MK1
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Posts posted by MK1
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At this stage in the game I'd take anyone that can consistently force the play and score 5v5. The last thing this team needs is another perimeter softie that needs 4+ PPs per game in order to pad their stats and justify their paycheque.
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All three of those guys would help. But if we lose Komisarek, bolder measures might be required: i.e., Boumeester. However, if we could *add* either Bergeron or Beauchemin to our current roster, that likely would help.
Komi is replaceable by 1-2 big, tough stay-at-home guys, something that is definitely draftable/tradeable. The hard part is acquiring offensive dynamic d-men, and on that front the Habs look fine with Markov in the lineup and Subban in the system. There are lots of guys that don't have to be 1st rounders that can fill out a defensive role quite nicely for a much lower pricetag than Komi.
With a reputable DEFENSE coach (if you are reading this Bob, wake the F up), there are many guys that can be molded into responsible d-men who can clear the front of the net. Which, with no real offensive skillset and a mediocre 1st pass at best, is all that Komiserik is at this stage of the game, and not worth 5M/yr in my opinion.
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Uhm... he needs access to liquidity. The Canadiens are an asset. The Bell Centre is an asset. These assets are not liquid, they're concrete assets. They're worth x amount of liquid cash, but they're not cash itself.
Therefore, in order to access the liquid cash that the Canadiens/Bell Centre are worth, Gillett has to take out a loan that is backed by the value of the Canadiens and Bell Centre. Either this, or he sells the team and the building for cash.
There is no rat. This is asset management 101. If you require liquidity, you can liquidate(sell) or take out a loan(mortgage). Assuming he doesn't default on the payments, there should be no problem.
Except for the fact that he borrowed funds to buy the Habs and to build the Bell Centre, so he is doubling up on each side of the ledger. It would be like having a private mortgage on your home, and then remortgaging the property just because you are on title, thus creating two debts from the same asset.
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Holy crap, I agree with Casper here!
I'm sorta of dumbfounded. Jeez, Tanguay is one of the very very few good moves from Bob. Why slam it?
Slam it because he is paying premium $$$ for a guy that is hurt alot and is a no-show in the playoffs. Here is the lowdown on Tanguay in the playoffs since the lockout season:
24 GP --------> THREE goals
Bravo, just what we need, another perimeter softie who "looks great" in the regular season and then blows or gets injured when it actually matters. Throw a wet Joe Thornton in the dryer and you get Tanguay, definitely worth 5M in my books. Whoever mentioned it earlier, Sutter must just smile everytime he things of BG. I guess a sucker is born every minute.
I am going to throw out ONE name, and suggest that Bob open up this mediocre roster and basically give whatever is needed to get him signed, because he is a phenom even on a terrible team and will be a legend on a decent/good team.
ILYA KOVALCHUK - 2010 UFA
Pay him and sign him, period. There is your franchise move.
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He is not an RFA. He is unrestricted, free to go wherever he wants.
If he was an RFA, then we wouldn't be concerned with asset management as the Habs would be receiving
a mittfull of picks for him.
Anything over 4-4.5M is ridiculous, but if he gets to July 1st somebody will pay him more. Outside of
the fear of the cap unknown the precedent is there for BIG $$
And again we come down to the argument being made by alot of people on this thread that, oh well, we lose Komi/Streit/Souray but at least we have guys in the minors coming up.
**Newsflash**
That is a perpetual cycle. There are always guys in the minors who have potential, that is why there is an OHL/AHL/WHL/QMJHL/Europe ..... I can go on but you get the picture.
These are the Montreal Goddamn F'ing Canadiens! And because of the ineptitude and "calmness" of their saviour GM they have seen proven NHL-caliber talent leave time and again for absolutely nothing with the promise of better days ahead. Like I mentioned earlier, talk to some Leaf fans about better days ahead and "rebuilding" because they have been hearing it for decades and it never changes a thing. If this team is going to contend it needs to get some proven NHL talent on its roster in all important slots.
Wishful thinking about unproven 19yr olds is just what Gillett wants from the fanbase ... just continue to pay through the nose for tickets and merchandise, and in a couple year's we'll be right there.
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That's right guys, just sit back and wait, all of those teams that are making playoffs runs and having success on and off the ice, it will all come to and end in a couple years when the dreaded "cap" ravages them all ....
Success in this league is like the time value of money .... sure you can wait and see, and maybe just maybe, if everything falls into place, you can reap some rewards 5yrs from now, at the expense of a TON of fans, and more importantly their money. Or you can realize that GMs come and go, and you need to grow a pair and make some bold moves in order to have your team contending on an annual basis.
