CerebusClone

Also, Carbonneau still has a lot to prove before he should be considered a good coach. He completely lost control his first season (good thing he had a highly respected Bob Gainey behind him to put the train back on track over the summer), and despite the end-result I don't think the team played that well last season either as the team was carried by Kovalev, a high talent level, the powerplay, and some pretty good goaltending. Overall that team didn't look like a top team in the NHL. Carbonneau was also overly outcoached in the playoffs. Still this season I don't think we're playing as well as we should, however we're not that far, and the very high talent level, the team chemistry, and the strong work ethics easily made up for it so far. We've obviously been the superior team every game so far, we just need a few adjustments to keep it this way... and with so many injuries during training camp, it's also quite normal...

Actually Tampa Bay has been drawing great crowds ever since they've had a taste of great hockey, and as Vinny Lecavalier pointed out, minor hockey is developping at a great rate, and there are not currently not enough arenas to meet the demand. Will the organization (and the NHL) manage to build a strong fan base that will support the team when it struggles... that remains to be seen, but Tampa Bay is currently doing well as a hockey market, and there is definite potential. That's another reason I wouldn't give up yet on a market like Atlanta, who's had subpar hockey teams ever since the expansion. You can't develop new markets by offering a mediocre product...

I think Hamilton could be considered as that second team in the Toronto area, it really isn't that far.... while at the same time being far enough to allow the organization to establish a distinct identity rather that becoming the other Toronto team. I think Hamilton is a more feasible location for an NHL franchise than Winnipeg or Quebec. I don't know that much about the context in Winnipeg however Quebec could not survive financially when teams were spending 15 millions on players, nor could they sell out every game with an offensive powerhouse playing in a 15,000 seat arena. Also, unlike Minnesota who made a smart and successful move from Bloomington to St-Paul, the Nordiques were located pretty much where they should have been (although I'm sure there are some slighthly better locations, maybe closer to the bridges and the Ste-Foy area depending where the bigger fan base would be). I could see the Nordiques barely surviving in the NHL, especially with revenue sharing... but I don't know if they could prosper... and unlike large undeveloped US markets such as Las Vegas (they're large if you include tourists), there isn't really much potential for growth; even if things work out as best as could be expected, Quebec would still remain in small hockey market. For the NHL and its owners, that's not a very attractive project. Hope I'm wrong though, it would be nice to see a few more NHL franchises in cities such as Hamilton, Quebec, and Winnipeg... there could be some great rivalries such Montreal-Quebec-Ottawa, Toronto-Hamilton-Buffalo, or Calgary-Edmonton-Winnipeg-Vancouver.

I don't think O'Byrne is doing that bad at all, however people are dissecting every single move or decision he makes because he's still practically a rookie, and probably also because some would like to see a more offensive Yannick Weber in his place (regardless of the fact that Weber would make even more mistakes in the defensive zone). Another reason why people may think O'Byrne is disappointing is because they expect bone crushing hits every shift while in fact O'Byrne is a big kid adjusting to the NHL who plays a safer game for now because he doesn't want to be sent down for taking too many chances and getting caught out of position. Personally, I still think he's making good contact with opponents and playing a fairly sound positional game... the rest will come with experience and increased confidence.

Actually after learning on the job for a little while, Wayne Greztky is doing a much better job now. The team is starting to form an identity, the players work hard and together, their play is much more structured, and Gretzky is now getting his team to execute his game plans. Gretzky's coaching will actually be a huge factor for Phoenix this season. The team is loaded with very young offensive talent, and the Great One will need to find ways to limit the ups and downs, and to keep all these kids focused on playing as a team, and within the game plan for the best interest of the team.

It's not a question of downplaying it - the people who were involved and found guilty should be punished since they have broken the law - however it shouldn't come as a such as huge shocker. In every organization of that magnitude (public or private) where a lot of people have access to this much power, it is almost inevitable that some people, most of whom probably initially had the best intentions, will eventually either become corrupted or make bad decisions. All other party leaders were quick to jump on this opportunity to take down the Liberals... and why wouldn't they... but if we started digging, I'm sure we could find quite a bit of dirt within the NDP, the Bloc, and the Conservatives. It's sad but true... however despite an obvious trust issue, after trimming off most of those corrupt politicians the Liberal Party was probably still the one that best represented the values of Canadians, including quebeckers. Instead we now have the Conservatives on a leash, a party that many people including those who voted for them, don't really trust and suspect to have a hidden agenda.

