Auld to Montreal

[JacksonJ]

Does he still have alot of game left in him though?

I think he would command enough respect to get some of our other top players some space. How much production he would actually bring is a mystery.

[JoeLassister]

I think he would command enough respect to get some of our other top players some space. How much production he would actually bring is a mystery.

I prefer developping a Eller or a Max Pac over playing a old Modano. But... it will bring Willa Ford in town so... huummm....

[CoRvInA]

Umm yep, I have a fairly good idea on why not. Have you ever heard Biron talk aboot the Habs in interviews? He loathes the Habs and he's not exactly shy aboot it from what I've seen in several interviews. Biron is an old school hardcore Nordiques fan.

tbh if Biron made any comments at all I bet he was doing it just to be a shit disturber like Avery. Biron totally knows that by saying there was "no offer at all" it will start a controversy amung the francophones that doesnt exist because Biron would never acept anyway. Biron has literally cheered against the Habs his whole life.

ABSO TRUE!!!! TBNK!

[Wamsley01]

Well, colour me pessimistic.

Yes, Auld and even Sanford are serviceable backups. But on what basis, exactly, are we to conclude that Carey Price - who I like, but who lost the starter's job last season and consistently played just well enough to lose - will suddenly step up and become a guy you can depend on to give you ace netminding for 60+ games? What magical transformation has occured since May that ensures he will be able to yield a winning record, when he has put up disastrous W-L totals since February 2009?

I had no problem in dealing Halak, because I assumed we were going to secure a serious #1A guy who would be able to step into the breach in the event that Price struggles again. The Kostitsyn deal suggsted as much. Now we lose Ellis because we refused to cough up an extra half-mil. Yes, the cap is tight. But goaltending is not the place to take colossal risks in order to save peanuts.

So now what? If Carey Price struggles early, the fans will absolutely rip him to shreds a la Patrice Brisebois - perhaps finally destroying him in this city. And if he struggles, all the Habs have to fall back on is Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Gauthier has decided to play Russian Roulette with the 2010-11 season, and possibly the longer-term future of the team is Price gets dismantled as a result of being inadequately protected.

We may come through OK. Price may take that jump. But in hockey terms this looks like an absolutely terrible, cross-your-fingers-and-pray decision to me.

Like it or not, dealing Halak put the future of this franchise in Price's hands. They are going to live and die

with him now. If he folds, then there is no saviour waiting behind him. That is the new NHL, that is the salary cap

age. Getting upset because it is not Ellis, Biron etc is silly. They are all average goaltenders who are serviceable

backups. They put up good stats on good teams, average stats on average teams and bad stats on bad teams.

Why does everybody think Ellis is great? He starts in the NHL at 27, has one great season and then follows it up

with a colossal bust season and an average one. He lost his starting job in Nashville and has never matched

his stats from 2008.

I talked about this over at EOTP

When did Dan Ellis become a great NHL goalie?

Everybody tends to look at overall stats and determine a goaltenders value. The whole point of the Price/Halak articles was to get you to look beyond the simplistic assertions and assess real value.

Look at their surroundings before judging their relative value. On playoff teams, Auld has the following statistics.

Alex Auld

Playoffs – 15-12-7 2.12 GAA .923 SV% 3 SO

No Playoffs – 61-56-16 2.84 GAA .902 SV% 2 SO

Ellis

Playoffs – 39-23-4 2.50 GAA .917 SV% 7 SO

No Playoffs – 11-19-4 2.93 GAA .900 SV% 3 SO

Ellis at 28 lost the starting job to Pekka Rinne, yet he is somehow viewed as a guy who could push Carey Price? Why is a goaltender who took until he was 27 years old to become an NHL regular considered a “starter” or “potential starter” when he has started ONE SEASON by the age of 30 and Auld at the age of 29 is considered a useless backup when he has TWO SEASONS of being an NHL starter (based on GP being more than 41 GP).

Stop buying name value. How Ellis has any name value is beyond me. Take a look at their last two full seasons knowing that Ellis played on a playoff team and Auld did not.

Auld – 25-25-10 2.64 GAA .906 SV% 1 SO

Ellis – 26-32-5 2.82 GAA .904 SV% 4 SO

Everybody needs to stop assessing Elllis’ value based on 2008. Auld has been superior on two inferior teams over the last 2 seasons.

Auld is a strong backup with the proper attitude. He is the backup and will mentor. He knows his role.

Go look at all the options out there, it is the same story. Biron presented problems because of his nationality

and the idiocy of the media and fanbase. Ellis and Mason because they still think they are starters.

Auld will do the same job as they will but accept his role as a mentor/backup. He is cheap and signed short

term. It gives the Habs a chance to see if Desjardins can repeat his success of 2010. Some would have been

happy with Sanford as the backup, yet he is inferior to Auld.