If you can sleep better at night knowing there are some "solid kids coming up" by all means enjoy the product currently on the ice because that is all Bob is banking on at this stage in the game. There is a similar Toronto-based club that has has the same mentality for the past decade, ask their fans how the "wait a couple years" argument feels each season.
From where I sit I see a city that is almost at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to attracting free agents, a GM who barely opens his mouth and is "real close to a big deal" each trade deadline, and a team that despite having the need for grit and top line Cs has acquired neither over the past few seasons.
But BG is doing great, in fact give him a raise, he's a very smart hockey man you know.
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+/- 900k
thanks.
still my comments hold.
my opinion, using Higgins (it could be Kost, Lats, etc) as an example for the 3rd player on the line is that a
Higgins - Lecavalier - rookie (d'Ago? Pacio?)
is better than
Higgins - Koivu - Kovalev
and costs about the same, if not cheaper.
That's a great idea, why don't we just call him Mats Sundin so we can pay him close to 8m/season to play with rookie wingers and 2nd/3rd line guys for the next decade and then wonder why he never really came through like we thought he would.
I will reiterate my previous assertion ... signing Vinny, with his huge contract and very recent injuries, will take place for all of the wrong reasons and move this franchise closer and closer to MLSE territory.
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Not sure if some of these players have already resigned with their clubs, but I came up with a list of free agents that should be kind of cheap... not the Gaboriks or Hossas, and especially not the Bouwmeesters (geez, he'd look good in a Habs uni.)but players that would make our team better...
C's : S.Pahlsson. B.Morrison. (Both should be relatively cheap and if the Habs use Pleks in a trade then we might need a new #2.. hopefully behind Vinny.)
RW's : M.Havlat. T.Bertuzzi. I.Lapperiere. M.Knuble. (I would love for the Habs to get both Havlat and Burt, but the other two are both pretty good defensively and are intense.)
LW's: V.Peltonen. A.TANGUAY! (We need Tangs back.)
D: J.Leopold. N.Boynton. MA Bergeron. D.Morris. M.Ohlund. (Of course, Komisarek and Bouwmeester would be sweet, but we need depth. Our weakest spot this year was on the blueline. Ohlund would be a stud for the Habs.)
G: M.Biron. (A good french kid who could step up and help Carey.. if he is still around)
If the Montreal Canadiens end up trading for Vinny, it will be a LOUD AND CLEAR signal from the ownership that they are more interested in selling TV contracts and jerseys than icing a championship team (see MLSE over the past 10 years for more examples of the above). Vinny is a good player, and elite player no doubt, but his contract is absolutely crippling heading into a lower cap period.
We have already established that this team needs far more than one player to fix all of its problems, so tying up 8m/season for one guy that has had two surgeries in the past 12 months isn't exactly my idea of fixing everything. His production could be matched by two solid players each netting 20g/50pts per season, for far less money at the end of the day.
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Well, I don't think Gainey's supposed policy is 'idiotic.' There are good reasons for it. You only have to look at the savings we've likely bagged vis-a-vis Higgins and Plekanec, compared to what we'd be paying if we re-upped them last season, to see the basic sense in it. Having said that, I agree that we really should be proactive when it comes to signing really core parts of your lineup. For instance, we probably *should* have signed Komisarek last season, or at least tried to, especially since he will end up overpaid no mattyer what happens.
(Then again, Komisarek himself said he didn't think it would be fair to sign certain RFAs/UFAs before or during a season while letting others flap in the wind. That's something else to consider. The damage done to a team culture by re-signing certain players and letting others run out their contracts can be at least as significant as the damage done by waiting until all their contracts expire before re-signing them. On the former scenario, some players are clearly favoured over others, and the passed-over players are liable to stew in resetnment. On the latter scenario, everyone is in the same boat, but it can become a distraction. This is what irks me about a lot of criticism of Gainey; it's so easy to just focus on what's wrong with his approach, without considering what's wrong with alternative approaches).
Your example with Plex and Higgins only applies because they both played like total dogsh*t this year. If they had put up similar numbers we'd be paying through the nose for them or else losing them for nothing (Hi, Souray, Ryder, Streit). Bob's policy is lovey-dovey with the team but it places him squarly behind the 8-ball once the season ends. If your guys play well, better open the wallet because all 29 other GMs can read numbers too. And if they've played like horsesh*t, good luck getting anything tangible for them from anyone else.
Explain to me again how his system helps the team in any meaningful way?
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I am no fan of Jack Todd, but his latest post-mortem on the season from the Gazette brings up a point that I have been stewing over myself:
"In the middle of the playoff meltdown, we had Carey Price, old Man ’o Bud himself, yukking it up with this clown they call Cabbie, in Boston after a loss. As Stu Cowan said yesterday, had Cabbie approached Patrick Roy in the same situation, he would have been lucky to escape with a goalie stick in his head.
