REV-G

Some people think that trading Huet is the right way to go right now so we don't lose him at the end of the year to FA. I think there is a much better way to go. Sign him as soon as you can to a two or three year deal. If we don't I think we will be very sorry. Out of the top 30 goalies in the league right now Huet's numbers on the NHL list rank him at #11. There are usually always backups available, or goalies who think they're number ones but don't have the numbers to prove it. But getting ahold of a top 10 or 11 goalie, especialy when everyone else knows you need one is not going to be easy, and if you do it will probably cost you a lot. I don't believe Carey Price is ready to step in and take on a full time #1 spot in the NHL for another year or two, so we need Huet during that time. I hope BG is working on a deal to sign Huet to a 2-3 year deal. Given what Huet's done the past 2 years I don't think he would be willing to sign a one year deal. He's going to feel like he's earned a little security and reward for what he's accomplished. For me, trading Huet is not an option, unless we get something back that's really worthwhile. If Bob signs Huet now, then in a year or two he can trade him at that point. We're in a position of strengh both for the now and also for the future with our goalies. Trading away our top asset today would be a big mistake. Sign him Bob, as soon as you can.

Over the years there has always been a strong Montreal - Toronto rivalry on all fronts. And hockey has always been in the very centre of that rivalry. But these days when you look at the two organizations, both on and off the ice, there is now a huge difference. Even though the Canadiens are ahead in points and most other stats this year that isn't where the huge differences show up. It's when you look at the upper managment structure of the teams and then the results of these two different leadership structures, that's when you see how far apart these two organizations have become. Montreal went through very difficult times of their own when Ronald Corey fired Serge Savard and brought in Rejean Houle as GM and Mario Tremblay as coach. Both were totally inexperienced in the positions they were about to fill. The results were somewhat predictable. Bad teams, bad trades, frustrated players, and they quickly fell well behind the elite teams and you heard a lot of fan and media criticism. But then the turnaround. They hired Pierre Boivin, who had good leadership skills, good enough to know he shouldn't be running the hockey side of the team so he brought in Andre Savard, who had a great emphasis on drafting and developing good young players. Then the best move of all, they brought in Bob Gainey. And from there they have kept to their plan and slowly drafted great young players and have done one of the best jobs in the NHL of building a team internally with some trades to help out. Look at the roster on any given night and you count that over half the team has been the result of great drafting, with picks they refused to trade. We have one of the best stockpiles of young drafted players that will continue to stock our team for years. I consider two deals to have been failures. Trading Mike Ribiero, the return was pretty poor, and bringing in Samsonov. But who in any sport can bat 1000% on every deal they make. Impossible. But compare us now with Toronto. Bad upper managment has been their pattern for decades. They continually intervere and have hurt their organization. They could have had Bob Gainey but their upper managment messed it up. Recently they could have had Scotty Bowman, but upper management interferred again. This managment team brought in a basketball manager and coach and then fired them both. They brought in an honest man of integrity, John Ferguson, but he had never been a GM and they put him in charge of one of the key teams in the league, a media hotbed, and made him run everything through them, non hockey people, and when their plan failed, they fired him. They have very few good prospects because they traded their picks away for veterans, often over the hill or underachieving ones. The result is the team is in shambles. Their future is not bright, becasue it will likely be years before they can come close to what Bob Gainey has assembled in Montreal. When you compare these two organizations these days, there is no comparrison. And in the next few years they will likely move even further apart. Montreal will head up, Toronto will likely head down before they can move up. When you compare them, Montreal wins, hands down!!

I wonder who we're really seeing right now. A team that has finally come together or a team that is on a bit of a hot streak? Our defence seems much better than last year and our plus minus as a team has improved. We again have one of the best PP in the entire league. But our penalty killing is still a weakness. It seems like the new veteran players added this year are stronger than the ones who left. Ryder has fallen off a lot from last year but Kovalev has improved so that seems to almost even out. Without getting hit with the flu epidemic from last year the teams seems to be much more consistent and solid so far. Players that were rookies a few years ago, like Streit, Higgins and Komisarek have continued to improve. Players like Lapierre and Sergei K. have added hard work and overall strength to the team. If Huet continues to play well and remains healthy we might be seeing the emergence of what was a just below middle of the pack team to a team that will end up above the middle of the pack with some serious playoff potential. Our points comparrison with last year should start to improve because last year at this time we were in a serious slump that probably cost us a playoff spot. And we seem to have some very solid prospects in the system for the next few years. The question now may be whether Bob Gainey makes a trade before the deadline or is happy with our improvement and lets the existing players develop and then try again to add a key scorer in the UFA market this summer? The signs all seem to be pointing in the right direction for a team that is young and still maturing but improving and working together well. If with the players we have this year we can avoid a prolonged slump, this year and the future seems to be bright.

