shortcat1

Amen.

Before all of this, before even the draft, I was watching different Québécois media on 'who should Gainey get' and the name Jason Allison kept popping up all of the time. They recognized that he's had injury problems (concussions) but they kept saying he was worth it. I don't know how adept they are at reading risks and possibilities, sometimes I wonder if they're not something like the Toronto media that was described in some other string on this site. Bottom line is that Gainey didn't think it was a worthy risk or he would have gone that way. He had lots of time to do so and, I'm sure, the opportunity. I hope the best for Allison. Nobody's struggles should be the source of someone else's laughter or joy. [Edited on 2005/8/6 by shortcat1]

OUch! That's a shot to the head.

Very nice. I'll pass this on to some Leafs fans friends of mine. I'm being teased on a regular basis (and that's ok - it's part of the fun) and this'll be my contribution to the back and forth of this interaction. Thanks.

Very nice. I'll pass this on to some Leafs fans friends of mine. I'm being teased on a regular basis (and that's ok - it's part of the fun) and this'll be my contribution to the back and forth of this interaction. Thanks.

I know the best way to find out exactly what he did on a day-to-day basis. Ask him.

I don't know what are the dimensions of your monitor screen but if you go to this site, you might find something. Most of them have to do with Kovalev before he was a Canadiens player but that might be acceptable to you. http://images.google.com/images?q=alexei%2...lr=&sa=N&tab=wi Your best bet is to highlight both lines at the same tima because the site address is bigger than this box allows (I think).

That would be interesting. Could also be a bit of a set-back for Danis who's much more mature and ready than Price is at this time.

I could very comfortably live with a Luongo/Théodore trade. Luongo is better. What makes this probable trade border on the ridiculous is to actually think that Florida would give Bouwmeester or Van Ryn for Ryder and Hainsey, especially Bouwmeester. The kid's only 21 and he's already considered a #1 defenseman. I've got nothing against Théodore, I think that he's a proven #1 goalie (not the best but way up there). I think that to trade Ryder wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. One great season doesn't a super player make though it does indicate the possibility (I can still remember Kjell Dahlin). With all the up-and-comers in the system, we could afford to lose him if we got something good in return - Van Ryn would be more than adequate. I still dont understand why Florida would even consider doing this trade. They would lose big time on it. Ahhhhh.

hehehehe, of course not, sahib.

I agree with you. I hope he does well.

I don't remember if this is the same string or not but, at first, I swear I saw "Can we get Gange?" I thought, why would we want a river in India? But then again, I couldn't see a trade factor there, just a Free Agent with only positives. This guy (a member of alexstream's greater family???) would likely accept a fluid contract situation. To withstand the comings and goings of the tideflow from the NHL to the AHL wouldn't be of any concern. If he was a success, great! If he Bombay'd out, it's water under the bridge and life flows on. Or... was it just a spelling error. Hmmm.....

I wonder if he'd consider a trade for Roman Hamrlik. I don't know who would be appropriate 'trade bait' for such a deal. Just curious.

Boy, that's a kick in the crotch for Tampa Bay. As to the Théodore trade, I'm pretty confident that we can forget that. It wouldn't be in the best interests of the Canadiens to do that and Gainey wouldn't shoot himself in the foot that way. He's got a starting goalie who is considered among the best in the league, he'll keep him.

Didn't see it. On RDS.ca, the headline was that Crosby was shooting at a washing machine (http://www.rds.ca/cgi-bin/click?fu=179&fe=110&fp=28290). I wonder if it was a front-loading or a top=loading machine. Was he expected to just bang the machine to pieces or to put the puck in the opening. Sounds like it was a media circus center-ring show. I hope the kid is given a solid head on his shoulders and can put all of this stuff in perspective. Wayne Getzky was allowed to grow into his status as was Bobby Orr. This kid is only 18. I hope is support circle is strong for and with him. [Edited on 2005/8/5 by shortcat1]

By the way, when I read some of the postings on this site, some of the ones on CHFans and, especially, the ones on the RDS.com/feedback, I see that the 'don't give them any slack' attitude is still very present. The 'he's totally useless', 'he's too stupid', 'I hate him', 'Get rid of the bastard', etc... attitude still rears it's ugly head quite regularly and consistently. It's sad. The guys on RDS/feedback are, for the better part, very vicious. Not all but a high percentage. The contributors on this site and the CHFans site are, on average, much more respectful of the 'humanity' of the individuals involved in our game, especially our team. In any case, I congratulate and thank :bow: those among you who make the effort to try to put themselves in the 'shoes/skates' of the ones playing the game we enjoy, for the team we support. They are people like the rest of us, they make mistakes like the rest of us, they have and do stupidities like the rest of us, in fact, they are the same as the rest of us. The should be treated like the rest of us would want to be treated. :ghg::ghg::ghg: [Edited on 2005/8/5 by shortcat1]

When it was Doug Wickenheiser's draft year, he was touted as the second coming of Jean Beliveau. He was tall, strong, smooth and quick skating, had all the attributes that would make him a Jean Beliveau type of player. This stuff was not hyped by the Montreal Canadiens PR department but by the different media sources. I can remember reading about it at the time in the local newspapers and watching about it on TV (especially the French-language networks). They were excited (as was I) at the prospect of being able to get this guy. Picking him as the first overall was a no-brainer, it was, as someone else wrote about another first overall pick, a duh...). I was 30 at the time so it wasn't a rose-coloured idealism affecting my perception. It was a well balanced look at the situation. Yes, Denis Savard had a MUCH more successful career but it could have been the other way. The expectations on Wickenheiser were somewhere in the order of what's on Crosby's back (though as a saviour of sorts of the Canadiens, not the league). I suppose he wasn't able to deal with the intense pressure and criticism that came with playing in Montreal at that time (it was WAY worse then than now - they had just come off of winning four cups in a row and about six in the last decade - to end up with less was tantamount to treason for the fans). I've always wondered what would have happened had Savard gone to Montreal and Wickenheiser to Chicago. I can't say for sure but I feel fairly confident in saying that Wickenheiser would have had a much more successful career and Savard's may very well have suffered immensely. (A similar scenario could be constructed for the Lafleur/Dionne situation). On the whole, I really felt badly for Wickenheiser. It was either BE THE NEW JEAN BELIVEAU right away or you're a let-down. The kid was only 20 at the time... good grief, the pressure must have been oppressive. [Edited on 2005/8/5 by shortcat1]

Transactions in amounts like that still awe me. I can't imagine that much money. As a number, ok but, as a concrete working amount of usable money... I guess my daily experience is so far away from that that it falls in the science-fictiony kind of realm (though I enjoy good science fiction - not some of the pap that's passed off as SF on tv today).

Traverse signed with Dallas. As always, I hope the best for him.

You're a funny man, beck. It's sort of the same kind of humour my primary school kids would use to describe others.

Forsberg will not be as big a factor as previously considered. He's still a fairly fragile player though I hope, for his sake, that this doesn't happen to him again.

What's wrong with this line-up? As far I can see, what we have here are defensive lines 1A and 1B. By the way, where did you get this 'info'?

I'm pretty certain that I read that he would only accept if he was offered a one-way contract. http://www.chfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=8336 (ninth question).

With that suggested fourth line, it depends on their usage. I understand that these players are, for the better part, 'fill' or spare-off to give the others some breathing time. If this is the case, then this line should be ok. They will be a multi-purpose line defense here, offense there and a sort-of-break-in-the-rookies line. I have few worries about your proposed fourth line.

Where does Rivet fit in this?