The Chicoutimi Cucumber

I'm not saying he'll fail. I'm just saying it's an open question, and that the tone struck in that interview does not tend to inspire confidence. It's an interesting question whether Plekanec makes for a particularly convincing checking C. Trizzak suggests that, even if he flops as a second-line C, he remains our 'best PK forward' and a 'good two-way player.' OK; let's imagine that he's off the second line and is relegated to those roles. Is he in any way exceptional in these roles? Or is he of a piece with that big mass of anonymous NHL forwards who chug away precariously on the lower lines, many of them having OK careers for a few years before evaporating? If he's just a Glen Metropolit - who I like - then really, he is just another interchangeable part, certainly not part of the core of any winning club. (And please don't point to his 20 goal seasons as proof that he would be an elite third-line C. He got those playing in a first- and second-line role. It doesn't follow that he would score 20 if used purely in a checking role.) Compare Pleks to Lapierre. Who would you prefer as your main checking C? I'll bet most would say Lapierre, and even HE isn't widely considered 'elite' in that role, yet. This illustrates the weakness of Pleks' position as a pure 'checker.' So I think the choice for Plekanec, at least if he wants to be part of a GOOD rather than crapola team that's just happy to dress warm bodies, or else out of the NHL, is to be a 2nd line C. Failing that, he reverts to a 4th-line C, NOT the third-line guy, which is Lapierre's role; and that puts him right on the bubble. He doesn't have the wiggle room some of you think, in my opinion.

Originally, I saw him as a Guy Carbonneau type - not a particularly big or physical checker, but one who relied on his superior intelligence to get it done in a semi-shutdown role. Nowadays, Jan Bulis is the parallel that worries me. Granted, Pleks has better offensive upside, but Bulis was another guy who had many people sold that he could mature into a very useful all-around top-6 player. Their games seem practically identical (the difference being that Bulis was convinced he was being 'kept down' by Gainey and wanted more responsibility - which he proceded to squander in Vancouver - while Pleks seems to recoil from that same responsibility). Bulis is out of the league now, and I think there's maybe a 30% chance the same could happen to Plekanec. A medium-sized, non-physical player without elite offensive skills who is also erratic and prone to crises of confidence does not exactly recommend itself to NHL GMs. That's also why I don't think he'll be too credible in the long run as a checking centreman - that role takes physical courage, first of all, and typically teams like a more robust type in that office. More may be at stake in Plek's 'manning up' than he realizes. The guy is turning 27, he's running out of rope.

If gainey has sized him up in the way saskhab does, then it's practically guaranteed.

I hate to be uncharitable, but the mentality you are describing is that of a loser. Maybe he needs a trade to some BS market where nobody cares but his teammates...although even that might be too much pressure for our shrinking violet. 'Oh dear...I don't want to have to play with Mike Cammalleri...that's too much pressure!!!' Come ON. But sadly, I suspect you're completely right.

Wow, my impression of Price is different from that of most people. I see a slow-burning competitor who is also just a kid with a lot to learn. Unlike most people, I liked the fact that he flipped off the ignorant boo-birds at the Bell Centre - that showed cojones to me; take a wanker like Plekanec, he'd have just wilted and whimpered his way home. I also liked his subsequent press conference. Where most saw a 'shell-shocked' kid I saw contained and appropriate anger. That he partied too much last season doesn't mean he's a cocky punk necessarily, it just means he's still figuring out exactly how to be a pro (and considering that he was hanging with 'leaders' like Higgins and Komisarek, what do you expect?). Price's eccentricities, his surreal calmness and his obsession with country music, etc., are fitting for a goalie (no one ever thought Patrick Roy or Ken Dryden were normal guys). I get the sense of a much more centred human being that Theodore, although I will confess that I didn't see Theo's collapse coming and still rate it as one of the greater mysteries in Habs' history. In short, Price is Price, Theo was Theo, and in any case we WANT larger-than-life characters on our team, because that's what it takes to win. Whether Carey will put it all together and become the winner we want is an open question, but he's got as good a chance to do it as anyone.

