Habsfan Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Briere was quoted as saying he wanted a chance to win the Cup (so he signed with Philly, last-placed team, but with a 'rep' as a major mover). I think the major reason why Brière chose Phily is because he had lots of friends there(Biron and Gauthier). Also, he looked at the Habs roster and then looked at the Phily roster. With Phily he knew he'd play with Simon Gagné. MOntreal doesn'T have anybody who can compare to that. Easy choice. And lastly, the third reason why Brière chose phily, was pressure. True that Phily is a good hockey market, and that there can be some pressure playing in the City of Brotherly Love, however to compare that to the media pressure cooker that is Montreal, is just ridiculous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 I think the major reason why Brière chose Phily is because he had lots of friends there(Biron and Gauthier). Also, he looked at the Habs roster and then looked at the Phily roster. With Phily he knew he'd play with Simon Gagné. MOntreal doesn'T have anybody who can compare to that. Easy choice. And lastly, the third reason why Brière chose phily, was pressure. True that Phily is a good hockey market, and that there can be some pressure playing in the City of Brotherly Love, however to compare that to the media pressure cooker that is Montreal, is just ridiculous! I think you forgot the biggest reason. $$$$$$ Taxes would have made a big dent in the habs offer. Plus the Philly offer was huge upfront. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 I agree! Sundin is a horse, and I would have loved to see him in a Habs jersey(i'm not saying that because I don'T like Saku, cause I do) But Sundin is superior to saku. He's big, he,s strong, he can skate, has boatloads of talent and like you said, he's been carrying the "Leaves" on his back for the past 3-4 seasons. I wonder how good Ponikarovsky and Antropov will be when Sundin is no longer there?? Everyday, while I'm coming back home and stuck in traffic on the Champlain Bridge, I listen to the Team 990 here in Montreal. And I keep hearing Pierre McGuire rant and rave about two young Russian d-men. Alexei Emelin and Pavel Valentenko. How good are they, and how good can they become? Do they have a chance of becoming as good as Andrei Markov? or is McGuire wrong about these two? ONe other thing I've noticed is that the Habs have tons of good young d-man prospects(O'Byrne, Côté, Emelin, Valentenko, Carle, Mcdonough, Subban). I hope that Bob will concentrate a little more on drafting powerforwards in the next draft, a bit like they did this year by drafting 7 defensemen(i think it was 7). Our D should be good for the next decade or so, what the habs need now is size up front, and I hope they'll do as good of a job drafting power forwards as they have drafting defensemen! Montreal has stockpiled the assets. But the toughest part lays ahead. With all of these prospects in the system they now have to assess which ones will be impact players, which will be NHLers and which will not pan out. They then have to try to deal the ones they think will be marginal before they lose their value. I think one of the smart things the Habs are doing is drafting US College guys. It allows you to retain their rights longer and it allows you to view their progress and assess their future in Red, White and Blue. If you do not like something you see, you may be able to find a dumb GM who will deal for a guy who was a former 1st round pick. Gainey is smart. He surrounds himself with guys like Trevor Timmons, Pierre Gauthier and last season Andy Murray. His coaching staff consists of guys who were considered SMART hockey players. Carbo, Muller, Jarvis. Smart guys who work hard are destined for success. All we have to do is be patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) I think you forgot the biggest reason. $$$$$$ Taxes would have made a big dent in the habs offer. Plus the Philly offer was huge upfront. The habs Actually offered more money to Brière. I agree that the taxes are higher in Québec, but at this point in his career, i don't thin money was that much of an issue for the guy. I think one of the smart things the Habs are doing is drafting US College guys. tRUE, IT DOES GIVE THEM A COUPLE OF MORE YEARS TO EVELUATE THE PLAYERS!