Mark Napier

Well I was just about to grab a cup of Earl Grey and I'm afraid I can't do with out it! Looking for a close game tonight. Better effort by the Habs. Think it will go overtime. Dont want to jinx the Habs by predicting a win.

Talk was in the preseason when Hainsey and Streit were up with the Habs that Streit didn't have to clear waivers to be sent down.

Don't want to lose zhog yet! The skys the limit with this kid. I'd hate to trade him and 3 yrs down the road he's potting 40 goals. No thanks, not for jokininen.

Do they miss Kovalev? I think their record since he's been out speaks volumes on that subject........

I never said Hainsey would be a star but I always believed he had more upside than Streit and think he still will be a pretty good dman. Streit I'm afraid looks like a babe lost in the woods in this league and I don't see him getting any better. This is Gainey's worst mistake so far as GM. Letting go Hossa was necessary to keep our current roster. At the time it was a good move but who would of predicted that Dagenais would be this useless. Still it's not as bad as losing Hainsey because Hossa is not that great. Does anyone really miss this guy? He started great for the Rags but as I predicted he disappeared since then. Hainsey is still young and as someone mentioned, dmen take longer to develop. We could really use him right now. Under these circumstances he really could had a chance to developed an NHL game. Oh well....

I was screaming for Gainey to keep Hainsey over Streit because if for nothing else they could of recalled Streit without him having to clear waivers and I saw no real advantage in terms of level of play for Streit. When I was saying this in the preseason, most here disagreed with me, siding with Gainey. I guess you need a GM title to get any respect around here, lol.

Hey Napier, sounds like you've been sipping some of that champagne Shortcat has been drinking of late. I take your comments for what they worth... Your typing did seem a little slurred. Habs win this one despite all of the adversity. :hlogo: Hey mats, want to rethink that? I was actually giving them more credit than they deserved. Guess you got egg on your face huh.........

I pretty much agree with your assessment of the team but I would keep Bulis because he does so much more than just miss scoring chances. He is pretty much the only forward we have besides Begin that throws body checks. He is probably the fastest guy on the team which comes in handy on penalty kills. Even if he's not scoring, he causes the other team to back up because they have to respect his speed. He's great along the boards at getting loose pucks. In short Bulis, Bonk and Sundstrom are pretty much the same type players but Bulis is the best of them and every team needs a strong 2 way player on their 3rd line and Bulis fits that bill better than the other 2. His job is not to score but to provide solid 2 way play and he does a good job of it. The scoring chances he generates are just a bonus and sooner or later he will start capitalizing on them. Getting rid of these guys would leave lines like this: Kovalev Koivu Zednik Perezhogin ?????? Ryder Higgins Bulis Begin ?????? Plekanec ?????? That's a pretty good base to start from. Fill in the blanks with upgrades on what we have and you have a pretty solid team from top to bottom. It's not exactly easy to find good 2nd line centers but maybe Bob can find one. Easier said than done.

Though the defence is not exactly top shelf, I think generating offence is a more pressing need at the moment. We need a solid 2nd line winger to put with Ribeiro and Ryder. The reason the Habs are losing all these games is because they can't score their way out of a paper bag. The new NHL is passing the Habs by because they just can't put the puck in the net.

Well Roo-AH! Roo-AH! in my book 60 pts is still 60 points. 2 years doesn't change the game that much. Ryder and Ribeiro have always been the type of players that are pretty much invisible but get their share of points. That's their game. They are not like a Kovalev and Koivu that can control the ryhthm of the game with their play and puck control. I think we're getting exactly what is to be expected from these 3 guys which is points and not much else in terms of dominating, defensive play. To option I do agree that the Habs were the better team in the last 2 periods but I'm saying the way they came out in the first they were lucky the leafs didn't run up the score to 4 or 5 nothing. That's what I meant by they didn't deserve the win. Late game heroics are useless if you're buried in the first.

If you're smelling that, you should open a window LOL......I think maybe what you smell is that green stuff you've been smoking.

I don't know where you guys are getting the idea that Ryder, Ribeiro and Zednik are not performing up to their usual levels. Ribeiro is on pace for 61 points, just about what he had in '04. Ryder is on pace for 34 goals which sounds pretty good to me. Finally Zednik has 7 goals in 16 games which is pretty close to a 40 goal pace if he didn't miss some games. Seems like you guys got a little taste of winning and suddenly everyone is suppose to score 50 goals and break 100 pts. These guys are doing just what is expected if you go by their past numbers. They're on pace to have the same type of seasons they had in '04. It's amazing how close they are to their '04 totals actually. Problem is these guys aren't good enough to carry the team and why Kovy better get well real quick (and Theo better start playing like an all-star).