(While the nonsense with Price and Cabbie was going on, Georges Laraque dropped by for a few laughs. Try to imagine a similar situation: John Ferguson finding Jacques Plante kidding around with a reporter after a playoff loss in Boston. Plante would have needed an extra mask.)"
That whole scene really bothered the hell out of me...Price's nonchalance about the game makes it difficult for me to like him. He just doesn't have that warrior's spirit that the very best goaltenders seem to have...that intensity that blazes white-hot when there's something on the line.
As for Carey Price raising his arms in Roy-esque fashion, I had no problem with the act itself. The fans were giving it to him, and he gave it right back...that's fine.
What I did have a problem with was what he said about the incident the next day: when he said he hit the Roy pose on purpose as a warning to fans, in a 'be careful what you wish for' spirit...that was a real problem for me. I'm thinking....###### you you arrogant little snot-nosed punk. Careful what we wish for, as if losing you would be some epic tragedy on the scale of losing Roy? Who in the hell do you think you are, Price!? When Patrick Roy did it, he had two Stanley Cup rings, two Conn Smythe trophies, three Vezina trophies, and had led the league in GAA and save percentage several times...he had been the league's best goaltender for over a decade. It was a tragedy to lose HIM.
Price? So far, he's played two good half-seasons, an abysmal half-season, and has been lacklustre it two playoffs (not bad, mind you, but certainly not stealing his team many games). He hardly has the resume to be making thinly veiled 'careful what you wish for' threats.
I only put half the blame on Price for his attitude, though. The other half falls squarely on the shoulders of Bob Gainey. After all, you can only partially blame a 21-year-old for getting an inflated sense of his value after he's been handed the keys to the kingdom by his general manager. He never had to earn the starter's role...he never had to worry about losing playing time even though his backup outplayed him for half a season. The veteran that was looming as last year's playoffs approached? No problem...Bob Gainey cleared him out so 'The Chosen One' could take the lead role uncontested. Carey Price never had to push himself, never had to battle to stay in the game....not with 'Uncle Bob' constantly patting him on the head and giving him candy even after abysmal performances.
That's the way I'm feeling.
And to make myself clear, I am NOT blaming Price for our early exit...we could have had any goalie on the planet in there and the Bruins still would have won. It's his attitude I have a problem with...a big problem. It's going to be very hard for me to like this guy going forward.
+10000000 !!!
I could not have dictated my own thoughts any better, but needless to say that is exactly why I have a problem with this kid! He is a product of his environment ... a complete sense of entitlement to his current position without any fear of competition, again bravo BG! If you think that is going to breed a championship-caliber goalie you are sadly mistaken folks. World Jrs is a 2 week tourney, and from what I recall he was parachuted into the AHL conveniently right before the playoffs started. He has lots of natural talent, but wake-the-f*ck-up people this is the NHL, everyone has natural talent. How you hone your skills and adapt to a changing game is what makes good goalies great. So far, Carey Price has done zero of that in his very short (and very mediocre) NHL career.
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Maybe when someone in this organization comes to the realization that regular season hockey is absolutely NOTHING like playoff hockey we can ice a contender in the next few seasons. This team is full of Joe Thortons ... as much as I love watching Joe, someone needs to explain that the regular season means dick in this league other than sorting out who plays who when it really matters.
This current habs team, of which Gainey is the architect, is built around a complete core of soft perimeter players who have consistently shown they can't bring anything into the post season. If you think that design deserves to laud praise upon Gainey, by all means continue defending his marginal moves and his nancyboy "stars". He is now in a situation where almost all of his talent has regressed and he has to turn to 29 other GMs and try to unload some of this garbage. Brilliant.
That's why I'm pissed.
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Anyone who caught the HNIC postgame show would've seen PJ Stock's comments regarding the team in general. They barely beat the 8th seed and got pounded by Philly last season because they were soft and had no grit. So Gainey addresses this in the off-season by going out and signing Lang and Tanguay, two more perimeter players, the latter of the two a perennial no-show in the playoffs since the early 2000s. Bravo, the team clearly needed more soft regular season perimeter scorers .... hi Plex, K brothers, Kovy etc.
In the end they are what they are, an above average regular season team that can score lots of PPGs and win more than they lose against the entire league. But when it comes to tough playoff hockey against a legit contender each night they lack the fortitude to compete at that level.
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Yea, unfortunately the habs crumble when challenges are in front of them. No leadership or character.
All the pain and misery will come to an end.
