2009 Habs, lets keep it in perspective

[HabsWEST]

First, yes the whole 100 year thing, and after last years season and this years signings, all the possibilities existed..

Second, things didnt got as expected and turned for the worse, when Lang got hurt, and Price didnt play up to "expectations". Followed by coaching change.

fact remains:

--- Team was 1 point from missing the playoffs ( point that they gained on loss to Boston

--- in the last week heading to playoffs, no one gave the habs a chance..

--- CONFIDENCE, this team lost its confidence and are playing " tight" hockey, they started in not believing in themselves and started believing everyone else.

--- EFFORT is there!!, but not the RESULTS...

--- Reallys whats difference between Boston and Montreal, CONFIDENCE, RESULTS, are the personnel that different!!

--- Are the players using other excuses?

DONT WANT to HEAR, Halak over Price , blah, blah...

Obvious team chemistry/personnel has to change.....

WOULD MARKOV, LANG, SCHNEIDER, TANGUAY make a difference , possibly?

This off season will be crucial:

--- GAINEY stays or leaves as GM?

--- LEVER becomes Coach?

--- FA's to sign?

--- existing team FA's? I am sure some will just leave....or not be signed...

Is this start of a long rebuilding period? Turnover? Management, player changes?

NEW DIRECTION? Years of Futility?

My biggest concern is if GAINEY leaves, we are in for a long rebuilding and few management shifts ( ALA MAPLEleafs)....

Another season next year, and New faces should be welcomed, and old ones thanked but must move on..

FINALLY PRICE, shouldnt be looked at as 5th pick overall, and justified position as a starter..

HALAK, and PRICE should be treated equal, and may the best performances result in the starter next year, HALAK has done everything asked of...

or else, Montreal will lose him next year, along with other young players... and the 90's futility streak will be back..

If the right moves are made...than future is bright!!

refer comments from last years playoffs, as soon as PP went, so did the team, for couple years HABS had best PP ( Souray, Streit, Markov etc..) and their evenplay was mediocre at best....

Now PP cant score, we have what we have, dont expect much more...

As a long time HABS fan this is indeed frustrating, but clearly being down 3 to 0 , is indication of this team competitiveness, struggling to make playoffs...dont expect more than 2 or 3 games at home!!

All the best!! :hlogo:

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Gainey needs to stay. But not as coach. Hire Hartley - he has the best c.v. of any available francophone coach - and move forward.

Re-sign Koivu? I don't know. Tough call. The more I think about it, the more I think we should bite the bullet and let him go, then take than money to overpay (if needed) for someone like Cammalleri. (i.e., a young quality UFA C).

Re-sign Kovalev? I used to think 'keep Koivu, let Kovalev walk,' but...Kovy is the guy who draws the other team's top checkers...that's always a useful asset...

Re-sign Tanguay, no questions asked.

Re-sign Komisarek. Yes, you will have to overpay. Too bad. He's core.

The good news is, you will save major dollars on RFAs Plekanec and Higgins compared to what we'd have had to pay after last season.

See if you have enough left over to sign or acquire a quality D. Otherwise, re-sign Schneider at hopefully a modest rate and cross your fingers on his health.

Edited April 21, 2009 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber

[Wamsley01]

Gainey needs to stay. But not as coach. Hire Hartley - he has the best c.v. of any available francophone coach - and move forward.

Re-sign Koivu? I don't know. Tough call. The more I think about it, the more I think we should bite the bullet and let him go, then take than money to overpay (if needed) for someone like Cammalleri. (i.e., a young quality UFA C).

Re-sign Kovalev? I used to think 'keep Koivu, let Kovalev walk,' but...Kovy is the guy who draws the other team's top checkers...that's always a useful asset...

Re-sign Tanguay, no questions asked.

Re-sign Komisarek. Yes, you will have to overpay. Too bad. He's core.

The good news is, you will save major dollars on RFAs Plekanec and Higgins compared to what we'd have had to pay after last season.