Auld is not a sexy name, but it is a good signing. Auld is not replacing Halak people, Auld is replacing 2010

Carey Price. Price is replacing Halak, if you haven't come to terms with that yet, it is going to be a long summer.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Like it or not, dealing Halak put the future of this franchise in Price's hands. They are going to live and die

with him now. If he folds, then there is no saviour waiting behind him. That is the new NHL, that is the salary cap

age. Getting upset because it is not Ellis, Biron etc is silly. They are all average goaltenders who are serviceable

backups. They put up good stats on good teams, average stats on average teams and bad stats on bad teams.

Why does everybody think Ellis is great? He starts in the NHL at 27, has one great season and then follows it up

with a colossal bust season and an average one. He lost his starting job in Nashville and has never matched

his stats from 2008.

I talked about this over at EOTP

When did Dan Ellis become a great NHL goalie?

Everybody tends to look at overall stats and determine a goaltenders value. The whole point of the Price/Halak articles was to get you to look beyond the simplistic assertions and assess real value.

Look at their surroundings before judging their relative value. On playoff teams, Auld has the following statistics.

Alex Auld

Playoffs – 15-12-7 2.12 GAA .923 SV% 3 SO

No Playoffs – 61-56-16 2.84 GAA .902 SV% 2 SO

Ellis

Playoffs – 39-23-4 2.50 GAA .917 SV% 7 SO

No Playoffs – 11-19-4 2.93 GAA .900 SV% 3 SO

Ellis at 28 lost the starting job to Pekka Rinne, yet he is somehow viewed as a guy who could push Carey Price? Why is a goaltender who took until he was 27 years old to become an NHL regular considered a “starter” or “potential starter” when he has started ONE SEASON by the age of 30 and Auld at the age of 29 is considered a useless backup when he has TWO SEASONS of being an NHL starter (based on GP being more than 41 GP).

Stop buying name value. How Ellis has any name value is beyond me. Take a look at their last two full seasons knowing that Ellis played on a playoff team and Auld did not.

Auld – 25-25-10 2.64 GAA .906 SV% 1 SO

Ellis – 26-32-5 2.82 GAA .904 SV% 4 SO

Everybody needs to stop assessing Elllis’ value based on 2008. Auld has been superior on two inferior teams over the last 2 seasons.

Auld is a strong backup with the proper attitude. He is the backup and will mentor. He knows his role.

Go look at all the options out there, it is the same story. Biron presented problems because of his nationality

and the idiocy of the media and fanbase. Ellis and Mason because they still think they are starters.

Auld will do the same job as they will but accept his role as a mentor/backup. He is cheap and signed short

term. It gives the Habs a chance to see if Desjardins can repeat his success of 2010. Some would have been

happy with Sanford as the backup, yet he is inferior to Auld.

Auld is not a sexy name, but it is a good signing. Auld is not replacing Halak people, Auld is replacing 2010

Carey Price. Price is replacing Halak, if you haven't come to terms with that yet, it is going to be a long summer.

Good post as always, Wamsley. I was waiting for you to descend upon this thread with your usual clarity.

Your Auld-Ellis comparison makes me feel better, inasmuch as it suggests we didn't pointlessly waste a chance to acquire a real #1A goalie. It's one thing to shoot yourself in the foot, it's another to make the tough choices in a cap system.

As always, time will tell...

[Wamsley01]

Auld is no better than Sanford. I'd have Sanford make the team instead, it'd save us $1m compared to what Ellis got in Tampa.

I'd have signed Yann Danis over Alex Auld. Auld has flamed out of every market he's been in.

Why is it assumed that Sanford is better than Auld or just as good? Yann Danis? You have to be

kidding me. Danis has started 40 games in his NHL career and is 29 years old.

Remove the New Jersey Devil stats because Clemmensen and Weekes look like All-Stars there.

What you are left with is another average goaltender.

This is being angry for no reason. The decision was made to put the franchise on Price's shoulders

when Halak was traded. THERE WAS NO BACKUP who was going to come in and be able to pick up

the pieces should Price fail spectacularly. The goaltenders that CC wants for insurance cost what

Halak will cost and if that's the case they should have kept Halak.

How can people not see that backups are as good as their team. Look at the Flyers. They put their

eggs in the Ray Emery basket. He got injured in November and everybody said they were screwed.

Then two total retreads took them to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Should I surmise that all of those attacking Auld would be OK if the Habs had signed Boucher and

Leighton? They were great backups no?

What happened last season was a rarity. Teams do not have two starters in the salary cap era.

If you want a backup and spend $1M or less, Auld is what you should expect.

[BTH]

The goaltenders that CC wants for insurance cost what

Halak will cost and if that's the case they should have kept Halak.

?

Ellis is 1.5M, Auld is 1M, Biron is 875K, all the other goalies are signing in this range.

Halak will sign for over 4 million, the price of a starter.

[Wamsley01]

?

