hankhab

Thats the stupidest thing i've ever heard come out of that mans mouth. If Dudley was bound by contract to the leafs and they didn't want to let him go, then they have that right. If not, then what are people whining about? Did 2 or 3 of our bright coaching candidates leave that way, with the Habs blessing? It happens all the time, and I have to say, I haven't read anything about Burke complaining, so this must be a fan/media issue?

Interesting to see how he does next year, I was kind of hoping we'd nab him with 2nd or 3rd round pick, i'd say at worst he becomes a Turner Stevenson type, and we could use one of them on our roster on third or fourth line.

Very possible, I mean, what do any of us know? Its all pure speculation at this point, but it sure is entertaining. I'd just add that, if it is all settled, and they are just waiting for the right time to announce it, then Bergevin and co are sure good at keeping stuff private when they want to.

Therrien had a terrible team here in Montreal when he was coach, much worst than the current group. I think it'll probably be Crawford, though. Regardless, everyone needs to accept that the head coach of the Canadiens will have to be bilingual, thats just how it is, lets all get on with our lives, etc.

How has the Biggs kid done this year anyhow? I was kinda hoping he'd slip into second round, he'd be worth a pick there or the third, of course, the Leafs couldn't pass up on him. Last I heard, he threw up at try outs for the American junior team.

I like Dumba, not overly impressed with Murray, but I would be shocked and disappointed if we didn't walk away with a stud offensive forward with our first pick. Its not such a big assumption. Bergevin will look at the big picture, and this franchise has a number of prospects at d who could well be better than any of the d-men in this draft, so common sense dictates that a forward will be taken.

Actually, I don't really think it would be humane to put a unilingual english coach out to dry in front of the Montreal media for a full season, it'd be like sending the front line troops into a charge without a weapon. Thats the logic I see. I'm not french, but a bilingual coach would be my first choice too.

Perhaps they have, but that what Sutter himself said. And remember when It was a done deal that Patrick Roy had accepted the habs job? I agree, Sutter is an obvious choice, but no one has confirmed it. I'm sure Mr. Bergevin has spoken a few times with Mr Hartley as well, perhaps thats where the latest speculation came from, after all, they were both at the Memorial Cup.

I don't know how Cammalleri ever got such a bad rap on here, he spoke out and said that the team was playing like a bunch of losers (which they were), and he was referring to everyone on the team, himself included, as far as I could tell.Yes he floats, and he wasn't having a good season, but for all his faults, he sure can pull the trigger, and he was mostly a positive guy. Just cause Gauthier panicked and traded him, I don't think we all need to turn on the guy.

Hmmm, perhaps it won't be Hartley after all? The guessing game continues. In other news, Sutter says he hasn't been contacted by the Oilers yet, either, so maybe that one was pure speculation too.

I agree, to me, Beaulieu will need some time to cut the errors down and slow the game down a bit, but man, can he skate with that puck! Can you imagine having him and Subban on our blueline! Teams will be backing in there own end all game long.I think he may have tried to do a bit too much during this years tournament, but he was still pretty good. I thought that in the games I watched, Ellis looked better than Gormely, I was quite impressed with his 2 way play, and Tinordi was a beast out there. I see him out there with Subban in a year, covering for Subbans trips up ice, and, Opposition players better keep their heads up too. Bournival will play, maybe his NHL role is 3rd liner/shutdown player, but you never know.

It would be great to see him with the bulldogs in that role, he might be able to help Tinordi in his path to the NHL.

Interesting, wouldn't be a bad year to try and trade up for a 2nd first rounder, seems like it might be a fairly deep draft. I still say whoever drafts Grigorenko is getting a great player.

We have 3 excellent prospects from the Q (although only one is from Quebec), and another excellent prospect who is from Quebec, but didn't play in the Q. This team is not ignoring the Q or Quebec born players in that regard. Could they have moved up to nab some home town prospects over the years? Maybe, who knows. Adding another scout for the Q may be redundant, maybe not, but really, who cares? It can't hurt, and perhaps it will shut up the media types who like to complain about such things. As for this year, it is, by all accounts, not a good year for Quebec born kids in the draft, so those who like to complain about that will have something to say, yet again this year! Welcome back to Montreal, Mr. Bergevin!

The only negative thing I have read on Gaunce is that his skating is not great, and scouts had wanted to see a bit more offence from him this year, thus some are projecting him as a 3rd liner with 2nd line potential, which is still not terrible, but not what you'd expect from your first round pick.

So is it really a done deal,is Hartley the man? Its really beginning to look that way, guess we'll find out within a few weeks, or maybe a few days.