I'm not a conservative, and didn't vote for them (which doesn't really matter because the Bloc gets ~40-45% of the votes in my riding so so with the rest of the votes split in three parties, they win every time... so I actually voted for the party I liked better), but in a way I wish they would have gotten the majority. Parliament will again be more or less stalled for a couple years until we once again need to vote. I like the French system better where they vote until there is a clear winner. As for Stephane Dion being a boob, that's the problem when most people vote for the leader instead of the party. Canadians haven't fallen in love with Conservative values all of a sudden, they elected them because of the negative images of the sponsorship scandal several years ago (like it's such a big surprise that a few politicians pocket/overspend some money and favor their "friends" when they award contracts) and because Dion doesn't look like a country leader; in truth the party leader is mostly a figure head and PR guy, and what really matters are the ideas of the party itself.

That's one way to see, and it makes sense. Another is to think that good business would be to make sure that both Lapierre and Chipchura develop properly - two good young players who could be here for several years - instead of wasting more time and resources on a guy like Dandeneault who's on the last year of his contract, hardly brings anything to the table besides the fact that he can fill-in as a below-average defenseman in case of injury, and probably has very little market-value even at his best (it's not like we'll get anything good for him by putting him on display). Regarless of when he makes the final jump, Chipchura will need to make a few adjustments like every other player does, and playing him today will get him there faster; if he had played the entire season and playoffs with the Canadiens last season, he would probably be a better player today. Also, with many decisions ahead for Bob Gainey, the strength of our first three offensive lines gives management a great opportunity to evaluate Chipchura at the NHL now, and thus be in a better position this summer to decide whether they should keep investing in him, and plan him into next year's roster... or just move on, make other plans, and possibly trade him. Knowledge is key to success in any business, and knowing as quickly as possible what Chipchura is capable of in the NHL will allow Gainey to make more informed decisions and less guessing; we know what Dandeneault brings, and it's very little, so I personally a good business opportunity being wasted in this case.

Still according to RDS, discussions between the Canadiens and the Wild have intensified in the last hours regarding Gaborik. The Wild seems to be interested in Higgins, Halak, and a 1st rounder. http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/261875.html

All I said is that Dandeneault was a beloved forth liner, I didn't even say (or meant) that it was by Gainey himself. I'm sure he couldn't care any less, but I'm also sure some people would look down on this, and Gainey is no doubt aware of that. This combined with his contract, and what BTH mentioned about not wanting to get rid of a player who accepted to come here when no one else did are no doubt factors in the fact that Dandeneault is still here today. This is what I call politics. And why did I mention he's a beloved francophone, simply because he has so many people defending him even though he's an overpaid veteran who hasn't delivered what was expected of him... players such as Dackell, Samsonov, Bonk, Sundstrom, Garth Murray or even future Hall-of-Famers like Gilmour and Linden have been heavily criticized for much less... I'm quite sure that most (not all) of the people who defend Dandeneault so much wouldn't if he were just some marginal Russian player who got a long-term nearly 2-million a year contract. Because of this, I do believe it's a lot easier for Bob Gainey to waive or sent down a player like Downey and Murray than a player like Dandeneault. I might be wrong, but I don't think it's far fetched.. just like people in Quebec can be tougher on higher-end francophone players, they are also more tolerant towards marginal francophone players who work hard (ex. Murray was a useless bum, but Begin was the hearth and soul of the Canadiens). And it's just a personal observation, certainly nothing racist. Anyways...

Oops... I forgot that your opinions are the truth... so we'll just leave it at because there really is no point. And just to clarify something on a end note, I didn’t actually mean to put Begin and Dandeneault together, I mentioned that I think that Chipchura and Lapierre deserve to play regularly, that Kostopoulos is currently playing great and deserves to stay, that Laraque fills a specific need, and so that in my opinion that only left Begin and Dandeneault for one role as a reserve player; what I guess I omitted to add is that I also think that Begin is a great asset on the penalty kill, and deserves to stay because of the good job he’s done for us over the last few years, so obviously I think Dandeneault is the odd-man out.

I agree, and he's not a player I would want on my team personally... but the Canucks can't be expected to score like this all season long...

