hankhab

I think Desharnais has the potential to improve further, and he will start the year in the same role as last year. Here's the problem with d-d, well not really with him, but the team..our top 2 centres are small. What does Bergevin do about that? D-D is also one of the few francophones on the team, so if the new regime has to choose between the 2 small centres, who do they keep? Scary question, right? We already have a young man with size capable of being the number 2 centre, and we will probable be drafting a player who can play centre/wing, and who can probably play right away. This team is in need of at least 2 more top 6 wingers, so do you convert D_D and the newly drafted player to wing, or do you use an asset like pleks t bring in such a player? I'm not a fan of this, as I like pleks, but you can see the logic there. As for Koivu, he's not the same player anymore, and we do not need another small centre on this team, so I wouldn't consider bringing him in. I'm not mentioning Leblanc here, who also ca play centre, because I think he would benefit from a full year in the AHL, and I think thats where he'll start next year.

I understand both the media and team wanting more french-canadien players, but if you look at the past 4 or 5 drafts, the amount of top notch first round prospects from Quebec is very small, so has this team done such a bad job in that department? I don't think so. Bergevin is no dummy, he can see this just as plainly as we can. Doesn't hurt to have an extra scout anyhow, so why not do it for the Q. As for a coach, having to deal with the group of rabid wolves that is the media in Montreal, it makes perfect sense that the head coach be fluent in french. There are even some decent candidates for the job, so I don't think that will hurt us in the long run anyway.It doesn't have to be Roy, but having a bit of emotion behind the bench would be a pleasant change too.

When you have a chance to grab a big, offensively talented centre, you have to take it, thats why we should draft Grigorenko, if he's still there at 3, or move up if we have to.

How bout Malcolm Subban if he's still around with our 2nd pic?

Savards regime didn't trade well, either, I'm sure I don't have to regurgitate the stinker trades he was responsible for, so, hopefully, he'll go with someone like Bergevin, or even Roy, but whoever, he's hoping he lets the new GM be the new GM.

I think, given the talent available, and pending the results of the lottery, Habs may have to make a deal with Edmonton to get the 2nd pick, if they want Grigorenko (I think Edmonton will take him 2nd if not). If thats not an option, they could trade down, and draft Galchenyuk..sound reasonable? They really need to come out of this draft with a promising offensive centre, and I think those two will be the best available at that position.

That leaves Brisbois, Loiselle, Bergevin, McGuire, Roy, Martin, Giguere as the most probable list of candidates for GM. I think we can also scratch Martin, as Molson will likely want to cut all ties with past management. Of that group, I think the most likely to get the job is Bergevin, who will then hopefully have the smarts to hire someone with experience as an assistant. Any thoughts?

Fire Timmins? Are you crazy? Don't you remember Terry Ryan, Brian Wilke, Brent Biledeau, etc? Sure, you can go through any draft year and find prospects that may be better than the ones Timmins drafted, but the man has been top notch in picking out NHL talent, and our first round picks seem to be all but garanteed to play in the NHL the last 5 or 6 years, so I think you should re read your Habs history book, bud.

Hilarious, how do you recall everything he says like that? I usually just tune him out, or watch the game in french.

As much as the guy annoys me, I think Mcguire would be a great man for the job. He could finally put all that knowledge he likes to share with everyone to good use! Seriously, though, I think he'd do great, and I'd like to see Damphousse as an assistant, with Timmons as head of scouting, and Savard remaining as a consultant. I think this team would be capable of building a winner, because they would have an in depth knowledge of professional scouting which we have seemed to lack over the last few years, and, even though I'm not a Quebecois, I would love to see a greater emphasis on drafting and developing more French-Canadian talent. I think Savard did a good job of this in the past, and I see nothing wrong with focusing on that aspect. There are no fans in hockey like Montreal fans, my wife and I love it there, and I think it'd be great for all habs fans to have some home grown talent on this team. As for head coach, who knows? Roy is already the popular choice, and by all accounts he has done very well with the Ramparts. After watching Martin and then Cunneyworth behind the bench, I'm ready to see a more emotional, aggresive coach behind the bench. And seriously, the coach needs to speak french in order to deal with the media in Montreal, its just not fair to stick an anglophone in that position. For all of you who think Guy Boucher would be great, well, he has a ton of talent in Tampa, and they are going nowhere this year, so maybe he wouldn't be such a great choice. Perhaps Crawford would be a safer choice than Roy (although I am kind of hoping for Roy, and that he would have enough sense to surround himself with some very experienced assistants). Perhaps guys like Carbanneau (i'm sure thats spelled wrong) or Therian would be choices for assistant? Well, maybe not Therian, he's just as emotional as Roy. Recycling coaches has worked in the past, and sometimes these guys need to fail a few times before perfecting their trade (see Claude Julien)

