed with someone else yet. I am sick of waiting, but it gives me a reason to check the boards on an otherwise slow time. It's getting very old, but it's also amusing.

Gonna be at four games for sure. Tampa and Ovechkin, in dec in Montreal, and calgary and edmonton in Feb.

I don't agree with slagging a class guy about getting a good contract like his statement may infer, but I hope we don't have to worry about motivating or pissing off the other team players. Hopefully we are better than that. More like "OH, you are motivated? Eat Komi's shoulder pad...It's yummy." Now motivate yer ass back to da bench!

With the way he improved last year, I think it was a great signing. Unless he totally tanks...and judging by his determinination and work ethic, I can't see it, I think he will be a great 5 6 D for a good price.

Sign Sundin, or sign nobody. Then play Halak enough, so that he is good trade bait. Trade him for a top centre before the trade deadline? Maybe?

I don't buy that at all. I think if Sundin decides to test free agency and signs with the Habs on the 3rd, all bets will be off as for as compensation to the leaves. So what if Sundin doesn't sign with anyone till October? We would still have to compensate Feltcher if he signed with us? I think Feltcher was just hoping that Bob could get him signed before the deadline, so he could get something for him.

If Sundin doesn't sign with us, I think Rolston would be a great fit. He's a 30 goal scorer on a totally defensive team. He can play any position and is great on the PP and PK. Depending on what he wants, I would rather have Rolston than Hossa. He's not scared to go to the dirty parts of the ice, and he's big. There would also be little adjustment from Lemaire's style to Carbo's. I don't see him as a replacement to Plek by any means. I just feel that his style of play would possibly fill a void.