REV-G
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Posts posted by REV-G
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We finished first in our division and other than the last few weeks of the season we played very well, very competitive and were fun to watch. I think that at the place where the NHL is right now we are a very good regular season team but are lacking some size and grit that will take us further into the playoffs.
MB said something like this recently: "There are players who will get you into the playoffs and there are players who will get you through the playoffs". I think we are lacking a few players who will get us through the playoffs. Personally I noticed that in the Ottawa series. They were a bit bigger and tougher and at that time of the season, for me, that was the difference.
So I think your main point is true. We are not a bad team. I'm glad MB isn't trying to do it all this summer. I believe he's adding pieces that will get us through the next two years until some our drafted guys are ready to step in.
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Is there any way Pittsburg chooses to move Kris Letang?? While we're waiting for the fun times this weekend to arrive someone posted that Pittsburg may be looking at moving Kris Letang. Do you think there is any truth to this at all? If there is could we ever afford him?? Could he be a replacement for Markov?
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I read today that is it looking like the Philadelphia Flyers may be using one of their buyouts to remove Danny Briere's salary from their books in order to get under the cap. If that happens would he be an automatic good fit for us?
His numbers this year and last have declined. This year he had 6 goals and 10 assists and was also -13. If I remember he turned us down once before and went elsewhere.
So now I'm wondering with all our young guys coming up would he be a good fit for us and would he be interested in coming to Montreal.
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dion was that good in cowtown because his partner was a younger "at the time" former 1st rounder who was always under appreciated....... Roman Hammmerlik. he logged some serious minutes in MTL with markov out. i just wonder how this team would be shaped if markov was healthy last year. we probably still have spacek and cammy and...... the goat!
also, jose theo's demise came after he got off the juice!
I'm curious. What do you mean by Theodore being on "the juice"??
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I couldn't help but compare a bit and wonder about a question we can never answer. I thought we were going to have Bob Hartley as our coach last summer. But I also liked MT's track record and having been fired in Montreal and Pittsburgh I thought he almost by default would have matured and grown both as a person and coach. In hindsight, yes I know about the 20/20 vision thing, I do not believe Hartley or Mark Crawford would have done as well as MT has. Whether it was luck or MB really felt that MT would do a great job, this has really come together for us well. His system is working, the players have bought in, the young guys have been given a chance, and the new guys have all added to our team in a tangible way. And from my view of things the players all seem to respect him. So I agree this could be his best year, but it could also be the beginning of quite a few years of a really good team, both on the ice and off.
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In the Hearts of Men, you're absolutely right about Plekanec. I think many of us have taken him for granted. He is absolutely a key piece of the puzzle for us. The reason I didn't include him in the original thread is because he is not a surprise, he just keeps on being consistent and solid.
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I know it's still a bit early since the beginning of the season but with such a shortened season I think it's time to evaluate and see what we like and what we don't.
What is working well:
1. GM Bergevin and his management team. I really like and feel confident in how they are working.
I like how Bergevin handled the Subban situation. I read Bergevin himself was the one who sold PK on the deal.
I like how Bergevin didn't try to remake the team right at the start but added a few pieces for toughness and then
seemingly has allowed the rest to play and maybe even make up for last year with a fresh start so he can see how
everyone is doing in a more stable environment than last year.
2. Players who have exceeded expectations or have risen to the occassion.
Andre Markov: What an improvement he has made to our team in so many ways. It's obvious how much we missed him.
Rene Bourque: he seems inspired, enjoying playing, and he's trying. Maybe he was injured but I didn't see any of these
happening last year.
The kids: Galchenuk and Gallagher. For me they have exceeded expectations. It's fun to watch them growing and
gaining confidence and it seems like everyone is rooting for them, wanting and pushing them to do well.
Price: He seems so confident, solid, well positioned and positionally so good. Around the league I've heard a number
of analysts picking Price as the first or second goalie in line for the Olympics next year.
3. The coach: From the beginning I thought Therrien would do at least a good job and maybe even a really good job. I like
his sysytem of aggressive forecheck, attacking and supporting one another. They seem to be using their
speed much more effective this year and it is definitely making it difficult for other teams.
I like that he is making players accountable. I like White but I think that has been a good example of what
happens if you don't put the team first and it shows what Therrien wants.
The overall team unity and buy-in: it seems to me they are all committed, are working together and are
having fun together. For me that spells great team chemistry.
So for me out team is better than what I expected. I find them much more fun to watch this year and with the young guys and what we have drafted and what we'll gte this year in the draft I think each year is only going to get better. So a very bright future ahead!!
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I predict that many will be very pleased at how well the team plays and how successful we end up being.
I would like to humbly point out that about 7 months after making the above bold prediction things seem to be going very well and I personally really like the system MT has implemented. So far I find them a lot of fun to watch...especially with our "rooks"!!
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I read that CJAD staffer/writer Chantel Desjardins reported that PK has told his agent to get a quick settlement to a new contact. This is good news if the report is accurate. Someone has to be willing to move if this is going to be resolved and gets PK signed with us. Does anyone know who Chantel is and if she is a good credible source?
