huzer

Daze isn't a Koivu replacement. He does not play center.

Umm, isn't Johnson a penalty killer, so that would explain him taking faceoffs. The NHL stat is just percentage, not amount taken, and many are easy percentages (50%, 66.7%) so he may have taken two or three faceoffs per game. Maybe as many as five! Not unexpected for a PKer. My point is, look anywhere you want, Johnson is a RW, and the Habs did not bring him in to play center. If anything, I'd see everyone being moved up and Begin centering the 4th line rather than Johnson being moved to center any line. Koivu out...this is what I'd expect down the middle: Ribeiro Plekanec Bonk Begin As far as Daze playing center...puh-leeze. If the Habs brought anyone in as a replacement, they would bring in a natural center, not an injury prone LWer and thrust him into a position he hasn't played. The Habs have a long standing habit of converting centers to wingers (Bulis, Hossa, Higgins...), not the other way around.

Johnson plays the wing. He doesn't play center, despite what you've read.

The Avs lost some pretty significant players the past couple of years. I think Sakic is getting s step slower (still a great player. Tanguay may have been riding the coat tails of Sakic and Forsberg, but I still think he'll do well in Calgary. They're a good team with good players. The Avs didn't really bring anyone in (Arnason...blah), and Leopold is out for a while. Wolski will have to step in and play well. Personally, I think there are a lot of question marks surrounding the Avs this year. Tough division with Edm, Cal, Van, even Minny.

Bah, no lines are set in September. Too many variables before the start of the season.

Despite what Jacques Villeneuve said (Schumacher won't be remembered after he retires...BAH!) one of the greatest modern drivers of the sport will retire after this year. It was expected since team boss Ross Braun is taking a one year hiatus from Ferrari next season. Raikkonen is expected to take one of the Ferrari seats, while either Massa will stay or the Villenueve rumours will fire up again.

Isn't Daze a LWer? What would Koivu's absence have to do with that?

Ok, while it is saddening what happened, I found it a bit absurd when I turned on local Denver news this morning, and the various TV stations had crews going to coffee houses and interviewing people about Irwin. That's just goofy, I know he was a celebrity, but people were talking like they knew the guy personally. A bit out of touch, if you ask me.

Wow. That really sucks.

Haha! I can actually get those out here. Nothin' like a good ol' 10% beer.

Um, Jovo went to Phoenix, not Florida.

I assume you're talking about my post. If you read the label (at least in the States), vodka does not appear anywhere on it. Malt beverage is what it says. Ditto with the Parrott Bay "Rum" drinks. Just because it says Smirnoff on the label, that doesn't mean it's vodka.

Can't go wrong with the goose...Grey Goose. Smirnoff Ice isn't vodka, that's an alcopop...sweet malt liquor beverage sold in 12 oz bottles.

Actually, what disqualified Pluto was the definition that a planet most orbit around the sun on its own path. Pluto's path intersects with Neptune, which removed it's status as a planet.

Um, the same reason Gainey can't trade Bonk (who says he was even trying) is probably the same reason teams won't trade for him. Not only that, but Dumont is a winger, Bonk a center. The Habs are not deep down the middle and have much greater depth on the wings. Dumont is not going to displace any of the top 4 wingers, and he becomes redundant with the addition of Johnson and the elevated play of Perezhogin or another young player that the Habs have slated for third line duty. Just as much as $2M+ is expensive for Bonk on the 4th line, it would be the same price the Habs would be paying to more than likely place Dumont on the 4th line, with random playing time on the 3rd. The Habs have a solid core, and all you hear is people wanting a turnover of half of the forwards on the roster...trade Ribeiro, Bonk, Zednik, Bulis, Sundstrom, Ryder, and replace the bums! Perezhogin is listed in half of the trade rumours as a throw in. At the rate people want fantasy trades and signings to happen, the Habs would be a completely different team every year. Let the Habs start the season with the strong line up of forwards they currently have, with rookies pushing some of the vets, and reevaluate once the season has started.