Great hire..now we know all the inside draft information from the Leafs, who are renowned for drafting and developing young talent! Actually, i is a good hire, a smart move by Bergevin to surround himself with experience.

Beaulieu is an amazing skater, so smooth, loves carrying the puck, its going to be a great one-two punch with him and PK in our top 4, our blue line is looking great for the future! Tinordi has made great leaps since his draft year, looking like the huge, shut down d-man we need, a real bruiser, might need a bit more time in the A than Beaulieu, who could see some NHL time as early as next season.

If only the french (and sometimes english) media could be so understanding, instead of bringing up Simone Gagne all the time, he's about to retire for Gods sake!

Perhaps instead of sleeper, I should have called Galchenyuk the wild card of the draft, very talented, but the obvious problem of not being able to play all year. Apparently a lot of teams are very high on him, central scouting, not so much. I still say Grigorenko, a known commodity, already has played in Quebec, big body, talent, ready to step in next year, most likely. In 2 years or so, perhaps you guys can all say told you so, but I don't think so. Either way, however, we are going to have our most exciting forward prospect in years after this years draft.

If its a civil suit, it really has no legal bearings, other than it could cost Crawford quite a bit of money, so I wouldn't stop me from hiring him, if he was the right man for the job.

In my mind, taking Dudley before or after the draft, its not a big concern. Trevor Timmons has shown himself to be an excellent judge of young talent, I don't think Bergevin will need Dudelys opinion on draft eligible players. Where this organization really needs help is in the scouting and judgement of its own and other teams prospects, so we are better prepared when it comes to trades involving such players, so we don't get consistantly burned in giving away young talent (McDonough, Latendresse, Grabovsky, Ribero, etc) and getting very little in return. This is what has hurt this team more than anything else in recent years. I'm hoping a guy like Dudley will help out a lot in that department. Burke hasn't publicly whined about this yet (at least I don't think he has), so if we have to wait for after the draft, then so be it, I guess. If not, too bad Burkie. Anyhow, I'm sure Toronto will be able to keep unearthing those excellent prospects either way (not), they still have about 100 assistant gms, don't they?

Back to the topic at hand, I've heard all the arguments, pros and cons, and my pick at 3rd overall would still be Mikhail Grigorenko. Although I've never been a pro scout, I've read every issue of the Hockey News Draft Preview ever printed (yes, I meant that to be funny, so please go ahead and laugh), and I remember similar concerns (consistency, work ethic, attitude) being mentioned about a certain Jagr, and Malkin, and they seemed to have worked out ok. When we have a chance to finally grab a big, strong, extremely talented centre who can probably step right in and play, for me, its an easy choice. The only thing that really worries me is the Galchenyuk kid, and the possibility that the Leafs will grab him at 5th. I think he's the sleeper of this years draft, potentially the best player available, but maybe not, no way to know for sure. Not a good year for Quebec kids, from what I have read and heard, still could be a late round project or 2. As for the later rounds, from what I read, there could be some very interesting players around for the 2nd round, or maybe even to trade up for late in the 3rd round. For instance, if Brendan Gaunce really lasts till 17th as predicted, might be a good chance to grab another big, skilled centre. These are the kind of things good, forward thinking GM's manage to do, so why not us?

I'm really thinking Marc Crawford is the early favorite here. He has experience, but has not been out of the game that long. He did good work in Vancouver (the Bertuzzi incident cannot be blamed on the coaching, sorry, but I'm sure he has learned from that situation), and he seemed to get the best out of the Bertuzzi line at the time. He did quite well in Colorado, even though that team was star studded. I really think an experienced coach is the way to go here, and I think his style fits for the more offensive oriented players, he'd be a much better coach for PK, for instance. A team which is banking on young vets to lead the team will need an experienced NHL coach to keep everyone on the straight and narrow, as well, remember, our best players are all (except Cole) quite young. His demeanor seems a good match to put up with the media, and he might even say something funny once in a while. Hopefully Marc has been brushing up on his french!

Winning is great, but great hockey is what we want to see, and great rivalry often brings out the best. I would love to see another team in Quebec, not wanting one because of fear of losing to them is foolish. Of the hockey games I watched from the past, the ones i remember best are those great playoff matches against the Nordiques. Besides, hockey in Quebec needs a boost, for some reason, quality, Quebec born prospects are not that common any more, perhaps this would get more kids interested in the game again. And, once again, I'll state that I'm actually happy with the core of this team, I think Mr Bergevin may have walked into a good situation here. With a solid core of young defensemen (in NHL and prospects), and some promising forwards, including the first big strong winger who can score since John Leclair, and a young stud goaltender, a few shrewd moves by our new GM could have this team challenging for a Stanley Cup in less time than you might think.