See if you have enough left over to sign or acquire a quality D. Otherwise, re-sign Schneider at hopefully a modest rate and cross your fingers on his health.

Komisarek is closer to Craig Ludwig than Chris Chelios. Do you want to pay $6M per for him? Because some idiot will.

[rafikz]

Well, this season was a blessing in disguise

Don't resign Komisarek and other free agents who sucked; save some money to sign star players you can surround with Kovalev and young forwards

[MAK]

Gainey had a 5 year plan and it failed.

Why ??

young players failed to live up the expectations. I'll call sophomore jinx for Price.

-Too many off ice issues with the youngsters.

-no vet to play the big brother that kids could learn from.

-questionnable drafting in the first rounds by timmins. (chipchura, urquhart, andrei K, fischer)

-very bad D-corps after 1st pairing.

(things will get better with the likes of mcdonagh, weber, emelin,fischer,subban but that's not until a couple of years)

no toughness after komisarek

no d coach is a mistake IMO

Fowards:

no chemistry whatsoever except for Lapierre-latendresse-kostopoulos.

no size, no guts: No glory.

not siging pending UFA,s but giving coach 3 year deal kinda rubbed players the wrong way.

Was it really BOb's decision not to sign anyone or was he ordered by Gillett.

I never liked giving injuries as a reason. I mean if we were 1st in men/games lost that would be good but I dont even think we'Re in top 10.

any how: what I would really want is a complete change of philosophy and REAL reconstruction for 2-3 years.

[kaos]

What to think?

1) This team has no chance. Hope they make the most of those two playoffs home dates and Gillete fills wallet.

2) Was Price the wrong choice? He is now tanked twice in two years. Why?

3) If Price was the right choice, they best get another veteran goalie back there and mentor Price or make him compete more.

4) Big changes needed all over. Why? Why are players not listening to to what coaches are saying?

5) Gainey needs to go

Bad decisions on his watch

Letting a certain coach go, whos now kicking his ass.

Signing Carbs, then letting him go weeks after saying thast the best thing he ever did

Kostitsyn instead of Carter, Parise or Richards

Moving Latendresse to fast

Samsonov

Trading Christobal last year before th eplayoffs

Riberio for nothing

Begin for nothing

A very dissapointing playoff this year

Team never seems to be ready to play

Persistant penality problems.....year after year

There are probably dozens of others, however I am blanking

The draft picks for Schneider and Lang will now be very costly. Two seconds and a 3rd.

Fact is ya can defend somthing things, however its starts getting overwhelming, and Gainey probably needs to walk away. His 5 year plan is over and failed. He tried and failed. No shame in that

However he left it better than some of the previos adminstations, so a new vision is needed. Lets move on, clean the mistakes and get competive again

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Komi at somewhere between $4-5 mil might be sensible enough, no? I don't think he is *as bad* as he showed this season. Am I wrong?

You definitely let Bouillon and Dandy walk, unless they are willing to re-sign at absolute cut rates. In a cap system you *have* to fill those depth positions with cheap youth, like Weber/O'Byrne.

[kaos]

Gotta think Komisarek isn't worth more than $4 Million. Regardless of whether he had a bad season or not, he provides nothing in the way off offence.

Not like hes a great defensive defensman either. If he wants more, F**k him. Hes not worth it

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

What to think?

Bad decisions on his watch

Letting a certain coach go, whos now kicking his ass.

What a joke. Julien WAS NOT DEVELOPING THE YOUNG PLAYERS. He had to go. When Bob took over, Komisarek *suddenly* became a top-4 defender and Higgins *suddenly* scored 20 goals in 40 games. Wow, Julien really got the most out of those guys.

Signing Carbs, then letting him go weeks after saying thast the best thing he ever did

The re-signing was too generous. What he said about it is irrelevant. The firing was necessary.

Kostitsyn instead of Carter, Parise or Richards

talk to me again in 3 years.

Moving Latendresse to fast

Why? He made great strides this season. No problem there.