I would not want JP here. As I said in a thread sometime ago, people would expect a lot more from him that he can deliver. Just my opinion, but it seems everyone expects hometown boys to take paycuts and become superstars.

Wouldn't this poll depend on what radio station you listen to? I don't let music annoy me, if I don't like, I turn the dial. (Or more appropriate, press a button). If you want one of the more disturbing songs from WAYYY back check out these lyrics. It's gotta be the only song about eating someone you're trapped with. Timothy The Buoys Trapped in a mine all paths caved in And everyone knows the only ones left Were Joe and me and Tim When they broke through to pull us free The only ones left to tell the tale WAS Joe and me Timothy, Timothy, where on earth did you go? Timothy, Timothy, God why don't I know? Hungry as hell no food to eat And Joe said that he would sell his soul For just a piece of meat Water enough to drink TO DRINK for two And Joe said to me, "I'll TAKE a swig And then there's some for you." Timothy, Timothy, Joe was looking at you Timothy, Timothy, God what did we do? I must have blacked out just 'round then 'Cause the very next thing that I could see Was the light of the day again My stomach was full as it could be And nobody ever got around To finding Timothy Timothy...

FORWARDS Steve Begin: **** Great 4th liner, great grit. Still kinda wonder about his salary, but what a great waiver draft steal! Radek Bonk: *** I like Bonk. I expect more from him this year, since he hopefully will not start out the year with a groin injury. Played great after Olympic break and in the playoffs. Aaron Downey: *Nice to have around, but primarily a press box player. Christopher Higgins: *** paid great after Olympic break (16g, 26 games), can he start out the season as strong? Mike Johnson: *** Liked him in Phoenix, a more complete player that is comfortable in his 3rd line role. Saku Koivu: **** The true leader of the team. Eye injury concerns are still there. Playoff injury demonstrated lack of C depth for Habs. Ideally a #2 center. Alexei Kovalev: ***** Most skilled/talented habs. Period. Superstar player the Habs have lacked for years. Garth Murray: ** Marcel who? Provides grit and energy on the 4th line when needed. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed. Alexander Perezhogin: **Not noticeable most nights, and that's not good for an expected sniper-type player. Tomas Plekanec: **** Strong rookie campaign. Hopefully he continues to improve and impress. Mike Ribeiro: **Don't disappear, don't flop, and when Saku inevitably gets hurt, can he pick it up? Not in the playoffs, he proved that. I don't think he can in the regular season either. Maybe the breakup of the 3 playmates will keep him focused this year. Michael Ryder: *** A better Dagenais? When will he bring more to the game? Sergei Samsonov: **** One of the top 3 forwards, skill wise, for the Habs. DEFENSEMEN Francis Bouillon: ***Spark plug defender with great mobility. However, I don't rate him as high as most. Mathieu Dandenault: *** Did what I expected of him. Others had higher expectations. Have enough forwards now where I don't expect him to put in any icetime on the wing. Mike Komisarek: *** With more ice time, he can only get better. I'm excited to watch him develop into the top flight defenseman he can be. And he was just so damn nice in Vail! Ha! Andrei Markov: ***** Stalwart on defense, and offensively. Ovechkin praises him, and he leads the Habs with D pts and +/-. Craig Rivet: **** Last season was his best as a player, IMO. Sheldon Souray: *** Inconsistant. The more responsibility thrust on him, the worse he does. About 18-20 minutes max, and I think it will benefit the Habs a lot more. Mark Streit: * I give him an "incomplete". I need to see more before evaluating. At least he didn't stand out on a "bad" level. GOALTENDERS David Aebischer: *** Can push Huet, I think the competition in nets will be very beneficial to the team. I do expect him to be moved to make room for Danis once Huet has (hopefully) established himself as a bonafide #1. Cristobal Huet: *** He's the number 1, but has a very solid option pushing him. Knows he can't take a game off. Positionally excellent, so he doesn't have to rely on being lighting fast. That should help he durability wise, since he isn't a scrambling/flopping style goalie. 36 games in Montreal as a starter? I'll wait before I annoint him the next savior. 7 SO in 36 GP is quite the accomplishment, though. Team has great confidence in him, as do I. In closing, I was more generous than usual with most rankings. Fans of the team tend to overrate most of their players. I tried to be objective. But if the Habs players were as good as most people think, they'd be planning the parade down the usual route every year.

