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Gainey and credit


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That...was...amazing...

Can we try and give Gainey a little credit here? He assembled a team that has LOADS of character. Sure Halak was the biggest difference, but guys like Gill, Gorges, Gionta, Moore (Gauthier Pickup), Gomez, Cammalleri, these are Playoff Warriors and regardless of the price tag for some of them, Gainey assembled this team from almost scratch last summer and I think he did a damn fine job of doing so. Let's enjoy round 2.

I firmly disagree.... Gainey left because he was afraid of losing his job; he saw this team headed for doom in the centennial and didn't want to be accounted for the fall...I think the players of the organization staying together and playing as a team throughout the season (despite injury plague) deserve the majority of credit. I think a majority of you should bow your heads and praise Jaroslav Halak on this forum after some of the critique and bashing that he has endured since mid-season. He just proved to a majority of us that he is capable of playing a 7 game series and smothering pucks when it matters the most :clap: I am not trying to start a goaltending argument controversy, but instead..motivate this board to encourage our current roster into the second round! GO :hlogo: GO!!! (PS: I watched a 5-1 loss in Montreal and said to myself..."this series isn't over"...to everybody around me with 3 minutes left in game 3) :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo:

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I firmly disagree.... Gainey left because he was afraid of losing his job; he saw this team headed for doom in the centennial and didn't want to be accounted for the fall...I think the players of the organization staying together and playing as a team throughout the season (despite injury plague) deserve the majority of credit. I think a majority of you should bow your heads and praise Jaroslav Halak on this forum after some of the critique and bashing that he has endured since mid-season. He just proved to a majority of us that he is capable of playing a 7 game series and smothering pucks when it matters the most :clap: I am not trying to start a goaltending argument controversy, but instead..motivate this board to encourage our current roster into the second round! GO :hlogo: GO!!! (PS: I watched a 5-1 loss in Montreal and said to myself..."this series isn't over"...to everybody around me with 3 minutes left in game 3) :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo:

This is getting out of hand. How short memory do we have? Halak played terrible just a few games ago. Halak recently played great, I maintain he is not consistent enough to be heaped starter goalie praise. Why do people exaggerate after a small stretch of good games...you're sounding like the so called 'experts' who said Habs out in 3. Never as good as you think, but never as bad either.

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This is getting out of hand. How short memory do we have? Halak played terrible just a few games ago. Halak recently played great, I maintain he is not consistent enough to be heaped starter goalie praise. Why do people exaggerate after a small stretch of good games...you're sounding like the so called 'experts' who said Habs out in 3. Never as good as you think, but never as bad either.

Not once did I say Habs out in 3...for anybody who knows me on this board (which a majority do)....I am a firm opinionated person who sticks to his guns...and a majority of the time I am correct. But please, if you would..refer to the habs vs caps game 1 thread and view my comments...I am almost certain that my predicaments were as accurate as could be for the entire series. Cheers :hlogo:

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I firmly disagree.... Gainey left because he was afraid of losing his job; he saw this team headed for doom in the centennial and didn't want to be accounted for the fall...I think the players of the organization staying together and playing as a team throughout the season (despite injury plague) deserve the majority of credit. I think a majority of you should bow your heads and praise Jaroslav Halak on this forum after some of the critique and bashing that he has endured since mid-season. He just proved to a majority of us that he is capable of playing a 7 game series and smothering pucks when it matters the most :clap: I am not trying to start a goaltending argument controversy, but instead..motivate this board to encourage our current roster into the second round! GO :hlogo: GO!!! (PS: I watched a 5-1 loss in Montreal and said to myself..."this series isn't over"...to everybody around me with 3 minutes left in game 3) :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo:

So Gainey deserves no credit but the players that Gainey brought in are the ones who deserve all the credit? :huh:

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Not once did I say Habs out in 3...for anybody who knows me on this board (which a majority do)....I am a firm opinionated person who sticks to his guns...and a majority of the time I am correct. But please, if you would..refer to the habs vs caps game 1 thread and view my comments...I am almost certain that my predicaments were as accurate as could be for the entire series. Cheers :hlogo:

Nah you misunderstood my meaning. Halak played 5 1/2 of a 7 game series, just a little tidbit.