Samsonov

He added a forward generally regarded as top-6. Didn't work out. He got rid of him painlessly enough. Big whoop.

Trading Christobal last year before th eplayoffs

Yep.

Riberio for nothing

Yep.

Begin for nothing

He added Metropolit. That's a lateral move at worst. Jesus Christ.

A very dissapointing playoff this year

That's his fault?

Team never seems to be ready to play

That's his fault? I thought Carbo was a brilliant coach - ?

Persistant penality problems.....year after year

That's the GM's fault?

There are probably dozens of others, however I am blanking

You neglect to mention the non trade of Souray at the deadline in 07.

The draft picks for Schneider and Lang will now be very costly. Two seconds and a 3rd.

Yeah, but Lang was a terrific acquisition and EVERYBODY thought we were contenders this season. Had he not added those guys you'd be attacking him for being afraid to go for it..

Fact is ya can defend somthing things, however its starts getting overwhelming, and Gainey probably needs to walk away. His 5 year plan is over and failed. He tried and failed. No shame in that

Was last year a failure? Why does this year trump last year? This team is somewhere between the two extremes. That's not 'failure.' It means that a five-year plan is not an iron-clad guarantee of morphing into the Detroit Red Wings.

However he left it better than some of the previos adminstations, so a new vision is needed. Lets move on, clean the mistakes and get competive again

New vision...what, exactly? Continue to nurture young players, supplement them with veterans and adjustments as you move along. Sound just like Gainey's vision to me. Man, I'm glad you're not my CEO.

Edited April 21, 2009 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber

[MAK]

Komi at somewhere between $4-5 mil might be sensible enough, no? I don't think he is *as bad* as he showed this season. Am I wrong?

You definitely let Bouillon and Dandy walk, unless they are willing to re-sign at absolute cut rates. In a cap system you *have* to fill those depth positions with cheap youth, like Weber/O'Byrne.

Dandy was serviceable but I'd rather have players that can play one position but good.

bouillon was slowing down before his injury.

Look at what regerh earns in calgary and thats what Komi's worth. 4-5 M is alot for a player with zero offense. not the best first pass either. O'byrne could become a poorman's Komisarek for way cheaper.

weber will make the team. with markov that makes two solid puck movers. however this team will need to bulk up with toughness. I,d like a Dman with a short fuse like a marchment (EMELIN)

under 2M i'd take schneider back for a year.

Gorges becomes my trade bait.

[hab29RETIRED]

Gotta think Komisarek isn't worth more than $4 Million. Regardless of whether he had a bad season or not, he provides nothing in the way off offence.

Not like hes a great defensive defensman either. If he wants more, F**k him. Hes not worth it

If Ryder can get $4M, Komisarik will get $6M. We paid $5.7M to Hamrlik.

[Wamsley01]

If Ryder can get $4M, Komisarik will get $6M. We paid $5.7M to Hamrlik.

What he can get, and what he is worth are different things.

[Habsy]

I'm afraid that 2009 has taught us one thing, we can forget about Lecavalier. Nobody on the current roster would interest Tampa, maybe Markov, that's it.

[Wamsley01]

I'm afraid that 2009 has taught us one thing, we can forget about Lecavalier. Nobody on the current roster would interest Tampa, maybe Markov, that's it.

They are in dump mode. Their window will close in 2 months.

What they were asking for in January will not be what they get in June. He is as good as gone, and with

the prospects the Habs have, it will be inexcusable if they are not in it til the end.

I would be surprised if he is not dealt.

[sbhatt]

1) Koivu needs to go if he isn't willing to sign very cheap. If he is willing, I'd sign him...still useful in a limited role. I think he'd look better with less icetime at this stage.

2) Kovalev has to stay if he's willing to sign for 4-4.5.....he's important on the powerplay and strikes fear into other teams in spite of inconsistency at times.

