Neech

I agree that Gainey will not trade Higgins, I'd be shocked if he did. But that's the type of guy that Hossa will net in a deal, a proven roster player of some value. Which is why I'd be surprised if we got him.

? Yep, those Finns, they're all so predictable. Can't put two of them in the same room. These guys took an underdog Olympic team to the gold-medal game. Koivu is already seeing Plex take over as the centre on the number 1 line. He's a good leader, and part of what that means is doing the best for the team. I don't think he'd resent any good player joining the team, and if it was another Finn that would be plus if anything.

I could see someone of Higgins' level being traded for Hossa.

He won't go for less than at least one roster player.

My guess is we're not counting on older Latendresse at all.

Grabovsky's on a hot streak, and he'll probably get another chance with the team next year. This year he was clearly not ready and was weak and useless. Maybe he'll bulk up and play with more confidence, but at this point I don't see him being a Habs in any effective role. Chipchura is way ahead of him, and I like what I've seen from Dandenault this year, he's much more useful in the lineup.

Yeah, I really enjoyed the game call by Pierre Houde last night. In the overtime he could barely contain himself, I was afraid he might fall out the booth or something. All in all I like the RDS guys. They're Habs fans - hard on the team when losing, tend to find scapegoats, also tend to whine about the reffing a bit, but when things are going well they get so excited and effusively praise the team.

Richards would benefit from coming here and playing with this team, but he's just not worth the price tag.

What? Where in any of these posts do you find me giving an evaluation of talent, let alone a questionable one? It seems the one suffering from a head-bludgeoning is you, that could explain your poor reading comprehension and childish retorts.

I don't think we need a D-man to help our defensive issues, we need a good defensive forward or two. Hossa's a great two-way player.

Woww... just woww.... I wasn't able to get online last night so I'm a bit late here... That was one of the most awesome games I've ever seen. It felt like a playoff victory. The fans really showed their appreciation for this year's team, they were loud as hell at 5-1. I told myself that it would be hopeless if it went to 6-0. Goddamn, we got ourselves a team here.

???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was definitely those two at the top. Nah, he was good, then shaky, then injured.

I noticed this too... he's really losing his face. I have female friends who used to consider him no. 2 on the team in looks behind Souray, but now not so much.

Sorry about your grandpops, Cataclaw. Let's see if Price has the answer to these Rangers, I hope our team comes out motivated to finally beat them. My prediction: 3-2 win. Goals by Koivu, A. Kostitsyn, Latendresse

He's a veteran guy, and a physical player. If we let him go for another young guy then half of our top 6 would be very inexperienced. I'm sure his veteran presence has helped in the development of Gorges, and they seem to complement each other well. I'd be surprised if he left. I bet one of Carle, Tank, and Emelin will make the team next year in the 7th spot, and another one or two will fill in for injuries.

Who exactly was a better player than him all season long last year? There was no one. The team went through ups and downs but Saku was pretty constant, and yes being an almost PPG player on such a low-scoring team is a good accomplishment. It's more important than +/-, considering that almost everyone on the team last year was a minus.

Edmonton's got Anaheim's pick (instead of the top five pick that they probably would have gotten). I too have been cheering for the Leafs recently, I really want them to go on a tear. Too bad they didn't do it right when Fletcher came in, and made him consider being a buyer at the deadline!

I agree, but I think we'll keep him around for next year.

On Sportsnet they said that it's supposedly a serious rumour that if the Habs win the Hossa sweepstakes then they will try to seriously go after Havlat as well. I doubt it.

Bouillon had a bad year last year, at least partly due to injuries. But he's been solid this year, and very good lately. Him and Gorges are a great bottom pairing, mainly because they're both tough as nails. They don't shy away from contact and don't respond badly after getting rocked. At this point it looks good that we have Bouillon signed for another season after this, I think it will fit very well with our plans. We'll keep him around on our third pairing with Gorges, with one or more of Carle, Valentenko, and maybe Emelin as our 7th guy or coming in when someone's injured.

Yeah, I think Higgins will level out as a 25-35 goal guy, provided he has decent linemates (which it looks like he will have if he stays in Montreal). He's a good all around player too. This year he was given an A, pretty quickly for a young guy like him. Now, if he hadn't been given that A and we were deciding who would get it between him and Komi, I bet almost all of us would say Komi at this point. It may have added a little extra pressure on him. I think next year he will come back as a more consistent player.

He was our best player last year, and pretty much carried us. We didn't make it to the playoffs, but there were 20 other players on the team who deserve more blame for that. And can you count how many captains have brought their team a Cup since 1999? Yeah, it's about 5 give or take a few. And all of them have done it with teams that have finished 3rd in their conference in points or better. So my comment stands about your standards for a captain, which are unreasonable. We've got a good one, not the best, but better than most.

That was another great game to watch. I love this team, they put on a show most nights. Kovalev was really having fun out there, you could tell. And Plex was on from the puck drop, he made some great passes and it was only a matter of time before he set up a goal. I was pissed that Ryder was out on the PP at first, but then he made some good passes and shots. Despite the bad year he's had, he seems to have kept a good attitude. Price was great again, he wasn't spectacular but he got the job done. I love how he shoves the Flyers out of his crease, I think it helps a lot to have a big strong guy in goal just like any other position. Man, the Bouillon goal was great! The Flyers are such morons, letting us go on a 2-1 rush so they can push around Gorges, and that was a good heads up play of his to not fight and let us have our scoring chance. I was shouting at the TV for Bouillon to shoot as the time was winding down, and he wired it. The main difference in this game was the play of our defense versus theirs. Philly has some big problems on the blueline, they were AWOL on the Ryder goal especially. Our D was solid as usual, we got 3 good pairings.

In case you want to use it, they have the best live game tracking at cbssports.com. They say who got the most recent shot, where the next faceoff is, etc.