There have always been comments and declarations from the Toronto Media that Toronto is the Hockey Meccca of the world. It drives all the rest of us crazy! Well there's proof that Toronto is certainly not the hockey mecca. A few weeks ago it was reported that Alex Ovechkin said that his all time favourite place to play hockey was in Montreal. Well in Tuesday nights Montreal Chicago game Bob Mackenzie said that he's not surprised that Alex Ovechkin loves to play in Montreal, because it's the best place to play in the league. Mackenzie said it's everyone's favourite place to play because the atmosphere is unique. It's a packed house even in warm-up, and the fans know their hockey. The lights, the history, the ambiance, the noise; Mackenzie said there's no place like it in the NHL. He even went further to say, it must be tough to play at home for the Habs, where every team that visits burns to win in Montreal. Matthew Barnaby, who was also on the panel of hockey experts that night, quickly supported what Mackenzie said. Barnaby added that when he played he never felt as up for a game, as when he visited the Bell Centre to play. So two hockey players from different teams plus one of the best and highly respected hockey analysts all said that Montreal is the best and most looked forward place to play hockey. Montreal is hockey Mecca! Case closed. Now would someone please inform the Toronto media of the real truth!

One of the big problems the NHL faced prior to the lockout was out of control salaries that resulted in higher ticket prices which resulted in it becoming very difficult for familes to attend an NHL game just because of the cost. And the main culprit for such high ticket prices was the players salaries. I believe the problem is re-emerging and it is all because of the GM's. I read this morning that there's a shift happening in how the NHL does business. It's how the GM's are investing heavily in the potential of a player versus the productivity of a player. These are some of the signings that appear to be the way GM's are going so as not to lose younger players to an offer sheet. To avoid being raided by rival teams GM's are signing younger players to huge long term contracts. For example Sidney Crosby, 20, (five years for $43.5 million), Thomas Vanek, 23, (seven years for $50 million), Ryan Getzlaf, 22, (five years for $26.6 million), Milan Michalek, 23, (six years for $26 million), Dustin Penner, 25, (five years for $21.25 million), Derek Roy, 24, (six years for $24 million), Ryan Whitney, 24, (six years for $24 million), Zach Parise, 23, (four years for $12.5 million) and Stephen Weiss, 24, (six years for $18.6 million). From what I read only three of these players have more than 20 points this year and the rest are all below. That's a huge investment for low return. I think the result is that we will see some weaker teams because they will have locked themselves in by signing players who will not give them a proper return and that will handcuff teams for years because they are locked in to long term expensive contracts, which will limit who else they can sign. You can see a little of that happening with Toronto right now and that wil stay with them for a few years. I think the choice teams will have will be to continue doing what they're doing by signing younger players to huge contracts or be willing to lose a player when an offer sheet is given. The other choice is for the NHL to eliminate the offer sheet, but I don't know if the PA will go for that.

I've noticed something that may not apply to every player but I think it applies to a whole lot of players. Before a GM makes a trade he'd better check out who the player coming to his team had for linemates and who the incoming player is going to have for linemates when he arrives. Otherwise you may be setting yourself and the player up for a big disappointment. There's probably lots of examples but I'll use just two. I think it was last year there was some talk of the Canadiens being interested in Andy McDonald, a top centre for the eventual Stanley cup winners, Anaheim. In two years McDonald had registered 163 points and last year, just in the playoffs, he scored something like 10 goals and 14 points. So it was obvious why the Canadiens might have been interested. But here's what I think is the key point in his success. The whole time he was putting up these numbers he was playing with Teemu Selanne, who was having a couple of great comeback years. This year, without Selanne, McDonald is struggling. I read this morning that in 28 games this year he has 14 points. So if the Canadiens had given up a lot to get McDoanld we all may have been really disappointed. The other example this year is Jason Blake who scored 40 goals last year, and this year I believe has 3 goals. Now he is battling a serious disease, but he says he feels better than he has in years. On Long Island he had linemates like Alexi Yashin and he had his best year ever. So far he has to be one of the biggest disappointments on the Leafs. So before we make a trade we'd better do our homework to see who the player had as linemates and if we have someone who can play with and compliment that player. Otherwise..big disappointment.

