jcc

Merci beaucoup!

Ah well, for all of the talk against RDS on these boards, they are still one of the few covering/ providing news about the Development Camp currently being held in Montreal.

Dandenault and Brisebois did not have a good game. I was also disappointed by Gorges and, to a lesser extent, Streit. Perhaps time to bring back O'Byrne, Latendresse and Ryder, indeed.

I think that after last night, we can say that "Les Glorieux" are back! No?

The recent trade by Ottawa requires a response from BG. I would propose: 1) Koivu, Ryder, Gorges, and Halak for Vinny Lecavalier. 2) Higgins, Bouillon, Begin and Grabovski for Eric Staal. This would require the call up of Chipchure up front and Cote on defense. It might need a response. Bob won't be panicked into it, though, we can be assured. For trade #1, replace Ryder with Higgins, Halak with Huet, and TB might listen. Maybe they want a defensive hulk, so you might get away with keeping Koivu or Higgins, I don't know. Not sure they'd be interested in an older, overpaid ctr like Saks, though - although it would permit them to use Richards as their #1. AH, someone who understands the meaning of "I would propose" and then thinks the proposition through! The Hurricanes, if I am not mistaken, have always been pretty high on Bouillon and Higgins. As to the "excess" volume...if you don't need it, why keep it?

The recent trade by Ottawa requires a response from BG. I would propose: 1) Koivu, Ryder, Gorges, and Halak for Vinny Lecavalier. 2) Higgins, Bouillon, Begin and Grabovski for Eric Staal. This would require the call up of Chipchure up front and Cote on defense.

Sorry for the belated reply folks. That 6-0 loss by Hamilton in front of BG did nothing to help those aspiring to be called up. BUT.. I still think that O'Byrne needs/should have a shot at the big time show. We have 3 D who for one reason or another are not living up to their supposed roles: Streit, Bouillon, and Gorges. Time, I think, to bring in some fresh blood at D. I do not particularly care what BG does with Streit, Bouillon and Gorges. O'Byrne, on the other hand must be brought in paired with Hamrlik: that will give us 2 solid D pairs. The 3rd pair could be Brisebois-Cote. Dandenault used up front could be the emergency D-man. Grabovski has done absolutely nothing. So, either move him down or get rid of him. I remain unsure what to do with Smolinski, Kostopulos, or Begin. Perhaps more dead meat? Or maybe just spots for Lapierre, #### jr.?

Gorges has the same problem as Streit & Bouillon : too small & not heavy enough so that he gets knocked around by the opposition, rarely comes out of his corner with the puck. Bring in O'Byrne, who should have remained in any case at the beginning of the season, give him a spot with Hamrlik and get Brisebois on the 3rd D pair with JP Cote.

I should think that with Streit (not to mention Bouillon) experiencing difficulties, the answer is to call up O'Byrne (the last player to have been cut from training camp. He certainly can do no worst than Streit playing on his wrong side or Bouillon playing on his right side. And Gorges, I am afraid to say, is not the answer for a 6th or 7th D-man. Dandenault should be left where he is (up front)), unless someone wants him in a trade.

Streit has been a major disappointment on D. And being teamed up with Bouillon has not helped. These two guys simply get bounced around by the opposition, making their effectiveness next to zero. Last night was a perfect example: Streit, in particular, simply got out-muscled by the Leafs and in one instance aftermath of the the check he received was scary. I do not think that either Streit or Bouillon will last through the year as 5-6 D. O'Byrne will be recalled at some point to take one of their places. As for the 6-7 D positions, I just do not see Gorges there. There is no one from within at the moment with the possible exception of JP Cote, another bigger, more experienced D than Gorges.

Because Murray was claimed on re-entry, can someone confirm whether the HABS are responsible for/save $300K from his salary or whether Florida has to pick up all of his salary?

Give me a break. Chipchura down to Hamilton....???? You watched the game last night? No way! Maybe Grabs going down and Lapierre coming up. As for trades, too early to pull the plug on anyone. BG will wait. I like the Stortini option though.

[Another one who complained a lot was the Great One. Crosby is following in his steps. As for Lapierre, he can definitively do more, much more than a guy like Kostopoulos.

