hab29RETIRED
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Posts posted by hab29RETIRED
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You mean.... Eklund is wrong?
First time for everything!
yep. just like how the habs were going to move up and do everything possible to get Esposito
i don't know who is worse Eckland or that idiot Bruce Garroich (sp??) from the Ottawa Sun. At least Eckland is working for himself. I really don't know how that ottawa sun guy got a job and keeps his job!
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If they want those 2, Pleks and Ryder , or either one for Marleau I'd tell them to piss off, as Pleks was better than him srt8 up down the stretch last year.
Agree. Especially since Marleau is going to be a UFA next year. I think Pleks is the ideal 3rd line centre. With him we can have three scoring lines and he is also a good special teams player.
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Esposito is in a better team now, I don't know why you are saying that I am whining about Espo not being in the habs because he's in a better team now. I just said that he wont be playing side by side with crosby on the same line. I believe that Esposito will have his own line.
I wasn't referring to your comment. it looked like you were replying to somenone else whining about Esposito. I had actually read through about 4 pages where people were whining about crosby until i reached your thread and finally responded.
btw, i doubt if he will have his own line, but i do think that at some point he will play with one of Pittsburgh's big 3 (Crosby, Malkin, Staal), which unless he is a total head flop, should assure that he succeeds in pittsburgh, whereas in Montreal, he would've been expected to show he will be the main guy on a line. With Pittsburgh already stacked at centre before drafting Esposito (they already got 4 really good young centres - 3 of them superstar calibre - somebody has to moved to the wing).
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Uhm, I don't think Espo will be playing on the same line as Crosby...
I wish people would stop whining about Esposito. If he wasn't from Montreal and was just another prospect, there wouldn't be a single person hoping the habs take esposito.
Personally, i see him more of a ribiero/daigle type then a Savard. The only thing that worries me is Patrick Roy's high assessment of him (which would be natuarl since he is Esposito's coach).
But i'm fed up with the french media types. If it wasn't for them, Chelios would not have been moved (in an absolute STUPID trade), carboneau wouldn't have been given away and a lot of the other stupid trades made, probably would never have happened and players wouldn't avoid montreal like the plague.
Even when they took Choiunard, they were complaining why didnt' the habs take Gagne. If the habs had taken Gagne chouinard ended up being the prospect that panned out, they would have been complaining why didn't the habs take Choiunard.
I really think this is on of the habs better drafts and they addressed a lot of the holes in their system.
Now if they can only get a real number 1 or 2 centre (I'm really hoping for a Ryder for Marleau trade).
btw, did anyone hear anything further on the Kovolev for Tangauy rumour??? I had read that it was reported by Eric Duhatchak who isn't smoking dope like a lot of the reporters (i.e. that fat idiot Bruce Garrohich - not sure about the spelling - from the Ottawa Sun) reporting trades, but wasnt' able to find that on any of his columns on the web.
If the habs could do the following i would give Gainey an A+++ this summer (after i think he really screwed up by holding on to Souray):
-move Kovolev for a finisher like Tanguay.
-Get another centre (Marleau/Briere - I'd rather have Marleau, but i like being able to get Briere without having giving up anything. I also like Gomez/Drury, but they will NEVER choose to come to Montreal).
-Get a puck moving defencemen (the guy i wanted was signed to a ridiculous salary by philly) and get rid of at least one of Dandenault or Bouillon.
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Your still not out of that depression?
i think there first pick this year was better then last year. I do wish they moved up for their second 1st round pick to get the russian.
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haha unfortunately, but i dont mind the mcdonagh pick, just wish we coulda got esposito with the 22nd pick.
i was actually hoping they would have traded up to get Chernapopov.
Esposito scares me too much - scares me bcoz he could turn out to be Denis Savard or Alexander Daigle. I would rather have had the habs gamble on Chernapopov
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i am upset over not picking Espo, but i dont agree with Pedneault there. thats right they owe us competitive teams which we havent seen in 14 years.
It's bcoz of idiots like Pedneault that nobody wants to play in montreal.
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If Gainey doesn't take one of them, I'm going to kill myself
I want espo, but I'll definitly settle with Cherepanov
r you still alive
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He isn't even in the Habs top 4, he played forward. The habs have a bottom 5 D team.
he played forward bcoz Carboneau must of been on crack most of the year. On a good team i see streit as a 5th, 6th defencemen. Last year on the habs, he was easily the 4th best.