Things are very different in the NHL from 03-04! The east has become the much stronger conference than the west since then. I don't think the 03-04 Habs would of made the playoffs playing in this season. Look at all the good players that have come over to the east since then and how teams have generally improved in the east. It's a much tougher eastern conference and the Habs have to step up to keep pace. That's why the Habs got Kovalev, so they could keep up with the arms race in the east.

Roo-AH! Roo-AH! you must have a very selective memory because what I remember from the Habs before Kovalev (and I don't mean the first regular season while he was still adapting) was a team that was constantly struggling to stay above .500 and was always picked to miss the playoffs. I don't remember Ribeiro being this dominant player you were talking about. Sure he has been a little less visible but it's pretty much the same Ribieiro of 2 seasons ago. It's obvious that the spark plug for this team is Kovalev and all the proof you need for this is the fact that the Habs have a losing record without him. At least it should be obvious.... By the way Roo-AH! Roo-AH!, I never had good vibes about this team before Kovalev. Without him, Montreal's offence is as anemic as can be.

Yeah I got a very bad feeling about this one. Maybe Julien shouldn't start Theodore to save him the embarassment of being bombarded by the Sens. Theo needs to keep his confidence up right now and a huge thrashing is not going to help him or the team. As you can tell I'm conceeding the win to Ottawa. Is there a way the team can just decline the game so they can rest up for the next one? lol

I'm talking about the last game where the Habs were thoroughly outplayed by the leafs. We got some late goals to make it a game but we clearly didn't deserve the win. Game should of been over in the first period but the leafs didn't capitalize on a lot of their chances.

Just to add, there's no way we deserved to win against Toronto last game. Don't know which game you were watching. As for Kovalev, he will only be back in 3 weeks if we're lucky. He could be out 2 months and it's been known for injuries to take much longer to heal than expected. You've seen the results of his absence so far and to say we'll make the playoffs without him is very wishfull thinking. Do you remember what this team was like before they aquired Kovalev?? Not a pretty picture. Remember, this man is greatly responsible for the playoff win against Boston and our great, unexpected start this year. To say this team will be alright without him is selling the man a little short, don't you think??

I hope the Habs aren't embarassed 8-0. Habs defence is a bit better than that but I think they could easily get 5 against the Habs and our offence is non-existent right now. Hoping for a close, low scoring game because thats the only way Habs have a shot at winning but I'm predicting Habs lose 5 -2 to the best team in hockey.

There's not much of a chance of the Habs winning 7 out of the next 10. The way things are going 4 out of 10 would be a good result.

Yeah you're a real optimist. I can see us missing the playoffs real easy if: 1) Kovalev's injury fails to heal well and he is out for a long time. 2) Theo doesn't start playing at the Vezina trophy level that he did before. This team has really no one that can carry it other than these 2 guys. To be honest the rest of the team, while having some good players like Koivu, Zednik, Ryder, and Markov, doesnt have real superstars that can make the difference in game situations. In short the team lives and dies with Kovalev and Theo. Kovy is out for god knows how long and Theo is a mystery as to whether he shows up and plays well or plays like crap. Very iffy right now for this team and the playoff picture. I predict i 2 weeks from now the Habs will be hovering around 8th in the East. Stay tuned........

I'd rather have Ryder but I'd take Luongo over Theo. By the way, Kostsitsyn hasn't shown any signs of being anything other than the next Marcel Hossa, and we know how that turned out. Anyone still miss Hossa??

...and the teams below them are Buffalo, Tampa, and Philadelphia who are all within a couple of points of the Habs. You got to think at least Tampa and Philli are going to be contending for top spots in the East. By the time Kovalev comes back we could be fighting to make the playoffs. Not so sure a playoff spot is as likely as it it once seemed. I'm afraid without Kovalev and Theo this team is rather ordinary and it's showing now. Theo has been getting better but he needs to stand on his head for this team to not lose serious ground with Kovy out.

[Edited on 2005/11/29 by Mark Napier]

That's what happens when you only have 5 defencemen. I don't think Streit had even a shift. I don't see the point of dressing a dman and not even play him. Seems like they're just trying to get him the games that are required in his contract so they can send him packing. He's just useless baggage right now. Guess the Streit experiment didn't work. Look for Hainsey to be on this team by march if no trades are worked out.

It's too early in the season to measure how good or bad any team is. Carolina will drop way down in the standings before it's all over. It's normal for teams to start seasons not showing their true potential. Many teams will look way different in the standings before season's end. Teams like Carolina, Nashville, Rangers, and Montreal will all drop and teams like Tampa and Boston will rise in the standings. This happens EVERY season but people get all worked up like the first 15 games are the whole season. I think a lot of habs fans fall into this category. Remember people the season is 82 games not 15 :nono:.