The difference between the two is that it is very unlikely Recchi will ever again be able to score 30 goals, or even come close to what he was, that's why he's been healthy scratch so often lately. He'll be a hall of famer for the past, not for the present or future. However Ryder could easily catch fire and score 25 goals, maybe even 30 again, because he's yonger and still has the potential to duplicate what he's done the past two years. Big differene in potential between those two right now. And that's not a slam on Recchi, he was a great player who was respected, it's just like everyone else, he may be close to the end of his career. But I do agree with you, this deal will not happen.

It seems like we were going to end up with either Sourey or Hamrlik. All things being equal, I would take Hamrlik over Sourey any day. It's only partway through the season but unless something very dramatic takes place, Hamrlik is not going to finish anywear near -27 and has a shot at finishing on the plus side. Overall, it's Hamrlik, hands down. In addition, Sourey seems much more injury prone at this point in his career. And where we thought we'd be most affected, and likely tried to keep him mostly for this reason, we still have a #1 power play without him. I think if we had resigned Sourey we would have been saddled with a very definite "badly overpaid salary" burden to carry for years. Overall, we ended up with the better player.

A few comments. Someone suggested that losing Sourey maybe didn't hurt us that much. In a sense that's true but we should have at least received a fairly high draft pick, if not more, for Sourey than letting him walk. Especially since we didn't even make the playoffs. But hindsight has 20/20 vision. I agree that your number 3 option looks the most reasonable, but I wonder if Huet will agree to something like that when as a UFA he will likly do better. Ryder has been a proven 30 goal scorer and Huet is a proven starter, even an all-star. So there are a few "ifs" I'd like to suggest. "If" Ryder picks up and gets back on track scoring wise and "if" Huet and Price both do well over the next two months then both Ryder and Huet's value will have increased, especially for some teams who feel they're only a few pieces short of making a major splash in the play-offs, and then I think will be the time to pull of a trade. I'd hate, within a year of each other, to lose Sourey, Huet and Ryder for nothing.

About a month ago someone suggested we should package Huet with Ryder and maybe a prospect in order to get a sniper or a first line centre, something like that. The point that many of us jumped on was that we should not trade Huet under any circumstances because he is our starting goalie and they aren't that available or easy to pick up. Last year Huet started strong but even before he was injured he was beginning to fade. Lately I wonder if that trend is beginning to show up again. So I wonder if the thought of trading Huet shoud be reconsidered. There are six reasons why I'm beginning to wonder if this is now an option. 1. The emerging consistent & mature play of Carey Price. 2. The not-so-great play of Huet in a few games lately, which could be a repeat of last year. Has Huet really proved he can be a 1st string goalie for a full season? 3. Our need for a top line centre/sniper and how this would impact our team. 4. The Sheldon Sourey factor. We didn't get anything for him because we held onto him too long. We can't let this happen again. 5. The availability of two seemingly good quality backups in Halak and Danis. Plus the fact that Halak may not be willing to sit in the minors and instead of losing him to a team in Europe or not gettin much for him in a trade, maybe he should be our backup in the NHL. He did pretty good when we needed him towards the end of last season. 6. The growing serious problem some teams have becasue they don't have a genuine 1st string goalie. I wouldn't pull the trigger on a trade just yet, but if this trend continues, maybe beginning to kick a few ties and quietly seeing what might be available now will put us in a postion to get someone of real value after Christmas. In other words, begin the secret negotiations now and if it seems right then make the trade a month or two from now. This wouldn't have been an option for me a month ago but I'm beginning to wonder if that's becoming more of a real option. Maybe the next month will really give us the answer.

To me the problem with the Maple Leafs is very clear. The team's key decisions are being made at the top by a board made up of business men wanting to protect their investment and make money. They are not hockey men. The facts? Richard Peddie was put in charge of both the Raptors and the Leafs. They both have done poorly. Finally they took the Raptors out of Peddie's hands by bringing in Bryan Colangelo, and the Raptors have had a huge turn-around. Go back a few years to when the board brings in John Ferguson Jr. to be the GM of one of the original six in a huge hockey city like Toronto. He had never been a GM before and because of the pressure to succeed now, and keep his job, he has traded away something like 4 first rounders and a few second rounders to end up with suspect goaltending and the highest paid defence in the entire NHL, with a very poor record. I'm a Canadiens fan, so my loyalty is not with the Leafs, but I believe Ferguson came into his position wanting to build through draft picks but the pressure to succeed in order to keep his job has put him in a no-win situation. The problem? Absolutely with the guys at the top. As long as they're making the decisions and wanting to keep control Toronto will never gain ground. The best decision they could make would be to do with the Leafs what they did with the Raptors. Work at bringing in the best hockey man they can, even if they have to give up players or cash [i donlt know if that's ever been done] and give him total control the way Bob Gainey has. Until the Leafs can get a Brian Burke, or someone of that quality, and take control of the team out of the hands of the men currently running it, they'll continue to spin their wheels. The question is, who can pressure the board to let go? The answer. Probably only the media and the fans.

