JGC21

I so regret buying that Leach jersey last year.

That Weber-Picard pairing has me scared shitless.

I kind of agree. Kostitsyn is still a top-6 forward once he finds his groove again. If Calgary are seriously going to rebuild, then I could see them wanting young and cheap prospects. Weber comes to mind, and maybe a draft pick... who knows. I hope JM puts Kosty back on the top line tonight.

Wow, lots of love for Eller on this board... If the Habs would have traded Halak for Penner this past summer, I'd be ecstatic. It's the same old riddle, to get a top 6 player, you're going to have to give up something good. I like Eller too, I just feel Penner fits the team better now. And that's what I want, a good team now. With guys like Pacioretty and Leblanc, Kristo and Avstin on the rise - this team still has plenty of building blocks for the future. I figure we could spare an "Eller". Don't really know how much time he'll get at centre with Plex and Gomez on the books for the next 4+ years. Would rather have a natural big, scoring winger like Penner than forcing a young kid onto the wing. Just sayin'.

To be honest, all our top 6 forwards have been inconsistent, especially this year! I would do a Eller-Penner trade as well. And sign Penner to a 3-year deal. Habs will have the cap space next year, especially if they trade or let Kostitsyn go. There's not too many 6'4", 240 lbs wingers who score 30 goals anymore. Just the idea of him and Cammalleri on Plex's wings gets me excited! I'm sure Edmonton would be all over Eller. They need a top center anyways. Horcoff, Cogliano and Gagner are not the answer. He's a good fit as their #2 behind Jordan Eberle. I think this trade makes sense for both teams, if it were ever an option.

Yes, but Kevin Lowe is no longer the GM anymore. Besides, that offer letter was 5 years ago. People's memory have short life spans. I constantly see Penner's name in trade rumours involving Edmonton. They're still building for the future so I doubt he's in their plans long-term. His contract is up after next season and I can't see them offering him another $4M+ per year for several years. If the Habs could get him for a blue-chip prospect like Eller or Leblanc, would you do it?

What do you guys think about Dustin Penner? He has one more year at $4.25M. He's 29 and on pace for another 60-point (30G-30A) season. He could be the missing winger that Plex and Cammy need on their line. He's got size, decent speed and skill. In my mind he's worth the extra mil over Kostitsyn. What do you think it would take to pry him out of Edmonton?

I gotta say, I'd much rather have Hal Gill than Jaroslav Spacek on the team. Gill plays such a "shut-down" game on the PK and in the playoffs, I think it's worth keeping him for $1.5M. Spacek at $3.8M makes no sense. Not when we have the following pairs: Markov ($5M) - Wisniewski ($4M) Gill ($1.5M) - Gorges ($3M) Subban ($1M) - Weber ($1M) Carle ($1M) I'd rather have a younger, quicker d-man to play with Subban via trade or UFA signing. Time to let Hamrlik go, and trade Spacek at the deadline or during the summer. I still can't believe those two make over $9M combined!

My bet is Eller's going to Hamilton. Ben Maxwell has been forgotten. If Eller is sent down, then perhaps Ryan White can be called up. I'd rather see him in the lineup than Darche or Pyatt. Desharnais looks like he's here to stay. I don't think the team can survive the rest of the year on defense with a banged up Hamrlik/Spacek and youngsters Subban, Weber & Picard. Would love a Markov & Kostitsyn trade for Shea Weber. If Nashville agreed, would you do this?

Yessir! Price is the only one bringing his A game.

I don't understand for the life of me how Mike Milbury still gets jobs in hockey. This guy is a straight up dumb-tard.

Would love to see Arnott with the Habs, a big center to stand in front of the net on the powerplay. He's a UFA at the end of the year so we wouldn't have to give up much to get him.

What's his injury? Picard is definitely benched for the next game. I'd rather see Weber in there or Carle.

Where's Cammalleri?

Picard is -2. I hope Weber is in next game. Why not play Pacioretty with Desharnais (and Pouliot) to see if they can generate some of their Hamilton chemistry? Then play Cammalleri with Gomez and Gionta to get him going again. I would then suggest putting Eller with Plekanec and Kosty to shake things up on that line as well. Darche needs to sit.

What about making a serious offer for Bill Guerin now that O'Byrne's salary is off the chart? Put him with Gomez/Gionta and see if this Team USA line still has any chemistry. It's worth a try. It's also worth putting Guerin in front of the net on the powerplay. I mean, something's got to be done. The PP cannot continue as is and perhaps Guerin could be a cheap fix?