3) Komisarek needs to be shown the door if he wants more than 5mil/season. He's terrible offensively, and not as solid defensively...he seems weaker now somehow...needs to cut the power yoga crap and get a trainer that will get him back on the heavy iron.

4) Weber needs to start the season in Montreal next year...I have a very good feeling about him.

5) Price/Halak should be treated equally entering training camp....sorry, Price is nowhere near good enough to be handed anything by default anymore.

6) A centre....FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WE NEED TO PICK UP A GOOD centre!!!!

7) A hard-hitting D-man with some size (or two!)....no more smurfs like Georges/Boullion or creampuffs like Brisebois

This team needs a fairly significant overhaul....it won't be easy to fill all the gaps in one offseason.

Oh, and for those of you going into shock after reading that there is a circumstance under which I think we should keep Koivu, that should let you know what I think of Plekanec at this point.

[KoZed]

Of course everything will fall on Gainey's head now.

Draft choices: keep in mind, Gainey's 1st pick as a GM was in 2003. It was Kostitsyn, but you cant honestly say it was Gainey's pick. He came in May, draft is in June. It was Timmins' pick. 35 ranks later, Boston picked Patrice Bergeron. He was right in the Habs' backyard.

The 2004 Draft doesnt look good at all. Chipchura looks like Jason Ward #2. We passed over Zajac, Wolski, Mike Green... and 50 ranks later Boston picked David Krejci.

In 2005 Price was the real gamble. He had the franchise goalie labelled and was supposedly the BPA. He was the pick that was supposed to make a difference now in 2009. But goalies are goalies. I've always been against wasting high picks on them because they are too unpredictable. That's a tough choice that will probably sink Gainey. He picked Price, gave him all the chances to develop on the fast track, but now Price is failing him. Again, right in the Habs' backyard you had Bourdon, Vlasic, Letang; the kind of young NHL-caliber D-men that the Habs sorely lack right now.

IN 2006 the Habs tried to play catch-up and pick D-men. They go with Fischer at 20 and passes on Giroux (another guy right in the Habs' backyard), Berglund, Foligno... They picked Maxwell 49th. Who went right after at 50? Milan Lucic.

2007, they go with another American D in McDonagh. He might have potential. 2 years later, he's still a long way. Kinda feel it's too little too late.

That right there, those 4 years of drafting, failed to provide the Habs with enough quality youngsters that would be breaking out by Year 5. Kostitsyn was highly rated, but we already had Perezhogin in the same mold. We could have went with the big TALENTED C. That way, the year after we dont need to pick the "safe" Chipchura and we can go with a project like Wolski or a D like Green. The Price pick was controversial since it was announced and will be for a while, I think. Junior goalies are so overrated IMO. We've seen too many flop. Habs didnt need to take that kind of gamble. They were given a high pick on a plate and they wasted it. Right now, Price reminds me of Garon. Same big size, same difficulty to control his lateral movements, same recklessness when coming out of his net. That isnt worth a 5th overall pick. I'm hoping Melanson can put him back together, but I'll still believe Kopitar was the best choice. Franchise C. Something we sorely lack for eons now.

So you look at the team this year, and what happened is that none of those high picks really took over. The only 2 picks that progressed were Lapierre (3rd rounder in 2003) and Lats (2nd rounder in 2005). Boston had about 5-6 kids break out at the same time. And part of the reason the kids didnt took the next step is that no one helped them to get there. Gainey put all his chips on adding old vets. That was his recipe in Dallas and it was the same recipe he tried to use now. Sadly, all his vets went down to injuries and he was left having to rely on youngsters that werent totally house-broken yet.

Firing Carbo wasnt the answer and it really shows now. It changed nothing at all. Not only that, but when the next coach will come in and start to get on the players' nerves, they'll remember all they had to do was to have a bad stretch and they'd get rid of the bench boss. Bad, very bad, long-term consequences.

[Wamsley01]

Of course everything will fall on Gainey's head now.