At this point in season, even though it's still early, it seems that if the trend continues the Habs have upgraded in a lot of areas. Some of the credit is with some of the new players brought in but we have to give credit to the assistant coaches as well. Out of the 30 NHL teams the Habs are today ranked 1st on the power play with an incredible 30.4% success rate and they are 5th on the penalty kill with a 78.7% success rate. I think overall Doug Jarvis and Kirk Muller have done a great job in teaching and preparing the special teams. They obviously have a plan that is working. Jarvis said last week that on the PP they have chosen to go with set lines instead of special units and I hear that other teams are starting to copy that practice. I think defensively we have improved as a team and our plus minus is much better than last year. I've read criticisms about some mistakes that Carboneau has made, but I believe this team of coaches are at this point doing a great job.

Evidently Sergei Samsonov has not been able to turn it around in Chicago this year. The Chicago press is reporting that Samsonov is one of three veterans who have been healthy scratches lately, and we're only a little over 10 games in. I don't know about you but I don't particularly hope any player does poorly. They have families and like us all they want to do well at their job. But there always seems to be a group of players, like Theodore and many others, who have a few good years and then for some reason are never able to stay at that level and the expectations, along with their huge salaries, become real problems for teams and fans. What makes it more difficult is when the player complains that it's the coaches fault, or not being used properly, not given enough chances or fans fault for not giving them a fair shake. It's too bad that things aren't working our for Samsonov, but I think a lot of us saw this one coming. The challenge for GM's is to figure out what players are in this category versus what players can still contribute and do well. So far our pick-ups and new additions this year seem to be doing great, and as much as I liked Bonk and Johnson, we seem to have improved with the new players that Gainey has brought in.

I think Bob Gainey has proved to be a very shrewd trainer and judge of talent, with a few exceptions. Almost all the players he has brought in have worked well for a least a year, Samsonov being one of the recent exceptions. But getting Bonk, Mike Johnson and dumping Theodore's salary were all very good moves. This year he has brought in some good veterans and I believe this is really helping the younger players. At this point even Brisebois, who likely many had questions about, is doing well. I think he has gone so far in negotiating with UFA's but has maybe refused to open the bank and pay ridiculous numbers to players who might not give a good return for the duration of the contract. I believe Gainey is trying, and waiting, not for an older, just moving out of his prime player like Jagr, but I belive he is waiting to grab a middle aged impact player who can become the core of this team for years. I believe Gainey is beating the bushes to see who he can add that will help this team, not for a year or two but for the next 5 years. Marian Hossa. Mike Cammalleri or Patrick Marleau type players. I would take a Jagr but not if we have to give up too much of our future. We've seen Toronto's success over the years with trading younger guys and picks for older vets with bigger salaries. It has been a total failure. It will be interesting to see, if we continue to do well, who and when Bob Gainey makes his move.

I'm with you 100%. Do we want to become the Maple Leafs trading away our future for an aging player whose best days are likely behind him. Very few aging veterans, maybe there are a few exceptions, deliver what their new teams were hoping for. If we're going to give up a package that includes young players we need to get back a Briere or a Patrick Marleau, then I'd do it, because it would be for someone who still likely hasd many good years still ahead of them. And the comment about Jagr not showing up everyr night is further proof that this is not a trade we want to make.

Absolutely ridiculous move. What is an absolute necessity in todays NHL is to have a solid #1 starter and we have that in Huet. He's proving it big time almost every night. Goalies like that aren't that easy to find. Just ask Toronto. While Price is hopefully our goalie of the future, he needs time to develop and time to prove that he can be a #1. Gainey would never trade his only proven #1 goalie and leave himself vulneralbe like that. If he was able to make a trade for Hossa, and who wouldn't, Halak with another forward like Ryder and maybe a top prospect, but never your only proven #1 goalie.

