REV-G

Based on this disappointing past year, new ownership, Gainey making wholesale coaching changes and then announcing he would not be dealing with any of his UFA's until after the draft it seems like Bob has shifted into an aggresive change approach. So I was thinking about a few years ago when, like this year, there were also two top prospects and people were debating who would go #1. I believe the two were Jason Spezza and Ilya Kovalchuk. I am also pretty sure that Gainey put a package together to Atlanta in an attempt to get their first pick and take Kovalchuk. He wasn't interested in offering anything for Ottawa's pick, Spezza, but he was interested in Atlanta's. So I'm wondering why no one has suggested or talked about whether we could land Tavares. There are some GM's, Brian Burke for one, who lets the whole world know that he would like to get Tavares. We all know that would never be Bob's approach. If he was interested in getting Tavares he would tell no one but would quietly go about trying to make that deal. We have more assets and more to offer than say, Toronto. And after Gainey's blast to Tampa's GM Lawson about leaking names regarding a trade, I don't think another GM would let it be known that Gainey was interested in trading for one of their picks or players. I think Bob knows that his unsuccessful attempts at landing top UFA's over the past few years and the way his team played this year means that he needs to do somethings now to turn this ship around and start making significant improvements and heading in the right direction. There could probably be no bigger splash than landing Tavares. I wonder if that's who Bob could be targetting??

I am beginning to wonder of Bob has been quietly working on a deal that would bring someone unexpected, like a Kovalchuk, Thornton or Marleau. I have a feeling we're going to be surprised!

For those who read the Montreal Gazette on-line, is it just me or has anyone else noticed how bad the Gazette sports page has become? I can't believe how far they have let it slide. They leave the same articles up for weeks, sometimes it seems like months! I think they left the "Montreal would have preferred Washington in the play-offs" article up for a month, along with "The new word is fired", or something like that. I look thru it and each day most of the articles were there the day, or days, or even weeks before! Is it that they have too much space to fill? Do they not have enough writers? Is their web site too big for them? It seems like it's rare when there's 2 or 3 new articles to read. I am at the point where I skip over most of it and go the Toronto Star. The Star has a much better site where most of the articles are new that day. Don't they see it themselves?? I wonder who has the final say over their sports page?

That's very good...and funny!

I just read Eklund's latest blog and the question I have is, how can he say that NJ is pushing hard for Komisarek, when he is still under contract to Montreal and the season for UFA's is still weeks away? How can Eklund begin to predict that certain teams are moving hard or pushing hard for a certain player when there is not a single thing these teams can do right now except discuss among their own management team which players they would like to target if they're still available July 1st. Those comments he wrote in his blog do not make any sense to me at all. He might say that a certain player would fit well with another team...but how can he report that teams are "pushing hard" or "leading the way" for a certain player. It seems ridiculous to me!

There's been discussion about who our new head coach will be, but I wonder what will happen to our old coach, Guy Carbonneau? I believe he still is under contract to Montreal for at least another year, if not two. I think what happens to him is also dependant upon what his relationship with Bob Gainey is after being fired. Are they still friends, and are they talking? I think there are a number of things that could happen to Carnonneau, but I wonder which one will happen: 1. Could he be offered another position within the organization? Possible, depending on his current relationship with management. 2. Would Gainey ever bring him back as head coach after firing him? Likely not! 3. Would Gainey give another team permission to talk with Carbonneau about a position with another team? Most likely. 4. If the Canadiens decide not to use him, he could take a year off, collect his money, relax and let offers come in. 5. Would he ever coach in another league such as the AHL, KHL, Europe or even junior? 6. Would he buy a junior team like Patrick Roy and run the whole thing? 7. Will he leave hockey like Savard and go into business? 8. Could he go into french language broadcasting? My prediction is that Guy will end up with another team in some hockey capacity, but not necessarily as head coach.

Actually that would make a great team of coaches.....Hartley as head coach....Robinson as assistant and works with the defencemen...and Lever as a general assistant to work with the younger guys. Sounds like a great fit. Would someone make a motion that we call Bob and tell him what we've decided to do!!

I think Patrick could coach the Canadiens. My problem is that, where we are as a team right now, having a lot of UFA's, not certain what our roster is going to look like next season, having just fired a coach, likely new owners etc., there are just too many unknowns for a rookie NHL coach. My choice would be Hartley then Mark Crawford but not Lemaire.