Good, a debate, which is what I wanted! For one, it's obvious people can't really be terribly objective about players on the Habs. It seems to be a love em, or hate em situation. Very polarized group we have here. I understand Souray has positive attributes, he is big, strong, and has a good shot (maybe, things got better for him last year when he switched back to the sticks he was using in 03-04). And those are the points people are highlighting. But where are the people talking about his defensive prowess? Pretty much nowhere. That's the point I'm trying to make. He scares me on the ice when he's in open space. Watch his footwork. There are other defenseman out there that are PP specialists that don't see gobs of ice time on even strength. On the PK, his role is to move people from the front of the net, and he can be effective at that. I said can, because there are plenty of times that he's not. As far as Souray improving on his point total, he played in 12 fewer games in his all star year, so he actually had a decrease in PPG production. He was also +4 in 03-04, -11 last year (worst on the team). So yeah, I say Souray needs to improve his production and his defense for me to hold him in as high regard as many other people do here. You'd think he was the next Norris winner. Would it bother me if the Habs retained Souray? Not at all, if the price is right. I think he's more apt to move on than take a "hometown discount" and stay in Montreal. People in CO expected Blake to take a discount to stay with the Avs...wrong. I wish people wouldn't assume that because a player is on a certain team that they automatically love playing there and would take less money to stay there out of loyalty. Regarding Bouillon's injury, I see him being ready for the start of the season. I'm not terribly worried about that.

Kinda threadjacked the Vishnevski topic, so I'm starting this one. Whether via trade, or just a loss to free agency, he will not return to the Habs after this season. In a one on one situation where the puck is moving towards him, he is without a doubt, the last Habs defenseman I would want on the ice. He's as predictable as Zednick's one handed sweep in wide of the net move...First, Sheldon swings his stick at the puck, then he's back on his heels, then he's stopped, and trying to spin at the player as they zoom by. Wee! I'll leave him alone when he improves his defensive play, or turns in another high quality offensive season. Sheesh, Markov was a winger before he was converted to a defenseman and his defensive zone coverage is much better. IF the Habs were a much deeper defensive team, I would love to have Souray as my third pairing defenseman, with limited ice time, that played the point on the PP. His defensive liabilities are such that I'm nervous giving him 20+ minutes of ice. If he can prove me wrong this season, then that would be great. Heck, Rivet did it with his improved play last year, but his footwork is a lot stronger than Souray's, which is his (Rivet's) greatest asset.

Hehe, don't worry, I wasn't offended...I had to read up through the thread to see what your comment was in reference to. I didn't realize you had posted a trivia question, so when I saw my post being quoted in reference to it, I was confused. No biggie!

4 to 6 weeks? Sounds like typical arthroscpopic surgery to me given that time frame.

Unfortunately, the Habs aren't deep at D down on the farm, which is why they went on the run during this year's draft grabbing dmen and centers. It's not like the forward position where the Habs are struggling to find spots for some promising youngsters. As far as the one comment regarding Souray bashers, you've got to admit Souray definitely struggled for a good portion of the year, and I'd even go as far to say that his only truly good season was his breakout All-Star year. I used to be amongst the worst of the Souray bashers back in the day, and while he's a decent dman for the Habs (mainly due to the lack of depth on the blue line in Montreal), he still frightens me, especially in one on one situations. I know Spezza is good, but that highlight reel goal just makes me cringe everytime I see it.

I'm a loser because Bobby Smith wore #15? I wasn't responding to any trivia question, I was just simply stating that to me, the number reminds me of Bobby Smith.

I wouldn't want Dumont, too much local pressure for him to produce at a higher level than is realistic. I don't really think there's room for him on the team, especially with a nearly $3M salary.