The canadiens should dump dandenault and Bouillon.
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Where do i start:
Kovalev
Bouillon
Dandenault
Souray
Ryder (i dion't think he is garbage but can you afford to pay him Kovalev numbers when you have Kovalev) He is good trade bait
Streit (hard working but a 6 or 7 on good teams
As you can tell i think they need to improve the D.
Example: Pleks Ryder and a 1st for Marleau
If this is your idea of a good trade for the habs - I thank god you are not bob gainey. The Sharks would make this deal in a heartbeat. Why the hell would the canadians be stupid enough to give up a 30 goal scorer, a guy who scored 20 this year and has the potential to be a solid 30 goal guy AND a first round pick for Marleau who is a UFA next year??
Ryder straight up for Marleau sounds like a much fairer deal, considring SJ is going to have Ryder's rights a lot longer. I'd love to see marleau in a habs uniform but would NEVER want to give up what you are suggesting. I think playing with Thorton Ryder can be a 40-50 goal scorer, at most i might consider thowing in a 2nd or 3rd rounder. but that is it.
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One needs to think about this from the perspective of the players and their agents who convince them they should in some cases want the 1 year deals? Greed motivates most situations, and if an agent can force the hands of a manager to sign contracts that will have to be renegotiated every year, then that is more often than not in the best interest of his clients. It is not always the case, but it is often better to sign short contracts with bigger increases than to sign long term with minimized increases. In other words they were only interested in short term deals?
As well one has to take into consideration that in certain cases many of the players signed short term were brought in as stepping stones towards a future prospects laden lineup. A bunch of long term contracts to aging veterans would make it harder for a lot of obvious reasons to move in the young players that are ready to graduate. Managing and growing a champion is not about long term contracts all over the place. Trading players becomes much harder when they have bigger & longer contracts in a salary cap environment. Fans need to realize that maximizing your 'capology' is a definite art. The Leafs and a few other teams are paying the price for a lot of long term contracts.
As for overpaying - once July 1st rolls around just sit back and watch to see if these managers have learned anything from the past couple of years? Probably not as there will always be one guy willing to escalate the price of some middle of the line player. Especially decent defenceman, as they are a rarer breed than good forwards are...
oh i know that minutes after july 1, there will be incredibly stupid signings, but the bottom line is there are a number of successful times who don't get drawn into the stupidity, in fact it usually is the successful teams that don't make dumb signings. Look at the NYR, until the past two years, what have their signings got them??? same for Dallas, Toronto, LA and boston. The teams that did spend a lot on UFA's and are successful are the one's that paid a guy what he was actually worth (i.e. Neidermeyer in anaheim).
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As I said, there are two sides to a negotiation table... Does Francois Giguère lacks foresight for not signing Leopold for longer than 2 years? Is it just a coincidence that Leopold's contract will finish RIGHT WHEN he'll become a UFA? Don't you see a trend there? EVERY RFA wanna benefit from their UFA bargaining powers... so they play it cool and safe while they are RFA... and BREAK THE BANK when they are UFA... Leopold will be asking for 5M a year in 2 years from now... Right now, he doesn't have the negotiation power to ask for that much. IF Giguère was to offer him 5 years at 5M, he'd be crazy... 5 years at 4M, he'd be losing money this year and next year...
Dont you understand that?
Let's say I'm a GM and you're a super prospect. If I offer you 5 years at 1M right now... would you accept it? or ask 500k for 1 year, knowing that you WILL prove you're worth more than 1M per... You know that you're gonna score 50 goals and you know that it's worht more than 1M... On the other hand, I, as the GM, know that you got potential... but you didn't do ANYTHING to deserve more than 1M per season yet. I know that you might score 50... But I cannot offer you 5M per season right away.
That's the problem with every guys with UFA status... at the other end of the spectrum though, Markov was worth way more than 1.5M and 2M the past two seasons...
Plekanec was worth way more than 450k last season, etc...
I'd go up to 5M, just for his canon.
no matter how much we're giving, the choice is "to keep him or not"... cause the difference between 0 and, say, 4.5M is much greater than the difference between your wishfulthinking of 4.5 and the reality of 5.5M...
If you're ready to pay 4.5M for Souray... (but say he wants more and can get more elsewhere) then, IF YOU WANT TO KEEP HIM, 5.5M is not a long way from there...
STUPIDEST thing would be if we wanna keep him... but break negotiations because of a e.g. 500k difference (Ryan Smyth anyone?)...
