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saskhab

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Everything posted by saskhab

  1. Savard was family. And also not an agent. Look, I'm all for Brisson as a candidate, and he very well could be the best one out there (I wouldn't ever claim to know for sure), but hiring an agent from Hollywood doesn't seem like the direction the Montreal Canadiens would go. I could be wrong. Anyways, Vinny Damphousse withdraws from consideration, saying he's not ready for the demands of such a position yet. http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/338077.html And I breathe a tremendous sigh of relief. Damphousse has already said the Habs need a full scale Oilers style rebuild, which would effectively waste the best years of Price, Subban, and Pacioretty, three guys who are amongst the best in the world at their position in their age group.
  2. I have a hard time believing the Montreal Canadiens would choose an agent as their next GM. For such a conservative organization, and with Savard directly involved, I can't imagine that as being the end result.
  3. Habs just have to match the Oilers, who hold the tiebreak. They lost last game, we must lose tonight vs. Tampa. If Oilers win tomorrow and Habs go 0-2 these next two games (both regulation losses), the Habs clinch 29th.
  4. Brett Connolly was in a similar situation a couple years back (essentially lost his draft year), and the Lightning sent him back. After a year there, they put him on their NHL team, but Yzerman openly bemoaned the fact they couldn't put him in the AHL. There's a chance with a new CBA rules might change, but likely not in time for next year.
  5. I'm sure McGuire is competitive, but drive to win? The man hasn't been employed by a NHL team since the 1990s, he does not have an unburning desire to win the Stanley Cup. His desire seems to want to be the most knowledgable guy in the room. Why won't he take a job as a head scout, an assistant GM, etc. and try and earn his way to the top? If Scotty Bowman loves him so much, why has he not been employed by Detroit or Chicago?
  6. Not really politics, it's just the perks of playing for the USNTDP. And USA uses all non-USNTDP guys for the Ivan Hlinka Summer U18s. Galchenyuk had 3 goals, 4 points in 4 games there. Plus, it's not like USA is hurting themselves... they send a team that plays together all year and win 2 out of every 3 years.
  7. Sucks if he can't play at the Worlds. For the last 3 games, meh, doesn't really matter I suppose. Hope he's okay. Sounds like Desharnais got him in practice... apparently our midgets are great at knocking out goalies.
  8. Savard never really had a big budget, though, so that might have played into the 'finding misplaced players' strategy. Pre-lockout, the Habs were in the low $40m for payroll, which was respectable but hardly close to what the top teams like Toronto, Rangers, Philly and Detroit were spending ($60-$80m). But then again, Savard didn't really earn the trust to spend much higher, either, putting decent coin into Brisebois and Audette, and Gainey had to buy out three decently paid players in Audette, Czerkawski and Mackay upon taking over, plus eventually $1m to get out of the Brisebois deal after the lockout. I don't see BriseBois or Bergevin as being 'safe' choices, really. I guess I differ here. They're young, they're apprenticing, but they are contributing to their organizations in a positive way and cast a wider net in terms of experience than what we're used to seeing out of our GM candidates. They have ideas that are different than the previous generations have had, Bergevin has never played for the Habs and BriseBois is from a strictly business/legal background that went into pro sports (which isn't dissimilar to how Selke, Pollock and Grundman got into the position). Carriere is the more traditional choice here, he'd be the safe guy I think... former player, long time scouting experience, some coaching, a lot of assistant GM positions, etc. He reads like an old school GM. I also realize that this is the first time in Habs history there has truly been a chance to have an exhausting search for the team's GM position. A. Savard was the closest to a search candidate I can think of, but he was hired immediately upon the job becoming available. Gainey was hired because he was available, no one else was considered. Gauthier inherited the job. Serge Savard retired as a player and got the job. Grundman beat out Bowman, the hire was completely internal, as was Pollock replacing Selke. This is a rare moment in the team's history that they can have the chance to interview several candidates and conduct an exhaustive search.