Oh yes... perspective. One game does not a season make, or a career. Yet, one has to admitt that Price was darn good against an exploding scoring machine. Chips also played quite well, with some nice passes and back-checking in his own end. Gorges, however, was an absolute disaster: let us hope it is a blip on the radar. The defense seemed to struggle when the three smaller D-men (Bouillon, Gorges, and Streit) were faced with much bigger and speedy forwards.

I would like to think that GC read my earlier post regarding the lineup, BUT... On, another matter, chill out folks. We are Game # 3 into a long season. Yes, Lats has not been particularly good. That is also the case with others: where, for example, has Pleks been? But give them a break: the season is young. And, yes, tonight will be a special game regardless of the score. You have the Captain of the Cdn. World Jr. Team in Chips and the Price(less) goaltender who made the difference both there and in the Calder Cup. These two will have the CHC tattooed on them tonight forever.

The starting line-up is not yet available. But I do not see Chips & Price on the sideline again. Game # 3: time to get them in.

Now that BG and GC both surprised us with whom they kept, I do not think they will be looking for trades... UNLESS, that is, something really sweet comes along. However, this is the beginning of the season. GMs, all of them, are trying to figure out if who they presently have serves them well. It will take some time for things to work themselves out. I two or three months, I should think that BG and GC have a much better idea as to what the current HABS are capable of. And then, they can do one or possible two things: draw upon the better prospects in Hamilton OR trade away some of these prospects along with established NHL'rs for whomever they think will make a different quickly. So, in my opinion, there will be no trades in the immediate horizon.

Does any one know what is wrong with Biron? He did not play any preseason games with the HABS, so his injury must be rather serious.

BG has surprised many of us, me included. That said, he is probably still tinkering with the idea of 3 players moving up and down: Grabs, Chips & Price for O'Byrne, Lapierre and Halak. Should HABS injuries and or a trade require it, look for all to be up with by big club by Xmas.

This was Saturday on CJAD & CKAC between periods. BG was inteviewed on both stations (at different times, of course).

From what I heard from BG yesterday, here is my scenario. Only one rookie makes the team: grabovski. Price, O'Byrne, and Chipchura will be sent down, but recalled at some point over the year for prolongued stays, perhaphs even permanent ones, depending on injuries and/or trades. That will leave the starting team pretty much unchanged from the end of last year, save of course for the 3 free agent signings. SO... Huet- Halak Komisarek-Markov Brisebois-Hamrlik Dandenault-Bouillon Gorges-Streit Higgins-Koivu-Ryder Kostitsyn-Grabovski-Kovalev Latendresse-Plekanec-Smolinski Begin-Lapierre-Kostopolous Murray Hopefully, before Xmas, Murray will be gone as will Dandenault or Bouillon, and one of the golies to make room for Price, O'Byrne, and Chipchura. Otherwise, the propect depth thesis is all hype.

Saks-A, i do believe your are right. Some have been harping that Chipchura is a role player. But, who is not??? Defensive-minded forward, goal scorer, hustler, etc. everyone has a role in a team. Chips will do the job centering 3 or 4th line. O'Byrne will do the same in lieu of Dandenault, and Price instead of Halak. And I would not be surprised either if a Begin or Kostopolous constitute part of the departed: the first is injury prone and the second, well..., has not been too visible.

Yeah, I too wonder about Grabovski. Too similar in size to Koivu and Pleks with not necessarily the same skills. That would make 3 centers, each at 5-10 and around 180-190 lbs. I just do not think that will fly.

I am in Toronto and use Expresvu. To get RDS my choice was either to get it in a bundle at 5 bucks or alone for 2 bucks per month. I decided on the former, which includes the RIS channel spawned from RDS. BTW: no blackouts whatsoever in either scenarios

If 29 teams passed on the material we put on waivers, it is because the said teams think that their system has as much depth as ours. If so, then cancel each other out!, with our farm team beaing no better in terms of prospects than other teams. And with a team that did not even make the playoffs last year that concerns me. On the other hand, the fact that no waived players, regardless of who put them up, have effectively been picked up by other teams is strange. Have GMs decided not to raid one another at this point, waiting instead for demoted players to be recalled? Coincidence sure, but I do not think there is collusion here on the part of the GMs.