Mark Napier

Theo should personally thank each habs tonight because they saved his ass. He looked absolutely terrible tonight. He needs to wake up.

Joe is a aeronautical engineering major and he is partners with the owner of a company in Quebec. http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey...tappvar=page(1)

Looking at it statistically, Ribs hasn't been doing to bad. He is 4rth on the team with 5 points in 7 games and has been steadily improving. His main problem was Dagenais who was dragging him down instead of inspiring him to play better. Speaking of Dags, I can't see the 4rth line getting any sort of ice time whatsoever. Dandy is going to be on that line but he is also going to be playing defence so that cuts down his ice time. Higgins will be used a lot on the penalty kill and I say they'll give Dags a couple of chances on the powerplay. Other than that the 4rth line as a unit is going to be pretty scarce. Lots of ice time for the top 3 lines tonight.

Joe has a lot on his plate. Besides having a degree in astro physics or some such other genious geek science, last I heard he was the president or owner of some company. Sorry for the sketchy details but you get the idea that he is a busy guy.

Isn't the tie breaker between teams with the same points the number of wins? Meaning the team with more wins is placed above the team with less. Then the other tie breakers are +/- and wins in head to head meetings in that order??

Hainsey for Niniima? I would jump on that in a Ney York minute! I'm pretty sure Gainey would too but Milbury wouldn't be that dumb. Why would he trade an NHL caliber defenceman for a career AHLer who will probably never make the jump to the NHL. After all he did go through waivers with no interest from anyone. Nice dream but won't happen...

Ribeiro on the 4rth line??? What's the point? He can't check, skate or play defense so he would be totally useless there. You can't just demote a player who's main job is to score to the 4rth line to fulfill the role of a checker. He would look much worse than he does now. Same thing goes for Dagenais. It's either the 2nd line or the highway for these guys.

The main problem with Ribeiro is his defensive play. He is a real liability when he is called on to back check in the defensive zone. If he worked on that part of his game he could remain as a "serviceable 2nd line C" as you say. If Ribeiro can't improve in this area then Plekanec can step in as a good 2 way center. I would rather see Ribeiro shape up because I really do enjoy his creative play and I feel with a little work he can be effective on the second line. I thnk part of the problem was having Dags around. That is just too many soft players on one line. Right now I'm not too impressed with Bonk. Ideally, I would like to see Ribeiro improve his weak areas (skaitng as well) and see him remain on the second line and have Plekanec center the third line. I'm not sold on Bonk at all so far.

I don't agree with you kaos but it's not the first time. Packaged, these guys have more value than either one separately. What happened in '03 can't happen again and there will be no trade?? Why not? You can read the future? OK who's going to win the cup? Seriously, It's just an idea to squeeze the ultimate value out of these 2 guys based on their past history together. That's how you evaluate players, by what they have done in the past. When Zednik comes back do you sit out Perzhogin or Dagenais? Dags obviously. And when Plekanec shows that he is more effective as a second line center than Ribeiro where do you put Ribeiro? On the fourth line as our enforcer. Ribeiro can play nowhere other than the second line to have any type of effectiveness and once Plekanec shows he is better there, Ribeiro is out of luck. So now you have 2 guys not in the line up that are just sitting there gathering dust. Is thier trade value increasing?? NO. Trade them now while their last season is still in recent memory and entice other gms by offering them as a package. I think it could work well for us. If we didn't have players waiting in the wings to fill these spots I wouldn't even suggest this. I would let the 2 of them stay on the second line and see if they could work it out. But it's of a trade about moving them out of the way as much as trying to get something in return. Kind of like the Hossa deal. Only so many spots available and frankly they're just dead weight compared to what we have to replace them. :hlogo:

I don’t know how you can say that a guy that led the team in points in ’03 and another guy that was on pace for 30 goals have no trade value. Granted with the new rules they may have a difficult time reproducing those results but to say no trade value is quite an exaggeration. And packaged, these players could make an attractive duo for some team to consider. I’m just glad this team has the luxury of even considering trading these guys. Shows what an improved team we have.

