Athlétique.Canadien

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What a bummer that Gainey is still getting dissed. What is the sensible sober solution? I suppose we could hire Howdy Doody, Scooby Doo or Krusty the Clown to take his place - NOT. I know, I know. It would have been nice to get one high impact UFA during September or October. Like Palffy or Satan as an example. But the last thing Montreal needs is top lose one of the best GM's in the game. The jagged little pill that habs fans need to swallow is that there is not one team in the NHL nor manager who wants to be remembered as the guy who gave us the player(s) to win the prize. No one wants to help Montreal get a 25th mug. Gainey also knew that any UFA signing would lead to a demotion of the rookies. IMO - Plekanec and Higgins NEED to be in Montreal. Many will say so does Perezhogin. Gainey probably had concerns hiring free agents due to the risk of them being a bust. This is underlined by the Bonk move. Now, that's already considered a bust. BG knew he wanted to evaluate the current roster before making moves. Number 2. We have virtually the same team as we did in 2003-04. I believe that's where the awesome start came from. These guys already had chemistry and did not need to build it from scratch as did Boston as an example. Our funk is as simple as other teams have caught up to that advantage and we are just presently plain lousy. Finally, we all know that this team is being built through good drafting and prospects. BG is aiming for '07 or even '08 to be a contender. With this in mind he simply did his best to ice a team that either would make the playoffs or would not. This year is a "roll the bones" year. If all goes well (right now it's looking very good) then BG will probably pull another Kovalev at the deadline. Patience. I'm not dissing those of you who are impatient. After all, I need to keep telling myself, "Patience" BTW: People might wonder where I'm getting the "playoffs looking very good" right now but never forget this; The Habs always make the playoffs if they are .5 by All Star game. Well, this year that corresponds to the Olympic break. We have 19 games to play until then and all we need is 7 wins to be a .5 by then. Here's A) hoping we do better by then and B) Hopefully we have the red hot stretch run to close out the year.

Maybe a trade is in the works. Either that or this is a simple shakeup. I'm confused.

Good thing we didn't get Ozolinsh. Assuming the Habs are able to continue their historical red hot run down the stretch, they're in the playoffs. They need 7 wins out of 21 games to hit the .5 mark by the Olympic break. The date of the break pretty well corresponds to the typical All Star break. Winning 7 and dropping 14 would lead to a record of 25-25-6 by Feb 11th. Historically, Montreal has always been playoff bound if they are .5 by the break. So, begin counting wins from now til Feb 11th. Magic number: 7 before break. GO HABS! GO :hlogo: GO! GO :hlogo: GO! GO :hlogo: GO! GO :hlogo: GO! GO :hlogo: GO! GO :hlogo: GO!

TQS 110% reports that when Phoenix was at Montreal in mid December there were three Avs scouts in attendance. Adrian Dater reports a scout from the Montreal Canadiens attended a second consecutive Avalanche game on Wednesday. http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_3351850 It's speculated Theodore is Lacroix's target, but with Jose making $4.5 million for this season, $5 million for next. And considering that the the Avs limited cap space -- $1.8 million, it seems highly unlikely. Colorado would have to part with a player(s) making a total of 2.7 to work under cap and even then that would leave zero "wiggle room" which is not a logical idea. The more likely scenario has 4.5 million in player(s) coming back. It's obvious that there is something going on. Talking that is. Talking doesn't necessarily mean action though. We will see soon.

Not really sure what Montreal's needs are. However, I'm sure Pierre Gauthier, Andre Savard and Gainey know. Which brings me to the report of this tidbit of info: From Spector's: DENVER POST: Adrian Dater reported yesterday a scout from the Montreal Canadiens attended the Colorado Avalanche's game on Monday. Also, the Habs don't play the Avs until January 11th. Hmmm. http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_3346429 IMO: Rivet should be kept too. He's the unknown of the bunch. He's also a valuble asset to a cup run. Yes, he is not a star but he shouldn't be underestimated. I bet Pittsburgh would love to have him. Every team needs a "Sean Hill" calibre type player and Rivet is in that mould.

#60alie will be starting - source: Icechips - TSN GO HABS

I'D LIKE IT TO INCLUDE SIDNEY CROSBY :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::wall::wall::wall: Sakic is very worthy of the "C". I'm not mad about Crosby left off because I'm from Halifax, no. I'm more annoyed that he was simply left off altogether. [Edited on 2005/12/21 by ATHLÉTIQUE.CANADIEN]

Losing Zednik might hurt. I know I would question it. Yes, he can be a pain during the regular season. However, I believe he is worth it because he's a playoff NIGHTMARE. Here are some shooting percentage stats from the playoffs: 2003-04 Montreal 9.38 2001-02 Montreal 18.18 (Until McLaren ruined everything) 1997-98 Washington 17.50 (Lost in final to DET – he was a nightmare, I remember) PLAYOFF AVERAGE = 13.59

...it's true. Murray was solid again. All hail Alex Kovalev!:hlogo::ghg::que::can::que: Zednik will return against the Caps. Koivu would be an added bonus, let's hope... ...and make no mistake. Here come the Habs!:hlogo:

The Rock & AK47?

