dlbalr

I think there's no time limit for European players; there's a 2 year one for North American players though. Cases in point: Niklas Anger, Viktor Ujcik, Joni Puurula, and Johan Eneqvist all were drafted quite a while ago, but we still retain their rights, although they will likely never sign with us anyways. I think Alexander Buturlin fits in here too. I'll see if I can find more information though...

First, I'd like to commend all of those who have posted in this thread, it has been a very good read. Now, for my take: I think this is a good deal for the Habs, as in reality, we lose Balej for Kovalev straight up. We will gain a compensatory draft choice granted by the NHL if we don’t re-sign Kovalev in the offseason. However, that pick will be in 2005, and not 2004. As for losing Balej, I am a little disappointed, however, this is the right move. There is no guarantee that he will become a productive scorer in the NHL with the Rangers. Balej likely was not in the long-term plans for this team; he was not drafted early on like Hossa, Perezhogin, Kastsitsyn, and Higgins. All of those guys are expected to have significant roles in the near future. Add to that the fact that we quite possibly with still have Koivu, Zednik, Ryder, Ribeiro, and Bulis, and there’s your top-9 forwards right there. No Balej there...He was expendable IMO, and to get a proven scorer like Kovalev for him, long or short term, is great for the team, it boosts morale and team confidence, which is what we need a lot of heading into the playoffs. That's just my take, only time will tell if this is what we needed or not. Nonetheless, I'm really looking forward to Friday's game. :ghg:

After failing to sign an NFL contract, Als' WR/SB Jeremaine Copeland will return to the Als for the 2004 season. Another key component is back for this season! :/) Complete details: http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/news_story.asp?id=74477

We gave up wide receiver Andrew Noel (Acadia), linebacker Joe Bonaventura (Saint Mary's), another Canadian player, a second draft pick and cash. Not too much for the top cornerback in the league...I like this deal! Here's a little blurb from TSN: Full article: http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/news_story.asp?id=73908

It has already been mentionned that it's a good idea to replace a RW with a RW (Murray for Hossa), makes sense to me...Also, the Eastern Conference already has 6 centres, so there's no need for a 7th. As for the comments regarding Messier and Primeau, let me begin by talking about Messier, He, despite being a 4th liner, produces at the rate of a marginal 2nd or above average 3rd liner. Hardly an all-star in that right, correct? True, however, this is a sympathetic pick based on his services to the NHL throughout his career, one of these per season isn't that bad of a deal IMO. My guess, Bettman had a part in this selection... As for Primeau, guess what, I'm actually going to support this pick. Why? Simply for one reason, this: The players in the All-Star game are, in a sense, supposed to be the most valuable players of their respective teams. Many around the league feel that Primeau has a chance of winning the Selke trophy; anyone who is receiving consideration for an award should be considered for the All-Star game. The same would be the case for Mattias Norstrom of LA. Neither of them are offensive powerhouses, but play vital roles in the success of their team. Calling them "stars" may be going a bit high, but they are both valuable to their teams in their own right. The All-Star game is said to feature the top players in the National Hockey League, nowhere does that statement say "The top OFFENSIVE players in the NHL. This would be my guess as to why these players were selected. Now for my final opinion, which actually deals with the Habs. If you take a look at the All-Star and Young Stars game rosters, you should notice that only one team has more than 3 representatives in the 2 games combined. That team is New Jersey, the defending Cup champions. All the rest have 3 or less. How many do the Habs have? That's right, 3, the "unofficial" limit, so that all teams can be represented in the games. My guess for why New Jersey has 4? Simple, it's merely an award for being the champions. Of course, the above likely isn't a reason as to why Ribeiro wasn't chosen, however it should be noted. To say that he was robbed is a bit of an overstatement, considering some of the other talents that are not participating. Examples: Peter Forsberg and Marc Savard, the 2 players with the highest points-per-game averages in the entire NHL. Despite this, they weren't selected. I rank Ribeiro below both of these players in terms of offensive capabilities, and overall two-way play. I would choose either of those 2 before Mike in a game like this anyday (well, at least for now anyways). Don't take this the wrong way, I think Ribeiro had a legitimate shot at going to Minnesota, and I'm sure he was given his due consideration by the coaching staff/NHL. So he didn't make it, oh well, there's always next year and the ones proceeding that. If he's as good as some on this, and other boards, claim he is, than this will not be an issue in the seasons to come. Let's just enjoy the game itself with the Hab content there is, I'm sure those going are more than happy to be there, and those at home/on vacation will be happy to get the time off, they've deserved it. The YoungStars game and Skills competition are tomorrow, let's see if Souray can win the hardest shot contest!