I don't think you can rely on the youth for a whole season. Now they play great, but they get settbacks, and you dont know how the youth will cope with that. And i don't like the 4th line this way. Every game you play with a Goon now. They are just there when you need them, and expect it's gonna be rough! [Edited on 2005/10/18 by Dutch_Habs_Fan] Well Dutch the youth is here to stay and in my opinion they are deserve more ice time. They’ve already taken a major role on the team as it its. Plekanec and Higgins aren’t exactly green rookies. Don’t forget they have toiled in the AHL for a few years now and they both look like they’ve been in this league for years. The only difference in the forwards between the current line up and the one I suggested is moving Plekanec and Perezhogin to the 2nd line. My line up doesn’t add any new players to the forward lines and so far they have been doing pretty well with these young players and I don’t see it changing. I have more faith in Plekanec than in Ribeiro or Dagenais when it comes to making mistakes or being defensively responsible. Plekanec is a +4 while Dags is -3 and Ribeiro is -2. Do you really think Dags and Ribeiro are more reliable than Plekanec, Perezhogin and Higgins? As for the fourth line that you don’t like, I think it is a waste to have Plekanec on this line. Having a full time enforcer is important I think because the fourth line is the energy line. Don’t forget Julien was toying with the idea of keeping both Vandermeer and Ivanans before the season started. He knows the importance of this role. This line should be filled with role players like Begin who leads by example and hard work and an enforcer type who can drop a big hit on someone or inspire the team with a fight. If there are nights when Julien feels that an enforcer is not needed in the line up, Dandenault can step into the fourth line and another of our extra dmen gets a shot at playing a game. As I suggested we might need un upgrade at the enforcer position. If we had someone of the caliber of Chris Simon on this line it would be great because we wouldn’t be sacrificing skill for the sake of having an enforcer in the line up. Garth Murray could possibly fit in here because as I witnessed in a Bulldogs game he can fight and his hockey skills aren’t too bad. Higgins will eventually grow out of this line to become a 3rd or 2nd line player. Other than moving Plekanec to the 2nd line this line stays the same as well. So as you see the youth that we would have to rely on are actually already in the line up and doing a good job. It’s moving them to different lines to replace players that are under achieving and may be left behind in this new era of hockey because of their lack of speed and defensive awareness. :hlogo:

I think if we packaged Ribeiro and Dags we could get a pretty good defenseman. If this duo has a chance together they can put up some good numbers as witnessed in ’03 and in juniors when they were together. This can be a selling point to trade them together. Now I don’t really like the idea of trading Ribeiro but It is a good idea on a few fronts: 1) Habs avoid the backlash from Ribeiro of sitting Dags. He will probably not play as well, at least for a while, if Dags is demoted or just traded by himself. He might even slip into his ’02 form without his friend around. A lot of the success he had in ’03 can be credited to Dag’s arrival. It wasn’t a coincidence that he had his best season when Dags became a habs. 2) It opens roster spots on the second line for Plekanec and Perezhogin. Lines would look like this: Kovalev Koivu Zednik Perezhogin Plekanec Ryder Bulis Bonk Sundstrom Higgins Begin Vandermeer/Ivanans Second line becomes faster and more defensively aware. Watching Dags and Ribeiro try to keep pace with the play and back check has been almost painful to watch so far this season. When Zednik comes back I can’t see him going anywhere other than back on the first line. The enforcer would have a legitimate, full time spot in the line up. An enforcer upgrade could be made but it can probably be handled by what we have in the system. 3) It would give us a good power play quarterback which seems to be lacking or at least not too abundant on our defensive core. That’s if Gainey decides to go that route. Perhaps he feels that a more defensive defenseman is needed. Either way a dman is needed because after Markov it thins out pretty quick. Is Souray the #2 dman? Probably but he is so inconsistent that it’s hard to rely on him every night. A top 3 dman would make some difference especially on the power play in my opinion. I don’t relish the thought of trading Ribeiro because I think he may still blossom with the new rules because despite his lack of speed and defensive awareness, he has incredible vision and smarts concerning the offensive side of his game. It would address a lot of issues if he was traded along with Dags to a team with a good dman to spare. Gainey could sell the fact that they play well together and know each other well from playing so much together. A team that is struggling offensively could take a chance with the duo and the Habs end up with a missing piece of the puzzle while letting our promising new players get more ice time. :hlogo:

I think Gainey is probably looking for a guy who can fill the fighters role but is also able to play some hockey like a Chris Simon or Bob Probert. Vandermeer or Ivanans may make acceptable goons but their hockey skills are a bit questionable. Obviously if Murray became a Probert or Simon type player, Gainey will have hit the jackpot having a guy that will protect the skilled players but isn't a liability on the ice even adding some goals. Here's hopin' !:hlogo:

Howie the game was on ch14 on cogeco cable. It's a community cable channel. Don't know if it would be anywhere other than Hamilton. To answer the other question, he looked pretty uninterested out there. Seems like he didn't want to get involved in the play too much. A few flashes that something good might happen but generally lack luster. He played with Corey Locke which made him look a bit better. Locke was easily the Bulldogs best player. The team generally didn't look good probably because of the missing called up to the Habs. They only managed to muster 1 goal.

Yeah he's not too bad a player and in the fight he wailed on the guy and after a couple of punches back, Murray just leaned off and decked the guy. I'm watching the home opener for the Bulldogs on a local channel as I live in Hamilton. The team is not looking good. You can really see that they miss the guys that were called up to Montreal. Not the same team at all. Michaud has made a few good saves and Vandermeer almost setup a sure goal but it the pass was delected away from the shooter. Corey Locke has been the best player for Hamilton. Game almost over, looks like Bulldogs are going to lose 3-1. They just pulled their goalie.

Seems the Montreal crowd likes to have a whipping boy at all times. Look what happened to Brisebois.

Just seen him fight some guy from Grand Rapids and he kicked ass! Looks promising as a fighter.

Claude Lemieux had most of his playoff heroics out of a Habs uniform so I don't think he qualifies. Wouldn't know if it would be enough to retire the # even if he wasn't traded.

Well if I remember correctly back in the 80's crease crashing was very common. Glen Anderson scored half his goals for the Oilers by going straight for the net and knocking the goalie, the puck and himself into the net. I guess the side effect of more open, free wheeling hockey is that these guys aren't being slowed down on their way to the net and they will plow into the goalie more often. Refs need to crack down on it or goalie injuries are going to pile up faster than autumn leaves.

Refs had a of bit of a double standard with the crease crashing with the Habs coming up on the short end. Hope they get a good talking to from the league. Goalies need more protection now that defenders can't cross check some guy out of the crease. Even though Lindros is generally hated by Montreal fans, you got to love the irony of him knocking Clarkey out of the top 100 all time scorers. I can see the tooth less wonder sulking when Lindros finally pots the goal that does it.

Hey I loved Mats. He was one of my all time favourites. As to Gainey I would consider him one of the all time greats. Doesn't the best defensive forward of all time deserve to have his number retired as much as the best offensive player of all time?? Surely his job was not as glamourous as the offensive types but he was responsible for more wins than a lot of 40 or 50 goal scorers. Being a defensive specialist is a dirty job that is not appreciated by your typical fan. Just look at all the people that would have Sunstrom traded for a bag full of broken sticks. I guess Gainey suffers the fate of all defensive specialists in that he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. But in my eyes, preventing a goal is just important as scoring one although it's not as exciting.

Actually I suggested the same thing earlier when people were suggesting trading Dags (you stealing my ideas??? just kidding ) His value is not much now but if he can get some games, score some power play goals, his value will go up. Before the season started, talks of trading Dags made me kind of mad because why trade a guy that was on pace for 30 goals last season? I have been a bit let down by him so far this season because he has looked awful out there. His lack of speed is really showing so keeping him long term does not sound like a good option. He would be taking a space from one of Higgins, Plekanic or Perezhogin and that is not acceptable in my opinion.

Well I think that was obvious when I said he had a great shot.....not a great pass :eyes:. That makes no sense. If they're setting up Dags they're still getting points aren't they?? Besides I wouldn't exactly call Rucinsky a sniper any more......

Ryder and Theo for Luongo a steal?? Hmmm...think you need to think that one over.

Like I said they're thinking could be be based around the thought that Jagr and Rucinsky would carry the most of the play and Dags could be used as a set up man with his good shot. I've seen lines built aroung this strategy. I question the deal however as it doesn't sound all that likely. Just trying to reason why the Rags might want him.