DON

All 4 players who failed to show up in Pitt, 76-79-31-67 (till last 10minutes) are all headed to Sochi. Simply coincidence? A game off for 79, to reflect/rest/heal-up may be in order? Therrien move to put 55-6 both in game, seems was very unpopular pre-game, but both were solid.

Seems it was the perfect move, just 79-76-31-67 (till last 10minutes) forgot to show up to play. But both Murray and Boullion played very well, so credit goes to coachs for that and Beaulieu also played well, so again good on coachs.

Musta hurt giving Mayer a 'B' grade. But good breakdown of dogs d Brian.

Likely many fans I would assume? Got to give the big fellow props for a good game. Gallagher, Bourque, Briere, Boullion and several others played fine as well. Got beat by tough opponent.

Well Leblanc, Bournival and Beaulieu all looked fine, Beaulieu bit clumsy (nerves) but he can skate and good offensively.

6 hits/5 blocks for Murray

Is 67 playing today?

Well not much. but zero giveaways by any Hab and winning faceoff battle with Pitt again. And Briere and Bourque are showing signs of life. Boullion-Murray-Beaulieu are not the weakest d-men playing tonight for Habs.

1:46 in 1st period, maybe Therrien is just not taking shine......yet?

did Murray draw too many men, smart play!

Well,, look what Bourque found.

Interesting? Emelin seems to be a no-brainer and Boullion has some good and some poor games, so hope is former for him. Not sure what any Diaz scratchs happen, but coachs seem none to pleased with his play?

Yes, Moan seems quite underrated, is pretty darn good defender and this year he seems more aggressive in post-scrum "debates". I think should be a good game.

They only sucked (out of playoffs or 1st round losers) from 1993-2008, so were a bit overdue to actually be a good team. But have made smart trades with their favourite friend, the Leafs and were able to sign Chara in bit of a mistake by Ottawa. So kudos to their GM.

Not sure what total waste of time means, but if looking for a 6'4" checker who has basically same offense Leblanc will bring, who also finishs his checks (unlike a certain Bourque fellow) and is sound defensively Blunden is it. if you are looking to the future, Blunden nor Dumont (who also is a smart option) are not in Bergevin's longterm plan, but at the present those 2 are best option to help current team. Beaulieu and Leblanc are both underpowered and get knocked off the puck in the minors and will be no different in NHL, both need more time in weight room. Even Tinordi was being pushed around by smallish NHLers and had his confidence beat up before being sent down. But, if Beaulieu can add to the offense and fans don't freak out when he has MAB like turnovers and soft play in own end, than he may be a positive. I would love to see Leblanc make an impact, but with 6-8minutes I doubt he will, but maybe he will be like Bournival was at start of season and created offense for himself and work his ass off. But, I love Leblanc much more than either the Bourque-Parros option, that is for sure.

He likely will have a ton more regular and playoff games in junior/world juniors and couple summers of training before he suits up for Hamilton.

Most of the 50-60 unskilled goons currently making a living in NHL, do so because of fact that fighting sells and is marketed by NHL teams. Same reasoning why a marketable and recognizable goon like Parros gets paid by Molson et al; reasonable signing if you are in the entertainment industry and want to make more money (same as Big George Laroque signing, even though that backfired as well). White must be almost healthy again isn't he? Is Galchenyuk healing progressing as expected??

As far as worrying about any d rotting in Hamilton, no future regular NHL player has ever been hurt by too much time in the AHL, but force-feeding young d-prospects can be an issue. Time will tell if Beaulieu is ready and whether his defensive gaffs are costly. But if can add to offense, that is one thing that the Habs are lacking and he must be considered an upgrade on the 2pp unit at least.

When was last time Habs had a #1 pick like Kane was in 2007 (1980?)? Hawks also got #3pick in 2006 in Toews, #7 pick in 2005 and #3 pick in 2004. So, if give Timmins 3-4 crappy bottom dwelling seasons in a row to get 4 straight top seven picks and Habs skill could be as good as Hawks (or could also go the Oiler/Columbus way also I suppose, but need a Kevin Lowe-type to do that). But, can you imagine how crazy Habfans would be after 3-4 lottery pick seasons in a row! Habs had 1 crap season and seems Galchenyuk could be a super addition (as Price has been).

Vail 6 points in last 2 games, great to see him having a bounce -back year, like Thrower as well.

OK, got it 5 eastern team need to all outplay the Habs till end of regular season to oust them from playoffs and odds of that happening must be very low. Which is why Habs wont be a big seller or involved in a big in-season trade. And Fanatics' frustrations are mostly self induced. If you expect Habs to steamroll teams with this lineup, you will be disappointed more often than not. Every team has weaknesses and underperforming players, but Habs are better than 20 other teams at present, not too shabby.

U lost me?

3 of top 4 eastern teams are from Atlantic, how is that embarrassing?

I was less fond of Cammalleri and hopefully Fucale/Holland turn out as NHL regulars down the road and that would make trade worthwhile.

Nyet, the author of item pasted in start of thread.