beckham

The teams of Mikus and Emelin/Buturlin have both scored just 15 goals in 9 games so far this season. So much for offensive hockey. Lada Togliatti has 7 teenage players in their lineup including Emelin. Might be a long season for the boys.

The team's overall record under Houle was as good or better than it has been in the years since he left. This year the Habs are predicted to finish 17th overall by the Vegas odds makers, which is lower than their average finish under Houle. I certainly don't see any great improvements happening despite the fact they have new ownership and a much larger budget to work with.

Hainsey, Hossa, Balej, Ribeiro, Markov, Ryder were all drafted by Rejean Houle. You forgot to mention Savard's picks of Urquhart and Linhart in the first two rounds., but I'm glad to see you give him credit for future stars like Halak, Lambert, Bonneau and Lapierre (another second round bungle).:eyes:

The division rivals thing doesn't mean a fiddler's fart. Both teams get something from their division rival. Who is to say that Biron would do more damage to Buffalo than Hossa or whomever would do to the Habs? Nonsensical, just like the "free agency" reasons for not playing a rookie that are constantly brought up. No NHL GM takes those factors very seriously.

But they dealt Zubrus and Linden for Zednik, Bulis and the 1st which was used to take Perezhogin. Obviously, Houle couldn't expect instant parity on his deals, he was trading 30 year olds in the prime of their careers, earning anywhere from 5 to 8 million dollars a year, for young kids and draft picks who earned a tenth of that. He had no choice. Molsons wasn't willing to spend the money. He did his job cut the payroll by $10 million per season and still managed to feild a competitive team. NOT TO MENTION THE STRING OF FREAK INJURIES. Three of the four seasons he was at the helm, the team suffered near record lost time to injuries. Despite all of those handicaps, HE HAD A BETTER RECORD THAN SAVARD, who was allowed to spend as much as he wanted and had relatively healthy teams. I don't know where you guys were during this period, but you obviously weren't following the Habs. As for Roy, he has a string of incidents that smack of substance abuse and bailed out of the Olympics where they test for those things. There were dozens and possibly hundreds of NHL players using banned substances to help their game. Don't fool yourselves.

Roy was loaded up on 'roids and a few other illicit substances. He was a time bomb waiting to go off. Thibault was 10 years younger, a top 10 draft pick who was considered best young goalie in the game at the time. The first year after the trade, Thibault had better numbers than Roy. Kovalenko was a 30 goal scorer, and Rucinsky had a brilliant year in Montreal the first season after the deal. He averaged over a point a game and was the hottest forward in the league prior to being injured in the final game of the regular season. Houle and Trembley completely turned around the team that season and except for the injury to Rucinsky would have gone far in the playoffs. Jim Campbell never made $1.6 million a season in his career. Where did you pull that little gem from?:?- As I recall it was about $ 400 k per year. Also they brought in Oleg Petrov, Sergei Zholtok, Francis Bouillon, Karl Dykhuis and a few others for next to nothing. Odelein was nothing special, and Richer had his moments in Montreal. Anytime you can trade an undersized stay at home grunt for a potential 50 goal scorer, it is worth the risk. Recchi was on the verge of free agency and the Habs didn't have the money to resign him. Getting a 20 year old Zubrus with the potential he had PLUS a first round draft pick (Perezhogin) was a brilliant deal. Also Damphousse who was in the same situation, for a 1st (Hossa), 2nd and 3rd round picks. Houle got way more for those two than they had to pay for Kovalev (Balej and a 2nd round pick) and Bonk (3rd round pick and exchange of backup goalies). You have a few correct facts scattered through your assessment, but they are very selective and usually far from complete. Also numerous errors that paint a far different picture than the reality at the time. I sure hope you aren't a lawyer, I would feel sorry for anyone you were hired to "defend".:idea:

Doug Harvey was the most underrated habs of all time.