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So Gainey deserves no credit but the players that Gainey brought in are the ones who deserve all the credit? :huh:

Just because Gainey brought in players doesn't mean a thing....the credit is OWED to the players who did the work in the playoffs and battled through 82 games when the team had a constant bandage of the CH! gainey also brought in Sergei PLUG samsonov...bought him out....georges "sportsnet fav" laraque, and Janne "hands of stone" ninnemma for RIBS...and a 2nd rd pick for Huet... we owe this to the players...not the organization.....if you happen to have a carbonneau boner still, put it down...we're 365 days away from that. :hlogo: GO HABS GO...lets stop living in the past...and look forward to round 2 as one :hlogo:

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Just because Gainey brought in players doesn't mean a thing....the credit is OWED to the players who did the work in the playoffs and battled through 82 games when the team had a constant bandage of the CH! gainey also brought in Sergei PLUG samsonov...bought him out....georges "sportsnet fav" laraque, and Janne "hands of stone" ninnemma for RIBS...and a 2nd rd pick for Huet... we owe this to the players...not the organization.....if you happen to have a carbonneau boner still, put it down...we're 365 days away from that. :hlogo: GO HABS GO...lets stop living in the past...and look forward to round 2 as one :hlogo:

you're making zero sense, if a gm brings in players who succeed, then he did a good job. it means everything, HELLO, that's his job.

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Just because Gainey brought in players doesn't mean a thing....the credit is OWED to the players who did the work in the playoffs and battled through 82 games when the team had a constant bandage of the CH! gainey also brought in Sergei PLUG samsonov...bought him out....georges "sportsnet fav" laraque, and Janne "hands of stone" ninnemma for RIBS...and a 2nd rd pick for Huet... we owe this to the players...not the organization.....if you happen to have a carbonneau boner still, put it down...we're 365 days away from that. :hlogo: GO HABS GO...lets stop living in the past...and look forward to round 2 as one :hlogo:

I'm in the past and you go ahead and quote moves Gainey made years ago. Bottom line, the players he brought in last summer helped us win our first round series.

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I am not sucking at Gainey's teet because they won 1 round.

The criticism of his moves were never about this season, they were aimed at where we go in the future.

Everybody is creaming themselves right now, but what if Halak does the impossible and takes the Habs

to round 3? What does he want in the off season? $5M?

So now how do you pay Plekanec and Halak? You deal Price and get 750K in cap space and an inferior backup goaltender?

Halak might get screwed in Montreal by a long run. With every big game his ticket goes up.

The Habs will have to make a choice on Pleks first because he is a UFA, not an RFA.

As much as this is an enjoyable ride this team has some monster cap issues that will arise in 6 weeks.

That is AND always was the criticism of the moves.

Edited by Wamsley01
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I am not sucking at Gainey's teet because they won 1 round.

The criticism of his moves were never about this season, they were aimed at where we go in the future.

Everybody is creaming themselves right now, but what if Halak does the impossible and takes the Habs

to round 3? What does he want in the off season? $5M?

So now how do you pay Plekanec and Halak? You deal Price and get 750K in cap space and an inferior backup goaltender?

As much as this is an enjoyable ride this team has some monster cap issues that will arise in 6 weeks.

That is AND always was the criticism of the moves.

Well aren't you a ton of fun ^_^

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Nah you misunderstood my meaning. Halak played 5 1/2 of a 7 game series, just a little tidbit.

I was there to watch Ovy Blow a top right glove side..."this is not a recording" shot over price's shoulder in a 307 dollar playoff club desjardins seat on the 21st shot of game 3....there is your tidbit...i've watched Hamrlik potentially botch 2 games for us...watched Subban bring brillance to this club, and watched Gill/Gorges do some spectacular work on blocking shots. My ultimate point is as follows: a general manager can bring players in, but it is ultimately up to the players to gel and create a team environment as one. Bob Gainey did have some OK signings but nobody...and i mean NOBODY on this forum knew what it would pan out to be until after 82 games...you really cannot give him credit for bringing in the players he did, because I firmly believe that if Gauthier was in office...we would have yielded a lot more for Huet, Komi, Ribs...etc. I am not a Gainey hater....but like gretzky's case...just because you were a great player...does not mean you will be good in a coaching/management role

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Just responding to the simplistic notion that what Gainey did was good because they won 1 round.