Interesting that the media is saying that Patrick Roy has been offered the head coaching job with the Colorado Avalanche, but he's denying that he's received a formal offer. Some in the media are suggesting that Patrick is holding out, waiting to receive an offer from the Canadiens. So an interesting question would be, could Patrick Roy coach the Canadiens and do well. He has been co-owner, GM and coach of the Remparts and at that level in the QMJHL has done very well. Terry Frei, in the Denver Post, said that when Roy and the Remparts won the Memorial Cup in 2006 it was generally felt that Roy outcoached Ted Nolan, the NHL's coach of the year in 1997. So at that level Roy was very successful. He played in the NHL and was a superstar, so he obviously has a very good understanding of how the game is played. However at the end of this past season, out of the 30 NHL head coaches, 11 had been major-junior head coaches before getting their first NHL head coaching position. The list includes Claude Julien, Mike Keenan, Paul Maurice, Ken Hitchcock, Mike Babcock, Peter DeBoer, Jacques Lemaire, Brent Sutter, Cory Clouston, Todd McLellan and Alain Vigneault. But the interesting part is that out of those 11 only 3 made the jump directly from coaching at the Junior level directly to the NHL. Vigneault was a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for eight seasons before he became the Canadiens' head coach in 1997. Sutter also had been with the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels, for eight seasons before jumping directly to the NKL with NJ. And DeBoers coached in the Ontario Hockey League for 13 seasons before going directly to the NHL and coaching the Florida Panthers a year ago. In addition, both Paul Maurice and Jacques Lemaire jumped to head coach in the NHL less than a year after coaching in junior. So maybe we could say 5 NHL coaches went directly or almost directly from head coaches in major junior to NHL head coaching jobs. So just looking at history, making the jump from coaching a major junior team to being head coach in the NHL has been done, but not too often. I think owning and being the GM of a memorial cup winning team does say something regarding Roys ability to draft, select and put in place a team that has all the elements to win it all. That certainly shows that Roy has a very good understanding of what a team neeeds to be sucessful. But can he handle NHL players? If he can control his emotions, and not implode, I think he could. The question is, where we currently are as a team, can we risk installing a head coach with no proven NHL track record.

I like what Zowpeb said here...."Frankly, I'm starting to jump on the get rid of Kovalev, Koivu and Lang bandwagon. Get a legit 1st line C in here...A $7M-8M a year guy. Getting rid of those other 3 clears up $13.25MM...the bulk of the rest goes to another d-man". I agree and think it's time to move at least two of these three and clear enough space to pay, even overpay, a legitimate first line centre that we've needed for a long time. Many people have wondered why Philly has gone all these years and not gone and picked up a top line goalie. We've been in a similiar situation regarding a big first line centre. So let's move all three or keep one but I agree it's time to make some bold moves.

I think we've crossed a line a bit and we're being too hard on the Canadiens. I was as frustrated as everyone else with the second half of this year. but last fall we were all feeling pretty good about things. Last year we were all excited looking forward to this season, especially with Tanguay, Lang and Laraque added. If you compare the Canadiens from last year and last fall, my answer would be yes, we could compete with any of the teams in the play-offs. If you compare the post Christmas Canadiens, then I agree, I don't think they could compete with this years playoff teams. So for me the big question is, was Jan to April 09 a result of injuries and a slide that they couldn't turn around, or did it expose some weaknesses and flaws in some of our players. I think it's a combination of both. I think a healthy Canadiens team is a strong one, if Price and the defence are playing well. So depending on what Bob does with our UFA's we may be two or three players away from being a strong playoff team. I just hope that if we lose UFA's we don't add players that just keep us at the same level.

Why in the world would Vancouver make that trade. They've got one of the best, if not the best, goalie in the league, and you think they'd trade him for a goalie who has great potential, but struggled two years in a row in the play-offs and had a poor second half of this past season. Just so both goalies can be back home??? This trade would only happen if Price had a great year and was close to Luongo in stats. Not a chance this will happen.

