Chris

I would think any trade with Calgary is more with Yelle, BG says he wants a faceoff man and penalty killer. Yelle fits the bill on both those fronts and is a proven playoff type of player. I wouldn't move Ryder for him, but maybe a dandenault or someone like that. Also the habs need to add grit and toughness. The reason they don't score some games is they never get garbage goals. LAts is the only one who plays in front of the net, if there going to play him on the 4th line, he's not going to get alot opportunities to do that. Matt Cooke for Ryder would be good. Cooke plays hard, draws penalties, great speed and pk, relentless forechecker. He also doesn't take stupid penlties.

Well actually you would want to keep the top line together. They have been pretty dominate all year. There is no chance Tanguay is coming to the habs any way. If they did get Tanguay, you put him with koivu and little kosty. Higgins would go back to the third where he belongs. I really like him as a player and he has above average work ethic, skills everywhere except one, which top line wingers have, he is not a gifted scorer. You look for balance, this team finally has some

Overall another solid win and performance. Huet's gaff didn't cost the habs a point, it just gave Atlanta another point. Other then that 1 play he was pretty solid. My only complaint about last night was the habs are not shooting enough, they had opportunties to take great shots and instead passed the puck. Especially the PP needs to get back to shooting. The Kosty brothers were great last night. Physical, tough, used there speed well. The D zone was very good. They won alot of battles. What has this team learned from last year? Lets give the coaches a bit of credit. The habs are tougher (not tough enough for a deep playoff run) The work ethic is way better then last year They actually listen to the coaches. What a novel idea. I told you that GC wasn't going anywhere, it was up to the players to put up or shut up. The skill level and offense is better Kovalev has decided to care about playing again.

Smon, Higgins Koivu and Ryder the most consistent line? What are you talking about? They were arguably the worst top line in the league. Minus 80 combined or something like that. Minus 80 is not good.

Yea, but they aren't going to resign Bouillon, Koivu or Kovalev Begin (i think) after next season. All there contracts are up, then the turnover will be complete.

Yea, i think they have to reward the team for a good effort this year with the playoff run. Obviously if they hit a tail spin they can move him to wherever but they have been pretty consistant this year and should be in the running for a playoff spot. I only see Ryder moving. Huet i don't think is good enough to steal a playoff series. Price has stolen sries and games in the past, next year you go into with a young team knowing they will have 2 young goalies. So they can take there lumps by not trading Huet this year and losing him UFA next year.

They played together the entire Islander except the first shift. If that helps fine but it makes a very slow third line.

Right, that's exactly my pont, he is a gritty player, and the Habs will have contracts up and the end of next year, including Bouillon, Koivu and Kovalev if i'm not mistaken. So locking up the quality youth is obviously a big point for Gainey in the future. Combined with this years UFA's, the team is going to look significantly younger and have some quality cap space to get a top player. I don't know of any young griity two way forwards coming up. Chichura i wouldn't say is gritty, Fortier i heard some good things about.

Yea, the habs are already paying 3mill to Begin and Dandy. Just less then a mill is fine for max. He will only get better.

Well for one, Chicago would never do that deal. However adding toughness is a very good idea. I don't expect BG to do much. Ryder i think will be moved, that's about it.

Yep, i hear you Wamsley, the habs will be a playoff team when they lock up the spot in the playoffs. Then i will have to check it a second time just to be sure. I've been fooled too many times before. Playoffs or not this year, they have turned the ship around and are playing generally pretty solid hockey on both ends of the rink. Young teams can still be inconsistent but GC seems to have them playing harder then ever so time will tell on this year. I expect them to be even younger next year. I think Price will be fine, he is solid. He really only had 2 poor starts at the NHL level. Dallas was all on the team.

Of course they will get deals. BG is fair about giving youngsters a few years plus a raise. As i have stated they really don't need to sign any UFA's off this roster. That will free up 7+ mill in cap space. So they can take care of there own first, then they will have planty for an UFA if they think they need 1. Striet would be the only wild card as to resigning a UFA

I can't beleive people are actually complaining about an open net goal that sealed a win for the Habs. Get a grip. Defensively that was the best i've seen in years. Although the ice was bad. Only a 10 minute collapse in the second again. There effoerts are becoming more consistent. I heard a stat last night that the habs haven't lost back to back games in regulation, that is showing a more consistent effort and caring. That hasn't been the case in years. Offensively they looked ok, they need to shoot more, they had 2 or 3 2 on 1's and didn't even get a shot. They need to be more selfish fom time to time. Small nit picking, Huet just needs to stay in the net. The 3rd line may be the slowest line i have seen in a while. I have no idea why Smoke Lats and Ryder are together. Everyone needs to calm down on Price a bit, he is 2 and 2 since his return to Hamilton, he got lit up a few times, even Broduer gives up 5 and 6 from time to time. Halak was really bad when he first went down before he turned it around. Other posters have also commented that team is pretty poor defensively. He will bounce back and be fine.