Overall, I like the forecheck a lot better, but he still has no answer for the pp, and thats the main reason we suck as badly as we do this year. If we could score on the pp, we'd be in the top 8.

Gomez is certainly still a NHL player, he's just paid way too much. Blunden is a capable 4th liner, hustles, hits, does what he can, nothing wrong with that. Darche and Campoli are pretty much useless .

They would be a disaster, unless Carb has learned a lot.

I agree O'Byrne was never given a chance, I though he showed flashes of becoming a good, dependable top 4 d at times. Now, on a slightly diff topic, I think it would be a big mistake to have a firesale right now, we're better off waiting a little bit, then seeing what we could get for Gill, Moen, etc. I'd even consider trading Pleks and/or Gionta if the return was a good young center with size. As for everyone else, we can hopefully buy out Gomez and Kaberle, then start building around Paches, Eller, Subban, Price, Emelin, etc.

We just traded an undersized forward on pace for the worst numbers of his career with a big cap hit for a bigger, meaner player, who has out produced Cammy the last 2 and one-half years and makes less money, and a decent prospect. I don't know what everyone is panicking about. Have you all watched any games this year? I commented a few days ago that the Cammy-Plek_Gionta line looked way undersized, and were not playing well. Well, we just took care of part of that problem. More changes are on the way.

Just a few thoughts..Does anyone else notice that Emelin is rapidly becoming our best defenceman? He is learning proper positioning, and he is just a force out there, I love it. Not sure whats wrong with Pleks, but now, more than ever, that line of Plexs, Cammie and Gionta looks smaller than ever out there. On the bright side, we have two hard hitting, decently sized lines which can score now, when was the last time you could say that about our team? And finally, AK47 looks great, hitting everything that moves, and going hard to the net..keep it up, Andre!!

While I agree that our main problem is an inexperienced and smallish defensive group, I still would like to see a different coach, the reason being, I just don't like our style of play, not enough forechecking, a very bad powerplay, and too many nights like last night, where there appeared to be little team play, and too little effort. We often fail to show up against teams like Colombus. This team has some very fast skaters, but you rarely see anyone break in on odd man rushes, simply because the coaching style doesn't encourage aggressive offense. Martin has begun to rely too much on Desharnes, who, although has some ability, is too small and too slow to be a true number 2 center. It would make much more sense, in my opinion, to give more minutes to Eller, who is much bigger, and has more potential. I think the hunt for a new head coach should have begun a few weeks ago.

I especially like Camallari because he can play wing or centre. I'd like to see... Gionta Gomez Pacioretty Kostitsen Cammallari Kostitsen Latendresse Lapierre D'Agostini Laraque Chipchura Metropolit Georges Markov Hamrlik Spacek Gill Weber O'Byrne On d, I'd like to see Weber given a chance, on 3th pairing and pp. O'byrne could surprise us this year, Martin is an excellent teacher, and he might be able to turn O'Byrne's game around, making us forget all about that backstabbing Komi.You'll notice Plekanic isn't there..he has to work his way back into my lineup after that horrid effort last year. (I know, same could be said about the Kostitsens, but I'm betting on a comeback year for those two.) He might just do that, though, as a more defensive oriented approach might be just what his game needs. I like Pacioretty on the first line with those speedsters bacause he is also fast, plus he could concentrate on hitting everything and getting open while the other 2 handle the puck. I thought Lapierre and Latendresse played really well for us last year, especially in the second half when everyone else was dogging it. They deserve all the ice time they can get. Finally, we have to commit to Chipchura this year, he has to stay with the big team all year if he is to amount to anything, and having him out there on the same line as Metropolit gives us a second centerman in case his faceoff skills are not quite there yet. Have we found a new goaltending coach yet? I think Price will be good this year, I thought he just started to hit his stride last year when the injury struck before the allstar game, and he just wasn't the same after that. All the gloom and doom guys in the media seem to forget that this team is full of promising young players, and a few of them had off years last year. I can't wait for the puck to drop this fall, so we can get a look at our new team. I'm predicting a slow start, but when this team gets 15 or 20 games under its belt, look out!