As I've been reading about some of the choices being tossed around over who will be the next coach, I thought of something interesting regarding Patrick Roy as coach. First, can you imagine the fire and passion he would bring to our team as the coach. I mean can you imagine what would happen to a player if he gave half an effort, or didn't show up or if someone didn't stand up for a teammate, or didn't give everything he had to win? I don't know if Patrick's ready or not, but he would bring fire and passion and heaven help anyone who played on the team who didn't.

After reading some of these responses and given what's taken place over the past two or three weeks....a lot of loses.....I think there are two or three things we need to do. 1. Someone needs to find out if Melanson has tried to change Carey's style. A lot of people have commented on how much Price is on his knees now, much more than before. Is this his choice or has Melanson changed him.....with poor results! If they have changed him, they'd better get someone to lead him back to what made him successful. 2. I think the saying "hindsight has 20/20 vision" could be applied here. A legitimate question now is, have we brought Price along too fast? Should we have kept Huet another year and forced Price to develop more slowly? If that's true then judging on how long it took other 1st round goalies, like Fluery, Luongo and Dipietro, to develop into consistant, front line NHL goalies, I think none of them were effective till they were at least 23, then we have another two years before Price will develop into the goalie we think he can be. It seems like we took a chance and expected him to be years ahead of these other goalies at the same age, and now that seems like a poor decision. 3. I don't think we should get a veteran backup goalie for two reasons. First, that would mean trading Halak, and I do not think that's something we should do. Secondly, I think we need a veteran goalie, but as a coach, not a player. I wonder if it's time for a change with our goalie coach. If I've got the right guy, wasn't Olaf Kolzig a mentor and help to Carey Price a few years back. Maybe, if Kolzig is the right guy, we stay with Halak and Price next year, go the whole year splitting the goaltending duties, and let Price practice, play, be mentored and kind of go back to some basics. At only 21 years old we need to give Carey Price 2 more years at least. It's not too late, but we'd better make sure we have a plan and the next two years are well thought out with a plan in place.

I've been a loyal Canadiens fan for a few decades now, and I think most long term fans have always throughly enjoyed the good times and called the deep rooted bad times what they are, time for change. I think we have arrived at the point where we have to look at reality. Unless there is a miraculous turn-around I think that major components of the core of this team have been left behind, their best days are behind them and it's showing up in glaring fashion. Saturday night's Leafs-Canadiens game had the commentators and between period analyists describing some of our players as heartless, no desire and players that Gainey is going to have to change this summer. As much as I hate to agree with them, at this point I do agree. There comes a time when loyalty to players has run it's course, and for me, I'm there. We're clinging to a play-off spot, in danger of missing the play-offs and staggering badly against everyone it seems. And in a season where we were eying first place and a run at the Stanley Cup, in our 100th year. So this is what I believe needs to happen. Regarding players currently in the NHL, starting with the forwards I'd move the following players this summer: Kovalev, Koivu, Higgins, Plekanec, Laraque, Metropolit and Dandenault. I'd keep, in no particular order, Tanguay, Lang, A. Kostitsyn, Pacioretty, D'Agostini, Lapierre, Latendresse and Kostopoulos. On defence I'd keep Markov, Komisarek, Hamrlik, Georges and Obyrne. I'd move or release Bouillion, Schneider and Brisebois and go after a top 4 defenceman. We've had injuries, but I don't think that's been our problem. Our problem has been that starting with players like Kovalev, Koivu and Higgins we have simply not been able to do the job and it's time for change. I'd keep both Price and Halak and bring in a defenseman coach. I really hope that Bob Gainey is around to make the changes, because there are few other GM's who know the league like Gainey does and he's proven that he know's what it takes in todays NHL to be successful. That's been evident by the way he's emphasized building through the draft while some other GM's have traded their picks and gone no-where. I don't blame Gainey for the present state of this team. At the beginning of the year I think most of us looked at this team and felt really good about it. The players have been unable to deliver. It's time for major change!