I just think that is too much to pay a guy who has a long injury record and for a d-man who is so one dimensional and may also want a no trade clause and a minimum of 3 years. Souray has never been consistant year over year - granted injuries are the main reason (2 years ago his divorce also played a factor), but in today's cap world, offering that much to an injury prone, one dimenstional player doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.
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Point one: Pronger, but offensively gifted? Since when is Chris Pronger not offensively gifted? The guy is a Norris and Hart winner, and is a finalist for the Hart almost every year. You don't get consideration for those awards just with defense. He's always in the top 10 scorers among defencemen. That's not offensively gifted?
Point two: Is any player worth giving up four first rounders?
I would give up 4 first rounders for Phaneuf in a heartbeat. The habs have enough young players in the pipeline and cand trade some of them for picks later on. Guys like Bourque, Pronger,Lidstrom, Neidermayer only come along every so often. The risk with Phaneuf is if mentally he can take the next step or not - but i'd be willing to take that gamble. I wouldn't take the same gamble on Vanek, but if you can get a guy who can become one of the league's top 5 dmen for the next 10 years, i'd give up the draft picks. The harder part is willing to pay him enough (have to be at or close to the league limit), for calgary to let him walk (which i don't think they would do in any event).
Remember the last dman that was offered a big contract as a RFA was a Scott Stevens. Are you saying that you wouldn't be willing to give up 4 first ronders to get scott stevens in his prime???
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We must do this immediately, if this is true. Hell, 4 years at 25 mil.
Like i said, for calgary not to match, you would have to offer close to the league max. You have to keep in mind that both Kiprusaff and Igilna are UFA's next year, there is no way that the flames are going to let their youngest and most valuable asset that they have the rights to for another 5 years walk away for nothing when they may also lose Igilna and Kipper next year.
AlexStream, I agree, I'd rather get a real high-end impact forward, who can play physical, and can play within our system like Drury or Smyth (not Briere, who is great but would be wasted talent because of his style of play on our team - sort of like Sammy) than Souray, if it comes down to that... and then try to sign Schneider or another good D who might not replace Souray's points but would be more than enough defensively to make up for Souray's loss.I think the habs need more help on the D then an impact forward. They have a lot of young forwards who may be enough, but they are awful on defence. Unless of course they can dump Sammy and Kovy's salary - then i'd make a push for Brierre or Drury, although i think we would have absolutely no chance to sign Drury.
ALso keep in mind that during the next two years you also have Marleau, Thornton, Lecavailier that could potentially become free agents as well and it would be nice having the cap room to make a push for one of them.
Souray once in a interviews said 5 Mil per year was too much for him. I'm content with Markov's deal, nevertheless that leaves plenty of room for Souray to eat his words and ask for at least 5 mil per year. But "shite" were going to be spending at least 11 mil per year on 2 players that leaves less wiggle room for us to complete the roster on the D line and up front. So.... lets hope the cap hits 49 or more. IMO, I think Souray will be offered tops 5.5 for 3 or 2 years from the Habs if the cap hits 49 MIl. I'm hoping he signs for under 5 (as quoted from his comment) 4.75 per year for 3 years would make my day! if not we got an extra million or two to pay off the russian mob to let go of Yemlin and co.I think anything over $9M/2yr for Souray is over paying. Personally, if i was in Bob's shoes i wouldn't pay more then $4m/yr , but given that he just had a career year, we have a lousy D and that he can probably get some idiot to pony up $6M plus.
If we could dump Dandenault and Boullion i'd go as high as $4.75M, but i can't see anyone wanting those two overpaid, under-acheiving bums.
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If Phaneuf is a RFA, why not offer him a 4 year $23M deal? If Calgary does not match (Calgary is cheap town) then HAbs have to give up draft choices. This guy is going to be another Pronger Type, but offensively gifted. Just my 2cents....
I'd love the habs to make an offer to Phaneuf. But for the flames not to match the offer it would have to be close to the league max and for the habs to benefit, you woul notd want a 4 year deal, bcoz, it will probably be another 3 years for Phaneuf to hit his stride and be one of the top 3 d-men in the league and at that point, you would only be getting true value for one more year and then he would be close to being a UFA. For the Habs to make a push at a RFA like a Phaneuf or a Vanek, I think you need to have closer to a 7 or 8 year deal (and then you pray to god that the guy doesn't get hurt).
lol i think Markov could get nearly 6,5 with some teams : Snow and Wang gave a 15 yrs contract to a goaler, don't you think they can't go on a tilt again with a VERY promising young Dman ???I thought he probably would have got around $6M, maybe a bit more if someone got stupid (which isn't inconcievable considering some of the morans that are GM's or owners), but i was hoping that when he said he would take less to stay in montreal it would have been in the $5M range.