So fans can start dreaming of who gets drafted and who they pick up as ufa's.
4-1 beat down. As soon as the first goal goes in, they fold like a tent.
I'm more inclined to say that as soon as the first goal goes in, the crowd will quit on them and the team will begin to crumble shortly thereafter. If the past 2 months has shown anything, it's that playing at home has been harder for this team than playing on the road. Frustration is one thing, but booing Carey after a stellar 1st in game three after he let in ONE goal is just the culmination of how the fans have treated Les Glorieux down the stretch. I am certainly not saying we should be happy with their performances lately, but when it's tougher to play at home than it is on the road it makes it that much tougher to turn things around.
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy for Habs fans. They go to the games almost looking for a reason to boo or chant Carbo, the team picks up on all of this negative energy, and before you know it they are falling into the same bad patterns. All of that positive energy at the beginning of game three was basically just like your girlfriend faking it .... the only difference is that the habs never get to finish.
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See, it's comments like this that discourage me from participating in these boards. Someone who doesn't agree with you gets called a name, "bandwagon assholes." I suppose YOUR opinion is the RIGHT one, correct?
I also happen to disagree with you and am willing to bet have been a fan MUCH longer than you (I'm 58). I think Gainey has to go because of a SERIES of mistakes: Price, Streit, Huet, Carbonneau, Ryder, Ribeiro and not because of the poor team performance this year. Also, I'll repeat what I've said earlier: why is Price ANNOINTED to the Habs job? Even Fisher has been questioning this throughout the year. Why doesn't PERFORMANCE determine who plays? In all my years rooting for the Habs, I've never seen something like this.
+1
Also, you forgot to mention SOURAY in that paragraph full of BG fail over the past few seasons.
BG canned his close personal friend at the most opportune time for HIMSELF to shine, and he still failed miserably down the stretch and into the playoffs. Seven straight losses now, most since 1937 ... bravo BG, captain of the failboat.
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I know that Komi is a supposed core piece of this team, but realistically he just isn't that good to pay him anywhere near the kind of money he could get from one of the other 29 headcase GMs out there. He is not offensive in the slightest, so you are going to justify paying him 5M+ per season (he will get that too sadly) for his DEFENSIVE PLAY?!?!?! Cut the cord and get some serious talent in return from some other sucker team. He is worth maybe 4M/season based on his skillset and the salary cap era, but he will never settle for that being in the prime earning years of his career, and frankly I couldn't justify paying him 5M+ based on his play consistently this entire season. The talent in the farm is plenty good enough to let him walk and give some others (Weber et al) some playtime back there for a fraction of the cost. They certainly can't be any worse than Komi defensively and they may actually score a goal once and a while!
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I'll happily take Schneider back, or have you already forgotten what he's done for Montreal's powerplay?
I would hazard a guess that the PP looked "sooo good" a couple weeks before the playoffs because the Habs were playing balls teams in the basement of the league (and still having trouble with them). The PP down the stretch, against legit contenders, was average at best and certainly not this juggernaut certain folks on this board think it was.
Bottom line is that last night the Habs threw everything they had, physically and mentally, at the Bruins and it wasn't enough. No one expected them to win this series for a reason, namely because the Bruins are a much better hockey team over 60min night in and night out. They aren't a one trick pony (hi PP goals) which can be neutralized like we have seen in this series with amazing efficiency. Back to the drawing board, and maybe this time BG can build a team that goes into the corners and in front of the net once and a while, with a dash of defensive capability sprinkled on the whole lot.
And as much as everyone loves BG and thinks he is the be-all and end-all of hockey minds out there ... he has been thoroughly out-coached by Julien this entire series.
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Why do people keep saying this? Irritating. How do YOU know they didn't play up to potential? Did you watch them play all season? Do you know what Montreal did to counter them and how it affected their game? Is it at all possible that Boston played well, but Montreal stopped them from looking like the 100+ point Bruins? Is that at all possible?
I don't get how watching that game could possibly lead everyone to such negativity. It's like so many fans watch the games from a fishbowl. We don't win and therefore we suck. Boston doesn't blow us out, so they must have sucked. Come on! Is it not possible that Boston played well and we matched them?
Because there were large stretches of the game where each team just turned the puck over, unforced, time and again with little to no pressure by the opponent. That is not good hockey, I remember watching the latter half of the 1st thinking it was pretty damn close to playoff shinny!
Boston recorded 116 goddam points this season for a reason, they were consistently, and against the very same opponents over the course of the year, BETTER than Montreal.
Now that we have point that cleared up very succinctly Colin it helps to understand why the noticeably lower quality hockey played by both teams last night looked worse on the Bs than it did the Habs. Hence people saying it was the Habs' game to steal in beantown.