Oh, dear. It looks as though Pleks is feeling anxious about the fact that he's got a one-year deal, believes the team will trade him if he struggles, feels that he is 'on probation,' and frets that he has to try to put the pressure out of his mind: http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com/2009/08/poor-pleky.html Judas priest, he gets a nice raise to $2.75 mil but is still a ball of anxiety and insecurity. I suppose he could channel all of this into a furiously productive season, but come on - the evidence so far is that Pleks wilts whenever his confidence falters, which it does often. Perhaps I'm making too much out of it. But this does not bode well for his performance in 2009-10 if you ask me. The guy's a neurotic headcase.

As for Prospal...well, wingers are a bit of an issue with this lineup, as BTH has observed. It's true that we're short one proven top-6 winger. Prospal doesn't seem to be that guy at this stage of his career, but then again signing him could be a 'depth' move, to facilitate an effective platoon of wingers for the top-6. (When Dags or whoever falters, Prospal can step in, etc.). He's also one season removed from a nearly PPG-performance in the playoffs with the Flyers. And - I don't know too much about Prospal - has he done any time at C? If so, that would be a relevant calculation for Gainey as well. I doubt he'd be a bad pick up. But obviously he won't set the world aflame either.

That second line looks really, really sketchy to me. I don't want my team entering a crucial season like that, especially given the importance of Gomez in particular getting off to a fast start (otherwise, the boo-birds are apt to get on his ass, because he makes a lot of money). Gomez and Gionta will be most effective if backed by solid secondary scoring. Therefore you're better off putting Cammalleri on Line 2 just to give Plekanec a proven scorer to work with - and maybe to give A. Kostitsyn quite a different role model from the neurotic Russian he's been observing for the last two seasons. Put Lats on the first line and S. Kostitsyn on the third, would be my thinking. Also, Metropolit has to have the edge over Chipchura. Metropolit is a good hockey player; Chips will have his work cut out for him to make the cut, at least as a C (he might do better as a winger for now). I really hope Ryan O'Bryne takes some steps forward this year. He became the childish fan's whipping boy last year, but we've seen him make some solid outlet passes, his size is incredible, and he looked pretty decent against the Prunes in the playoffs. Even if he cap top out as a 5th defenceman, he would be a useful NHLer. Perhaps Gill can offer a better mentor than Hamrlik.

The only thing is, Sergei looked like a bona-fide, potential NHL all-star the season before. And that is more than any of our young players (except his brother, and of course) can ever claim to have done. For that reason, tossing him on the scrap-pile because of last season`s disasters seems premature to say the least. His challenge is to GROW UP, show up prepared, work hard every damned day and every damned shift, and stop f**king around with mobsters and assorted scumbags. But in terms of sheer talent, while none of these guys have proven much, he`s proven way more than Dags, who followed a more typical pattern of looking fab for 15 games and then evaporating (c.f. Perezhogin, Gilbert Dionne, and about a million others).

Great one! I'd also ask him: 1. what were the most important things he learned last year. Might yield some good insight into that elusive transition from rookie to NHL regular - or at least, some insight into how his head works. 2. Also: how did Gainey and Carbo differ as coaches? Bit of a hot potato question for a kid, but if he chooses to answer honestly it could be very interesting.

I think your question about corporate boxes is the key. And given that Quebec is a (provincial) government town it has to be considered an open question whether it has the corporate capacity to fund an NHL team.

Interesting, that. If you combine this with Jacques Martin's decamping from a GM position (!) to that of a mere head coach, you can posit a theme here: the Montreal Canadiens are now once again one of the league's true prestige organizations. People would rather accept a 'worse' position in Montreal than a high-end one in a dismal franchise like Florida or the Islanders. Add that to our desirability to this summer's UFAs, and there's a lot of recent evidence that Bob Gainey has presided over the restoration of the Montreal Canadiens to their rightful place among the league's elite franchises. What remains, of course, is a certain elusive Stanley Cup... :hlogo:

Lats is slow, no question. He is also nearly impossible to dislodge from the puck and has shown moments of awesome ability to dominate down low in the offensive end. Speed is hardly everything, and if Lats can read the play and anticipate correctly, he is a credible candidate to grow into a legitimate top-6 power forward IMHO. I question whether he's such a defensive liability, too - he and Laps combined to make a highly effective third line, after all; it's an error to think Laps did it all himself. Still, your concerns are valid. I'm not saying he is a LOCK to be effective in the top-6, just that it seems like a reasonable move, at this stage, to give him that opportunity. 16 goals without PP time is hardly anything to sneeze at; using an admittedly crude arithmetic, we're probably looking at at least a 25-goal man IF he can keep up with the pace on the top-6. Plus he'd add the size we need up front. Definitely worth a shot, I think.