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Good point, Commandant.
I really am all over the place on this one. Will being prematurely rewarded stunt PK's development? Will doing so create a dangerous RFA precedent for the organization? Will it give MB a rep as a pushover, making future negotiations harder? Conversely, do we risk losing PK as a UFA if we make a stand insisting on a 'bridge' deal? Isn't PK's performance worth something in the domain of $5 mil (adjusting for Quebec taxes) and don't we want to treat guys fairly? Wouldn't it be nice to have PK locked up, even if it's a slight 'overpay' based on current results? Heck, don't we want to see PK on the ice this year? - and how does losing a whole year, potentially, affect his development??
Beats the heck out of me. Times like this, I'm glad I'm not making the call.
I don't know how great the impact will be on our cap for next year with it being reduced so much, but what Commandment pointed out about comparrisons between PK, Price and Patches is very fair. It concerns me when I hear PK's agent say at this point in the season that they are not close. PK needs to be on the ice learning the new system and being a part of the team. Like the CBA, they must find a way to get this done and get PK back on the ice with his team. WIth all the talent we have coming up PK, for me, is a very key component on the back end and should be for years to come. I believe we are at a major transition time, this year and next, and the core of our team going forward needs to have PK locked up for many years. Is there a chance, a risk, that if we overpay a bit or give him a longer contracdt than we have some of the other guys, that PK will fall back and struggle? I don't so for one minute. WIth him, what you see is what you get. I think this will be his level of play for years to come, with a higher level of maturity and control. For me it will only get better. Get hims signed now!!
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I read in an article this morning by Eric Engels that Scott Gomez is playing on a team in the ECHL. Is that true? If it is I hadn't heard anything about that. Question: why the ECHL and not the AHL??
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I have been a fan of the Montreal Canadiens since I was old enough to watch and understand it. Probably for over 50 years. I've watched Jean Beliveau and all the great teams and players ever since and have been at many games at the old Forum [even had standing room tickets many times as a young teenager]. I was born and raised in Montreal but have lived in Ontario for the past 30 years. I am passionate about our Canadiens, and have subscribed to RDS in Ontario just so I can watch them. But I have never been so fed up and frustrated with the NHL owners and players as I am right now!!
They waited too long to even begin to talk, and then went weeks without meeting, then they met for a week, then nothing and now Bettman suggests they take a two week break!! Are they out of their minds! I think fans need to begin to speak up and let everyone involved in this hear and understand how frustrated and angry we are.
The people I feel badly for are first the thousands of people who work at the NHL arena's, and the surrounding restaurants and parking lots etc., and certainly all the fans. I don't feel badly for the owners at all, or the superstars, but I do feel badly for the middle of the pack on down type of players who, while they have salaries much much higher than any of us are likely legitimately starting to feel some financial pain.
But in my own mind, I am actually at the point where I am so fed up with Gary Bettman and the owners locking the players out every 6 years or so that I am getting to the point, not there yet, but I am getting close to hoping that the season is cancelled again because my frustration with them all is beinning to make me not care if they play again this year. Maybe then some heads will roll and some people in leadership will be replaced and a new approach to negotiating and working with the players in a reasonable way can maybe be found and introduced. Obviously this current approach is not working and maybe even beginning to make people in other sports laugh at how poorly the NHL handles these things.
I really do feel badly for those outside the NHL who earn their living off of the games and the league. But enough is enough. If Bettman and Fehr and their teams can't get the job done, if they don't care about the fans who pay their salaries, if they don't care enough about the game and league, and if they don't care enough about all the people they are financially hurting, then maybe the game should be put on hold and let some major changes be made. We need some people who care enough to put their own desires and ego's aside and start thinking about other people and get the job done!! That's how I feel and what I think needs to happen!
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Interesting, today Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette wrote an article suggesting the same thing. He said, ...maybe it's time for us to take our game back and start a new league!! Maybe if enough people started kicking this idea around some wealthy people would start to think about it and maybe some people in charge right now would start to get a little nervous.
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Ok, so isn't this absolutely insane?? And you've got to ask, is this what we're going to face every 5-6 years if we follow the NHL? I read an artice earlier today [Toronto Star-sports section] and the writer asked the question, is it time for a group of wealthy businessmen to start another pro hockey league?
The reason I've picked up on his question and am rewriting it here is because I think there are many many true hockey fans who right now, and it's difficlut to find the right words here that express everyone's frustration, are so fed up and frustrated with these greedy, uncaring owners that many have been brought to the point of asking, is there anything we can do to get rid of them because it is obvious they are just thinking of themselves and no one else. And perhaps the only way to get rid of them is to start a new league, in places like Quebec city and Hamilton, and start like the WHA did many years ago, only better.
If course there are negatives that go along with this idea. It would dilute the talent for sure. Current teams would see some loss of players jumping to the new league. And I'm sure there are numerous other negatives and problems.