...SOURCE: TSN

YES...AND A THOUSAND TIMES...YES!

If they're on the road, I wear the white. At home, it's the red. I also never wear any apparel nor do I have anything on display at home over the summer... ...unless...well, everyone in here should hope for me to wear my jersey's during the summer. So, here's a big prayer I am a summer habs ;o) (I'll probably have to wait until '07 or '08)

Bulis is confusing me. It's almost as if he doesn't fit in Montreal but I can't explain why. His recent offensive struggles are confusing too. I find he cycles when there is little or no hope of receiving a pass. I am frustrated with him. I hope he turns the page. As for trades, we will see. I figure Bob will do something but nothing dramatic...a tweak move so to speak. You never know what's going on out there. The Bertuzzi/Montreal rumours are still circulating. We'll see in time I guess. Here's hoping Bulis turns it up a notch.

He still led. Curse ESPN stats. That should have dawned on me. I don't mind Ribs but it's Perezhogin at the low end that burns

TIME ON ICE: Begin 11:30, Bulis 11:37, Ribeiro 13:06, Sundstrom 11:29, Zednik 11:00, Dagenais 8:46, Ryder 11:28, Plekanec 9:34, Murray 2:49, Higgins 8:47, Perezhogin 3:09, Kostitsyn 1:49, Komisarek 10:06, Bouillon 10:33, Dandenault 13:14, Rivet 11:39, Souray 13:13, Markov 11:18 Perezhogin - 3:09???? Ribeiro 13:06???? What's going on? Why did Ribeiro lead all forwards? :mad: I hope he's being shopped.

Murray, ha ha. Go habs!

Go back to baywatch you stupid (insert four letter insult here:_____)

Andrei Kostsitsyn's first NHL goal was sniped like a seasoned pro. What a pleasure to see him net his first one. Now, for those of you who watched the game, who was it who created havoc in Phoenix's end on that play? Who was it who assisted on the goal? Who looked like a one man wrecking machine on that play? It was Murray. I hope this silences the "losing Hossa" worrywarts. He was awesome. I hope I continue to be right on this? Who wouldn't want me to be? Cheers to Kostsitsyn. We've been waiting a long time for this. :ghg::hlogo:

IMO: The glass is half empty regarding Hainsey and Hossa-yeah. But, never forget this, when it comes to questioning a bad trade, we always have to remember something my brother told me when I was a kid. That is, "no one wants to help them". He was right. No one wants to be the one to give us a sniff of 25 cups. The glass is half full. Gainey did acquire Begin through waivers. MAY OUR CUP RUNNETH OVER! GO HABS!

I said two years ago that there would be a youth logjam and here it is. We can't keep all the gems. That hope is about as realistic as is Leaf fans who wish every elite player was in their system. I get tired of pointing out to Leafs that a team can only carry so many players. Well, same thing here. Now we are doing it. I dunno. blame Bob I guess. Maybe he'll quit and then we can hire Mickey Mouse or someone. Youppi even? :mad:

Souray looked to be solid and in his old form against the Kings. Point is, his A game may resurface. If that's the case, his value to the Habs or in trade talks should improve. I hope.

I agree with the Leagues' suspension. It's not so much what he did and how he did it. That is, if Tie Domi did that he wouldn't have gotten suspended I don't think. My opinion is that Chara stands out more when these sorts of things happen more than others. I believe it's a matter of him being so strong that the league might be weary that he might actually UNINTENTIONALLY concuss or even kill someone. So, I think Campbell is doing this to prevent another Bertuzzi situation before it happens. Also, we all remember what he did to Ivanans. Please don't misinterpret. I'm not saying Chara is Bertuzzi. I'm not saying what he did comes close to Bertuzzi on Moore. However, any person who can throw McCabe around like a ragdoll and pulls this type of behavior is going to garner attention.

I think it's afe to assume that something may be in the works. Not necessarily with Sykora mind you. With Ribeiro getting the "bonehead comment of the week" award I have to wonder if Gainey's patience is runing low. Riberio's gaffes include: 1 - 03-04 practice tussle with Koivu. 2- His "seizure" during 03-04 Bruins playoff matchup. SHAME! 3- Puck hogging and over staying his welcome on shifts. 4- His "All Ryder's fault" comments. Is there one I missed?