The Chicoutimi Cucumber

I'm happy for Thomas, Recchi, Bergeron and most of all Claude Julien. The rest of them can go blow. And did anyone see Marchand banging the glass and taunting Canucks fans after that fourth goal? Sheesh, what a no-class human turd. At the end of the day, though, you have to hand it to the Bruins. They were full value in terms of work ethic, determination, and most of all team D. As Habs fans, I think it's fair to note their track record of deliberately injuring or attempting to injure our players, and all the non-suspensions (the Raymond hit was a disagrace). But sour grapes are inappropriate. A lot of their fans posted on Habs boards after Game 7 in Round One to express their respect for our team's guts. Those guys got the breaks but they are a damned strong team - remember they played without their #1 C - and deserve to win. So does the city of Boston, a genuine hockey town, an Original Six franchise with long-suffering fans. Give 'em their due. I may be overreacting, but I think the Canucks should start shopping Luongo around. At 32 he's not going to get better. And don't come back with his 'untradeable' contract. Some team desperate for goaltending will take him. There is no end to the stupidity of NHL GMs. Wamsley, you are 100% right. I've been saying this all along. SIGN WIZ AND MARKOV AND WORRY ABOUT THE CAP LATER. That's a Cup-worthy D. And that's what counts.

Vancouver was coined a goalie graveyard by Burke, and it looks like Luongo is the latest to fall. It just took him longer. I don't think he's been abysmal, though; let's remember that he has had the worst offensive support of any goalie in Finals history. Not enough attention is being paid to the Bruins' defence, which has been absolutely sensational all series. Thomas will win the Conn Smythe, but ALL he has to do is make the first save. Incredible. And it's incredible to me that took these guys to game 7 OT. That D is just hermetic. The bad news for us is that the Bruins, as far as I know, are not going to be any weaker next year, and they will have Cup experience and all the swagger and aura that goes with that. That's the scary thing. A lot of their core is young. The good news is that the Habs gave them their toughest series. And that says something about our team.

I think this is a fair analysis of the vicious circle that Luongo and the Canucks D fall into. It also explains why when Luongo DOES let in an early softie the Canucks get blown out: the team gets rattled, Loo's support goes erratic, he lets in more goals, etc.. The Bruins are in tough tonight. The overarching series pattern - home wins, road losses - works heavily in Vancouver's favour. You also have to think that the crowd is going to be out of its mind, which will increase the odds of the Canucks getting that ridiculously important First Goal as a result of sheer manic energy. And I just don't believe that, at the end of the day, Luongo is going to stink out the joint in what will be the defining game of his career. He's not a great goalie, but he's better than that. Remember, he was solid for Team Canada under similarly hysterical circumstances. Look for the Canucks to come out and try to dominate physically in the early going. Whenever they've done that in these playoffs, they've won. All that being said, Boston has been on balance the better team over 6 games if you factor in the man advantage...it would be an amazing feat for them, but you can argue that they're due to win in Lotusland. Hell of a series. Should be a hell of a finale.

Bingo. A really intelligent assessment of the Habs' player development and asset management would have to proceed by a very fine-grained comparison with other teams' results in the same areas. The question is whether every team can point to a comparable list of 'ones that got away.' That'd be a huge undertaking - if someone had the energy, it'd be interesting. Wamsley makes a good point that we must be doing something right if we can lose quality NHLers in a steady trickle and yet be competitive and, indeed, improve from where we were 5 years ago...still, without that close comparative assessment, it ultimately remains an open question.

Spilled milk! Fair enough. The issue is less that we suck (we don't - in fact we are underrated) than whether our asset management has been all it could be. But no, this wasn't meant as yet another 'sky is falling'-type post. I've been pretty clear that I like our team as a whole and believe us to be fairly close to contending. Didn't mean to come off as whiny.

