Neech

Plus, we wouldn't be able to fit those players under the cap by any means. But we'd be the best team in the East easily with those players.

Yeah, I just thought it would be more fitting for one of our little skilled centers to go after the little skilled centre that spurned us.

Streit, Ryder and Bégin together... that'll be an adventure. Go :hlogo: I predict a 5-3 win (just like I did last night ). Goals by Koivu (he's finally going to pot one), Streit, S. Kostitsyn, Plekanec, A. Kostitsyn.

Well, you're going a bit over the edge on this one. I can hardly blame him for not wanting to play in Montreal, look at the media circus there was when he didn't sign, it would be ridiculous if he actually did. Plus, he wanted to play with his buddies Biron and Gagné, and for more money. You can't say he has no vision and no soul, not everyone wants to live under constant media scrutiny, and turn down money to do so. I thought he could have been a guy to want to come to Montreal, but I can't blame him for not doing it, and your bitterness is clouding your reason here. Besides, this guy is a -20. He's a small, soft player. We would definitely be a better team with him, but he's not the guy who I'd want for long term at 7 million per year. Anyways, about him flipping the puck into the stands, that was a classless move by him. What an asshole. I'm sure he knew what he was doing, and it was a stupid move by a bitter man, and probably a sore loser. I hope Plekanec or Koivu calls him out and pounds his face in.

Yeah, I agree. If we do end up in 1st it would be more a story of Ottawa's bad goaltending, and how there aren't any complete teams in the East ready to take the reins. This team we have now is a playoff team, but not an elite team. The expectations would be sky high for not only this postseason, but next year as well. I don't think that pressure is good for a young team. The way that I would be happy with sky high expectations is if we earned them by winning a round or two in the playoffs. But we're not a team deserving of a 1st place seed yet, and it's better if the fanbase thinks reasonably about where the team is at.

This was a crazy game, so many chances missed or stopped by great saves. It was 1-0 but there could have easily been three more goals by each team. The Habs played well for the most part, aside from some stupid penalties and a few stretches of the game. That 5 on 3 was intense, they had possession in our zone for like 100 seconds straight. What can you say about our wunderkid Carey Price? He was larger than life. Each of our lines was pretty effective, and the Québecois guys were creating pretty many chances. Another strong game from Koivu except for the penalty and the missed gaping net. Bouillon was good as well. Markov made a few defensive errors, but that setup he gave Koivu was sick. Hamrlik was solid in his return, and him and O'Byrne are a very good second pairing, they're big and tough and they don't give an inch. I'm kind of on the fence about that no-goal call on the Flyers in the third, when Price was sliding into the net. They blew the whistle after the puck had crossed the line, and it didn't look like he was pushed before that happened. But, they ruled it no goal on the play, and they stuck with it. There was no clear evidence to overturn it anyway, but it's the kind of thing that we might be pissed about if it happened to us. All in all a great game for a Saturday night, and a big day for our favourite rookie. It looks like he'll get the start tomorrow, but Carbo might want to rest him on back-to-back nights.

I think he'll be using the "a big deal going down tonight" line every day until the trade deadline.

No need to be foolish. I never said I knew what it was to be a captain, I said that you didn't. Niether of us are in any position to make a judgment of his leadership abilities, but that obviously doesn't stop you. And I never said that he was the greatest captain of all time, so comparing him to Scott Stevens who led his team to multiple Cups is a bit steep. You know that there are 30 captains in the NHL right now, and someone like you would only be satisfied with maybe 5 of them. Not everyone can be Scott Stevens. And where were you when Koivu took the team by the throat for all of last season? And every playoff series he has ever played? You just like to rush to judgment, and your memory is obviously pretty short. The thing is, Higgins might still get 30, he isn't that far off and he just needs to go on a hot streak. Ryder was really streaky last year, and slumped for extended periods, but still managed to get 30 with a hat trick in the final game. Higgins definitely has the potential to score 30, and if we're talking about guys with the potential to pot 30, I'd much rather have Higgins there than Ryder.

We hope to be better next season, maybe even top level contenders. But next year isn't the season when we'll be laying it all on the line.