Now we have the cap space to make an offer to Bill Guerin. If he decides he wants to move to Montreal.

After watching enough Habs game this young season, I can't help but think that Lars Eller would probably benefit from a stint in Hamilton playing center on the first or second line. His play with the Canadiens hasn't been awful, but it hasn't been great either. I think the Canadiens should call up Ryan White in Eller's place and insert him into the 4th line: White / Lapierre / Pyatt I might even try White on the wing with Gomez and Gionta. This move would save $450k in cap space for Gauthier to maybe make a trade to help the back end. The $ savings and the playing time Eller would receive in the AHL makes this move smart. Not sure the Canadiens would miss Eller's play anyways, but could surely benefit from White's energy and physical toughness. Thoughts?

I sent Videotron an email asking them about adding TSN Alt. Feed to their lineup, this is their reply back to me: << We want to thank you for taking the time to write to us. TSN announced that it has acquired the rights to broadcast 24 games of the regional Montreal Canadians in English. These games will not be presented on TSN or TSN2, but at another position which will not in itself be an official channel and will be functional only when these games will be broadcasted. Please note that TSN already has broadcast rights to 16 games of the Montreal Canadians who will be featured on their regular channels. The games for which the chain has recently acquired the broadcast rights are not and were not presented by any other English broadcasters before this new agreement. The broadcasting of games on Saturday are the property of CBC, while RDS has the exclusive broadcast rights for all Canadiens games in French. For now, no agreement has occurred between TSN and Videotron on the possible introduction of these 24 games. Since your opinion is important to us, we have forwarded your interest for this channel to our marketing department. New content generating strong demand may lead to its inclusion in our services in the future. We hope this explanation has been helpful. Do not hesitate to contact us again for any further information you may need. Our customer service department will be pleased to answer you as soon as possible. Videotron customer service Our website: http://www.videotron.com >>

I agree with everything you said. It's clear that Gauthier is looking at the defense corps of the Habs for beyond this season. I'm guessing Markov will sign an extension but beyond him, Jorges and Subban - there's a lot of holes to fill next year: Gill is gone. Hamrlik is gone. Spacek will probably be gone. Prospects like O'Byrne, Weber, Carle haven't worked out. Rentals like Marc-Andre Bergeron and Alex Picard are not the future. Enter, Kevin Bieksa. I see the Habs putting together a package that includes O'Byrne and a forward for Bieksa. I think the two sides are waiting for defencemen to return from injury before they make this trade (Salo, Markov). The Habs should sign Bieksa for 3-4 years thus rebuilding their blue line for 2011 and beyond. It's a good start with this: Markov / Subban Bieksa / Gorges

Okay, even with last night's 3-2 OT win over Phoenix, Gionta and Gomez looked brutal! These guys have to get going if we're going to have any sort of balanced attack this season. Pretty soon teams will clamp down on Plex's line so we need the double G's to step it up. My suggestion would be to put Benoit Pouliot back on their wing in hopes they can rediscover the chemistry they had last year. Pouliot is skating well and hitting hard. They just need to work on some set plays and score that first goal together to get things going. I prefer Pouliot on Gionta/Gomez's line instead of Eller because I'm convinced Eller should be playing center on the third line with Lapierre and Pyatt. Eller is a better fit at center and should be playing with speedy & gritty players. I wouldn't mind even seeing Pacioretty playing with Eller at some point later in the year. Guys like Darche, Moen, Boyd and Halpern should be rotating through the fourth line. Thoughts?

That's correct. What channel is Alt TSN on Videotron?

So what channel # is the TSN alternate feed on if one has Videotron?

Glad to see White and Pacioretty still with the team. I think Martin may have to make a tough choice here. If it were up to me, I'd keep White up with the team as the 14th forward and platoon him in/out of the lineup and send Pacioretty to Hamilton for a few months. Then, depending on what's going on with Pouliot/Kostitsyn - call Pacioretty up for December and deal one of the former's. Top 2 lines: Eller / Gomez / Gionta Cammalleri / Plekanec / Kostitsyn Bottom 6: Pouliot / Boyd / Lapierre Pyatt / Halpern / Moen Darche, White I hope Martin only carries 7 d-man this year, there's no need to keep 8. Therefore, you can have a 14th forward (White).

What number is Boyd? Eller is taking the awful 81. Somebody has to take 27, it's a kick-ass number!