So far this year, I've watched every game, and I am somewhat surprised at some on the negativity I see here. Although the teams win-loss record is not great, I still feel that the pieces are in place, and this team will get on a roll soon. The Habs have been in every game, and if not for some bad luck and a few costly mistakes, the team would already be on a role. I think the young guys have looked good so far, and the D has been alright (ok, Brisbois still scares me a lot). Kovalev has played his best hockey in years so far. Higgens has been snake bitten, as has the entire first line, but the puck will go in for them eventually. Goaltending has been above average, I would say. So here's hoping the pieces fall into place tonight...Go Habs GO!!!!!!!

Hamrlik was a plus 22 last year..Souray will never be a plus 22, on any team, so, hammer will be on the second pairing, with, well, we don't really know at this point, depends on any future moves Bob may make. I'll bet he picks up another d, maybe through trade (maybe give Ninnema another chance? I don't think he was half bad when given a chance last year). We may or may not see another center.

I would like to appeal to the moderators of this site to have this thread removed, and to have this moron barred.

I am so glad you are not our general manager. You can't wait to see the guy who has led us in goal scoring the last 2 seasons go away, but you all want Kovalev, who has coasted here since he signed the big contract, to get coddled, surrounded by superstars, so he can produce. What is wrong with you people? Where was Kovy that last game against Toronto, with the playoffs on the line? Did you hear Ryder griping and complaining about his linemates, ice time, etc? I really believe that if Ryder was french canadien, everyone would love him. A reliable 30 goal man who comes at a bargain, thats what Ryder is. Nothing more. Is that really so bad?

I know this is not the prospect forum, but lets face it, the Bulldogs win last night, and Price's play throughout the playoffs must be forcing the thought through Gaineys mind..this guy might be ready to play next season. If so, all of our lineup predictions kind of fall apart. I believe Carey Price is a superstar in the making, and if he's the best keeper in camp in this year, the Habs may have to part with a goaltender. I think this is the guy who will carry us to the playoffs and beyond next year.

Its not Carbos job to listen to fans, media, or you or I. Its his job to build this team into a winner. Despite the poor results this season, He sees a lot of promise in this team, so he will continue to develop it the way he sees fit. I'm just pointing out that if he and Kovalov don't see eye to eye, then Kovalov has to adapt, or move on. Its totally obvious to me that the two of them don't see eye to eye, and I just don't see Carbo changing the direction of the team to suit Kovalov. Also, just because no one is speaking up, it doesn't mean everyone doesn't like Carbos system, in fact, it may be just the opposite. In fact, the only two players who have spoke up are Kovalov and Sampsonov, 2 guys who just had terrible years in Montreal, and it seems to me that those two are looking to lay the blame somewhere. The Canadiens are a team, and team players do the talking in the dressing room or face to face with the coaching staff. If Kovalov wants off this team, then Gainey will try to accomidate him. Don't look for him to force Carbo to bend over for anyone.

Kovalov and Samsonov are adults who are being played millions to play hockey. They have been coached all there lives, so I don't buy the whole arguement that they had bad seasons as a result of mishandling by the coach. I think Carbo would be the first to admit he learned some important lessons this year, and I'm sure he'll improve this year. But players need to understand..Carbo is the coach of this team, like it or not. If kovalov doesn't like it, he should go home.