puck7x

2-0 Sens, gift goal to Bochenski (no idea if I spelt that right) ... Theodore was out of the net playing the puck, we lost the puck... miscommunication of something.... Going to be tough to come back now. GO SHOOTOUT GO!

Bad idea by Neil taking a run at Theodore while Ivanans AND Vandermeer were both on the ice, lol.

4th line tonight is... Vandermeer - Plekanec - Ivanans I hope this isnt going to be the 4th line to start the season, it probably wont... Begin isnt there. 2 known D pairings for tonight... Hainsey - Rivet Streit - Dandenault

I'm a bit upset, like I've said before, we traded a player in Hossa who provided size and could fight for the puck in the corners, and instead of replacing him with Latendresse in the lineup we send down GL. Oh well. I cant say I'm surprised he was cut.... At least our roster and lines become more clear now. I just hope Julien isnt dumb enough to go with 2 goons.

Final preseason game for the habs, lets hope the team can go into the regular season on a winning note. Also lets hope that Sourays injury is not serious, that would be a major blow to the team if we lost Sheldon longterm. :ghg:

Havlat scores, Habs lose shootout. But we won the game, thats more important obviously. I'll take it.

Higgins gets an empty netter, awesome. 6-3 habs

Hahaha... We just beat a full sens lineup (only really missing Redden) while the habs played without Theodore, Koivu, Markov, and Bulis. Nice.

This game sounds really exciting, too bad it isnt televised.

Absolutely NO WAY Plekanec gets cut... He seems to be our best player every game he plays in.

It sounded like an even fight, with Raitis getting maybe the decision. He got in a couple of big shots I heard, its hard to tell what happened when your listening on the radio.

1-0 Sens on a Havlat goal, beat Danis with a kind of long shot, but a nice shot. FIGHT!

Goalies: Danis vs Hasek

No Latendresse tonight, and CJ mentioned he might go with 2 goons to start the season. I dont know WTF to think anymore, lol... Tonights forward lines... Zednik - Plekanec - Kovalev Dagenais - Ribeiro - Ryder Higgins - Bonk - Sundstrom Ivanans - Begin - Vandermeer Plekanec must be loving his line tonight... Imagine what he could do.

What else am I or the habs brass supposed to base their opinions on? Of course he "could" struggle when the real season begins, but as of right now he hasnt given us any reason to think that he will. He's progressed at a great pace, he's adapted his game to eahc new level, and not looked out of place. From the World Juniors camp (best player) , to habs rookie camp (best player) , to the rookie tourny (top habs player) , to habs training camp (one of our top players) , to the exhibition games (one of our top players). Sure its a risk, but its a smart one, and one we should take.

Who cares how old Latendresse is. So far he's done everything right, and outplayed prospect who are years older then him. Age should not matter, the only thing that should matter is playing ability. Its Bob Gaineys job to ice the best possible team he can. Latendress is exactly what the habs need, and what we've needed for years. Rushing a player who ISNT READY can mess up his development. But from everything that Latendresse has showed us so far, he is ready. Look at Bergeron 2 years ago, it was the exact same situation as Latendresse, he was actually picked at the exact same point in the draft is GL... From the same league, and he made a smooth jump to the NHL in his draft year at 18 years old. It can happen. I'd be very disappointed if Latendresse gets cut after we traded Hossa.

I wouldnt call Garth Murray a career AHL, not at all. 2 years ago people were calling M.Ryder that, actually it wasnt career "AHL'er" it was career minor leaguer, since he spent some time in the ECHL before his big year with the dogs. Murray has potential, Murray has captain-like qualities according to alot of Ranger fans. I wont lie, yes we lost this trade based on potential, Marcel could become a 20-30 goal scorer. But dont write off Murray, he's got size, grit, and lots of heart. He's a good skater with some scoring ability. He could fit very well onto our 3rd or 4th lines in a year or two when we have the space. Gainey isnt a dummy, he's not going to acquire a player before extensively researching him.

Hossa was also lighting it up like Dags, but that didnt stop him from being traded. You just never know. I'd be very surprised to see Latendresse sent down after trading Hossa. Why trade away a player who provided a need for your team (Size, Strenght) without replacing him. Hossa was going to be a big strong player who could win battles in the corners for the habs, why trade him if we're not going to keep Latendresse? I dunno.

We're 3 players over the limit now. One of Vandy/Ivanans will be cut. That drops us to 25 One of Streit/Hainsey will be cut. That drops us to 24 To get to 23 we need to make a big decision. We could send Perezhogin back to the AHL (no waivers for him) , we could send Latendresse back to juniors. We could trade someone like Dags or Sunny. Or we could send both goons down to the farm (unlikely since Vandy has a one-way deal).

Maybe for the same reason why Brian Burke in Anaheim signed up a bunch of goons. They are trying to buy up the entire market of gritty/goony type players and intimidate the league? lol... Probably not. The habs are still a team dominated by "skill players" , adding a couple of grit guys doesnt hurt.

Ivanans has pretty average (bad really) hockey skills. Definitely not NHL level. Vandermeer is way ahead of him in my opinion. I'd much rather see Vandy make the habs ahead of Ivananas. The only advantage Raitis has on Pete is size.

Anyone surprised? http://rds.ca/lhjmq/chroniques/188947.html

Flashback Preseason 03-04 ... Habs vs Bruins. Game is tied, goes to overtime. 2003 Bruins second round draft pick Patrice Bergeron scores the OT winner for the bruins, which helps him crack the lineup... He goes onto have an awesome season. 2 years later our 2nd round draft pick of this year scores the OT winner in the preseason vs the Bruins..

Other celeb habs fans I know of... Celine Dion, Norm McDonald (you know, from SNL, born in QC), Jean Chretien... I'm missing a few that I cant remember right now. Not really an impressive list, haha [Edited on 2005-9-26 by puck7x]

Check it out... Thanks for the article Dan, I'm looking forward to another season of your articles. Great job as always... http://habsworld.net/article.php?id=876