I know it's still pretty early, but who could be the next coach of the Canadiens? The last time Gainey made a move he already had Carbonneau in mind and under contract, so he must be thinking a little about that now. Does he hold down the fort like last time, until the playoffs are over and then make a move? So what are the options? I've listed a few that I think could happen. [1] Bob keeps the job himself for a year. I personally don't think that's a good option, or what he'll really do. I don't believe any other GM is doing that right now. [2] He hires from within? Do any of the existing coaches on staff qualify or fit. Maybe Lever, but that's about it. [3] He hires from outside the organization, from available coaches: Bob Hartley; Jacques Lemaire [doubtful], then a list of older guys that have been around and waiting for a while. Maybe they never get back in,such as Pat Quinn, Dennis Savard. [4] A wild card with no NHL or AHL coaching experience: Patrick Roy or another very successful Junior or college coach. I don't know how good their track records have been making a jump like that. [5] A media guy with hockey and coaching experience: Pierre McQuire?? [6] A retread: Michel Terrien; Mario Trembley [i hope not]. My choices, in no particular order, would be that I would first contact three people and go from there: Bob Hartley, Pierre McQuire and Patrick Roy. If none of those worked I would move on to the next level.

So the conclusion on Cary Price in this thread seems to be that: (a) We cannot send Price to the AHL because of waiver rules, unless he gets hurt and sits out 5 games, then we could send him down for a conditioning stint. (b) Carey needs much more help from his defence, so he's not "hung out" on his own with little support. So his teammates have to make a very concerted effort to help out defensively. © Go with the hot hand, Halak, and hope that Price regains the top form he had before his injury. (d) He has the talent, it didn't just disappear, so give this young goalie who has excelled at every level, a change to rebound much the way Halak has. (e) We need to be patient and give this young goalie a chance to mature, develop and work his way through waht is probably his first "tough patch" as a pro. To me this all seems logical and perhaps the only way to handle Carey Price and I think these answer the question this thread asked, "What does Carey Price need to regain his form?"

Last fall I started a thread where I wondered out loud if Halak was overrated. He was going through a tough time and at the time, for me, he didn't look like the goalie I thought he would be this year. Well three or four months later, Halak is playing amazing and no one, starting with me, is wondering or asking if he's overrated. As some of you suggested at the time, he just needed time to get over a tough stretch and regain his confidence and form. And that's happened. So now we're facing a dilema with Carey Price. Before he was injured, he was hot, had a great record, you could see his confidence, was voted to the all star game and some were even suggeseting he be one of three goalies for the Olympics. But over the past two and a half months everything seems to have reversed. He looks lost, seems like he has no confidence, and after last nights game in Buffalo he said "it just wasn't there", even though he's been working hard in practice. So what is the right thing to do with Carey Price? There seems to be only two options. One, do what we did with Halak. Just wait it out, give him time and let him work hard in practice and hopefully he'll regain what he's lost and get back to form. But I think Carey's problems are a little deeper and tougher than Halak's last fall. While Halak struggled he seemed confident that he could turn things around. I don't get that sense with Price. So I think the second option would be to let him regain his form and confidence in the AHL with Hamilton. I'm not sure what the waiver rules are regarding him, but if that's not a problem, for his own good, I think he needs to play regularly and get back to dominating once again so we can get him back on track in time for the playoffs, and I think time in Hamilton is the answer. I think Carey is our goalie for now but also of the future. Maybe his quick ascension has caught up with him or maybe it's just the sophomore jinx, but we need to help him and not let him sink any further down. I think he really needs others to step in and help, even if he doesn't like it, it may be the best thing for him and the team.

I agree totally. The guy doesn't do much at the beginning of the season when he's healthy, then he's injured, which isn't his fault, but now he complains that he should be playing more. Other than his toughness, how many guys is he playing better than? I like George, but he needs to earn his icetime like everyone else and show why he should be on the ice. I agree that against a few teams we need him, but come on George, show us something! There's obviously a reason why he's been on what, 4 teams in 5 years? Stop complaining and start working hard and earn your ice time like everyone else!