Excellent post. Myself, I would try Latendresse on the top-2 lines. I don't believe this would qualify as 'rushing'- although young, Gui has been paying his dues on the lower lines for what, three years now? Yes, this would mean sacrificing his excellent chemistry with Lapierre, but it would allow a guy like Pacioretty to learn the game properly and give us a sustained look at Latendresse's offensive upside. That'd be my 'go-to' position on the wings. After 20 games, re-assess. I hear you on rushing players, but I also think that in a cap system you just don't have the luxury of playing costly vets at every position. Lats, unlike the three guys you mention, is a young player with some experience who may reasonably be asked to take another step forward this year. Of course, all of this may mean some awkward jigging with positions (LW, RW, etc.) so I may just be blowing smoke. If so, I'd rather see us try to get an inexpensive short-term fill-in for the missing slot rather than some bigger name that will cost us assets - the idea being just to plug the hole until one of our young players is ready to step up.

Markov-Mara Spacek-Gorges Gorges as #4? It was dodgy last season and presumably would be just as dodgy this season. Weber as #4? Hoo boy, that's a collossal risk to take on a totally unproven kid. Gill as #4? Unwise at his age, and he wasn't signed for that. Compare these scenarios to Markov-Mara Spacek-Hamrlik Looks a TON better to me. Hammer is better than Gorges straight up, and this alignment also gives us depth, such that in case of injuries Gorges, who CAN function well as a 4th D-man for limited periods of time, can step into the breach should one of the top-4 go down. The last thing we need is another shaky defensive corps in front of Price. Yes, he's overpaid. But unless I have a replacement in mind who isn't already on the club (Marc-Andre Bergeron is the only thing I can see out there who is both cheap and credible, but he's notoriously soft and erratic in his own end), I don't trade Hammer.

Understandable...but losing Hammer amounts to a major change in the defence corps and leaves a gaping hole in the top-4. Aren't you as sick as I am of the Habs 'needing a fourth defenceman'? Given that a Pleks replacement will likely be much more expensive AND involve sacrificing other major roster players (or prospects), I personally would rather take a chance on Pleks for now. Only if he is still a disaster by, say, December, do I really start scouring the league for a replacement.

I can certainly understand Gainey sniffing around to see if he can make the team better. But I am the only one who rather likes the team we've got? Nice mix of talented vets and young players with something to prove (Kostitsyns, Pleks, Price). Bob has already fire-bombed the roster to an extent almost unprecedented in NHL history. Perhaps prudence is now the best path. Let's see how the kids flourish under Martin's tutleage before shipping them out of town, no?

http://careyprice.com/blog/ Nothing there yet except adoring fans...but I like this. I think (hope?) it could be one way emerging way of deepening Price's attachment to Montreal and its fans over time. For sure, if he's booed some night and comes on his blog to find hundrerds of supportive messages, that will count for something. Or maybe I'm deluding myself. I just fret about players leaving here because of all the B.S.. Anyway, some of you might want to bookmark this if you haven't yet.

He'd be a good fit in Vancouver. They have cap room and they still need some actual offensive talent on the second line. Not sure what Gillis is waiting for...re-signing the Sedins while losing Ohlund hardly qualifies as an off-season home run.

It's a mystery. Likely it's as simple as this: his contract demands are too high. Don't worry, he'll land someplace. (I suppose it's *possible* that he's a problem in the dressing room or for coaches and that word has gotten around. Certainly, if Gainey is quietly letting it be known the guy is a problem, then following on Keenan's blacklisting that would seriously dent his marketability. But I haven't heard anything to this effect, so presumably it's a question of cap fit and salary). Could also be that he's a playmaker and teams are more interested in goal scorers. That, after all, is why we went after Cammaelleri instead of him - his game became redundant after Gomez was acquired.