I simply expect a win. 1-0 9-2 or 3-2 it doesn't matter. The Habs are coming down the stretch and have many 2 point playoff type games. They can go either way at this point. The history suggests crumbling, but this team seems to have more going for it offensively then in the past. I am looking at Koivu, Markov to pick up there games. Kovalev just needs to keep doing what he is doing. The danger i see is Huet, he just doesn't play well for more then 2-3 games in a row. So i am looking forward to seeing which team shows up the next 10-20 games.

Yes, Komi, Higgins and pleks are no brainers for ATLEAST 4 years. Higgins Komi probably more.

The reason Lats doesn't play with lapierre much is balance. Higgins is a young but proven player playing with lapierre, this is a good 2 way line. I agree about needing a different winger with some offensive talent, that will have to come through a trade. Kosto and dandy are 4th liners. Ryder is not doing his part. Why is Higgins exempt from criticism? He should be more offensive and play North and south. Laps goes to the corners and the front of net, Higgins should be creating more. Lats, little kosty are playing with Koivu again because of balance. They have 3 pretty effective lines and the 4th shows up sometimes.

JoelLassiter, You should atleast be fair when picking on a player (Gorges) out of the 3 goals you stated, Gorges was responsible for only 1, Bouillon had a bad pass, then Koivu didn't exit the zone when he had a chance. So picking on him is fine but atleat be fair. Streit is minus 9, Gorges minus 4 and Markov the allstar minus 3. Not much of a difference except PP points. Gorges is like the only player who actually jumps in to help a team mate. I totally agree about the toughness, they are not tough enough, the played tough against the Bruins but unless you can do it every night, you aren't tough. Oh, and can someone let Koivu know the second halk of the season has started.

pacioretty is very physical on the boards, he reminds me of Smyth alot. he also doesn't hold the puck at all, it's on his stick then a quick pass or a shot. He also has great speed. Don't let the Jr championship ice time or play fool you. He was used on the fourth line. Michigan he plays PP, PK and on the top line, he will be a player. He didn't play the weekend series, the announcers didn't say if he was hurt or sitting out from jet lag. I went to the Wisconsin DU game on Saturday night, I got to see McDonagh play. They blew out DU Saturday and had a tough loss Friday due to a bad call as time expired. He is a great skater, smooth and a great first outlet pass. He is actually alot more physical then i thought he would be, he had a spear and roughing penalty and was pushing people around at times. He did have a Souray moment and got undressed on Friday night. He does wander a bit in his own end from time to time. He is going to be good. Maybe only a year or 2 away from the 3rd pairing spot behing Markov and Hamrlik. He is a LD

Being a big defenseman doesn't make you a tough goon. They still need someone who can throw em and not get rag dolled like every habs "goon" the last 10 years. They are better, they aren't there yet. The youth, 25 and under croud, Kovalev and Hamrlik have carried the team. Other vets including Koivu needs to pick it up to ensure a playoff spot. I was wondering where are all the posters calling for GC's head have gone? Like I have said for 2 years now, the system doesn't hamper the offense, the system doesn't cause the team to give up 40 shots a night. Lazy soft players do. The players including Kovalev have gradually bought into the system and are playing tougher, harder and for longer periods of time now. They still have some lapses in games and forget how to work hard, but when they do, they can compete with the big boys. Ottawa and New Jersey still own them. So they reallly just need to keep going with what they are doing and they should make the playoffs. Next years bunch should be even a younger team with the likes of Smoke, Brisby, Ryder probably Huet, Steit all gone from the roster. This team should have good cap space to bring in a top guy if they think they need 1. Thye can also lock up some of the youth for longer contracts.

If anyone cares Price won last night giving up 2 goals on 25 i beleive. Another week or down and playing getting his confidence should really help. I just hope Huet gets it together, he seems to play better when he is being pushed.

2 points is 2 points. Thye didn't play poorly but they didn't play good either. Offensively they looked ok, defensively shakey again. Talk about a team standing around and watching. 3 or 4 times they just watched the Hawks player skate around and get a great shot. Here is a tip, it's ok to hit someone in the dzone, it helps you get the puck. That lineup was too small and soft. I'm not sure i have seen anyone as scared as Brisbois as far as physical play. Huet was shakey again. Playing that guy too many games is not a good idea, he always struggles when he plays alot.

Chipchura is minus 1 with 11 points. Not bad for a 20 year old. If your talking about sucking defensively you may want to look at Dandy and Streit. Minus 16 for the 2. Maybe they should go down and work on there game.

Did you have Locke, Brisbois and Streit in the lineup?

True about faceoffs. But the lineup with Streit and locke makes the team much more like smurfs again. That hasn't gone well the last 10 years. Too small to compete. Hopefully it's just temporary.

No, ONLY starters are voted in. The rest are coaches decisions. Koivu is the second best centre on his team.