Having talked to several Hab fans, as well as frequenting message boards, particularly this one, the general consensus seems to be that we're in a heap of trouble, and moves needs to be made soon, involving Kilger, Perreault, etc... Is all of this panic justified though? I think not. The fact is, we're not capable of playing at the level we were a couple of weeks ago, losing only 1 in 10 games. Are we as bad of a team as we've played in the past 3? Probably not, but in my opinion, our ability is closer to the latter rather than the former. Why you may ask? Easy, contrary to some people's beliefs, we're not overloaded with depth, although Perreault on paper is a nice 4th liner. We, like some other teams, are taking the youth route, which is OK given the current instability of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but in doing so, we risk having to deal with potential risks in relying on youth more. One of these is that the player is not ready for full-time NHL duty. Case in point: Marcel Hossa. Here’s a player whom many thought was ready for the rigors of full-time NHL duty. Was he? In a word, no. Hossa consistently showed that he wasn’t capable of playing on the 2nd line, which was his assignment at the beginning of the season. Was he a capable 4th liner instead? Nope, he simply wasn’t ready to be a regular. We were lucky to have Dagenais ready in Hamilton, who has been able to score at the rate that we were expecting Hossa to in the preseason/early regular season. If not, our offence would be in a position that I shudder to even think about, scoring at a rate similar to that of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The second point is consistency, or currently, the lack thereof. This is what happens when 3 of your top-6 forwards saw limited NHL-action last season, or is playing in his first NHL season, which is the case with Michael Ryder. When so many of your go-to players are inexperienced, the team is bound to go through some rough stretches. With Jozef Balej currently as a second-liner, consistency is even more of a concern, although he’ll only be on that line for the short-term. With the roster we had heading into the start of the season, I, admittedly, was one of the team's detractors who didn't think this team had a chance at making the playoffs. As a whole this season, I have been pleasantly surprised with the Habs' performance through the first 51 games on the regular season. 56 points is 6 higher than we had at this point last season, and we're actually in a playoff spot, unlike last season. It seems as if some fans are now expecting the level of play we were treated to in early January on a regular basis down the stretch run, which is too high of an expectation for such a young team. The reality is, we don't have the quality of rosters that some of the teams behind us have, and that we need to rebound quickly if we want to stay ahead of them. Is it possible? By all means, even without the nice run earlier this month, we're still a .500 team, which is about the level we'll need to play at to maintain a playoff position. Anything more would be a pleasant surprise, anything less, it's not the end of world in my opinion. Many of us were calling the 2003-04 NHL season a "wash", in that it would be a time to develop and further evaluate some of our younger players, and we've done that. We've has some pleasant surprises in our youth in Ryder and Dagenais, and to a lesser extent, Balej in Hamilton, but we've also has some negatives, particularly in Hossa. This is what you ask for when you take this route, and this is what we're getting. To conclude, is it time to panic? No, our current performance (over the course of the season) is better than what many expected, and, as many say with some of our prospects, patience, people, give them some time (ie: a full season) before we overly praise or bash them. Every team goes through a slump or two during the season, but do they all panic? No, (well maybe the Rangers, but that's a different story for another day possibly) they rebound, and there isn't any evidence that says to me that we can't do the same. We're not overloaded with injuries like some other teams, and we have a goalie who can carry the team if necessary. Now, to answer the question of will we make the playoffs? I'd rather not answer at this time, but how we play in the next 8-10 games should give us a pretty accurate idea.