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I too think Bob overpaid, but that has been his habit. Whatever else Bob is, he is not a great negotiator of salaries. The impact of that is he has less to pay a true elite player.
Markov is a great defenseman and clearly the Habs best, but he has never raised his game consistently to the elite level. This year he scored 6 goals? He was decent defensively, but he was not stunningly good in that department either. We laughed when they paid McCabe and Kaberle those big salaries, how are Markov and Souray different?
In any case, I am sure Souray will now want similar money, and all the players will expect big raises.
What is done is done, and I sure hope there is still money in the bank to pay an elite center, since this team clearly needs one.
That's what i was saying when he signed kovolev. Even back when he was with Dallas. Wasn't he the GM when they gave big deals to Arnott, Audette, Guerin???
Gainey paid what equates to market value - probably a lot less than he would have to on July 1st to get the same talent.Fact is every NHL manager is overpaying for defenceman of this calibre... not just Gainey.
that's fair enough, but i was really hoping that we could get him for $5M or less. There's not much room going after a free agent now - especially if we sign Souray. I'm hoping that the habs lock up Higgins long-term now otherwise they are going to pay through the nose in another couple of years.
You make a good argument, but where is the foresight?Did Gainey not look ahead to this summer and see that Souray and Markov would be the 2 most attractive Defensive Free Agents in 2007?
Markov just got close to a 4 million dollar raise. We all knew how important he was last summer, why not offer him 4 million and get it done before hand.
I know Bob has a policy of no negotiations throughout the season, but that leads to things like this.
Maybe Markov was determined to test the market in which case my point is moot. But I still am a little discouraged that our favourite underated defenceman
could have been signed for far less 6 months ago and Gainey let the market play him.
Jesus, even Ferguson stole Kaberle for just over 4 million because he slightly overpaid him in February and watched him become underpaid within the next season.
It was probably a fluke, but it was a great move.
I totally agree with you on that. I was pissed at the number of 1 year deals gainey has been signing guys to - which is why i really think we need to lock up Higgens to a long term deal - won't he be a UFA in 2 or 3 years??
oh, for sure, and you think Meehan/Markov would accept 4M for 4-5 years, BEFORE the lucrative year? ya, right...it's no coincidence Markov contract came to an end RIGHT WHEN he became a UFA...
it was all calculated by Meehan...
Want another example from elsewhere? Paul Kariya signing for 1.2M for 1 year so that he could be UFA the next year at only 28.
Want another example? there are plenty, just realise that there are TWO SIDES in negotiations and that the other side has some advantages to wait before signing... wait another year so that there are more arguments for a bigger contract.
Why is Ryder signed year after year at 2M?
cause he doesn't want to lock himself for more than 1 year at that salary, just in case he gets a 40 goals season (worth 4M?) so that even with the BEST FORESIGHT, no one could ever force him to sign for more than 1 year... unless, that is, you sign him for 4M for 4 years... but is Ryder worth 4M???
no way!
Last season if we had wanted to buy Markov's "free agent status" we'd have had to offer... 23M for 4 years. Why? cause even though he hadn't had his "career year" yet, we'd have had to "overpay" (overpay at that time) to "force him" to sign before he got to the juicy status that he was, before signing the contract.
There are two sides to negotiations.
i think if you sign a guy to an escalating long-term deal you have a better chance of convicing him to stay. There's always the risk on the players side of taking 1 year deals - he could get injured or have a lousy year. The 1 year deal that Kariya signed with colorado blow up in his face as he played lousy and was injured in Colorado, which meant he also had to take lower deals when he signed in Nashville. He will cash in now, but that's after taking 3 years at less then market value.
Regarding salaries, Jovo is at 7M, Redden at 6.5M.Neither have really played up to that standard at least this season.
Alexstream- I agree with the general sentiment of your post, but not every team in the league could afford to give a player 6M. To be honest he would have gotten at least as much on the free agency market, a team like Edmonton would offer him whatever it took, but it's not like all 30 teams would be lining up with offers.
that's my worry about Markov as well. I don't think he has played up to a 5.75M level - he is easily the habs best d-man but he is not a 5.75M player yet.