  9. Brisebois was already out the door when Moore became a UFA. This whole argument is bizarre. AHL GM's most definitely make decisions for their clubs. They are under the direction of the big club for callups and what not, but they definitely have a say in scouting other AHL talent and advise on roster moves that will affect their team. Brisebois has to get at least partial credit for signing Mathieu Darche, for example. Just as he gets credit for Tampa acquiring Cedrick Desjardins. I'm not sure if he should get any credit for Desharnais or St. Denis, those were likely in Timmins' responsibilities as the head of amateur scouting, but acquiring quality AHL talent is definitely under the scope of the AHL GM. As is hiring staff for the team.
  10. Assistants work under the direction of their boss. It is silly to blame Brisebois for those moves that only affected the NHL roster. We're going to disqualify anyone that worked under Bob Gainey as well as everyone who doesn't speak French... boy, what a great talent pool we're working from. He was GM of Hamilton. He is GM of Norfolk, one of the hottest non-NHL teams on the planet. He is involved at least a little in all the decisions for the AHL rosters of those teams. Both were good to great teams with good coaching staffs. Brisebois has all the appearances of being the best man for this job.
  11. The more appropriate question might be if Kaberle is worth giving a regular course buyout too... I'd wait a year on that front, see if he can recover some of his value. But I think Diaz does a lot of what Kaberle can do for cheaper. I'm wondering how much Barret Jackman might cost.
  12. A team is going to have bad contracts. I assume there would be a limit on the amount of contracts one could get rid of by this method... I'd actually hope it was only one. I think you can hide Bourque and Kaberle's deals a bit on a team, but Bourque's being four more years is quite annoying. Getting rid of Kaberle does allow the team to be more efficient, I don't like that we have Bourque over Cammalleri or Kostitsyn but I don't see how ditching him allows the team to be more efficient in spending, either. Hemsky re-signed in Edmonton.
  13. White is a good hockey player. I have no problem with him. I have no problem with toughness as long as you can be effective with it. You guys are attributing what surge exactly to the presence of Staubitz? The team still gets outplayed on a nightly basis at even strength it just has a more effective PP than it did before. You know, with Markov back. And Subban starting to score. There's been no discernible up tick in anyone else's play since Staubitz arrived or Blunden returned. Fights are fun to watch but they don't do a heck of a lot in terms of wins. Machine of Loving Grace has it pretty spot on, IMO. Darche is a NHL player. He's a good barometer to use for young players... if you can do the things Darche does, you can stick in the NHL. White does those things. Leblanc does. Palushaj hasn't. And with all the big bodies the Habs have now up front in Pacioretty, Cole, Bourque, etc... Darche hasn't seen much PP time this year and probably won't again. But when he and Plekanec were the top PK unit after Moen went down the PK was starting to get SH chances and not allowing ANYTHING against. It was quite something to see.
  14. Yes, I can see why having a bottom six forward who plays hard, is disciplined, moves the puck up the ice and does a very good PK for next to the league minimum salary is horrible. Meanwhile, players that do nothing (or contirbute negatively when they do) like Blunden, Nokelainen, and Staubitz are getting regular shifts.
  15. I agree that Bourque is a Kostitsyn type... which is why this whole series of trades is infuriating to me... Eller & Kostitsyn actually were great together at the start of the year getting weaker matchups, there was chemistry there. Eller & Bourque is an unknown. I understand the concept of duos. I'm just moving things around to make sense for matchup purposes: I look for power vs. power matchups because that's what good teams in the NHL look for. Plekanec has been very good in that role when lined up beside good wingers (Cammalleri & Kostitsyn is an example). Basically Plekanec's line should be able to defend first but move the puck up the ice, Desharnais' should be to finish and Eller's should go up against weaker competition and dominate them at both ends of the ice if possible. Basically, I want talent on 3 lines but I want it set up to generate the best results for the team as a whole. Right now the Habs are basically neglecting matching forward lines and relying entirely on Gorges-Subban to defend... it's not working.
  16. For next year, Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gionta as the top line and Grigorenko-Desharnais-Cole has a nice feel to it.