BTW : Souray had a horrible game today . His last 4 games have been average or below average... Whats up? I've noticed the same thing, but I'm not surprised. My guess for his "sub-par" play lately, one word, fatigue. Keep in mind that Souray hasn't played a close-to-full season in the last 3, some some fatigue around the halfway point is to be expected IMO. He needs some reduced icetime for a few games (19:59 tonight), which should help. My game thoughts: From what I'm hearing, I think I'm happy that I didn't get to see the game, it seemed aside from Theodore, pretty much no one showed up. Dagenais played 17:30, 3rd amongst Habs forwards, behind Zednik and Koivu, despite losing shifts to Balej in the 3rd, interesting. Julien's juggled line comobs didn't seem to generate any offence, I wonder if he'll try them again tomorrow. If Ward's out for tomorrow (seems probable), will Juneau/Dackell return, or will another player be re-called? Or, do we dress a 7th d-man, and move 1 to a RW position (Rivet perhaps, he's done it before...), which would add a little more toughness, and given our opponent, we'll need it. I'm not too surprised by the end result, New Jersey is a better team than some people give them credit for. I'm also not that worried, sure I'm disappointed, but every team has an off game now and then. I am interested in seeing how we rebound from this game, will we wake up, or put in another lousy effort? Tomorrow will tell the tale...

I just wrote out the full list of All-Stars and placed it HW. Here's the link: http://www.habsworld.net/show_article.php?id=280 (Also, regarding the starters, isn't it funny how it's supposed to be an offensive showcase so to speak, yet 3 Devils are in the starting lineup? Weird...)

Personally, I hope we DON'T bring Balej up this season at all, like we did with Ryder last season. Let the kid actually develop for a couple of years! We tried bringing Hossa up too early (half a season doesn't cut it in the minors in terms of development), and look what happens - no confidence at either the AHL or NHL level, now some people want to trade him. Same with Chouinard, although he had less of an NHL shot with us... Also, where exactly do we put Balej if he's called up? He needs to play on the top-2 lines to be effective, and right now, I don't think we want to mess with the top-2 lines for the time being. We could move Bulis back to the 3rd line, but that puts Koivu with a pair of rookies, not the best of ideas for a team battling for a playoff spot. Next season (if there is one), maybe we could give him a brief look, but I would rather see him play a full or close to full 2004-05 season in Hamilton before I'd consider him a legitimate candidate for a roster spot. He has the talent already to be decent, but I'd rather he hone his skills a little while longer, just to be on the safe side. And since the team is doing OK for the moment, we can afford to play it safe.

Don't forget Gratton, I know he has a concussion, but he was only supposed to miss 7-10 days originally, and it's been a few weeks now. I think he may be ready to return, and assume the 4th line C spot he has before going down. This would likely then send Perreault to the press box for the time being, barring a trade or injury. (I don't expect Perreault to be dealt anytime soon, as Gainey said there wouldn't be "addition by subtraction", at least for the time being.)

The last time that we scored 8 goals in a game was just over 6 years ago, on January 8th vs the New York Islanders. I don't know the final score, but I think it's safe to assume that we won the game. _______________________________________________________ As for Guy!'s report, once again, good as always, and guess what? I'm not going to give you a shellacking, you don't deserve one, the fact is, we were BAD in the first, got the lead, and watched as Pittsburgh threw in the towel, so we got to make lots of fancy plays and score pretty goals, yadda yadda yadda. The only thing really going for us tonight was the powerplay, which went 4/6. Yes it's Pittsburgh, but the PP has been on as of late anyways. I'm happy for Souray that he got the points, however like last game, he was beaten to the puck in the neutral zone, and almost cost us a breakaway to Meloche I think it was. He had a rough game defensively. As for Ribs and Dagenais, I agree, both need to do more of the little things a little more often to impress me. The set offensive play: Ribeiro tries to skate through everybody while Dagenais heads for the net. Ribeiro shoots, Dags gets the rebound and puts it in, Zednik stands there thinking "What about me?" OK, I exaggerated a bit, but the fact remains that they are lacklustre defensively, and need to improve in that respect soon. My final take? Glad to get the win and pad the stats, hopefully all of these goals will get some people going and give us some momentum heading into the game vs St. Louis, we're going to need it.