As a long time Canadiens fan I'm not particularly excited over whether they make the playoffs this year or not. The only excitment for me right now lies in the fact that IF they squeak into the playoffs, and IF Huet comes back and gets hot, and IF they can get on a roll, perhaps they can do something in the playoffs. For all of that to happen, is possible, but not likely. But for me the more important point is what the Canadiens have to do to become a contender, to improve this team so they are not average or below average but a Stanley Cup contending team for years to come like they once were and like Detroit, New Jersey and a few other teams have been. I think they have to do their work at the draft and in the off-season. This summer they must sign one or two solid, not necessarily expensive, defencemen. And they must get at least one top three forward like a Daniel Briere, or someone like him. Acquiring two top forwards would be even better. I think they have very good prospects, some who may be on the verge of breaking out into solid players that give you the depth to win every night. But if they stand pat and add a marginal player or take a chance on someone who has underperformed making a comeback, then I think we're in for more of what we've had to live through for the past years. I think this is a crucial summer so we don't become like the Leafs, always hopeful, but never making it. But I believe the Canadiens want to win, not just make the playoffs and not just make money.

At the trade deadline yesterday two teams, Montreal and Edmonton, both had important players who will be UFA's this summer, and neither had signed a new contract with their respective teams. Bob Gainey choose to not trade Sourey and runs the risk of losing him for nothing this summer. Kevin Lowe choose to trade Ryan Smith and received prospects and picks for the future. Which decision for these two GM's was the right one? Edmonton fans are probably very upset at losing another key leader. From what I heard yesterday from Bob Mckenzie the two sides were only a few hundred thousand dollars apart but they both played hardball and wouldn't give in. Mckenzie says there are hard feelings on both sides now and this will not be a pleasant parting. But for the future Edmonton probably came out ahead. For Montreal, we still have a key piece of our team for the PP and for the playoff run. But we may lose Sourey for nothing this summer and will have lost a very important opportunity, and one that doesn't come around all that often, to get some really good players. I think in Montreal's case we won't know for sure until this summer. In order for this to have been a good decision, first we have to make the playoffs. Secondly, we must do some damage and not get knocked out in the first round. Thirdly Sourey must resign with Montreal. But if we don't make the playoffs and then we don't resign Sourey and he walks for nothing, then I think we will have made a very bad decision that will affect us for a few years. We'll all know this summer and then we'll know which of these two GM's made the right decision.

Associated press first reported it and USA.com picked it up, but it's false, they made a mistake. Evidently they mixed up Downey on waivers to make room for others and one of the others was Kovalev returning to the lineup tonight.

USA.com just reported that the Montreal Canadiens have placed Kovalev on waivers. Can anyone confirm this??

That's it exactly. Sign him now, or trade him. But make sure you don't lose that kind of asset for nothing.

I agree with one of your points but disagree with another. First, Bob Gainey likely already knows if Sourey is wanting to return to Montreal or be out west, closer ot his daughter. If Gainely knows Sourey isn't likely to return he must trade him before he trade deadline. To lose a player for nothing, when you could likely get a first round pick plus a good prospect, would be disasterous for us. So if you know Sourey ios not coming back, trade him for sure. But I agree with you when you say Sourey is not worth 5-6 million a year and likely won't have this type of value again. Good point and I believe it's true. So let's get out of our mediocre, middle of the pack reality, and move forward with making smart moves for the future, not just to get into the first round of the playoffs.

I hope we aren't falling to the same foolishness Toronto seems to have been captivated by. Their goal in recent years seems to be just to make the playoffs. If that's what our focus is right now I believe we're wrong. We have been in the middle of the pack for a quite a few years now, or lower. We have to do something to get better. Last year we saw that free agents [both Arnott and Shanahan that we know of] may not be that eager to come to Montreal where they take such a hit taxwise. We have been building through the draft but being in the middle of the pack makes it more unlikely that we'll get a top five player in the draft which is what this team needs. So when we have assets that we can trade to get either top draft choices, top prospects or goal scorers now, I don't understand why we want to stand pat just to make the playoffs. In the next two days we're going to see what our managements philosophy really is. Sourey is having a year that he has never had before and may never have again. We could improve our team for the future by getting at least a top prospect and a high pick, if not more, by trading him now. For the owner playoff dates are important for the bottom line financially. But I think for most fans, missing the playoffs one year in order to improve our team and move us ahead of just the middle of the pack, is probably more important. We'll find our what their goals are in the next two days.