brobin Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 No no no and no. The problem in Montreal is Koivu. Plain and simple. Not Koivu himself, but the place that is given to him and the place he takes. Too much is asked of him, and he simply cant deliver. He is in the same boat as Olli Jokinen was in Florida. Captain who can't carry his team anywhere. If Saku was any other player -- say Pierre Turgeon -- he'd have been shipped out already and the Habs could have rebuilt around someone else. Look at the Panthers. They ditched Jokinen for a couple of solid defensemen, built around Horton supported with Bouwmeester and it changed the face of the team, and now they are having the best season in years. Problem is that, in Montreal it cant be done. Why? Because fans -- most of all Georges Gillett -- have developped a sentimental affection for Saku because of all his struggles and because he's a nice little guy and etc. But because of Gillett's love affair with Koivu (his adopted son), Gainey's hands are tied and Carbo has to take white gloves when dealing with Saku. Not to mention that because of that, it cost us a point-per-game centre who would be our #1 right now. Ribs was traded because Saku couldnt stand him. If Ribeiro trully had an attitude problem, a true leader would have got over his personal interest and reelled Ribs in for the good of the team on and off the ice. No, Koivu couldnt, he had to fight him and then complain to get him traded. And it's not like Ribs was out of control and couldnt be dealt with reasonably. Just look how he now acts in Dallas. The coaches are not on the same level as the players. They're not part of the group. It's not up to them to lead. Generals or colonels have authority, but they're not the ones trusted to lead the soldiers into battle and preserve the cohesion & morale of the group during the action, that's a corporal or sergeant's job. That's Koivu's job. And he has failed, miserably, for the past 4-5 seasons, in transmitting his work ethic or whatever is supposed to set him appart from the rest and make him such a great captain. Teams are at the image of their captains. I've been a Koivu fan for years and years, but the results are never there, and he's getting treated way better than he deserves based on his results alone. Now that his leadership is failing -- again -- people want to blame the coaches -- again? Enough. I'm tired of seeing good, honest, competent coaches get blamed for the captain's constant failures and watch them succeed elsewhere. Enough. How long with that vicious cycle go on? Enough. Ya basta. It's becoming an insult to intelligence. Either Koivu has no ascendant on the players and therefore cant get them to follow him; or he just doesnt try to get them to step up. Either way is a failure. I'm tired of failure. I'm tired of losers. The root cause is not the coaches or the talent, it's clear as daylight now. While I love Koivu, and definitely would have no issue with him on the team as a number 2 centre, I agree that as long as we look to him as our number 1 centre, we are going nowhere. I too miss Ribs. I thought he was starting to turn the corner in Montreal (and his worse season was much better then Pleks, without decent wingers) but we tossed him for nothing. Put Ribs with some real leaders in Dallas, some good wingers, and he is not a top 15 centre in the NHL, and tougher too! I don't even think you need to strip the C from Koivu... if they brought in a Shanny type and put the A on him, trust me, Pleks would grow some balls, Kovy would start skating, and the rest of the girls would be on notice... Unfortunately, on most Habs boards all these comments are grounds for banning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoZed Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 While I love Koivu, and definitely would have no issue with him on the team as a number 2 centre, I agree that as long as we look to him as our number 1 centre, we are going nowhere. I too miss Ribs. I thought he was starting to turn the corner in Montreal (and his worse season was much better then Pleks, without decent wingers) but we tossed him for nothing. Put Ribs with some real leaders in Dallas, some good wingers, and he is not a top 15 centre in the NHL, and tougher too! I don't even think you need to strip the C from Koivu... if they brought in a Shanny type and put the A on him, trust me, Pleks would grow some balls, Kovy would start skating, and the rest of the girls would be on notice... Unfortunately, on most Habs boards all these comments are grounds for banning. That's we're the best board around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Ribeiro: The Franchise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbhatt Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I don't even think you need to strip the C from Koivu... if they brought in a Shanny type and put the A on him, trust me, Pleks would grow some balls, Kovy would start skating, and the rest of the girls would be on notice... I disagree, because if you need to bring in somebody else to motivate the team, then there's no point keeping the C on Koivu; he doesn't deserve it, and it cheapens the captaincy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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