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I'd just like to point out that while Boston did not play their best hockey last night, they did make it an utmost priority to stay out of the box, which unfortunately is the formula to beat the Habs consistently. The entire 3rd they stayed disciplined and took no penalties in the last 10min of the game, which = success against a team so reliant on the PP to stay in / win hockey games. If that trend continues in this series it won't matter who BGL plays with, 5v5 Boston will beat the Habs over a 6 or 7 game series, even with Carey playing as well as he did last night.
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An early PPG would really take the crowd out of the game, either that or a fast-break 3on2 goal from the Lats/Laps line, something to calm the Garden down as soon as possible.
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Ya? That's what started this whole thing and you told him to SHUT UP.
We are saying it's a start by him calling out Thorton in the interview. Thorton now must answer the bell. I'd say that is starting a fire.
Tomorrow is Thursday!!!!!!!!
Why is it anyone's job to "answer the bell" for a 4th liner running his mouth from the pressbox. Shawn Thornton plays far and away more minutes than BGL can/will in a game, he kills penalties and he plays a regular shift. BGL even stated that he's not in the same league as him. Why would anyone fight him on the Bruins? They have hard hitters and tough guys on almost every line, they dont need to match anyone up with BGL to save face.
Bob Gainey isnt stupid enough to let BGL eat up any more than about 5-6min of icetime the entire game, so for those 5-6min he can float around and probably take a minor trying to start something, and the remaining 55min the rest of the Bs can hammer away at will while he is riding the pine.
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That video was hilarious. thanks for posting it!
Let's not forget that Koivu has 20 points in 15 playoffs game vs. the Pooh Bears! I expect him and Kovy to dominate!
The only way Koivu will "dominate" in this series is when he is given his standard 1min+ on every single PP they get. 5v5 he will be nearly invisible as he was thursday night save for the PP TOI he always gets. Kovy has the raw talent and occasional motivation to just take the puck and do something great with it ... sadly Koivu may have that same drive but not nearly the skill.
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Boston is BY FAR the superior 5v5 by comparison to the Habs. TKK simply does not score even strength, which is amazing for a supposed #1 line in the NHL. Boston knows this, so does everyone else in the league, it certainly isnt any secret they are a one-trick pony.
The Habs are what they are, a team that relies on the PPG more than any other. When they get them they win, and when they either a) dont capitalize or b) teams stay out of the box, they lose and lose badly. It's now the playoffs, and there will be large chunks of each game when the refs will put their whistles in their pockets and that is going to be absolutely deadly for the Bs and painful for Habs fans.
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Once Timmy Thomas wakes up and realizes he's Tim Thomas, his new contract is going to look awfully big. Here's hoping he realizes who he is starting on Thursday.
Unreal. Thomas has played the entire season and led the league, or very close to it, in GAA. He has been consistently solid all season, and while he isn't Roberto Luongo, he is a toss-up with Mason for the Vezina and has had a great year. Leave it to Habs fans to look at Price/Halak, who together have taken turns shitting the bed since the ASG, and think that Thomas is in trouble.
If they match up with BOS they will get stomped in five, quit being delusional.
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To me, we look a lot like last year... mediocre but riding the PP to a lot of points. If the PPs dry up in the playoffs (see how Philly beat Washington last year when Washington couldn't get a PP no matter how dirty Philly got) we will struggle.
I only watched the 1st, but did any of the other three goals come even strength from the 2nd onwards? I know they are beating the teams they need to beat, which shows they aren't playing down to their competition, but it is worrisome to me that they live and die by the PPG. Had the PP not sparked that 1st period performance, they certainly weren't outplaying the Isles by much 5v5 in the first from what I could see. Against good NHL caliber teams that will need to happen over a 7 game series.
My hope is that the final 3 games of the season mean something to the teams we are playing. I can't see how PIT/NYR would mail it in given they will probably be fighting for position, but BOS in particular I hope is still in a fight for first overall. Those games will let us know where we stand with the real teams in the East, tonite was just a scrimmage against the Bulldogs for the most part.
Kovalev offered $6M for 1 year?
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
Kovy will sign for 4M-ish, somewhere. If MTL doesn't give it to him, there are plenty of other teams that can justify spending that kind of dough on an uber-talented, niche player such as him.
You have to remember that in MTL he was basically asked to shoulder the whole load of the team, while at the same time not even wearing the C at that! If another team needs his skills and basically uses him as a PP specialist and 2nd line sniper, he will find lots of homes at the above salary range.
The problem all along with MTL was that he was expected to be the player he has never, ever been in his career.