Minaya's pulled off another deal today, moving arbitration-eligible LHP Scott Stewart to Cleveland for a pair of minor-leaguers in OF Ryan Church and IF Maicer Izturis. This ensures that Eischen and Choate are the 2 LHP's coming out of the bullpen this season. Church I hear is a pretty decent prospect who's been struck with injuries recently. He'll likely replace Sledge who likely will spend the season with us barring another OF signed, can't see that happening. Thoughts: Salary dump, nothing really more, get 2 guys to re-stock a somewhat depleted Trappers (AAA) team, could be worse. Now, we need to get another catcher, decent SP, and a "real" closer wouldn't hurt, unless one of Biddle/Ayala/Cordero steps up, and the last 2 just aren't ready to do that just yet.

Bulis-Perreault-Ryder Dagenais-Ribeiro-Zednik Sundstrom-Juneau-Dackell Langdon-Plekanec-Ward (Plekanec is #35) Healthy Scratch: Kilger, Audette* Injuries: Begin, Koivu, Gratton Souray-Quintal Bouillon-Rivet Markov-Brisebois Healthy Scratch: Komisarek Theodore Garon *Audette has indeed cleared waivers as expected, however, he was on conditional waivers. He has been placed on "real" waivers today, and has until Friday to be claimed. Scoring Summary: 1st period: NO SCORING Shots on goal: Dallas 9 Montreal 4 Powerplay Conversions: Dallas 0/0 Montreal 0/0 2nd period: 1) Dallas Morrow (Modano, Zubov) 15:36 PPG Shots on goal: Dallas 6 (15) Montreal 4 (8) Powerplay Conversions: Dallas 1/1 (1/1-100%) Montreal 0/1 (0/1-0%) 3rd period: 2) Montreal Sundstrom (Souray, Juneau) 19:00 (Theodore pulled for extra attacker) Shots on goal: Montreal 9 (17) Dallas 2 (17) Powerplay Conversions: Dallas 0/0 (1/1-100%) Montreal 0/0 (0/1-0%) Overtime: NO SCORING Shots on goal: Montreal 4 (21) Dallas 3 (20) Powerplay Conversions: Dallas 0/1 (1/2-50%) Montreal 0/0 (0/1-0%) Final Score: Montreal 1, Dallas 1 (Edit: updating scoring summary) [Edited on 2004/1/1 by dlbalr]

OK, I'm aware that we can't talk too much hockey here, but I had to mention this site I came across today that creates trade rumors regarding any player in the NHL. http://cxreg.genericorp.net/drambro.html?g...NADIENS&search= Just to warn you, the trades are all unrealistic and are based primarily on salaries. Example, I was able to trade Audette, Juneau and Ryder to Tampa for Lecavalier, Kubina and St. Louis, see my point? Have fun with this, until you get bored within the first 10 minutes, guaranteed

For once, I'm actually going to add my 2 cents to this thread... First of all, Bouillon-yes, he did have a rough game, but who hasn't this season? I agree he is being over-used, and is best suited as a #6 or #7 d-man, however there are also some nights where he is one of our best d-men out there as well. I know it's frustrating to lose like we did, but it happens, it's over, time to move on. Second, Komisarek. He played just 4:23 last night, all in the 1st period. SRC was speculating before the game that Komi wouldn't play, and was very surprised to learn he was in the lineup. They also announced that Karl Dykhuis is with the team right now, so read into this as much as you want to. For those who watched the SRC postgame, wasn't that a nice feel-good story involving the 94-year old Theodore fan attending her first NHL game? For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, this woman in a wheelchair went to her 1st NHL game earlier this season vs Florida. Before the game, she recieved a Theodore #60 jersey and it appeared to me that she had a special seat as well. The best part was after the game, when Theodore went and visited her, signed her jersey and just made her night in general. (There was someone else in the room with Theo, but I can't figure out who...) There were plenty of positives last night, the one bad thing being the score. The powerplay continued to produce, going 1/2, putting us over 17%, and into the top-10 in the NHL in this area. The PK was decent, going 4/5 against one of the top PP teams in the NHL as well; we've also allowed just 1 PPG in our last 17 times shorthanded. I was impressed with Gratton, he was aggressive on the PK, and also had a shift or 2 on the PP in 8:51 of icetime. Overall, we played a pretty good game, the score could've gone either way, unfortunately it went the Leafs' way, however if we continue to play like we are at the moment, we should be able to take care of Pittsburgh tomorrow and Washington on Tuesday, which will make some forget about this game anyways.:ghg:

For those who don't know, Team Canada beat the OUA all-stars 2-0 last night, and a whopping 9-1 earlier this evening. Currently, there are 28 players left in camp, with the final cuts being made tomorrow morning. The 'game': Predict the cuts. The final roster will consist of 22 players: 2 goalies, 7 defencemen and 13 forwards. So, 6 must be cut. The following are the remaining players on the roster: Goaltenders Drouin-Deslauriers, Jeff R 6'4 190 05/15/84 St-Athanase, QC Chicoutimi (LHJMQ) EDM 2002 Fleury, Marc-Andre L 6'1 172 11/28/84 Sorel, QC Pittsburgh (NHL) PIT 2003 Harding, Josh R 6'1 183 06/18/84 Regina, SK Regina (WHL) MIN 2002 Ward, Cam L 6'1 188 02/29/84 Sherwood Park, AB Red Deer (WHL) CAR 2002 Defence Belle, Shawn L 6'1 221 01/03/85 Edmonton, AB Tri-City (WHL) STL 2003 Coburn, Braydon L 6'5 217 02/27/85 Shaunavon, SK Portland (WHL) ATL 2003 Egener, Mike L 6'4 201 09/26/84 Calgary, AB Calgary (WHL) TAM 2003 Gorges, Josh L 6'1 188 08/14/84 Kelowna, BC Kelowna (WHL) SAN 2002 Klein, Kevin R 6'1 197 12/13/84 Kitchener, ON Guelph (OHL) NAS 2003 Meech, Derek L 5'11 194 04/21/84 Winnipeg, MB Red Deer (WHL) DET 2002 Phaneuf, Dion L 6'2 205 04/10/85 Edmonton, AB Red Deer (WHL) CGY 2003 Seabrook, Brent R 6'2 225 04/20/85 Tsawwassen, BC Lethbridge (WHL) CHI 2003 White, Ian R 5'10 189 06/04/84 Steinbach, MB Swift Current (WHL) TOR 2002 Forwards Brent, Tim R 6'00 186 03/10/84 Cambridge, ON St. Mike's (OHL) ANA 2002 Brodziak, Kyle R 6'01 191 05/25/84 Vegreville, AB Moose Jaw (WHL) EDM 2003 Burns, Brent R 6'04 200 03/09/85 Ajax, ON Minnesota (NHL) MIN 2003 Carter, Jeff R 6'3 202 01/01/85 London, ON Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) PHI 2003 Colliton, Jeremy R 6'1 194 01/13/85 Blackie, AB Prince Albert (WHL) NYI 2003 Crosby, Sidney L 5'9 185 08/07/87 Cole Harbour, NS Rimouski (LHJMQ) Eligible 2005 Dawes, Nigel L 5'8 176 02/09/85 Winnipeg, MB Kootenay (WHL) NYR 2003 Dixon, Stephen L 5'11 188 09/07/85 Halifax, NS Cape Breton (LHJMQ) PIT 2003 Getzlaf, Ryan R 6'3 206 05/10/85 Regina, SK Calgary (WHL) ANA 2003 Paillé, Daniel L 6'0 203 04/04/84 Welland, ON Guelph (OHL) BUF 2002 Perry, Corey R 6'2 195 05/16/85 Peterborough, ON London (OHL) ANA 2003 Richards, Mike L 5'11 195 02/11/85 Kenora, ON Kitchener (OHL) PHI 2003 Stewart, Anthony R 6'1 230 01/05/85 Scarborough, ON Kingston (OHL) FLA 2003 Talbot, Maxime L 5'10 181 02/11/84 St-Bruno, QC Gatineau (LHJMQ) PIT 2002 Tambellini, Jeff L 5'10 190 04/13/84 Port Moody, BC U Michigan (CCHA) LOS 2003 (I apologize for the poor quality of the roster, I just don't feel like re-typing everything you see above.) For a better looking roster, click here. As it stands, 2 goalies, 2 defencemen and 2 forwards are to be cut. Time to pick who goes home! My picks to be cut are the following: GOALIE: Josh Harding, Cam Ward DEFENCE: Shawn Belle, Josh Gorges FORWARD: Tim Brent, Maxime Talbot Let's see if anyone can get all 6 picks right!

