Neech

Do other people share this opinion that Kovalev doesn't like Lapierre? Is this based on anything other than the comments he made to the Russian media about francophone stars? Lapierre does deserve a spot on this team, much more than freakin Smolinski. Damn that no trade clause. I'd like to see O'byrne as well, but being a rookie he would likely be a defensive liability, and we have enough of those.

Nice to see a new opponent once in a while. One that's not New Jersey.

Yep, Koivu is pretty frustrating, like most players on this team. Even Higgins, who I'd figure would be more of a reliable consistent type is slumping. Who would have thought Kovalev would be the least frustrating forward (besides maybe Dandenault and Chipchura, but we expect less from them).

Yeah, he's had some pretty serious breakdowns this year, more than I noticed last season. Offensively he's stepping up but defensively he's had some total brain farts, a la Souray.

Huselius is in the dog house with Mike Keanan in Calgary, they had similar problems in Florida, so supposedly he's on the trading block.

We already have Smolinski to fill our slow old guy quota.

I thought that when each of the players mentioned were signed that they were overpayed. Koivu at the time was not at the same level as other players at 5 million. I guess your point about him getting a sizable raise is valid, but that doesn't change the fact that he earns too much. It seems like Montreal always gives people the money on the higher end of the spectrum of what they could earn as opposed to getting a deal, and this doesn't bode well for when our current crop of RFAs become UFAs after next season. I'm hoping Bob can lock one or two of them up with reasonable contracts before then.

Those are good points, Markov is better than those guys in my books. The difference was that those players were lured to new clubs by oversized contracts. I guess we did the same with Hamrlik, but he was much less heralded as a big name.

Koivu and Markov. People in other markets were probably scoffing at how much we paid for relatively low-key players. Kaberle gets 4.25 a season from Toronto, and he was coming off a career year. Chris Phillips gets 3.5 in Ottawa. I know that guys like Chara and Pronger make more than Markov, but frankly he wasn't in their category last offseason to any impartial observer anywhere in the league. Don't get me wrong, Markov is a great player, but we probably could have got him for around 4.5-5 mil a season tops. Koivu should have been signed for 4 million a year at most. He got more than the Sedins, Cole and Staal did at the same point (before last season). Instead we gave him money that puts him closer to a guy like Oli Jokinen, who is a better player. I'm happy that Bob can keep our players, but he never can get a good deal for us (except of course the RFAs, which are a ridiculous steal, and makes me more worried when they become UFAs.

It would be funny and embarassing if Jason Blake made it.

This was Ryder's best game in a while. Like someone mentioned, the -2 doesn't tell the story.

He's playing well, but if you think that Hamrlik is earning every penny then we should be doling out a few more five-million dollar contracts to just keep the status quo. It's safe to say that his skill and production will decline (and risk of injury will increase) as he hits his late thirties, that's the case with most players, guys like Chelios are the exception. I look at Hannan's contract, the same length for 4.5 a season, and he was widely accepted as a more sought after player. Hamrlik is an important part of the team, but so are Komisarek, Higgins, and Plekanec, and we've been setting a terrible precedent of giving players more than what they would have otherwise gotten.

I think it'll look even worse when he's 37. We can't use a potential rising cap as an excuse for paying too much money. Hamrlik was not highly sought after in the off season, we should have got him for 4 million a year or so.

Latendresse played well on the first line and Ryder played well on the third.

We're locked into one bad contract: Hamrlik. We'll still be overpaying him when he's 37. I like the guy, but 5.5 mil for the end of the career is a bad move. I am seriously worried about Gainey's ability to get a deal. We should have paid about 2 millions less between Markov and Hamrlik. Are Komisarek, Higgins and Plex all going to get 4 or 5 million a year?

Sergei Kostitsyn should stay in Hamilton for at least a year, same with Valentenko. I think SK's had some work ethic issues too.

This is true. Buffalo played really well defensively, and it didn't make us look good. We did get some good chances but didn't bury them. This is a major issue with this team, it was at the beginning of the year and still is: we just don't have much finishing ability. There should be some sort of shake-up, I'd like to see D'Agostini or Lapierre get a chance soon. And I do hope Gainey will be looking to deal Ryder at some point this year, I don't think he's the type of player we want to build this team around. Always streaky and not a complete player.

The ref made some bad calls, but it's not like it was horrendous. Worse calls have gone both ways all season, we're only bitching because they happened to score the game winning goal on that particular miscall (which wasn't too glaring considering he hit the puck a fraction of a second before sending him sprawling, many Habs fans would bitch if it weren't called like that for us). The Koivu line was weak as usual, but at least Ryder seems to be slowly coming back to form. I hope Higgins isn't hurt. What I really don't get was why Plekanec was not on the ice during the final minute, while Koivu and Ryder were, who both had weak games. That was one of the few decisions that I've thought Carbo screwed up so far this year. And Kostitsyn showed that he can be invisible for a whole game, and then make a brilliant play like that pass to Plex. And am I the only one who wants to see some more of Gorges? Let the guy play, Bouillon isn't THAT good.

It would be nice to see a Habs player win a fight for a change, but it's not worth having some one who can't contribute in other ways.

He's doing well this year, but I'm happy to have him rest for the All-Star break.

Latendresse would be the best fit on the first line, but he certainly doesn't deserve a promotion with the way he's been playing. It might jumpstart him though. I would not put Ryder with Kovalev and Plex, too much of a defensive liability.