Helmethead

Steve, you were and will always remain a warrior. You proved to every yellow belly out there that as talented as they may be, nothing can substitute heart. We loved you and wish you all the best in Dallas. While your there, please smack Ribiero upside the head for me.

My boy Josh.. That's a picture of the year candidate

Mark my words, Kovalev is gonna be a man on a mission tonight. Mark my words, 2G's 1A This team is gonna finally get back on track tonight. It all starts with Ottawa

You'd be surprised how much trouble u can get into while in Church. I don't know what the priests in QC are like, but the priest in my village has a glass eye (long story), done time for drug traffiking and he's also the biggest pimp in town. Funny thing is I'm not kidding either..

Tzatziki???

Last week, my brother asked me the following question: "Would you rather have watch Olympiakos win the Champions League Final, or watch the Habs win the Cup?" Keep in mind that I live in Greece and that I have been playing soccer my whole life. On top of that, no greek team has ever won the CL final, let alone participated in it (Panathinaikos made the finals in 1971 but lost to Ajax.) This would give all Olympiakos fans eternal bragging rights let alone the one week party that would engulf all of Greece. I said the Habs without even flinching.

Laugh all you want but this team could use a serious dosage of Claude Lemieux. He has more "heart" and "determination" at age 43 than most (if not all) of our roster.

I had a dream a bet a $1000 on the Habs to beat Edmonton. I haven't bet on the Habs (or anyone else for that matter) in 15 years, and I never have gambling dreams. Woke this morning thinking it was a sign; a sign that the Habs walloped Edmonton. Boy was I wrong..

Wow.. The only positive thing out of this is that the Game Threads have increased fro 4 to 9 pages. Your bitching kept me busy for about 45min at work this morning. Since bowling didn't work, maybe Carbo and Gainey should try waterboarding instead. Sheeez, this is pathetic...

Just saw Big Georges on RDS. Reminds me of a big teddy bear

Listen, I totally understand what you are trying to say. Trading Markov would destroy any transition game we have right now. However, we have to understand at some point in time, that no one is gonna come out and hand us that ellusive 1st Line Centre the team has been void of for the past 15 yrs. (It might even be more than that). Gainey has obviously been trying to lure someone here over the past couple of years, either via trade or as an UFA. Unfortunately that hasn't worked. I am in full agreement that the team desperately needs a second puck moving defenceman. However, I also believe that if this team has any aspirations to seriously compete for the Cup, they are gonna have to pump some life into their top six. If last year's playoffs taught us something, it's that as good as your team may be during the regular season, the post season is another story. Our inability to move on in the playoffs proved that we lacked the intangibles needed to overcome the likes of Boston and the Flyers. (Regardless of whether we finally beat the Bruins or not.) You think it's coincidence that our most effective forward in that series with Philly was Kostopoulos?? Hey, if we can get Lecavalier (or anyone else that resembles him) without having to give up Markov so much the better. I just don't think it's gonna happen.

I'm gonna have to side with KoZed on this one. I totally understand why he's been frustrated with the Habs passive ways and lack of grit and character. Cucumber sums it up perfectly in his post. Although we do have players who are willing to put their a$$ on the line, they aren't our top six players. I mean, theoretically, if each of the top two lines had two "real" leaders, then the psyche of this team would be totally different. That being said, I know i'm gonna get blasted for this, but maybe we should seriously consider trading Markov. He is by far our strongest barganing chip. But at age 30, he ain't gonna be getting any cheaper after his current contract expires in June 2011. He has two years left at USD 5.75 million. That's considered a bargain to most teams. Taking that into consideration, I'm pretty sure that teams will be lining up to nab him. Think about it logically. Timmins and Gainey have been stockpiling on Defencemen over the past couple of drafts. I'm "assuming" that behind their logic was a combination of "Let's draft the best player available" and that top tier defencemen are usually a better investment in the long run. So, buy spending your draft picks on D's, you give yourself the opportunity to move some in order to address other weaknesses that the team may have. Now, if you combine that with the fact that the salary cap affects how you allocate your funds, common sense says that you move your older, more experienced and subsequentially more "expensive" defencemen instead of the up and coming prospects. I know, i know...Any success the team has starts from the net out, and by trading our Best Defencemen we would only be hampering our chances. The ideal scenario would be to trade Komisarek, who is an impending UFA, and keep Markov since he's still signed for two more years at a bargain and since he's your only offensive defenceman u have. But with a salary cap in place, you know first hand that you can't keep everyone that you groom. Hence, the buy low, sell high mentality must prevail. Markov was a 6th round draft pick if I'm not mistaken. If you can take 6th round pick and turn it into Lecavalier, you do it, end of story. However, coming back to the initial topic of conversation - GRIT - and our teams lack thereof, you simply CANNOT afford to give away Komisarek. Markov has plenty of credentials, but being a stand up gritty type of player he is not. As Cucumber said, Management may be hoping that our "weaker" players will learn what it takes and grow into their roll. My experience in sports has tought me otherwise. Grit, determination, comroderie and the "all for one and one for all" metality is not something you learn. You're born with it. Sure you might be influenced by the players around you, but lets face it, if they haven't learnt it yet, they never will. In my view, management must make a statement by drastically altering the character of our team. This can only be done by finally acquiring that bonafide 1st line in your face type of centre. This team needs a new identity. The young ones coming up through the system need the perfect role model. You can argue that Koivu is a great leader, and to a certain extent he is, but he's not the person who's ON ICE identity must represent the team. (Let me not even get into Kovalev... ) If the Habs are really serious about creating a strong team first atmosphere and Markov is what it takes, then au revoir mon chum.