Where the hell did he get a rash? I thought he had the flu. Sounds like he's been partying on Ontario Street East. I hope we bring it tonight, and pounce on Philly. My prediction: 5-3 win. Goals by Koivu, A. Kost, Higgins, Latendresse, Markov

The Habs could beat any other team in a seven game series. I wouldn't go so far as to pick them to do it, but yes they'd have a decent chance against most other good teams. Penguins - this one really depends on goal-tending, but I feel like we have a better chance of getting a sublime performance from Price than they do from Conklin or Fleury. If both teams have average goal-tending then the Pens probably win. Sharks - They have better forwards, and an advantage in between the pipes with Nabokov. We'd be lucky to pull this one out, and once again we'd need great goal-tending. Stars - Another superior team to us, we'd really have to be on to beat them. They aren't 2nd in the west for no reason. Wild, Flames, Colorado - These would be tight series that could go either way. Rangers - They play us well, have great goal-tending and plenty of veterans. Buffalo, Philadelphia - These are ones that we'd probably go in as the slight favourites, but either of these teams could take us down. So really, I see us in a pack of teams in middle-bottom of the playoff rankings. We could go on a tear and win series, but so could other teams. Luckily most of the dangerous teams this year are in the West.

Ugh... do you watch the games? Saku has been playing well recently, hell, in Florida he was probably our most dangerous forward on the ice for most of the game. Of course you want Saku out, you hold a ridiculous grudge against him. Fortunately you're not running any part of this team, because sure as hell all the players would hate you. What do you know about 'knowing what it is to be a captain?' How can someone on the outside even judge his leadership abilities, we're not in the locker room, at the practices, on the bench with him. He's still the captain of this team, they don't just hand that title to people for almost a decade if the person isn't right for the job.

First of all, I don't put the Habs in the top 5 in the league. Second, it's a safe bet that young players will continue to improve. They may not all do so at the same pace, and they could have an off-year. But they could also make a big leap forward, like Komisarek this year. Of course 'maybe things could go wrong,' but it's way more likely that things go wrong in these playoffs if we put all our bets on it. Maybe we shouldn't stand pat completely, but IMO the conservative approach is definitely the way to go right now.

Maybe Detroit's defense would be better for the simple fact that they have Lidstrom, the best D-man of his era. But I'd rate a top 4 of Markov, Komisarek, Hamrlik and Boyle better than Detroit's. Markov and Boyle are offensive defenders on the level of Rafalski if not better, and the same goes for Hamrlik and Komisarek in comparison to Chelios.

Yeah, their definition of 'key minutes' is what makes the stat irrelevant. Numbers from 1 goal games and ties in the third period would be more useful.

He was going to get at least one start this weekend, the only surprise is that he gave the Saturday night game to Price. Huet will probably start on Sunday regardless of the outcome.

I agree with all of that, except that he still makes pretty many errors. He's getting better though. He really does take the hit to make the play, and he gets up like it was nothing. He's been rocked pretty bad a few times this year. I definitely feel good about him being a number 6 D-man on our team, the pairing of him and Bouillon are a pretty solid bottom pairing, and when Hamrlik's back then we have three solid pairings. That's something that we haven't been able to say in Montreal in a while.

Yep, probably only Anaheim's would be better in the league. Detroit and Ottawa very close.

Now we just need to figure out how to dress 10 D-men!

It's definitely not worth selling the farm for a Cup run this year, but anyways I think the team we have has the potential to be dangerous in the playoffs. I remember two years ago, I thought we had no chance against Carolina, but we really gave them a run for their money and could've beat them if a few plays went differently. Our team is better now.

What, Isle Saint-Helène isn't good enough for him??

1. Umm... is this not obvious? Those players aren't good enough on D to be in the top 6, but they are still good enough to play forward. They've been doing fine in the forward position. 2.Maybe his 'slowness' got us to where we are today, with a great group of young talented guys. 3.We're fast, but we're also a great passing team, which speeds up our game even more. We're among the fastest teams in the league. 4.Uh yeah, some more line juggling always solves every problem. Might as well stick with a hot line, the notion that that is 'costing' us secondary scoring is ridiculous. Besides, Koivu's coming around and he'll start putting up some points. 5.You are impatient. We're still not an elite team, and we're not going to win the conference. You can't just 'trade for leadership' without giving up something of value (our young guys), so it's not worth it with a team that's still on the rise. Every team lets some games get away from them. I like the group of leaders that we have right now: Kovalev, Koivu, Higgins, Komisarek. We're in good shape. 6.So do you have a camera trained on Carbo throughout the whole game? It must suck to miss all the action, but I guess it's worth it. Seriously, constantly yelling at the players doesn't work, they'll tune you out. Him and his staff have done a good job with this team so far. He has really ordinary numbers. And didn't he have like 15 goals after 20 games or something? He now has a whopping 21. Let's not forget that this veteran Stanley Cup champion was benched by Carolina in the finals.

Never heard of it, doubt it will happen, hope it won't happen.

You've got to find that comma button on your keyboard.