I too love the new 'Terminator' edition of Bob Gainey. We are really seeing the man who won five Cups and MEANS BUSINESS. F*ck the rebuild, it's time to PRODUCE. If you're in decline and you failed to produce, you're out. You too, Patrice. I'm sure Brisebois will come around to the more statsemanlike stance he's generally held vis-a-vis les canadiens. He just needs to learn that nobody else wants him either. :hlogo:

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/279055.html Looks like a bit of a sad end to a (mostly) fine NHL career for Breezer. I may be wrong, but I can't see anyone picking him up. The sad part is that he still wants to play and is still training. Always a shame to see a good player unable to leave on his own terms; he'll go to his grave thinking he had a few more years left in the tank... You can also detect a bit of bitterness in this interview, accurately observing that he's not in the Habs' plans, noting that Kovalev loved playing here, and (here comes the knife) 'observing' that only a couple of Québécois remain on the club. Sooner or later, grumpy departing francophones tend to pull out that old chestnut. He's in denial stage. If he ever gets to acceptance, what the hell, maybe he'll grow into the role of Retired Alumnus.

Kovalev WILL kill the Habs in at least one game this season. I doubt that it will be more than once - having proved his point he'll likely revert back to indifferent play - but it's 100% guaranteed to happen. The only one who could stop it would be Price robbing him on one of those patented from-the-slot howitzers of his. That hardly means that we should have kept him, though. I'd have liked to keep him, but I'm more than happy with the new team for all the reasons Chris explains (although I think it's completely unfair to accuse Koivu for one of playing small). Komisarek could go either way. Peronally I think he will give TO their money's worth. But he's not the type to turn a game single-handedly, so he'll only kill us if he crushes a key player and injures him...which I can't recall seeing him do yet. Indeed, I suspect he won't be able to catch our front-line guys; they're just as likely to intimidate him with their speed as he is with his size. Higgins is a dark horse to hurt us. Remember how he always got so hepped up for games against the Islanders and scored by the bucketful? We want to watch that he doesn't do that to les Canadiens. Nothing's more annoying than a so-so player who suddenly becomes an all-star when he plays against you - c.f. Stephane Richer, my candidate for Dumbest habs Ever, who after about 1990 ONLY looked really good when playing against us. Sure hope Higgins won't do that. Koivu won't kill us, partly because he doesn't strike me as the vengful type, and partly because he's so far away. Hopefully his first game back in Montreal will be more in the way of a love-fest. Then again, he could come back to haunt us when we meet him again in the Stanley Cup Finals

The under-discussed fact is that Bob Gainey ruled the general-managerial roost this particular UFA season. Cammalleri is an all-star calibre young winger that any team in its right mind would be happy to add. Spacek, Gill, Moen and Mara are all quality additions, especially the former. Gionta is likely overpaid, but is definitely a reasonable gamble given his chemistry with Gomez. All of these guys, but especially Cammalleri, would have been in demand by rival squads. The Montreal Canadiens are no longer the sad-sack of the UFA market; the dam has burst, and Gainey has finally proven that quality players DO want to play in Montreal. We can agree or disagree with his moves, but the most significant message of this off-season has been that the Habs now play with the UFA big boys (and part of the reason seems to be Gomez - which raises the possibility that, strange as it may sound, for some reason UFAs had no particular interest in playing for a team built around Koivu).

You're right. In Vancouver I have to listen to doofuses complaining night and day that the Sedin twins aren't 'front-line players.' Their PPG production is not enough. When people say this, what they really mean are 'superstars,' or 'franchise players.' It strikes me that the 1977 Habs lacked a 'real #1 C' (by these standards) as well. How did they do? So I'm with ya. We can't just give up on ALL our young players, any time they have a poor season. Gainey has assembled a highly talented core of small-but-deadly players and proven winners, supplemented by young guys who, a mere two years ago, looked like can't miss kids (the Kostitsyns, Price, Plekanec). My inclination is to want to watch this incredibly transformed team for a while rather that blow up the remaining hold-overs.