:bow: Great assessment! I know it's slightly off topic, but I'm curious.. How old are you and what kind of hockey related experience do you have??

Us poor Europeaners finally get to watch a couple of games at a normal time. Carbo is obviously trying to jump start his scorers by infusing those lines with some much needed dose of adrenaline. That's why the likes of Begin, Lapierre and Kostopoulos are "rewarded". Hope they make all the little kids in the stands happy. Anyone know the Habs record since these Super Bowl Matinees started?

Very well written article. I'm surprised ESPN accepted to annoint his job as the hardest in professional sports. (No doubt in my mind it is..)

Hope the Senators get back to their losing ways. Pedal to the metal boys, do this and do it right!! GO HABS GO!!

For what it's worth, if i owned TSN, I'd fire Dreger and hire you instead..

I'm gonna have to take Grabovski's side on this. Ever since S.Kostitsyn came up to Montreal, he's shunned his heritage and tried to turn himself into a Quebecois. Case in point................. I rest my case....

I've been holding back from creating an Appreciation Thread for Kostopoulos since the fact that I'm Greek kind makes it seem that I'm just supporting him for ethnicity reasons, however after last night "performance" I just had to. If our "talented" players had half the courage and determination he has they would be leading the league in scoring. I am convinced that his "no guts, no glory" approach to hockey is the single most determining factor in the increase of production from both Lapierre and Latendresse. Since they have been on the same line, they both seem to have transformed. Someone by the name of krob1000 posted this on Habs I/O. I think he's spot on with what he says: QUOTE Kosto is like an old time warrior......I mean like Braveheart type of warrior....he would run full tilt into a thousand men for his team. This year and during the playoffs he is even playing some decent hockey to boot. Don't hang your head but instead see it for what it is....it is not a fight ...it's like when a guy stands up to a bully who is picking on his friends...he may lose but that's not the point. Every time I see Kosto drop the gloves that is how I view it....I don't even care and neither does he...he rarely even tries to throw a punch....he just lets it be known that he is there for the guys....always.....and Bouillon is the same...but he has deceptive strength and wins some. Kosto is the bravest SOB I have seen in a Habs jersey in a long time. UNQUOTE The intangibles that Tom bring to the Habs cannot be overlooked. These are the type of players u need if u have any aspirations for Cup contention. Although he gets his a$$ wooped 9 times out of 10, he never ever flinches. As many times as they toss him around like a rag doll, he still wipes himself of the ice and comes back for more. Not only does he stick up for his teammates on the ice - he also sticks up for them off of it. Need I remind you that he was the one that came to O'Byrne's resuce during the whole purse snatching ordeal.... Tom, in case ur read this, I want you to know that if we have a boy (my wife is pregnant!) your going to be the player I'm going to try to get him to emulate....

Both of them scored tonight. Gainey with the GWG in the 3rd.. Talk about making a great first impression

I say u jump into ur car and head for Wanda's. I'm sure the guys here on the board will pitch in for a couple of lap dances..

Finally! An afternoon game that us poor Europeaners get to watch at a normal time of day (or night).. I'm actually gonna try and get my wife to watch this too. GO HABS GO!!

PRICE, Carey 1308800 FLEURY, Marc-Andre 1308296 KOMISAREK, Mike 1204861 GONCHAR, Sergei 1198955 This is more exciting than the US Presidential elections........

What a wack job!! At times, during interviews, it seems like he doesn't have a heart beat....then he goes and pulls this! Talk about Dr. Jeckll & Mr. Hyde.. Love him!

The Habs are as good as Price feels like being. Don't get me wrong, I love them all to death but Price is a major league game breaker. And something tells me he's got a nerve to pick with Crosby. He's a competitive little bugger...we saw it after that goal Crosby scored. That didn't sit well with him, so he decided to shut the door once and for all....