That's fair and you have some valid arguments. I was very skeptical of what he did in the offseason in 2009 and I have been pleasantly surprised with just about everyone he brought in 10 months ago. That's all I'm saying.

As far as the cap issues go, I think we need to calm down and realize that there are always ways around the cap. Someone is going to be near the floor and needing a veteran, one year contract (Hamrlik). Someone is going to be hoping that they can catch lightning in a bottle with a couple of very skilled forwards (Kostitsyn x2).

But enough of that, Let's enjoy the Playoffs while we can.

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I am not sucking at Gainey's teet because they won 1 round.

The criticism of his moves were never about this season, they were aimed at where we go in the future.

Everybody is creaming themselves right now, but what if Halak does the impossible and takes the Habs

to round 3? What does he want in the off season? $5M?

So now how do you pay Plekanec and Halak? You deal Price and get 750K in cap space and an inferior backup goaltender?

Halak might get screwed in Montreal by a long run. With every big game his ticket goes up.

The Habs will have to make a choice on Pleks first because he is a UFA, not an RFA.

As much as this is an enjoyable ride this team has some monster cap issues that will arise in 6 weeks.

That is AND always was the criticism of the moves.

Sucking and creaming? why are you lowering yourself with that language. I suppose we better bench Halak, to avoid his big pay-day. Tough decisions are on the horizon, for sure.

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Bob Gainey assembled a team that has surpassed expectations under arduous circumstances and now delivered a stunning upset. That is the exact OPPOSITE of last year's piece of sh*t squad. He deserves credit for gutsy GMing. As for the cap, let's worry about that in the summer, shall we?

HAL GILL FOR THE NORRIS!

Ridiculous to talk Cup. We'll be lucky to win one game against Pittsburgh. That's not the point tonight. Tonight is about the greatest habs victory in YEARS. :hlogo: Savour every moment.

And GodDAMN it feels good to see the arrogant Capitals as humbled loser shmucks. And it feels good to see all those 'experts' ('Caps in 3!') and all those who made fun of our 'smurfs' all season TO GO SUCK EGGS.

HABS RULE, LOSERS!!! DEAL WITH IT!!!!:lol::lol:

But who really cares then? The whole point of making a great upset, or winning any playoff round, is that it takes you one step closer to winning the Cup. If our great victory is that we're going to lose - but not yet, we get to play an extra week! - then what does it matter?

Playoffs are about the Cup. 8 teams left with a chance to win the Cup. Montreal is one of them.

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But who really cares then? The whole point of making a great upset, or winning any playoff round, is that it takes you one step closer to winning the Cup. If our great victory is that we're going to lose - but not yet, we get to play an extra week! - then what does it matter?

Playoffs are about the Cup. 8 teams left with a chance to win the Cup. Montreal is one of them.

Nah, you are actually the one missing the big picture IMO. You can't label a season as a failure everytime it doesn't end in a Stanley Cup.

1. It is damn exciting when your team does well, let's face it, that was fun.

2. It is a process, very few teams will go from missing the playoffs to winning the cup the next year. It would seem to me that very few teams will go from losing in the first round to winning the cup the next year. Each game in the 2nd round is one more chance for our players to earn even more experience for the years to come. Wining the Stanley Cup will very rarely come overnight, it is a process. And this is a big step in that process.

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Nah, you are actually the one missing the big picture IMO. You can't label a season as a failure everytime it doesn't end in a Stanley Cup.

1. It is damn exciting when your team does well, let's face it, that was fun.

2. It is a process, very few teams will go from missing the playoffs to winning the cup the next year. It would seem to me that very few teams will go from losing in the first round to winning the cup the next year. Each game in the 2nd round is one more chance for our players to earn even more experience for the years to come. Wining the Stanley Cup will very rarely come overnight, it is a process. And this is a big step in that process.

I didn't say the season would be a failure.

Beating the Caps is a step in the process of winning the Cup this year (still unlikely to happen though). I don't think it will have much to do in our longer term quest to win a Cup in future seasons. If we get swept by Pittsburgh in Round 2, we all forget this ever happened and go back to ragging on half our players.