Here are the final standings for the regular season: Rank Team Name W-L-T Win % PTS Streak 1 dlbalrs dolphins 11-3-0 .786 1252.00 W-1 2 Milton Greeners 10-4-0 .714 1289.00 W-2 3 Halton Invictas 9-5-0 .643 1209.00 W-5 4 dahabs Fuzzy Farm 9-5-0 .643 1152.00 W-2 5 Habs77s Excellers 7-6-1 .536 1025.00 L-1 6 Chuko Packers 7-7-0 .500 1161.00 W-1 7 Addys FB Heros 7-7-0 .500 1155.00 L-4 8 Zowpebs Nun Factory 6-7-1 .464 1060.00 W-4 9 Huzers Boozers 6-8-0 .429 1112.00 L-2 10 Pucks Prowlers 4-9-1 .321 833.00 L-1 11 Ontario Terror 4-10-0 .286 880.00 L-7 12 TC Bears 2-11-1 .179 966.00 L-2 The top-8 teams are in the postseason, the top-4 in the championship side, and 5-8 in the consolation side. The following are the playoff matchups to be played this and next week: Championship Bracket: Game 1: (Week 15) (1) dlbalrs dolphins versus (4) dahabs Fuzzy Farm Game 2: (Week 15) (2) Milton Greeners versus (3) Halton Invictas Game 5: (Week 16) 1st place game Winner of game 1 versus winner of game 2. Game 6: (Week 16) 3rd place game Loser of game 1 versus loser of game 2. Consolation Bracket Game 3: (Week 15) (5) Habs77 Excellers versus (8) Zowpebs Nun Factory Game 4: (Week 15) (6) Chuko Packers versus (7) Addys FB Heros Game 7: (Week 16) 5th place game Winner of game 3 versus winner of game 4. Game 8: (Week 16) 7th place game Loser of game 3 versus loser of game 4. Best of luck to all in the postseason!

First of all, let me just say that the better team DID win, the fact is, we were outplayed for most of the game tonight. Aside from the 2nd quarter 'rally', our offence was anemic, and our D wasn't much better either. Calvillo was unbelievable in the 2nd half, too bad it was for being so BAD! I don't have the official stats to see how many completions he actually had in the 2nd half, but I know he had just 2 first downs, one at the beginning, and one to Cahoon for 69 yards with 1 second left. Whitaker had a first down run in between, that was all the offence we managed to put up in the second half. I know that getting a TD with 1 sec left would've been useless, but I think we should've went for it anyways, to make the game look more respectable, and also to try to erase the thought that the team is a bunch of quitters, which some of them were tonight. I don't really like the fact that we benched 2 vets on D for 2 rookies in a game like this one. The last time those 2 played, the Als lost big time (45-13) in T.O. and were BRUTAL then (I saw the game first-hand, I should know ). Sometimes you win on gambles, others you lose. They weren't the only reason we lost tonight, but they certainly didn't help the cause either, getting burned by Tucker on several occasions for TD's, plus the offside as mentionned before, nullifying a fumble recovery that would have eliminated the TD for the Esks in the second half. In the format of Habs77's Hab game reviews, here is the Als' hero(es) and zero(es) for tonight's gamr: Heroes: The defensive line, 5 sacks on Ray tonight, as well as forcing him to hurry on other occasions. Also, props to Cahoon, a nice 'circus' catch to lead to a Whitaker throwing TD, as well as a TD himself. He also led the team in receiving yards, and didn't give up on that last play in the 4th, turning it into a 'useless' 69 yard gain. Zeroes: First off, Calvillo-had 1 good quarter, the 2nd. He was invisible everywhere else. If it weren't for that 69 yard catch, he wouldn't have had 100 yards passing minus the 2nd of course. When you have no running game to speak of, you ned the QB to step up, didn't happen tonight. Secondly, Stokes. Aside from one nice missed FG return, he was a hindrance rather than a help. Cost us 10 points in the 2nd alone, which likely would have made the difference in the game. He didn't have any major returns, which also would have swung the momentum our way. Finally, the defence as a whole, minus the d-line. Stupid penalties cost us the whole game, and the mistakes by the rookie CB's cost us 2 TD's due to lack of coverage. In the end, we had a good run this season, considering we lost Pringle and Phillips, giving us virtually no running game at all, which led to the emergence of Copeland as a major receiver. Most of the guys should be back for next season (except for Woodcock, expect him to join OTT), which means at this time in 2004, we could be celebrating a Grey Cup victory!