  17. Whoever the Habs draft won't be playing centre in 2012-13. He might play centre after that, but if you want to compete in this league you can't have a teenage top 9 C. Boston put Seguin on the wing and that's ideal for Grigorenko or whoever (Galchenyuk, Faksa, Forsberg, etc) if they are to play in the NHL at all next season. Personally, I think the 2 and a half men line should have been broken up by now to see if Desharnais can handle a greater role without the insulation of having the team's best two wingers. Both Pacioretty and Cole were doing great this year before Desharnais was their centre, they've simply continued to be strong while DD has had his numbers go up. What would the Habs be like if Bourque was the LW on that line and Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gionta was a line? Plekanec and Gionta are proven 100 foot players, great on both ends of the ice, and Pacioretty has shown he can handle playing against top lines in the past as well. I think such a setup would maximize the Habs' potential going forward... and I also think Plekanec is a better PP option than Desharnais is, and the 2 and a 1/2 Men line shouldn't be used on the top PP unit. When Plex was there for those couple of games on the west coast with no DD the PP looked electric.
  18. I think the team really wants a right handed centre... which is why Engqvist and Nokelainen have been given chances. Both Leblanc and White are RH and seem to be getting opportunities here late in the year at centre... but I think the team will target a right handed veteran centre, as I like both of those guys better as wingers.
  19. D'Agostini for Palushaj COULD work out, but it's trading a sure thing for a possibility. I still believe the O'Byrne for Bournival swap was a good one. Letting Streit walk (and Carbo playing him at forward instead of ahead of a guy like Bouillon, making him want to try somewhere else anyways) when he could've been re-signed for cheap early in his UFA season was one of the dumbest moves this team has done in the past ten years. And Michael Ryder's bounceback was entirely predictable as well (considering he was being misused in 07/08), though he and Ribs weren't Timmins picks, it fits the pattern. Different discussion, but I've looked back on how that 07/08 roster was used and can't for the life of me figure out the logic behind it... they were winning but doing it the hard way (PP and goaltending carrying the team).
  20. Darche and Moen to re-join practice next week.
  21. One RFA that definitely should not receive a qualifying offer is Petteri Nokelainen.... he really shouldn't ever see the NHL again. I kind of wish the Habs gave Engqvist one last shot at the 4th line spot down the stretch but the callup limitation likely prevented it. Both will likely be in Europe next year.
  22. I can't see him becoming a top 6 forward, but given a shot with the right linemates (i.e. not the terrible ones like he's been getting recently) he could be a decent bottom six guy who contributes a bit offensively. They most definitely should qualify the player, for those who don't think he's made progress during his ELC I can't honestly see how you can make that case, as he's one of the best AHL players currently and was only a 3rd line AHLer his first year. There might be a bit of a Maxwell case in him but he could turn out a bit like the guy he was traded for in D'Agostini in the right setup. A bottom six role doesn't have to mean grinding or defence only, it is more increasingly being used around the NHL as an advantageous matchup line to get some easy offence.
  23. Gauthier believed in Cunneyworth. He truly did. He hired him as Boucher's replacement after allowing Boucher to leave, allowed Muller to leave to promote Cunneyworth to Martin's assistant, and fired Pearn to give Cunneyworth/Ladouceur more of a say. Everything he did involved promoting Cunneyworth at the expense of other qualified candidates.
  24. That would exactly be the scenario... Our offer would have to be better for Edmonton than Toronto's, let's say. Or Dallas'. Whoever wants Grigorenko is bidding with Edmonton to move up... Montreal is in the same boat as everyone else.
  25. He always had chemistry with Plekanec, so I didn't see it as an issue. In Calgary, they had an established top line without Cammalleri, so they're trying to create a second line and figured he would be best in the middle. Even back when the team had centre depth issues (before the Moore trade/Halpern signing/Eller trade/Desharnais callup) the team also then had winger depth issues (Pouliot stepped right in as the #4 winger). I think we've always had slightly better centre depth than wing depth. Today, we have way better centre depth than wing depth, because the team ditched Cammalleri (Bourque and Kostitsyn are roughly equivalent though I'd rather have AK46 as he amazingly seems more consistent). I'd only see it as relevant in case of injuries and our centre position has been relatively healthy that entire time, save Gomez's injuries this year.
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