I never bought the 'awesome/terrible goalie performances' narrative for a second: both goalies are significantly dependent on team D, as indeed most goalies are. BUT, this is awesome analysis on its own terms - nicely done! Your breakdown of scoring chances is also very interesting, if only because it implies a very real chance for the Bruins in Game 7; after all, they're *bascially* even with Vancouver in chances at Rogers Arena and have dominated them in Boston. Those numbers spin a story of a Bruins edge in the overall series and only marginal home ice advantage for Van. That only holds if we incorporate the PP in the calculus, though. Bizarre that a 5-on-5 machine like the Bruins has been outclassed at that category, while the powerhouse power-play of the Canucks has been rendered inert ??????

It amazes me how Carbo has gotten a free pass over the disastrous abortion of Rebuild 1.0. Now I'm not saying he was a terrible coach - I really don't know - and I'm not saying he's the only one to blame; but when you have an entire generation of promising young players fail to pan out, the head coach has to bear some responsibility. Instead Carbo to this day has the saintly air of a Martyr Wronged. Yeah, we messed the bed on Streit. In fairness, nearly all the fans thought the Islanders were loons to sign him to that deal, so we can hardly wag fingers in retrospect. It's a fair point that we kept Streit over Hainsey. Any analysis of the 'ones that got away' does need to keep those sorts of variables in mind: e.g., Ribeiro's departure created room for Pleks to become a top-shelf offensive player instead of being cast as a third-liner; etc.. Nevertheless, that can easily slide into excuse-making (Pleks, for instance, could have been promoted to the second line with the departure of Koivu - we didn't have to ship Ribs out on his behalf). I do think the Habs have allowed a disproportionate number of talented young players to leave town because of what seems to be a punitive, inflexible approach toward 'bad attitude.' That may be an area where Gainey's old-school temperment worked against him. We'll see if Gauthier does better; the door-to-the-ass departures of Lapierre and Fatendresse don't bode too well in this regard, though.

The RFA thing may be a factor. But as a rule the Habs have to pay a little more, presumably to compensate for the taxes. And the notion that Gorges is an interchangeable part is a huge stretch in my books. True, he's no star, but he's about as valuable as a 'role player' ever gets - a heart and soul guy who eats sizeable minutes and helps define the team identity. I say $3 mil. Maybe more.

The odd thing, though, is the near-total lack of offence that Vancouver has generated over the last four games (a grand total of four goals), including at home. That puts immense pressure on Luongo even if he's having a good night. And it's highly uncharacteristic of this team, which had the league's best offence all season. My faith in the Canucks' ability to win has been rooted in their possession of an extra gear - their ability to simply take over a game and overwhelm the opposition when they have to, rather akin to the Habs of the 1970s. We saw this, for instance, in the second OT against San Jose: Vancouver just turned it up and San Jose had no response. But in this series - maybe due to the loss of Hamhuis and an accumulation of injuries - that extra gear seems to have deserted them. I think they'll win just because they've been so strong at home. Still, the way the team's main strength has evaporated, you do have to wonder if, just maybe, the Bruins can pull it out.

I agree that Luongo is erratic and that injuries are finally starting to sink in for the Canucks after smooth sailing over the first three rounds. However, the idea that the team and Luongo cannot bounce back from this dismal result is implausible. They bounced back forcefully in Game 5 AND Boston has yet to win in Vancouver; for whatever reason that last change is huge in this series. The Bruins certainly have a decent shot, but the smart money picks the patterns of the series to continue forward into the deciding game. Canucks in 7 (just as EA Sports predicted )

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110603/mtl_habshub_habit_110602/20110603/?hub=MontrealSports

Cool. But I can't believe he'll choose us over Pittsburgh or Detroit. Always the bridesmaid...

The injury to Patches puts the Habs in a position of arguing that he hasn't proven anything and should be paid accordingly. But Gorges is a proven and valuable commodity. Another way to put it is: you don't think any team will pay Gorges more than 2.5 mil? Really? Of course they would. This is the NHL we're talking about.