They can sign him and return him to juniors for the next two years. That is what they did with Olivier Michaud. Personally, I think that Bisaillon will be a legitimate prospect.

But they would have to pay Huet or Danis at least .5 million, and if they traded away a forward who was making close to 1 million, the extra salary of Biron would only be .5 to 1 million. I think they have room to absorb that without causing any ripples. Making Theodore work for his #1 status and 16 million dollars.....priceless!:/)

Theodore only seems to function at top form when he has serious competition. His best years as a habs were when he was fighting Jeff Hackett for starting time. I say bring in Biron and let them fight it out. Personally I think that Theodore is much overpaid and don't think that it is wise to let him sit back and be average. I also think that his personal life could become a big problem in the future.

I think they will keep both, for awhile at least. Hainsey is a valuable commodity. Once he settles in, he will be an NHL regular for the next dozen years at least. Streit is a valuable commodity because he has a lot of experience and could handle being the 8th dman in a similar fashion that Cristobal Huet is a good fit as a backup goaltender. Both Euros are smart, experienced, cost little to employ, and don't have high expectations.

Martin Biron. The Sabres are shopping him and the Habs have an excess of forwards at the moment. I think there is a reasonable chance of the deal going down. Otherwise they would have held Price in camp longer I think, to allow him to compete with Danis for the spot. I think the team might want another goaltender who is capable of challenging Theodore just to keep him on his toes and keep his ego under control. They don't want to end up in another Patrick Roy fiasco. [Edited on 2005/9/26 by beckham]

Huet is 2 years older than Garon. He has slightly more NHL experience, but a lot more international experience. Their career records are about the same. Huet earns less than half the salary as Garon. Biron is just a few months older than Garon but has loads of NHL experience, and also has a similar career average to the other two.

.........if they were concerned about their goaltending depth. Bonk is much more valuable to the team than Garon. Huet is a proven NHL goaler who is content to back up and doesn't have a big salary. Danis brings everything that Garon did and he was a free agent.

...no great loss. Huet is probably a better goaltender.

Rumors were that Buffalo was at the game watching Hossa. Maybe they will make a deal for one of the 3 Sabre goalies. Biron, Noronen, or Miller. I imagine that Buffalo would like to deal Biron if they can.

You'll be lucky if even one of those players is still with the team in 8 years. I still think that Kostitsyn will be gone by next year at this time.

Doesn't it translate to something like "Big Bird"? They didn't seem to have too much trouble calling Larry Robinson that...

I don't think that UFA thing has anything to do with the decisions they make. Very few players stay with the same organization for 7 years, and even fewer coaches do. If either player is clearly the best option, they will be signed and start the season with the team. If the player is still with the organization 7 years from now and is doing well the chances are that he will stay anyway. Latendresse has virtually no chance of being "clearly" the best option as one of the top 10 forwards who would see the bulk of the action. But Price still has a good chance of "clearly" being the second best goaltender in camp.

Well, he is "Big Bill" to me......:/)

So far, Danis has played 1.5 games with 3.33 GA avg. - .870 save %. Price has 1 game 2.00 GA avg. - .917 save %. Carey has the statistical lead as well as the stylistic lead so far, I think.

Any word on whether he has been offered a contract or not? Seems like a player that is worth signing to me.

Latendresse is big, and he could be called "Bill" if his name was Anglicized. Sooooo.....Le Gros "Bill"? He reminds me a bit of Beliveau in terms of his demeanor. Pleasant, respectful, down to earth. I think the biggest thing the Habs top two picks have going for them are their personalities. It is not often you find young players as talented as Price and Latendresse who are so level headed and mature at the same time.

What do you think?

You have to remember that Dandenault can play forward, so I think they will keep 12 forwards and 8 defensemen (including Dandenault) on the roster. Bouillon could play up front in a pinch as well. I still beleive that Carey Price has a better chance to stick with the team than Latendresse because his competition is inferior.