Jump to content

Mont Royale

Member
  • Posts

    1437
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Mont Royale

  1. Gainey's press conference

    But it's also plain Gainey believes his group no longer has any excuses to underperform.

    "We've got a number of players who have been a little below their potential this year for different reasons, this is their time to prove me right … and for the coaches to take the players that they have and squeeze as much or more out of this team than we've seen to this point," he said.

    It was an unusual shot across the coaching staff's bow from Gainey, who has a close relationship with head coach Guy Carbonneau and his assistants.

    ---------------------

    That, to me, was the most interesting comment from Gainey's press conference.

  2. Begin's cap hit was 1.057 mill, Janik is 500,000. That being said, Janik will probably go straight to Hamilton and never count against our cap.

    I'll remember not to count on the Fan 590 for cap information again! But good point on Janik to Hamilton... I suppose the roster spot will be filled by a returning injured guy.

  3. I'm surprised nobody is mentioning the fact that this may not only be a salary dump but making room for another trade. What does janik make compared to Steve. Bob might be trying to create space for a bigger trade in the next few days.

    On the radio, they said that Janik and Begin make pretty close to the same amount. This appears to be a courtesy move by Gainey to send Begin where he'll see some ice time.

  4. PS does every post of yours have to contain a negative comment about Koivu? I think he's earned more respect than that

    It's strange, but it can't be surprising. Sometimes people develop an irrational hate for a player, and Koivu seems to be a lightning rod for this because of the 'C'. Hell, someone recently criticized Koivu for going to the front of the net! :wacko:

  5. Its ironic that Kovalev would have been mighty usefull tonight in the shootout......Kinda losing so faith in Bob there

    Kovalev looks like he should be a great shootout player, but his career record is nothing special. Koivu would have been a better choice for the #2 shot, but that's hindsight.

  6. Wrong again nutty.....

    Can't blame Kovalev. Guy didn't play. Gainey made a decision and it backfired. Nothing is going right. Even decisions off the ice and hurting them on the ice.

    Thanks for you wonderfull insight though. Appreciated as always.

    The teams plays the best game in virtually a month, and only "lose" in the coin-flip known as the shootout, and Gainey's decision backfired? I think BCHabnut is right - you mustn't have watched the game.

  7. When Gainey said he wanted to "let the news be out" about Kovalev not being with the team, then followed that up by asking "where do we go from here" one gets the feeling that he may be letting GM's around the NHL know that Kovy is sitting out, not getting injured, and is inviting offers. And for those of you who think every GM would have known this anyhow, there have been plenty of instances where other GM's have been quoted as saying they didn't know such and such about a certain player at a given time. These guys have a lot going on - they can't always see every little happening. Gainey stating it and turning it into "something" rather than just telling Kovy to stay home while indicating to the press and fans he had a minor injury is perhaps a very subtle way of announcing the availability of the big winger.

    Maybe I'm just naive in taking Bob at face value, but I really doubt this is a prelude to a trade. There's better ways of sending other GMs a message that Kovalev is available - I'm thinking e-mail or telephone! I think whatever trade value Kovalev once had is now diminished after Gainey's move, as it means the team is better off without him at this point. Not a good message to send if you're trying to maximize returning asset value.

    I think this is strictly a wake up call to both Kovalev and the rest of the team: passengers will not be tolerated.

  8. The earlier you sign him, the cheaper it will be and you don't risk the chance that some other GM makes a ridiculous offer to your player!

    That's the conventional wisdom, but these are unconventional times. It will be interesting to see what the salary cap will be next year, and even more signficantly, what team's budgets will be compared to this year. The salary cap may not fall much, and might even increase a bit, as it'll be based on this year's revenues, whereas teams will be setting their budget based on their anticipated revenue, so fewer teams may be willing to spend to the cap max.

    That's not to say there won't be healthy interest in Komisarek, but the astronomical numbers that we've seen in the past may not materialize.

    If I'm reading his comments right, Gainey is a guy who has absolutely no problem with paying a player a big salary - he's not solely motivated to get someone as cheap as possible. He'll pay a big price if he believes it's fair, and he'll be most comfortable offering a fair price when he has the most information. That's why he likes to negotiate after the season is over, when he's seen the player's performance in its totality. Gainey is unconcerned about impending free agency: if a player is happy and wants to stay, there's lots of time to get a deal done if the team wants him. If a player is bent on testing the market, it's likely he made that decision well in advance.

  9. It's just his turn. Wilson has been giving a lot of different players a view from above this season, including more experienced guys like Blake and Stajan (earlier this season). This year is all about changing the culture, showing the team who is boss, instilling accountability... worthwhile preoccupations while awaiting Burke to ship everyone out.

    I wonder who will get benched after the Buffalo disaster... so many choices.

  10. Markov was a 6th round draft pick if I'm not mistaken. If you can take 6th round pick and turn it into Lecavalier, you do it, end of story.