Draft choices: keep in mind, Gainey's 1st pick as a GM was in 2003. It was Kostitsyn, but you cant honestly say it was Gainey's pick. He came in May, draft is in June. It was Timmins' pick. 35 ranks later, Boston picked Patrice Bergeron. He was right in the Habs' backyard.

The 2004 Draft doesnt look good at all. Chipchura looks like Jason Ward #2. We passed over Zajac, Wolski, Mike Green... and 50 ranks later Boston picked David Krejci.

In 2005 Price was the real gamble. He had the franchise goalie labelled and was supposedly the BPA. He was the pick that was supposed to make a difference now in 2009. But goalies are goalies. I've always been against wasting high picks on them because they are too unpredictable. That's a tough choice that will probably sink Gainey. He picked Price, gave him all the chances to develop on the fast track, but now Price is failing him. Again, right in the Habs' backyard you had Bourdon, Vlasic, Letang; the kind of young NHL-caliber D-men that the Habs sorely lack right now.

IN 2006 the Habs tried to play catch-up and pick D-men. They go with Fischer at 20 and passes on Giroux (another guy right in the Habs' backyard), Berglund, Foligno... They picked Maxwell 49th. Who went right after at 50? Milan Lucic.

2007, they go with another American D in McDonagh. He might have potential. 2 years later, he's still a long way. Kinda feel it's too little too late.

That right there, those 4 years of drafting, failed to provide the Habs with enough quality youngsters that would be breaking out by Year 5. Kostitsyn was highly rated, but we already had Perezhogin in the same mold. We could have went with the big TALENTED C. That way, the year after we dont need to pick the "safe" Chipchura and we can go with a project like Wolski or a D like Green. The Price pick was controversial since it was announced and will be for a while, I think. Junior goalies are so overrated IMO. We've seen too many flop. Habs didnt need to take that kind of gamble. They were given a high pick on a plate and they wasted it. Right now, Price reminds me of Garon. Same big size, same difficulty to control his lateral movements, same recklessness when coming out of his net. That isnt worth a 5th overall pick. I'm hoping Melanson can put him back together, but I'll still believe Kopitar was the best choice. Franchise C. Something we sorely lack for eons now.

So you look at the team this year, and what happened is that none of those high picks really took over. The only 2 picks that progressed were Lapierre (3rd rounder in 2003) and Lats (2nd rounder in 2005). Boston had about 5-6 kids break out at the same time. And part of the reason the kids didnt took the next step is that no one helped them to get there. Gainey put all his chips on adding old vets. That was his recipe in Dallas and it was the same recipe he tried to use now. Sadly, all his vets went down to injuries and he was left having to rely on youngsters that werent totally house-broken yet.

Firing Carbo wasnt the answer and it really shows now. It changed nothing at all. Not only that, but when the next coach will come in and start to get on the players' nerves, they'll remember all they had to do was to have a bad stretch and they'd get rid of the bench boss. Bad, very bad, long-term consequences.

That is quite the negative look at things and I am betting quite the opposite of what you would have posted 12 months ago.

Garon didn't sniff the NHL until he was 23 and was not a starter until he was almost 30. As for Price, I think I would rather have

him then Bourdon (who is dead, RIP), Vlasic or Letang. Judging McDonagh as far away when at the same age Letang had yet

to make any impact. Were you this high on Vlasic after his 14 point - 14 campaign last season?

Like CC said, we are now entering the overreaction stage where everybody underrates the players they overrated 12 months ago.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

On a related note, we should be clipping and saving all the positive comments over Weber, so that when HE struggles at some point in his development, we can throw 'em in the faces of all the people who will then want to throw him under a bus.

[Habsy]

Of course everything will fall on Gainey's head now.

Draft choices: keep in mind, Gainey's 1st pick as a GM was in 2003. It was Kostitsyn, but you cant honestly say it was Gainey's pick. He came in May, draft is in June. It was Timmins' pick. 35 ranks later, Boston picked Patrice Bergeron. He was right in the Habs' backyard.