But would it be any worse than having to deal with what we have to deal with right now? Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I read that last year the NHL brought in 83% of the NBA's revenue. But now they;ve lost that momentum and they will slide further away again. There have been opportunities for the NHL to move forward and these owners seem to continually shoot themselves in the foot. We lose a year of hockey in the last lockout, the owners get a salary cap and an instant 24% salary rollback for a deal that they again have locked the players out for because they say it's not fair. And coming into this lockout they couldn't sign players fast enough to contracts worth close to $100 million dollars. Insane or what?
At the beginning of this lockout by the owners I don't think I favoured a side, owners or players. But I'm beginning to ask what I would do if I was in the players shoes. In the last CBA agreement the players gave in and gave up a lot. The owners were so happy and privately told people how great a victory they had won. And the players had to live with it. But it turned out it wasn't so bad after all for the players. They did much better than they expected.
So now at the expiration of that CBA the owners want another immediate salary rollback and more salary cuts. If you're a player would you just give in or would you say, enough is enough, this will never end. So now, I am on the players side and personally, mainly because of all the arrogance and greed, I would support a new league and would look forward to seeing what they could do. Now, I wonder if this idea will get traction??
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Depending upon how these CBA negotiations go it may be time for the NHL to find a new commissioner. I read a report the other day that stated that Bettman's legacy may be that he was the one who led the NHL into 3 lockouts.
His approach seems to be, give me what I want or we lock you out. Case closed. The NHL PA removed their leader after the last mess and it may be time for the NHL to do the same. Bettman seems to be very heavy handed and I don't think that is the approach that wil be successful. At any public event he seems to be very unpopular with the fans, and I'm sure he has very few fans among the players or the media.
He doesn't seem to understand that there is another way to move forward. That may be his undoing.
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Our free agent signings are apparently done for the season.
What makes you say that?
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The Petteri Nokelainen signing is a surprise. I wonder if he was signed because there wasn't much available on the market and I believe he was our top face off man?
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Eklund just wrote that he has heard and is confident Montreal is not targetting Teravanein.
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Is this a stretch for a GDT? Probably but it's been a while since we've had one... The opening round of the draft goes tonight at 7 PM EST with the Habs selecting third. Stephane Leroux from RDS is speculating that Teravainen is who the Habs have their eye on.
Use this thread to discuss the picks plus any rumours that pop up throughout the day.
At 5' 11" and 165 pounds isn't that a bit small for us to be drafting when we desperately need to get bigger?? That would be a surprise to me if they went that route. But I'm assuming that Leroux must have heard something from an inside source for him to say that.
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Grigo never felt like the type of forward Timmins typically likes. With all the questions now I dont think we'll touch him with a 20 foot pole at 3.
All bets are off if he falls to 15 and we go after a second pick, but not at 3
You said something that I have been wondering about. Whoever we take at # 3, do you think if Grigorenko had not yet been selected by say the 15th or 17th pick, would we consider packaging our two 2nd round picks and try to swap with another team for their first [if it's after the 15th picks or so] and try to get Grigs?? What do you think? Would we do it and would another team think that would be a worthwhile trade down??
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It's amazing how the perception of how this draft will unfold seems to change from day to day. As I've read over numerous mock drafts the majority seem to have Nail as #1, but some don't. And after that there does not seem to be much concensus at all. The top 5 picks seem to be interchangable depending on who you are reading.
It wasn't that long ago, 2 weeks, that Gregorenko [sp??] from the Remparts was a small possibility to go #1 but most likely 2nd, maybe 3d. Now TSN has him down in the mid teens and others have him well out of the top 10.
This is where guys who have talent for being able to pick the pretenders from the contenders can make or break a draft for a team. When I read over our first round picks during the Houle years it is embaressing. But that obviously had more to do with who Houle had put in place in the scouting department.
FInally, I wonder if Dudley will be used behind the scenes and if he will/can be used at all this week in deciding what the order of our picks will be?
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Today the report is that Daigneault is saying he doesn't think the Rangers have even been asked by the Canadiens for permission to speak to him and he is saying that he has had no contact with Bergevin or Therrien at all. This could be another Bob Harley is about to sign with Montreal scenario. Maybe there's no truth to it, simply a rumour and no more.
Let's hope the report that Robinson has been promised an interview is true.
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I would love for us to get Robinson, but this week I emailed an insider and he responded saying he didn't think Robinson was particularly interested in leaving NJ. He said he believed the comments made by Robinson's agent about Larry wanting to come to Montreal might have been because there was some concern Robinson wasn't going to be offered a contract extension and the agent's comments might have been a ploy to something done.
Even still, I believe we need a strong coach for the defensemen and Robinson would be a great fit.
If it's not Robinson, I wonder who else could fit that coaching position for us?
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I predict that many will be very pleased at how well the team plays and how successful we end up being.
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Jagr to Habs talk
in Habs & Hockey Talk
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These kind of short term acquisitions are simply to help us improve a bit and get us over the next year or so until our drafted players can develop and be ready to step in. I really believe that this is MB plan. So I don't think his plan should be a cause for concern. Our future is bright and heading in the right direction.