The Iron Lung

Build from within. Who needs overpriced UFAs? More times than not, they turn out to be mistakes. Give Andrei Kostitsyn a 2nd line job, he'll put up more points than most of those guys at 1/6 the price.

Thank heavens we're not mortgaging our future with these ridiculous signings today. Yikes, how many teams crippled themselves today?

Been there, done that. Lots of talent but not much else. On a rare night, he looks like Jagr, on most nights you wouldn't even notice him on the ice. If he had some heart, he'd be a special player.

Although it does make a lot of sense to try to make a play for an RFA, I think there is an unwritten rule amongst almost all of the GMs. Don't make offers on my RFAs and I won't make any offers on yours.

Gainey must love the American program, we're loading up on their players.

Nice pick on McDonagh! A d-man who can move the puck. Smart. Moved up the charts over the past few months. I like it. Poor Esposito/Cherepanov though... reminds me of Brady Quinn at the NFL draft.

Ryan Smyth would be grossly over-paid at $5M. He's a consistent 60 point guy and over-rated leader. Woop-de-doo. Let some other team take him. There's a reason Edmonton was mired in mediocrity for years... Pronger was the boy who led them to the Finals, not Smyth.

This is not a response... as this diatribe doesn't dignify a response.

Done! That's one in the bank. He's key to the team and he's here for his prime now. You can't entice players to come if you can't keep the ones that matter.

We think alike, OneSharpMarble.

Supply and demand... as long as we keep going, they'll keep raising the prices. Why wouldn't they? It's just good business. When the building has empty seats, then start dropping them. I'd do the same thing.

My use of the f-word went down exponentially when Brisebois left... please don't make me revert back to a foul mouthed guy.

I prefer building from within and giving our young guys a chance. They're cheaper and I must say, no matter who we sign, they rarely turn out. Kovalev has been okay, Samsonov average... we could have saved the bucks and gave full seasons to Kostitsyn and Grabovski.

Koivu took charge in the last game. Kovalev will take charge in this one against the team that drafted him.

Major knee injuries... check. Major eye injury... check. Cancer... check. Through all of this, he's a major star and a first-class gentleman. I loved seeing those goals last night and seeing him get a career high in goals. Now we need him to get 2 assists and a penalty to top career highs in assists, points, and PIMs. He's a rare player... and a Habs treasure!

Koivu! That's why he's the captain. And a new career high in goals. Here's hoping he bags a few assists and gets a new high there as well!

I'll be at the Ottawa/Montreal game next Friday, March 30th... just a few rows behind the players bench. It looks like that will be a huge game so it should be pretty exciting. We may be in 11th but we're only 4 points out of 6th. We've got as good a shot as anyone else in this bunch. We just need a few players to get hot and stay hot. I think we'll make it...

It's time for Kostitsyn to show that he belongs on the playing field with the Pens first rounders. He has talent to burn, let's hope he lights a fire again tonight, just like last game. He's a special player.

Enough already. Samsonov this, Kovalev that. Samsonov - 4 Kovalev -9 While: Higgins -15 Ryder -26 Sounds like Carbonneau isn't the only one who has a hate on for the Russians.

Carbonneau has done nothing to adjust to teams which adjusted to his style months ago. We were near the top of the league, good coaches adjusted, and Carbonneau has no response. Let's face it, he was a great defensive forward... he has no resume to be an NHL coach. The players have definitely quit on him and he's running out of people to blame.

I was right. We needed 5 goals with Halak in the net. Unfortunately, I'm not very happy that I was right. Is Halak the second coming of Racicot? And shouldn't Aebischer be in the net... it's time to make him earn his cash.

Should be a high scoring affair if Halak is in the net, we might need five after the way he played is his last two games. Let's see what you've got Josh!

I find the references to Perreault kinda funny. Toronto gave up a pick and a prospect for someone they could have signed a few months ago. Plus for some reason he's mentioned as someone Montreal may have wanted. Didn't we want him gone for the longest time?

Leighton is a veteran who might be needed if Aebischer or Halak get hurt... or if Aebischer or Halak continues to miss pucks. Nothing special but cheap experience to cover our butts.

Zubrus? Been there, done that.