Playoffs are about the Cup, not doing the best you can do. Why get excited that you live to fight another day if you don't have any hope of them going through 3 more rounds? If they beat Washington (despite using both goalies and tossing away two very winnable games) then they can beat Pittsburgh. If they can get through Pittsburgh, they can win the Cup. That's what makes it fun. Winning Round 1 in 7 and then getting swept in Round 2 would be a more or less average season for us (maybe a bit above expectations).

edit: :P Why was this thread even made? Game threads are always general.

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Ignore the sourpusses. Gainey does deserve credit. He assembled a quality team that pulled off THE greatest first-round upset in the history of the 7-game first round system, if you measure it by the precedent of being the first 8th seed to come back from a 3-1 deficit against a 1st seed. Bob got a coach with experience and designed a team with the proven talent character to come up with performances like these in the playoffs. That wasn't an accident. Winning, pluckiness and character is part of the profile of Gionta, Gomez, Gill; and Cammy, who before tonight was 4th overall in playoff scoring ahead of His Holiness Ovechkin and who is locked up long-term, isn't exactly a dog either...

Yeah, Halak played great. Except in the very heyday of the dynasties of the 50s and 70s, the Habs have a long history of riding spectacular goaltending. This team showed tons of character, played a tight system, worked relentlessly, and showed significant if not superstar talent.

Now IF the cap totally destroys us over the summer, then we can look back and revise our assessment. RIGHT NOW, with the data before us, we can say that Gainey's ballsy moves have delivered a team worthy of our excitment and enthusiasm. Sometimes, you just have to be a fan. And this team makes it easy.

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I firmly disagree.... Gainey left because he was afraid of losing his job; he saw this team headed for doom in the centennial and didn't want to be accounted for the fall...I think the players of the organization staying together and playing as a team throughout the season (despite injury plague) deserve the majority of credit. I think a majority of you should bow your heads and praise Jaroslav Halak on this forum after some of the critique and bashing that he has endured since mid-season. He just proved to a majority of us that he is capable of playing a 7 game series and smothering pucks when it matters the most :clap: I am not trying to start a goaltending argument controversy, but instead..motivate this board to encourage our current roster into the second round! GO :hlogo: GO!!! (PS: I watched a 5-1 loss in Montreal and said to myself..."this series isn't over"...to everybody around me with 3 minutes left in game 3) :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo: :hlogo:

A man who had the courage to play in the play offs with two shattered collarbones is not afraid of anything. Gainey was not afraid of losing his job. He was just tired of dedicating himself to the game after all these years. Don't forget that he did not have it easy in the last 10 years. He lost his wife to cancer, his daughter to a terrible accident. The time had come for him to do something else, like playing piano... I do believe him 100%. And he deserves a lot of credit for what the Habs have done tonight.

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All I will say is " In Bob I Trust"

He put together one hell of a team AND coaching staff!

He also left the team in very capable hands. Classy guy.

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So Gainey deserves no credit but the players that Gainey brought in are the ones who deserve all the credit? :huh:

Hi Quebecois. As a poor quebecois, banished to Toronto, even as a half anglais, I can see the merit of your point. I think I caught this reference last night and I woke up this morning with 'justice for Gainey' spirit.

He DID it. We lost Markov, Camallerrri, whose name I can now spell, MAB on the PP and one or two other key guys, Hammer picked up the slack for a lot of the year and ww owe him.

I chuckled when he picked up Blockman (Gill) ...who i just watched outplay NoVee one on one. I now laugh at me. I am calling the pope to see if Halak can be canonized for stopping all those Cap cannons, and my overpaid Gomez is the best guy I ever saw take a puck over the bluie line. A genius. And he fought! He's a hockey player.

The great Mr Bob Gainey and his crew put this excellent team together and I have no idea why he stepped down. But he is a man of immense integrity , a role model for all who aspire to manhood ..or girls who want to be guys... :blink: and as GM , as the king of cool from Chicoutimi (my sister dated a guy from there...good fellow...but why my sister? He seemed so smart?) would point out, Mr Gainey put together everything he had to make a run a couple of yaers ago and bad injuries late in the year (Lang etc) killed us and overloaded our Priceless goaltender too early.