I vehemently disagree with that!!!

I find Gorges at 2.5 to be a comical proposition. He'll command at least 3, I think.

Trizzak makes a valid point about keeping cheap players with upside. The list of 'headcases' leaving the team, though, is a little disappointing. Three of those guys have gone on to have a quality NHL careers and the other one (Kostitsyn) shows every sign of emerging as a bona fide top-6 forward. (I predicted trouble in the case of Ribs and Grabs; I was surprised by Hainsey's turnaround and Kostitsyn's, although the jury's still out on that one). Of course, it's too simple to assume that those guys would have played for us - it depends on whose roster spot they'd have had to take. Nevertheless, the track record of dumping supposed headcases for marginal return, rather than patiently enduring their growth pains, is a bit discouraging. (Incidentally, you can add Lapierre and Latendresse to the list of young players dealt away while still in development, for what turned out to be poor returns. So: a #1A and 2nd-line C, a top-6 power forward, a #4-5 offensive defenceman, a 6'2 agitator who comes up big in the playoffs, and a talented top-6 winger. Yikes). The difference between Pouliot and every other name on this list is that those guys tended to be punks: brash young bucks with an attitude of entitlement. This characteristic, of course, reflects inflated self-confidence, which, if properly channelled, can produce a winning mentality. I don't get the sense that Pouliot is this type of kid. Without pretending to have the faintest knowledge of the young man, he seems to me to be more of a Richer type...highly talented but prone to playing soft, then struggling as a result, then getting down on himself, then losing all self-confidence and basically being useless. (Yes, Richer was a better player; I'm just suggesting a similar cast of mind). I wonder if the Habs are enlightened enough, as an organization, to make counselling available to their players? Because I wouldn't fall down in shock to learn that Benny would benefit from something like that.

OK, so if we can scratch Dallas, Ottawa, Minny, and the Peg, what's left - ? Do we dare to hope that we DON'T get our coaches pillaged by the competition this time around?

Well, that's what I mean - he's a proven playoff performer, albeit mostly a regular season headache. I just find it odd that his great playoff was simply thrown overboard in the organization's assessment; we're not talking about Dawes here, we're talking about a guy who, when he is on, is one of the game's best agitators/4th-line C. I know he asked for a trade, but I always wonder about those situations: whether there was honest communication between team and player, whether the coach basically gave up on him, whatever. It does seem to represent the loss of another useful asset for zilch. That he was RFA rather makes it more irksome, given that we would have had him for at least another year on the cheap.

Lapierre seems to be playing great during the playoff drive. I know he was a disaster in Anaheim, but geez...couldn't we use a big, agitating C who brings his best game for the playoffs? I'm not trying to argue that losing him was a catastrophe (especially as he is slated to become a UFA anyway) but I dunno, in retrospect dumping him seems like odd asset management. Just sayin'.

It's an interesting question...Ballard was universally regarded as a top-4 defenceman prior to this season, including by the probable Cup champion Canucks. So what happened? Was he overrated all along? Is he damaged goods due to last year's serious injuries? Is he an 'Eastern Conference'-type player ill-equipped for the West (although personally I think the differences between Conferences are often exaggerated)? OR, is he a classic case of a player who has become artificially undervalued as a result of his being a poor fit for a given role/team environment/coaching staff? I'm not a scout. I don't know. He could be the second coming of Paul Mara, who inexplicably went from being a top-pairing offensive defenceman to being a fringe NHLer in the very prime of his career. But if he really is just a guy who, for whatever reason, hasn't fit in Vancouver, then - assuming we don't re-sign Wiz - I wouldn't mind the Habs sniffing around to see if they can scoop him up. Whether he is or isn't would be a question for your professional, crack pro scouting staff to work out.