The 2004 Draft doesnt look good at all. Chipchura looks like Jason Ward #2. We passed over Zajac, Wolski, Mike Green... and 50 ranks later Boston picked David Krejci.

In 2005 Price was the real gamble. He had the franchise goalie labelled and was supposedly the BPA. He was the pick that was supposed to make a difference now in 2009. But goalies are goalies. I've always been against wasting high picks on them because they are too unpredictable. That's a tough choice that will probably sink Gainey. He picked Price, gave him all the chances to develop on the fast track, but now Price is failing him. Again, right in the Habs' backyard you had Bourdon, Vlasic, Letang; the kind of young NHL-caliber D-men that the Habs sorely lack right now.

IN 2006 the Habs tried to play catch-up and pick D-men. They go with Fischer at 20 and passes on Giroux (another guy right in the Habs' backyard), Berglund, Foligno... They picked Maxwell 49th. Who went right after at 50? Milan Lucic.

2007, they go with another American D in McDonagh. He might have potential. 2 years later, he's still a long way. Kinda feel it's too little too late.

That right there, those 4 years of drafting, failed to provide the Habs with enough quality youngsters that would be breaking out by Year 5. Kostitsyn was highly rated, but we already had Perezhogin in the same mold. We could have went with the big TALENTED C. That way, the year after we dont need to pick the "safe" Chipchura and we can go with a project like Wolski or a D like Green. The Price pick was controversial since it was announced and will be for a while, I think. Junior goalies are so overrated IMO. We've seen too many flop. Habs didnt need to take that kind of gamble. They were given a high pick on a plate and they wasted it. Right now, Price reminds me of Garon. Same big size, same difficulty to control his lateral movements, same recklessness when coming out of his net. That isnt worth a 5th overall pick. I'm hoping Melanson can put him back together, but I'll still believe Kopitar was the best choice. Franchise C. Something we sorely lack for eons now.

So you look at the team this year, and what happened is that none of those high picks really took over. The only 2 picks that progressed were Lapierre (3rd rounder in 2003) and Lats (2nd rounder in 2005). Boston had about 5-6 kids break out at the same time. And part of the reason the kids didnt took the next step is that no one helped them to get there. Gainey put all his chips on adding old vets. That was his recipe in Dallas and it was the same recipe he tried to use now. Sadly, all his vets went down to injuries and he was left having to rely on youngsters that werent totally house-broken yet.

Firing Carbo wasnt the answer and it really shows now. It changed nothing at all. Not only that, but when the next coach will come in and start to get on the players' nerves, they'll remember all they had to do was to have a bad stretch and they'd get rid of the bench boss. Bad, very bad, long-term consequences.

You actually miss Carbo?? Coaches are fired all the time in pro-sports. It's the nature of the beast. Long term consequenses? zero, in my opinion. Coaches have a shelf life, it's up to them to find a balance, and deal with the players. It appears that was Carbo's weakness.

[Wamsley01]

On a related note, we should be clipping and saving all the positive comments over Weber, so that when HE struggles at some point in his development, we can throw 'em in the faces of all the people who will then want to throw him under a bus.

true enough.

People tend to comment on what is directly in front of their face. They need to utilize their necks and

check out what happened before and project the path after it passes your face.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

You actually miss Carbo?? Coaches are fired all the time in pro-sports. It's the nature of the beast. Long term consequenses? zero, in my opinion. Coaches have a shelf life, it's up to them to find a balance, and deal with the players. It appears that was Carbo's weakness.

Yeah, this pining for Carbo from a fan-base that almost universally wanted him fired, until the exact moment when he was fired, might be the silliest development in this entire season. The guy hit his best-before date - not to mention that his fumbling and alienation of the vets arguably cost us the playoffs in 2007 as well. I love the guy and I'm sure he'll come back strong, but he was hardly the reincarnation of Toe Blake.