(sorry about the caps) Edited November 12, 2007 by Habsfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zowpeb Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Do you honestly believe that Briere signed with Philly because Montreal doesn't have anyone as talented as Gagne??? Sorry, but if you think this then you have WAAAYYYY over-rated Gagne IMO. For starters, I'd take Koivu, Higgins, Plekanec and Kovalev over Gagne every day of the week. I'd probably take Ryder too. Granted, Plekanec and Koivu would play very little with Briere other then some possible PP time...but still...Gagne is NOT that great of a player that he'd clinch a signing. Personally, I think Briere probably wanted little to do with the Montreal media on a daily basis...but only Briere really knows what drove his decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Montreal has stockpiled the assets. But the toughest part lays ahead. With all of these prospects in the system they now have to assess which ones will be impact players, which will be NHLers and which will not pan out. They then have to try to deal the ones they think will be marginal before they lose their value. I think one of the smart things the Habs are doing is drafting US College guys. It allows you to retain their rights longer and it allows you to view their progress and assess their future in Red, White and Blue. If you do not like something you see, you may be able to find a dumb GM who will deal for a guy who was a former 1st round pick. Gainey is smart. He surrounds himself with guys like Trevor Timmons, Pierre Gauthier and last season Andy Murray. His coaching staff consists of guys who were considered SMART hockey players. Carbo, Muller, Jarvis. Smart guys who work hard are destined for success. All we have to do is be patient. great post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Sorry, but if you think this then you have WAAAYYYY over-rated Gagne IMO. For starters, I'd take Koivu, Higgins, Plekanec and Kovalev over Gagne every day of the week. I'd probably take Ryder too. Granted, Plekanec and Koivu would play very little with Briere other then some possible PP time...but still...Gagne is NOT that great of a player that he'd clinch a signing. That's your opinion, but name me a player on the Habs roster that has had two consecutive 40 goal seasons! That,s right, there's nobody! Like you said, Koivu is a centre and so is Brière, so there's no chance that they would have played together on the same line. AS for choosing Ryder and Plekanec before Gagné...i don't know what to tell you except that Gagné's statistics are way better than the two Habs players. You can't even compare Plex and Ryder to Gagné! Do you honestly believe that Briere signed with Philly because Montreal doesn't have anyone as talented as Gagne??? I said that is was ONE of the reasons why he chose to sign with phily. The other being he didn't want to have to deal with the media pressure in Montréal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 That's your opinion, but name me a player on the Habs roster that has had two consecutive 40 goal seasons! That,s right, there's nobody! Like you said, Koivu is a centre and so is Brière, so there's no chance that they would have played together on the same line. AS for choosing Ryder and Plekanec before Gagné...i don't know what to tell you except that Gagné's statistics are way better than the two Habs players. You can't even compare Plex and Ryder to Gagné! I understand that Gagne is a talented winger. But he has zero 40 goal seasons on his resume without a guy named Forsberg on his flank. When he does it without Forsberg, then I will place him above Higgins and Kovalev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 I understand that Gagne is a talented winger. But he has zero 40 goal seasons on his resume without a guy named Forsberg on his flank. When he does it without Forsberg, then I will place him above Higgins and Kovalev. The kid is still pretty damn good seeing as Forsberg was there for only 60 games in 05-06 was traded after only 40 games to Nashville last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 The kid is still pretty damn good seeing as Forsberg was there for only 60 games in 05-06 was traded after only 40 games to Nashville last year. Well, the proof will be in the pudding this year. But how would Higgins produce if he was centered by Forsberg or Briere. Questions we will never know. But I don't think it is a coincidence his numbers spiked with the acquisition of Peter the Great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Well, the proof will be in the pudding this year. But how would Higgins produce if he was centered by Forsberg or Briere. Questions we will never know. But I don't think it is a coincidence his numbers spiked with the acquisition of Peter the Great. There's no doubt that playing on a same line with Forsberg will help, but Higgins does play with koivu, which isn't too bad either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 There's no doubt that playing on a same line with Forsberg will help, but Higgins does play with koivu, which isn't too bad either. No, Koivu is good. But they are not in the same class in terms of production. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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