Ballard can certainly be had from the Cup champs - Vigneault, somewhat unfairly at face value, seems to have it in for him and they're paying well over $4 mil for a benchwarmer. Whether they'd accept Spacek in return is a whole other question. But I'm pretty sure Ballard could slot in very effectively as top-4 defenceman for us. And didn't Martin coach him in Florida? Hmmm.

Yes, they're always that whiny. When I moved here, I was all set to take them onboard as my '(distant) second favourite' team. But I very quickly detected a real undertone of anger and bitterness in the fanbase - which I found weird, because most citites would have loved to have had that team. Then the Bertuzzi thing happened, and I could not believe all the fans rallying to that Neanderthal's side, acting as though HE was the victim, that Moore DESERVED it, that somehow the CANUCKS were the wronged party. Total disinterest in Moore's welfare, total hostility to a man who had just been robbed of his career. That, combined with the general corporate banality and dismal heritage of the franchise, put me off the team permanently. Remember, this is the city that booed Team Canada on home ice in 1972 and spurred Phil Esposito to make his great postgame interview/speech. What explains the panicky, whiny bitterness? As you say, Wamsley, teams like Buffalo and Toronto and Boston have had it at least as bad. Even Calgary had its second Cup arguably stolen from it by a waived goal, a catastrophe for which Vancouver has no parallel. I have two theories: 1. Vancouver is a city full of people who moved here from elsewhere, usually to make money and get ahead in life. It's what you might call an 'acquisitional' or 'aspirational' frontier city. These people do not relate to the language of heritage, love of place, rooted love for a city and (by extension) its team. While in the great hockey cities, the franchise is part of the community's story and in some way a reflection of its identity, in a city that has no story or identity that anyone cares about, the team is little more than a weird kind of consumer good : the fans demand gratification, and absent results they have nothing to fall back on. No history or identity: no 'working class city/team' culture like Buffalo; no 'long-battling, hard-fighting losers' like Boston; no '1967!!' and CBC hype machine like Toronto; no 'amazing heritage and flair' like Montreal. So, all they have is a sense of being ripped off somehow. 2. Maybe this is more plausible. Vancouver suffered 20 years of being a pretty rotten franchise, with zero star players and zero drafting, and one Cinderella run. OK. But then things got interesting. They drafted Linden and then Bure. They went to Game 7 of the 94 Finals and lost. The team then went crazy loading up on talent - Bure, Messier, Mogilny - and was supposed to dominate the league. Instead, they bombed: crashing, devastating, humiliating disappointment. They proceeded to recover and build another supposed powerhouse under Burke. The result? More crashing, devastating, humiliating disappointent. They then recovered and built a third supposed powerhouse under Gillis. The result? Crashing, devastating, humiliating defeats - twice - by Chicago and a near-death experience in Round One this season, along with an eerily similar two games in Boston. It could be that that weird combination of, first, extended sheer suckage and second, repeatedly inflated hopes followed by crashing disappointments (94, Messier, Burke, the Chicago serieses) in rapid succession, has led to a unique fan psychology. I can't think offhand of another city that's endured that particular pattern. Even Ottawa only had to endure ONE basic edition of the team being held out as contenders only to watch them fail; they didn't rebuild over and over with the same result. Imagine how we'd feel as Habs fans if we went through the neurotic psychodrama of 2009 over and over. Yikes.

I think Wamsley has called it. It's in Kostitsyn's interest to go short-term here. The worst case scenario is that he end sup remaining at the current salary bracket. More likely, he will have either a typical or a strong season, in which case he'll bag more in his UFA year, whether with us or with someone else. That, to me, is what habs29 overlooks in attacking the organization for not locking up RFAs to long-term deals. It's usually in the RFA's interest NOT to sign such a deal.

I will ba amazed if Vancouver starts Schneider. That team has made Luongo an absolute defining centrepiece. For them to start Schneider is to humiliate Luongo and invite all sorts of problems going forward, possibly even in the dressing room. The only way Schneider starts is if Luongo gets pulled again tonight IMHO.

Not a steal, but solid value for a useful role player.