[saskhab]

This was the last year of the Koivu-Kovalev led Habs. Whether either will or should be back is not the point... the point is that they will no longer be the reason our team succeeds or fails. Up front will be the greatest turnover as a result of this. We know what our goaltending will look like. We kind of know what our D will look like. We even have a strong idea of what our wingers will look like, though we may be targeting a hired gun there to improve upon Kovalev/supplement a different core piece. It's down the middle that we have the biggest question marks... we only have our #3 and #4 guys locked in for next year.

The plan going forward isn't terribly difficult, though it will require a lot of work. The priority UFA's start with Komisarek and Tanguay. They are the ones that for the next 4-6 years will play/continue to play at a decent level of hockey, or are the best bets to do so. Higgins and Plekanec provide interesting debates as to their long term viability... they are within one year of UFA and the decision on whether we want to risk losing them for nothing must be made. The alternatives are trading them for other assets or declaring them core pieces and trying to sign them long term.

Young guys that could step up into bigger roles? Weber on D, battling with O'Byrne for ice time sounds like a decent plan for the 6/7 roles. Resigning Komisarek would leave us with our top 3, and a decision on Schneider could be discussed to have him return as a 4/5 guy and PP specialist, or the team could opt to find a different guy on the open market. Up front, D'Agostini, the Kostitsyns, Stewart and possibly Pacioretty will have to step up as regulars. Andrei K might have to be our prime goal scoring threat, though we'll either have to get some good help in that department or a much better top centre. Chipchura will probably be promoted to a reserve forward, or else traded.

But we also have to hire a coach. Gainey gets another shot here, whether people like it or not. Fact is, the owner is selling the team. Buying out Gainey's contract is a complication to the sale... most new ownership situations leave the previous guy in place for a little while at least. And any sale won't be finalized for a while yet. This isn't like buying a new pair of jeans... it will require financial approval from lenders (tougher to get nowadays) and league approval from the Board of Governors, who meet I think only 3 times a year and don't meet again until the playoffs are over.

[johnnyhasbeen]

Respective? Okay, here you go! This is a team that was 1st in the east last year, picked to win the east this year but stunk up the rink. They played so piss poor that the best coach in the league got fired because they all thought they were something above the team. Who on this team, outside Lang, Markov, and a few young guys desearve to wear the jersey? Bunch of I am, I was hockey players in my eye. Holy crap batman! Talk about a waste ofa chance at greatness! This team had so much potential, but are so afraid to produce that they can't! BOO!!!!!!! Alll I can say. You guys suck, take off the jersey and go somewhere else please. You don't desearve to wear the tri-colour!

[PMAC]

Note this is a repeat of my post from Game 2 so don't take it too personally today.

Does anyone else remember that the Mighty Broons were an 8th place team last year? That some people were questioning Chara and his contract and that they were widely ridiculing their "big"off-season acquision M.Ryder?

The short-sightness of most of the commentary around the team in calling for Gainey to be fired is so intellectually and analytically challenged ( that means stupid for those of you who struggle with the big words) as to be laughable.

Bob is not perfect, he may have mishandled Price's development; the Riberio trade is not wonderful-- in hindsight-- but a rush to judgement would be counterproductive.

I understand your frustration-- I share it-- but it takes a long time to rebuild a franchise that was as deveastated as this one was when Bob took over. Starting over again would be a huge blunder.

Also on coaches; maybe firing Carbo was a mistake; better that then the Oilers who were similarly picked to compete but missed the playoffs enirely and then fired the coach.

Julien? C'mon he was also fired by the Devils before being hired by Bos and last I looked New Jersey Lou had a pretty good track record

Edited April 21, 2009 by PMAC

[yorickbrown]

People should keep the current state of the economy in mind when talking about contracts. Some teams are really hurting financially and the cap will probably be going down over the next few years. You might find a guy like Komi might not get the crazy offers he might have over the last few free agency seasons. You might also find teams are willing to part with good veterans they can't afford for cheap younger players. Hopefully, Montreal with their young prospects and still selling out the building nightly will be able to take advantage of this landscape.