    I wouldn't trade either Markov or Komisarek, but I wanted to address this particular argument. I've heard variations of this before, but there is no logic to it. In Markov, we're talking about a true #1 defenceman who is excellent at both ends of the ice - a rare commodity. He's 30 years old and in his 8th NHL season. The fact that he was a 6th round pick became irrelevant in determining his value a long time ago.

  11. Not a chance....Achilles injuries are very severe. He won't even be able to walk normally by the time the finals are wrapped up, let alone play hockey at the start of the playoffs.

    According to this, our friend Justin Williams may be an example of a 'best-case scenario':

    Link

    Team sources expressed fears on Sunday that Lang may not be back this season, although the Carolina Hurricanes' Justin Williams suffered a similar injury in mid-September and was back on the ice in early December.

    Were Lang to make a similar recovery, he could return to action in the second round of the playoffs.

    Assuming his team makes it that far.

  12. Maybe, but the team's play isn't. It's absurd that a captain coming back from injury totally derails our team. We were doing well, Koivu should only add to our success, not undo all the chemistry. Have you ever seen anything comparable anywhere? I don't like the attitude of the team when they're following Koivu, as they will when he's in the line-up. I'm just getting sick of him. He's been around so long, I want a fresh, new face that brings a new style of play and atmosphere to the team. :)

    It's absurd to think that Koivu's return from injury totally derailed the team. The losing streak began before he came back, albeit it was one game. Looking back, he got hurt in Tampa, but that somehow failed to spark the team to victory in that game, and they lost the next 2 as well. He was in the lineup for a 5 game winning streak in October. Hell, Detroit was bad for a stretch last season.

    Sometimes winning or losing streaks happen, and it's not because of any one player. This is what I mean by overemphasing the captain. There's a long list of guys who haven't played well in this stretch. If there is a business decision made to let Koivu go in the off-season, so be it, but I don't think it will be done because somebody is bored with him.

  13. (Oh, I'm not saying this because I hate Koivu or think he's a bad player. But I don't think he has much more he can add to our team unless he's playing at his absolute best. Were it not for the fac tthat he's been our captain for so long, I'd even be in favour of a motion that transfers the captaincy to Kovalev, Komisarek or even Price. I do think it would help the team and maybe even Koivu but I've already ruled it out.)

    I think the captaincy is given too much emphasis. It's a lot more important to fans and the media than it is to the players. Leadership can come from anyone in the room.

    And to me, Kovalev's play while having a 'C' on his sweater is indistinguishable from those games where he had an 'A'.

  14. Everyone seems to have missed this part. If I read this correctly, this is actually a LECAVALIER rumour - Kaberle is being mentioned as a player Bob would acquire and then flip to the Panthers in a package for #4. Then again, Kaberle on his own has merit too. Sort of a super Josh Gorges.

    Kaberle has a no trade clause. I think he would enthusiastically waive it to go to Montreal, but wouldn't be likely to waive it again to end up in Tampa Bay. We could circle back to the Markov (plus someone else) for Lecavalier rumours, and assume that Kaberle would be Markov's intended replacement.

    Speculation is fun.

  15. Koivu out big number one in. Been needed for 10 years? Nothing new there kids.

    The debate continues. I love the guy, as do we all, which is why it is a hard move to make. Sometimes the best moves and most needed are the hardest to make. I am not saying but am growing tired of saying I am not saying....

    That's easy to say (or not say, in your case), but moving Koivu out won't bring us a big #1. Colin is right - Plekanec has more value around the league (being younger, cheaper and perhaps further presumed upside) and would be the obvious choice as one of the pieces in a deal.

    If, somehow, we can get the big #1 as a UFA, I would still keep Koivu over Plekanec (if necessary; it may be possible to keep them both). Loyalty counts for something in the league, and besides, it would be worth keeping Koivu based on their comparative playoff performances alone.

  16. Personally, I'm surprised nobody signs a long term deal for a remarkably low salary. Think about a guy like Zetterberg signing for 10 years at 2.5 million a year. Doing his obviously improves the team's chances of putting together a great team. Fans will absolutely love him for taking one for the team and will know he's playing for love of the game, not money. Nobody would ever criticize him about being overpaid if he slumps. He and his family are set for life. Everybody wins. Let's face it, at a certain point, the millions of dollars these guys make just get redundant.

    I guess the only drawback would be other players might get pissed at him for lowering the market.

    :lol: Whatever you're on, I want some!

    But seriously, you're right on a number of your points, and a player could definitely live well on $2.5 million for 10 years.... but really, you're surprised nobody does this? $50 million extra to cover the hard feelings for being slammed as overpaid goes a long way. And, the money is part of the measuring stick all players use. They use it to gauge performance and relative worth; it's a source of pride. Some amount of 'home town discount' is tolerated, but if you give it away for much less than market, you're going to see more criticism from players than accolades from fans. Even a lot of fans would think a player isn't very smart for accepting less than he's worth.

    As for the millions just getting redundant, there are all kinds of things to spend money on, and I'm sure most players want as much as they can for that purpose during their lengthy retirement. Even if a player is massively charitably inclined, I doubt that a billionaire team owner is his charity of choice...

×
×
  • Create New...