Ellis is 1.5M, Auld is 1M, Biron is 875K, all the other goalies are signing in this range.

Halak will sign for over 4 million, the price of a starter.

The point is that what CC wants in a backup does not exist on the open market for $1M.

Ellis is not going to step in and save your season any more than Leighton would in Montreal

even though he has a season under his belt where he was perceived to have done so.

Auld, Ellis, Biron, Mason, Nittymaki = failed starter = dime a dozen.

It is all a shell game with fans getting sucked into name value.

The insurance CC wants is called a starter and they cost what Halak costs.

[saskhab]

Uh, Auld's numbers in the past 2 years are inflated from the Boston team he was part of that simply didn't allow goals (and eventually created the illusion of Thomas as a Vezina winner the following season). And even strength SV% is the figure that matters most... SH SV% fluctuates so wildly that it has no real reflection on ability.

What makes Auld better than Sanford? That's more what I'm getting at.

[Wamsley01]

Uh, Auld's numbers in the past 2 years are inflated from the Boston team he was part of that simply didn't allow goals (and eventually created the illusion of Thomas as a Vezina winner the following season). And even strength SV% is the figure that matters most... SH SV% fluctuates so wildly that it has no real reflection on ability.

What makes Auld better than Sanford? That's more what I'm getting at.

Auld played with the Bruins in 2008. He played on the Sens/Stars/Rangers the last 2 seasons.

So they aren't inflated. While with the B's his stats were similar to Mr. Vezina Tim Thomas, although I wouldn't compare them straight up without looking at their strength of competition.

As for Auld, he is slightly better than Sanford, but 500k is not something I would be upset about.

It is a non-story. The Canadiens sign serviceable backup.

Instead people are arguing about what serviceable backup they like better. The fact that they have Sanford as well means that they have two average goalies to go to should one collapse.

Nothing to look at here folks. If you want to take your Halak anger out, there is a whole other thread

dedicated to it.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Wamsley01

[Prime Minister Koivu]

"All in"

Price or bust.

A one year trial.

I can't see any other way to look at this.

[CoRvInA]

This is perhaps not relevant to the topic (but I think it is)... anyone know how the proportional pad size to a player works? One (of many) reason I think Auld was preferred to other goalies.... although I must admit the price for a goalie today is quite low see the latest G UFA signings

[dlbalr]

This is perhaps not relevant to the topic (but I think it is)... anyone know how the proportional pad size to a player works? One (of many) reason I think Auld was preferred to other goalies.... although I must admit the price for a goalie today is quite low see the latest G UFA signings

It's certainly relevant and a point I honestly never thought of. As to the specific proportions, I haven't seen anything to that effect; I remember reading in THN that Price's pads would shrink by 1/2 inch and Halak 1 inch. But that was just the example in the article, no other goalies were discussed. One would think Auld's would as well but that's simply speculation on my part.

[Wamsley01]

It's certainly relevant and a point I honestly never thought of. As to the specific proportions, I haven't seen anything to that effect; I remember reading in THN that Price's pads would shrink by 1/2 inch and Halak 1 inch. But that was just the example in the article, no other goalies were discussed. One would think Auld's would as well but that's simply speculation on my part.

From everything I have heard it is going to affect more than pads.

Pants, Chest and Arms are supposed to be proportioned as well. That was one of the concerns in regards to Halak

at 5'11" and 182 lbs the difference between Price and Halak is 4 inches and 40 lbs. Auld is 6'5" and 221, so it likely

won't affect him at all.

[saskhab]

From everything I have heard it is going to affect more than pads.

Pants, Chest and Arms are supposed to be proportioned as well. That was one of the concerns in regards to Halak

at 5'11" and 182 lbs the difference between Price and Halak is 4 inches and 40 lbs. Auld is 6'5" and 221, so it likely

won't affect him at all.

And Sanford is 5'10", 180; Desjardins is 6', 191, for reference.

[Lammy]

And Sanford is 5'10", 180; Desjardins is 6', 191, for reference.

The official Hamilton Bulldogs AHL game notes lists Desjardins at 183lbs....maybe he's getting fat, just like me. LOL!

I have seen Auld play many times when he was with the Manitoba Moose when they would come into Hamilton to play the Dogs....have also seen Sanford play many, many times and IMO Sanford is the better of the two......however, Auld will provide to be sufficient in the backup role as long as Price doesn't stink out the Bell Centre.

[Dalhabs]

I guess Price IS the new Roy since everybody is so scared that if he plays bad this whole team will colapse. What says Auld or Sanford or maybe even Desjardins will suprise everybody and have breakout seasons? The panicing about trading Halak is overblown. It sounds like we traded Patrick Roy to go with Andre Racicot. Compare it more to that we are going with Forsberg and trade Sundin. Sundin had several good years with Quebec but they traded him around the time Forsberg came over.