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Higgins Gomez/Drury Ryder
Kostitsyn Plekanec Latendresse
Johnson Bonk Begin
Lambert Lapierre Kostitsyn
Ferland Grabovsky
Markov Souray
Emelin Streit
Bouillion Komisarek
Gorges
Huet Halak
Sure you will all love me for this, but living with the Sens fan is driving me nuts.
No way in hell that Gomez or Drury would ever sign with the Habs. If gomez leaves NJ, it will be for the west coast. THere's no way in hell drury would ever want to play in montreal.
Bonk is as good as gone - too expensive.
who the heck is the captian??????
mine is realistic, yours aintYeah, there is no way that the other guys lineup is in montreal.
Bur really, Gomez or Drury is realistic??? NO bloody way either of them would want to sign with Montreal. leaving Koivu out of the mix is just plain dumb!
Markov SourayEmelin Streit
Bouillion Komisarek
Gorges
You seriously think we would have any hope in hell of making the playoffs with these dmen???
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Zubrus? Hmmm, I'd rather someone else but given his size, if we can't do better on the market than I say go for it.
Is he really a guy who is going to be a #1 or #2 center. in the playoffs he has taken a defensive role and if that is what we want him for, he is going to be a lot more expensive then Bonk.
When he got traded at the deadline the word was he was looking for $3M+.
There is talk that SJ may move Marleau. I'd rather go after him then Zubrus.
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What do you guys have against The Cube? He had a bad year, coming back from surgery, but by the end of the year he was himself again, playing the way that incited Bob to give him this near-2M-contract. Look at the number 5 and 6 d-men in the league... few are better that Bouillon when he plays like he can. Streit has also improved alot this year, as a defenceman (even if in played foward half the year). I'd definitly keep those guys. Dandenault is the odd man out. He's our 7th D and at 1,9, he's too costly. What we need is a no 3 or 4 D to replace Rivet.
I don't mind keeping Streit as the 6th man. But the cube has sucked. He gets the occasional hit, but the rest of time he is chasing after the opposition like a chicken with his head cut off. To me, Rivet WAS NOT a 3rd/4th calibar d-man. He would have been great in montreal if he was the 5th/6th d-man.
Neither Rivet, Bouillon, streit, Dandenault could crack the top 5 in Detroit, Anaheim, calgary, NJ, Buffalo, Ottawa, or any other team that has a decent D. Even in SJ, Rivet IMO comes in after Carle, Hannan, McLarren, Vlasic and Erhaff. Yes, offensively, Rivet has more points in the playoffs, but that is only bcoz the Sharks have a deadly powerplay. Defensively, Rivet has the worst plus/minus on the Sharks D, he is VERY average and certainly NOT worth the $2.5M he was getting in Montreal. Gainey absolutely made a steal of a deal for Rivet. I would have been happy with a 2nd round pick to get rid of him.
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Kovalev is not on the team to teach the young guys work ethic that is what Koivu is there for. Kovalev is there to teach them skill. I went to a few practices this year and Kovalev worked with Plekanc, Kostitsyn, Perezhogin on puck handeling and shooting drills.
Laps, Begin and Lats were excellent with thier energy last year lets hope they inspire Dandenault and Bouillon to play a lot better next year if they are still around.
Kovolev may not be there to teach work ethic - but the guy should be professional enough to have some work ethic. The way he played for most of the season and then the way Mr. clutch who said he loves that time of the year, played in the habs last three games was just
......I'd say he was bloddy awful, but i'm not sure if the turkey even showed up to be able to say he was bloody awful.Shooting drills.......kovolev
given the number of shots he takes, you wouldn't know he actually practices his shooting.the guy is a joy to watch when he is stick handling and actually decides to shows up and puts forth the effort. But the rest of the time you want to strangle him. I'd hate to coach him!! I'm pretty critical with Carboneaue, i really think he screwed up with samsonov and a lot of his line decsions (as well as basic strategy deciscions when things weren't going the habs way). But i really don't know if even scotty bowman could have gotten kovolev to show up on a consistant basis.
As far as dandenault an Bouillon go......... i hope they are gonzo. The habs NEED LEGITIMATE #1, 2, 3 and 4th spot defencemen. To me Bouillon, Dandeanult, Georges (at this point in his development) and even streit who was pretty versatile, are at what you'd look for in at best your #6 defenceman... to me they are more like the 7th depth D you have for insurance.