It EASILY could have been. Easily! He did a magnificent job.

Once you gear up for such a run, your prospects for the next year or so, depending upon what you go in with, are limited for the next couple of years and there's nothing to be done about it.

Mr Gainey put together a muich more competitive team this year, and its interesting who our heroes are this year from back to front.

Thank you very much Mr Gainey for the excellent job you have done for us and for deciding to be the kind of man you are, someone all Habs fans and all Canadians can point to as a man.

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I am not sucking at Gainey's teet because they won 1 round.

The criticism of his moves were never about this season, they were aimed at where we go in the future.

Everybody is creaming themselves right now, but what if Halak does the impossible and takes the Habs

to round 3? What does he want in the off season? $5M?

So now how do you pay Plekanec and Halak? You deal Price and get 750K in cap space and an inferior backup goaltender?

Halak might get screwed in Montreal by a long run. With every big game his ticket goes up.

The Habs will have to make a choice on Pleks first because he is a UFA, not an RFA.

As much as this is an enjoyable ride this team has some monster cap issues that will arise in 6 weeks.

That is AND always was the criticism of the moves.

I see your point but I don't want to care right now. I just want to revel in the victory... I wonder who we will lose this summer? I don't envy the GM his job... But still, we have GOOD young players in the system who will need room to play and some vets will have to clear that space for them: Subban, Pyatt...

oh yeah, and to add, I respect Gainey tons, but the thing that drove me crazy was that he rushed Price, who is less and less likely to become a star in Montreal now. I think he could have used a season or two in hamilton, or at least to be billeted with a vet...

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Ignore the sourpusses. Gainey does deserve credit. He assembled a quality team that pulled off THE greatest first-round upset in the history of the 7-game first round system, if you measure it by the precedent of being the first 8th seed to come back from a 3-1 deficit against a 1st seed. Bob got a coach with experience and designed a team with the proven talent character to come up with performances like these in the playoffs. That wasn't an accident. Winning, pluckiness and character is part of the profile of Gionta, Gomez, Gill; and Cammy, who before tonight was 4th overall in playoff scoring ahead of His Holiness Ovechkin and who is locked up long-term, isn't exactly a dog either...

Yeah, Halak played great. Except in the very heyday of the dynasties of the 50s and 70s, the Habs have a long history of riding spectacular goaltending. This team showed tons of character, played a tight system, worked relentlessly, and showed significant if not superstar talent.

Now IF the cap totally destroys us over the summer, then we can look back and revise our assessment. RIGHT NOW, with the data before us, we can say that Gainey's ballsy moves have delivered a team worthy of our excitment and enthusiasm. Sometimes, you just have to be a fan. And this team makes it easy.

My point is most criticism of Gainey was based around the future cap implications. The initial reaction was emotional based on having the core of the team you had watched mature for 5 years blown up. Once we looked at the players they acquired, most agreed it was a better team than the one who imploded in 2009.

So to use this victory as a platform to support his greatness is asinine. The criticisms were never about this season.

To ignore what is going to happen in the summer would be ridiculous, because a GM cannot make moves in a cap age without looking 3 steps ahead. I enjoyed the victory, but if it does not result in a Stanley Cup, all it is going to do is raise the ticket price of Jaroslav Halak.

If he costs more than $3.5, then it is a major problem moving forward.

As for playoff experience gained from beating the Caps, irrelevant. How did the playoff experience help the 2006-2009 Calgary Flames? How did it help the 2007-2009 Edmonton Oilers.

I am happy they beat the Caps. It was a great moment. So was 2002 and 2004 and 10 days later I was watching baseball and the NBA playoffs. In retrospect, 2002 and 2004 don't really hold fond places in my heart, but it may for some just like 1984 was a huge moment for me.

My expectations are not the same as my 6 year old son, nor are they the same as a 15 year old who barely remembers 2002 or a 22 year old whose fondest memory is almost beating the Canes through 4 games. Nor should they be. My one and only goal is a Cup and building towards that goal.

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Also, the one thing that did bug me about Gainey (though I respect him tremendously) is that he insisted on rushing Price. I really think Price would have benefitted from a couple of years in the minors, or AT LEAST being billetted with a veteran.

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