I really hope as this could give Gainey the opportunity not to resign Alex Kovalev, and to better invest his money elsewhere. However, these kids need to step up, especially Andrei Kostsitsyn who would be more or less taking Kovalev's spot as the offensive leader. This is why I would like to see AK46 eventually be the game-breaker on his own line, perhaps with Koivu and Tanguay (Latendresse could play with Plekanec and Kovalev).

They took an assist away from Sergei to award it to Latendresse instead.

Gaborik is a very good scoring winger (when heatlhy), but I don't think you can build a team around him. Also, he's asking for franchise-player money (which he isn't), and unlike Thornton and Iginla, he's not willing to accept less money to ensure that he's on a competive team (at least not with the defensive-minded Wild). I would personally stay away from Gaborik... also, to come back to politics (I have to be very careful about what I say here), I strongly doubt that Bob Gainey would trade away Saku Koivu on the centennial year, especially not that for the forst time we have a contender, and that Koivu wasted his career with mediocre teams in Montreal; it would be a pretty low blow...

That's strange, I thought he had a pretty good training camp... at least statistically... and the Canucks are not actually loaded with offensive talent.

The Liberals are probably grooming Justin Trudeau in that role in future. He's already a well-known and popular figure, I'm sure he has strong connections who can help and advise him, and he's a good public speaker. He's actually also a pretty nice guy, I had the chance to briefly exchange a few words with him at the Beaver Club in Montreal (it's a restaurant... and not what it sounds like ). Until then... I honestly don't know all that much about politicians...

Francois Gagnon est probablement de loin le meilleur journaliste sportif du côté francophone et il est un grand atout maintenant pour RDS... malheureusement, je ne regarde presque jamais les entractes durant les matchs (parfois le Coach's Corner mais c'est rare) car je préfère faire autre chose (suivre les autres matchs sur le web, regarder une autre émission, baiser ma femme ...). J'aime bien Joel Bouchard également, il a du charisme, il s'exprime plutôt bien et il a des propos intéressants. Pour Bergeron... aucun commentaire... je ne veux pas être méchant...

Actually it isn't really, which is wthat I find too bad in his situation. He had to come to camp knowing he had no chance of earning neither a roster spot nor even a reserve player spot, regardless of how he played because he's on a two-way contract while the others aren't; it has nothing to do with the way he played or didn't play. I just feel that after 2 full seasons, if the Canadiens can't get him in the lineup, a player like Chipchura should somehow have the opportunity to play elsewhere (obviously factors such as long-term injuries should be considered). Unfortunately for him, unlike a guy like Grabovski, Chipchura will accept whatever the team tells him, won't request a trade, and won't make threaten the team to leave for Russia. So he's stuck, and what's worse is that he'll probably once again won't be challenged by Don Lever, and will be back into his defensive-only shutdown role (but that's another issue). After all, teams only have 2 years to decide whether they want to sign a junior player or not, this is a similar situation. If after two years a player is not getting opoortunities, perhaps he should have the right to leave, especially since the league imposes a 3-year entry level contract. Or, to give another example, perhaps a player should have to honor those 3 years, but become unresticted if he played less than 45-50 games in the NHL (although maybe IR days in the NHLshould also count). Anyways... it doens't matter and doesn't affect me... I just think it sucks for a guy to be unable to play in the NHL althouhg he's healthy and good enough... I gave Yann Danis as an example because I think he was good enough, but after a while the lack of opportunities made him lose the motivation required to play at such a high level, which affected his play; he went from great... to good... to just average... even perhaps being the best goalie at camp (I think that was 2 years ago) was a useless attempt to stay in the NHL (there's nothing more he could have done).

Playing with Robert Lang and Sergei Kostsitsyn isn't exactly a demotion, especially since I believe the Koivu has been getting the least ice-time so far (hardly 2-3 minutes more than the forth liners). Where Higgins mgith be demoted is on the powerplay unless Carbonneau plays politics ( ) and removes Latendresse even though he's been doing well.