I think Komi will be a solid # 2 or #3, IMO Markov is right now a #2, but has the potential to be a #1, Souray is a nice #3, #4 offenncive defencement. Hannan would look good. I was choked that Chara went to to B's last year. He was exactly what the habs needed.
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Feaster has already said he will not deal the big 4. But he could just be doing that to drive up the cost of getting one of them.
As for the Kovalev to Washington business I wonder what the Habs could get for him.
if we got a mid pick or even a bag of pucks it would be worth it to unload the salary. As talented as he is, he i just too much of a distraction and for a young team he has too lousy of a work ethic to be wearing an "A"
I just want the best damn players on the planet - I don't give a rats patootie if they are French, black, Irish, yellow, not a lifelong Habs fan, white, Mexican, spotted, Martian green, American, polka-dotted, European, from Timbuktu or covered with little frickin' red dots..... JUST THE BEST.....
:hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo: hey, not so loud, the Common's language committee might come after you for grouping French with black, irish, yellow, mexican, etc.
the last few quebecois players that we had did work too well.I think that may be the understatment of the year. Let's face it they were dogs acting like prima donnas.
lapierre, bégin and latendresse on the other hand show a refreshing work ethic and attitude - something that has totally been lacking from the quebecois players in recent years.
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i just read hockeybuzz an felt like throwing up - this is one time I hope that Ekland is on crack
"Brisebois....The Habs may indeed make a pitch to get Patrice back in the fold. The other team I am hearing tied to Brisbois is the Islanders..." -
Anyone read Rivet's interview with a SJ writer, where he pretty much trashes montreal? This is the same clown who went on and on about what a great place montreal is to play. One month later and suddenly montreal is to much of a pressure cooker and not a fun place to play.
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Now that we know that Montreal will pick 12th, who would you like them to pick at those positions? Or, do you have any suggestions as to how to improve the situation and, in such a scenario, who would you like to see pick ed then?
If we stay 12th, I hope we still get to pick ANGELO ESPOSITO
but, if not, I'm not sure yet... I'll have to think about it since I'm pretty focused on Esposito.As to some possible pick trades, here's what I would like to see:
I hope that Montreal switches 1st picks w/ St. Louis and, as above, takes ANGELO ESPOSITO with the pick. I know that he's pegged as being inconsistent & lazy but he's got talent oozing out the pores. With the proper guidance, he could be a major boom or, agt worst, a minor bust (therefore average 2nd line) player. He's well worth the risk. The other part of that deal would be that Montreal would give St. Louis a second round pick (and/or a third rounder) as compensation.
Now, with the San Jose pick (after they get bumped out in the 1st round
), I hope that Montreal picks AKIM ALIU . I know he's got some character issues but he'll grow up and he's a bigger tougher version of Steve Downie... Would be a great compliment to Latendresse.GO :hlogo: GO!
why the hell would we want to WASTE a first round pick on a "Aaron Downey" type????
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in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted · Edited by hab29RETIRED
THat's what pisses me off. The french media go on and on on why the habs don't sign,draft or trade for french canadian stars. Bottem line is the majority of them don't want to play in montreal.
Other then St. patrick, the only recent french canadian that wasn't a bust in montreal was Damphouse. Turgeon was a bust and wanted out. The media has been printing their wet dreams of Vinny (i'd love to have him in montreal as well), all he had to do was wait a year if he WANTED to play for montreal, instead he choose to re-sign with Tampa. Luongo, could have waited last year before signing long-term to sign with Vancouver (this is before it became appperent that Price can become the GUY in montreal), but choose to sign long-term with Vancouver.
This year Briere passed and some moron from Le Presse or RDS or that idiot Bergeron will probably be all over Gainey for signing Briere to a ridiculously long deal like Philly did. I wouldn't have minded paying Briere $6.5M if had a long-track record of putting up the numbers and being injury free. I wouldn't have even minded signing him for $6.5M for a 3 year term. But 8 years??? That is just plain stupid for a guy who has put up one 90 point season and has had some injury problems and is also small when all of the other current centres in montreal are also small..
I'm hoping that in 5 years, the habs will have a chance at Crosby, but when you consider the way he gets treated by habs fans in Montreal and the way the media is in Montreal, why would he want the headache???? why would anyone???
I just hope Latendressse, who is the current flavour of the month for the French Media, continues to progress and improve and isn't ripped by the French media if he fails to live up to their expectations.