I've been wondering lately if we are experiencing a "leadership void" on our team. If a team, business or any organization is going to be sucessful, one of the absolute necessities, is that there has to be a visible, accepted and active leadership present and functioning within that team or organization. I believe, compared to the rest of the NHL, that we have excellent top level leadership in George Gillett, Pierre Boivin and Bob Gainey. I think we have better than average leadership in Guy Carbonneau and his coaching staff, but I have been wondering if we are seeing a lack of leadership from the players themselves. I'm not just looking at this past week but overall, especially when things started going downhill, I have been wondering why there hasn't been more said or done, or more influence shown, by those considered leaders on the team. Clearly we don't know all that goes on behind closed doors in the dressing room or in the players only meetings, but if, and I admit it's a big if, we have another "Three Amigos" [Higgins, Price, S. Kostitsyns] and if, three players have been out running around with criminal type guys and doing lots of partying, if these rumors are true, and none of them have been doing very well lately, there needs to leadership from within the players who know the truth about what's going on or isn't. In other words there needs to be a much stronger voice from the players to one another, to the media and the fans about what is acceptable and what isn't. While I think Messier's leadership was at times a bit overblown, I don't think he would have sat back and been as silent as some of our guys have been. I like and admire Koivu for many reasons, but to me, he has been too quiet and that may be why we've been hearing suggestions that someone else should be the captain. As a player, Gainey wasn't the most talented player on his team, but he was a strong leader among the players and wouldn't stand for players doing things that hurt the team and it's chances for success. I know he wasn't trying to send any sort of message, but I think Mathieu Schneider's comment in the Gazette today is telling. He said, "There's no such thing as a saviour. I'm just hoping that I can bring a calming influence, a little leadership." To me that says that as a newcomer his take is that the players have been rattled and can use a little more leadership from within. So perhaps we are seeing a need for a change in leadership from within, someone who is going to take this team and lead it and put an end to any behavior that is going to hurt the team in the long run.

Probably most of us were fairly happy with the way the Habs played for a good part of the first half of the season, but now many of us are probably looking around in desperation trying to figure out what's going wrong. I have a few options...theories.... as to what might be happening. Could one of the following scenarios be what's taking place? 1. Unlike last year when we were incredibly healthy, injuries have caught up with us and we're proving that you can't lose, Koivu, Komisarek, Higgins, Tanguay, Price, Lang, Latendresse and who knows who's next, and not have all those injuries affect chemistry and flow. 2. They're simply in a mid-season slump and it will sort itself out soon. 3. A number of players are in slumps all at the same time [some have been in one for a long time it seems]. 4. They are caught in a wierd situation of a combination of injuries and slumps and over the next two weeks things will begin to work out and we'll be back winning. I believe we have the talent, the players and the coaching, so I think our problem is a combination of injuries and slumps, such as Carey Price. With guys out for a long time, the newer players are unable to make up for the guys who are hurt over a long period of time. I think Price will rebound, defensively we will get back to normal, and offensively we will begin to pick things up. I don't believe we're as bad as what we've shown over the past month. Things will begin to turn around over the nexct week or so.

I think the win percentage is the most glaring stat of all. When you're comparing three goalies and two of them have won 64% and 65% of their games and the third has won only 42%, with everything else pretty much the same, I think it emphasizes the fact that Halak has not done very well overall this season, compared with other goalies in similar situations..

About two weeks ago Damien Cox of the Toronto Star was answering a question about team's goaltenders and he said that he thought Montreal had one of the better goalie duo's in the Eastern Conference. Before this season I thought the combination of Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak would be amazing, but I'm having second thoughts. I think Price has played as well as I thought he would, but I'm disappointed in Halak thus far. Carey Price has played 25 games, he's won 16 and lost 4 in regulation time. His GAA is 2.30 and S% is .921. He has won 64% of the games he played in. Halak has played in 14 games in regulation time, he's won 6 and lost 6. His GAA is 2.72 and S% is .908. He has won 42% of the games he played in. He has let in 8 goals in the past 5 periods he has played. Last year he spent time in the AHL as did Scott Clemenson with the Marlies. So this year both started as backups in the NHL, Clemenson with NJ. Since Brodeur has been hurt Clemenson has played in 23 games and won 15. So Price has won 64% of his games, Clemenson has won 65%, and Halak 42%. On Monday Carbonneau talked about seeing if Price could come back sooner than what was planned, and this is a result of how Halak has played. I thought Halak could push Price for the starting role and be a goalie other teams would want to trade for as their starting goalie. I don't know if that's the case anymore. I like Halak and I hope he can turn this around. But he needs to turn it around pretty soon, because for me, winning 42% of his games, he hasn't lived up to expectations so far. Based on his play this season, I wonder if we have overrated him? I hope not.

I think we have four of our draft picks playing at the World Juniors. I've seen PK Subban, and he seems to be doing well, especially with his amazing end to end rush Monday night. But does anyone know how our other picks are doing, especially McDonough [sp??]?