When did I put down Latendresse? When I mentionned how great a player I think he can become, and that I thought he needed and deserved to play with Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay this season? All I said is that I felt that he had not improved as much I how would have liked - or as much as I think he would have if he had finished his junior career - and that despite his 16 goals and hits totals on paper, he was still too much of a non-factor on the ice. And it's not like I'm the only one thinking that... I've heard even highly respected analysts such as Dany Dube and Pierre McGuire mention pretty much the same thing on CKAC/Team990. When the hell did I mention that anglophones are inferior to francophones? When I mean "politics" is partly because of contracts, that Gainey may prefer keeping Dandeneault instead of admiting his mistake (like he did with Samsonov), and yes in part I think there is a chance that Bob Gainey wants to avoid making Dandeneault look bad, a veteran francophone who's been with the team for over three years, by waiving him or sending him down to the minors, especially on such a symbolic season. And it's not just about Chipchura, I mentioned I thought it was unfair for Steve Bégin to be a healthy scratch last game against Boston while Dandeneault remained in the lineup. It has nothing to do with the fact that he's a francophone, but simply about the fact that there's very little reason to explain why Mathieu Dandeneault is still with the Canadiens today considering his high salary, and that he's not good enough neither as a defenseman nor as a forward. I'm just tired of seing his useless bum in the lineup, sometimes even on the Koivu line while even a guy like Perezhogin who was working hard in an unfamilar defensive role couldn't get that opportunity. By the way both my parents are francophones, and I was raised in French at home...

I didn't say that Montoya is the hottest player not in the NHL, however he could most likely get his shot in the NHL with another team. All I said is that I woudn't be against a rule change so that players like Montoya, Chipchura, Schremp ... don't get stuck in the minors for so long, whatever the reason is (great depth, the team doesn't believe or like a certain player, too many contracts awarded to marginal players, etc). Clearly it wouldn't benefit teams, but that's not the point, it has more to with avoiding ruining careers like we may have with Yann Denis. If the Canadiens prefer to keep several veterans around for safety, it's their right... however a guy like Chipchura shouldn't have the pay the price forever... the Canadiens have had since 2004 and 2 full pro years to get him Chipchura and Stewart into their lineup, and if they feel they're still not good enough, then they should be able to offer their services elsewhere. If we just look at last season, it's not normal that players like Denis, Locke, and Milroy were still only RFAs, and if they had no rotten in the minors so long (again I'm not saying they deserved to play in Montreal), other teams may (or not) have been interested ig they had clered waivers a year before. However, after a while, most players will lose their motivation (which affects their production) and also become labeled as career minor-leaguers (which scares away a lot of teams whyen they finally go trhough waivers). I simply think it would be fair to both players and teams if a player become waiver eligible after 2 professional years (with a minimum age of 22 for players who make the jump at 18/19) and that the age for Group VI free agency was reduced to 24 or even 23. That way, an aging prospect like Chipchura could get his real shot in Montreal instead of being the easy target because of his contract or otherwise he could get a chance to play with another team before a becomes a suspect or career minor-leaguer. ps. When I said "politics", I didn't mean the crap about being a francophone or not... sending down a good young player because of his 2-way contract is part of it in my opinion.

Actually Chipchura produced pretty much just as much as Lapierre during his first two seasons with the Bulldogs: Lapierre: 2005-06: 36 points in 73 games 2006-07: 24 points in 37 games Chipchura: 2006-07: 39 points in 80 games 2007-08: 21 points in 39 games There is only a very slight advantage statistically for Lapierre, hardly the equivalent of one really good game during the season, however Lapierre was used in a more offensive role with the Bulldogs while Chipchura has been typecast as a defensive shutdowncenter even in Hamilton, playing mostly with grinders such as Stortini, Baines, and Stewart. Personally I think Chipchura has done enough to deserve a regular spot on the forth line, and he's outplayed during the camp everyone who has played on the forth line so far this season. Actually, both Lapierre and Chipchura deserve to play, Kostopoulos is proving once again to be a great asset, Laraque fills a specific need, so that only leaves one between Dandeneault and Begin to be a reserve player while the other one is waived, sent down, or traded. Unfortuantely, I doubt the organization will do this to a beloved francophone player on the 100th anniversary, so Chipchura will lose another year and 900K because of politics. Too bad for Chipchura that the free agency / waiver rules are not more strict for unwanted/undesired prospects. After two full profesional seasons, especially after completing their junior careers, young "undesired" players such as Kyle Chipchura, Rob Schremp, Al Montoya ... should get the opportunity to offer their services elsewhere if they're still not given a chance...

Maybe we should grant the Terminator his Canadian citizenship...

The Canadiens clearly demonstrated that they can be in a league of their own in the first period; it was almost embarassing for the Bruins. Carbonneau has some work to do strategy-wise, but this team clearly has the potential to be a dominant force that when "on", only another force like the Detroit Red Wings can stop.