Do you have a source from somewhere that said we signed Davis? I checked a few spots, and couldn't find anything that said we signed him. It's a decent signing nonetheless, he gives us a decent option if Lapointe/Whitaker get injured/falter. The one thing I observed when I went to the game vs Toronto last month, is that we have NO running game at all. (Case in point, with Calvillo out and Bolden struggling, we continue to throw the ball. 2nd and less than 1, we pass the ball instead on handing off to Heppell or Lapointe (or even Whitaker) and get picked off.) It seems to be well known that Calvillo has a 10% LESS completion rate in the postseason, so we need to establish a running game vs the Argos. Bringing Davis in can only help... [Edited on 2003/11/4 by dlbalr]

Here are the final results for the SKSBF1 racing pool: 1) westside blazers 347 2) Fast Fuzzy Farm 300 3) dlbalr’s dangerous drivers 284 4) SK BANANAS 282 5) Pucks Prowlers 209 5) Huzers Tifosi 209 7) Habs77 Excellers 177 8) Gurus fu%king racers 130 9) Habby 128 A special congratulations to Westside for winning the pool, and a special congrats to members of the top-4 (Westside, dahabs, sakiqc and myself), for being the only members of the pool to actually have a full active roster throughout the entire season. A note to all members, if you wish to see how you did worldwide, login to the F1 league, and click on Fantasy Grand Prix Home or here: http://uk.f1.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1 From there, you can see your standing out of 247194 participants worldwide, and the percentile you're ranked in. For me, I finished 7092'nd overall, in the 97th percentile.

The Habs final preseason stats can be seen when habsworld.net opens up tomorrow night (roughly between 7-9 PM EST). I have spent the last hour and a half gathering the stats and have just completed posting them.

Besides Audette and Brisebois, there was one player that I thought would have been exposed, Gordie Dwyer. The reality is, he likely would have cleared waivers without a problem, and if he didn't, we could have filled his void with another player relatively easily. We then could have protected a player like Beauchemin or Gratton.

There's a few players that I think could benefit this club. Here they are in no particular order: Todd Harvey (SJ) Sheldon Keefe (TB) Ivan Novoseltsev (FLA) Bill Muckalt (MIN) (if he can return to last year's form) Also, there are a few youngsters that have some upside, such as: Shane Willis (TB) Miroslav Zalesak (SJ) Jiri Bicek (NJ) Will the Habs pick up anyone? I highly doubt it, but there will be some players picked up for sure. Friday may be an interesting day...

Actually, he may not have made the team, as 8 defencemen remain: Markov, Rivet, Brisebois, Souray, Quintal, Bouillon, Komisarek, and Hainsey. 26 players remain, so 3 cuts still have to be made. 2 will likely be Higgins and Plekanic, the other will be a defenceman, my guess is Hainsey.

Here is the scoring summary from the game thus far: 1) MIN Dowd (Schultz, Stevenson) :54 (1st) 2) MIN Stevenson (Kuba) PP 9:33 (1st) 3) MON Markov (Hossa) PP 10:31 (1st) Now, here are the lines: Hossa-Ribeiro-Audette Bulis-Plekanic-Perezhogin Sundstrom-Juneau-Dackell Carpentier-Higgins-Ferland Souray-Hainsey Markov-Rivet Beauchemin-Traverse Theodore Damphousse