Trade Deadline Day: Habs acquire... nobody!

[ForumGhost]

If Bourque and Diaz are back for playoffs, we will be fine, even without Armstrong out. Moen - Halpern - Prust is a pretty great 4th line in my opinion, with White as the 13th forward.

I'm hoping to see Kristo tried out for a few games. Maybe switch him out with Galchenyuk for a few. Even though Galchenyuk has played well, he's still a young guy who isn't physically mature. Combine that with the fact this is teh biggest workload he's had in his career (missing all of last year + shortened, schedule-intensive season), it might pay off in the long run to keep his tank gassed.

[brobin]

Fats is still suffering from migraines.. Iffy trading for him.

Jagr was pretty expensive. We took Ryder, they took Jagr. These days, that is a wash.

[Habsy]

Crosby isnt healthy.

Also Bergeron has a concussion - poor guy. Not sure if diagnosis is confirmed though from Dr Recchi.

Exactly. Crosby eating through a straw now. Bergeron hurt in Boston, and our record vs Rask is good. Bourque and Diaz skating. They're as good as any deadline deal. I like our team going into the playoffs. Bergevin's good.

[sakiqc]

I doubt it. He can't come out and say there's no way he is playing between now and the end of the year, the NHLPA will get involved like they started to with Gomez.

Good point.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Montreal signed Danny Kristo.

Good trade deadline if you ask me.

LOL. Its good to know I wasn't the only one to lose sleep over the Drewiske Blockbuster!

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I will admit, I wanted Torres as some fourth line insurance but when Bourque comes back, we're looking at juggling Bourque, Ryder, Gionta, Gallagher, Prust, Pacioretty, Moen and Galchenyuk on the wings.

[hab29RETIRED]

I honestly think they're banking on Kristo playing a role. Giving him the short contract that covers this season suggests they intend to use him in the very near future.

I agree. Kreider was on of the NYR's better players in last year's playoffs.

[JCPetit]

Exactly. Crosby eating through a straw now. Bergeron hurt in Boston, and our record vs Rask is good. Bourque and Diaz skating. They're as good as any deadline deal. I like our team going into the playoffs. Bergevin's good.

I feel like you do. Halpern and Drewiske were all the help we needed. Halpern is an upgrade over White. More disciplined, a right-handed centerman who can win face-offs and has good hockey sense playing the PK. Drewiske is a better choice than a rookie for a seventh defenseman. He is also more physical than Kaberle, and that's we need.

Bourque and Diaz should be ready very soon and both are very good players who will help the team. And, finally, there is Danny Kristo. I believe that this young man might help us in the playoffs, if he is able to transition quickly from collegial to NHL hockey. Being almost 23 years old, he has the potential to be the ace hidden in MB's sleeve. Let's hope for it anyway.

[hab29RETIRED]

Crosby isnt healthy.

Also Bergeron has a concussion - poor guy. Not sure if diagnosis is confirmed though from Dr Recchi.

I have ZERO sympathy for Bergeron. As far as I'm concerned any injuriess to a Bruins is well deserved. Hopefully, he'll be caught at a movie theatre while he misses some games and then we'll find out what Dr. Recchi has to say.

[brobin]

After listening to both Tsn and Sportsnet all day, the lack of respect for the Habs is palpable. Its all about the pens and bruins. They seem to give more hope for Ottawa and even Washington. The Habs could be tenth in the east for the chances they were given.

I so want to destroy Pitts and Boston in the playoffs.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

After listening to both Tsn and Sportsnet all day, the lack of respect for the Habs is palpable. Its all about the pens and bruins. They seem to give more hope for Ottawa and even Washington. The Habs could be tenth in the east for the chances they were given.

I so want to destroy Pitts and Boston in the playoffs.

They're journalists trying to sell a story. People want to hear about the "Big Bad Bruins'' and the Penguins Juggernaut. No one wants to hear about the Habs depth getting it done, the steadying influence and play of Carey Price, and that vile Subban climbing the ladder to the Norris. The fans want fights. And Crosby.

[hankhab]

After listening to both Tsn and Sportsnet all day, the lack of respect for the Habs is palpable. Its all about the pens and bruins. They seem to give more hope for Ottawa and even Washington. The Habs could be tenth in the east for the chances they were given.

I so want to destroy Pitts and Boston in the playoffs.

TSN has created the whole trade deadline buzz in Canada, they push it like crazy, and so if you don't make a deal, they act like your team has missed out on a shot at the cup, which is just crazy. Todays biggest deal, for instance, was gaborik moving to columbus. Have you seen him play this year? I wouldn't take that guy and his inflated paycheck for the proverbial role of hockey tape. The fact is, trade deadline is much more of a big deal for teams who are terrible and are trying to reload on young players and draft picks, than it is for teams on the right road, looking forward to some good playoff hockey.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Listen, it's about Big Names. The Penguins have them, the Bruins have them. Those are the teams that are going to get the breathless coverage - and not unjustifiably, given that they have to be ranked as top-tier contenders, whereas we are a dark horse. Ottawa, meanwhile, gets a bit more respect than Montreal because they were factors last season, so they have some cred in the bank.

As far as contenders go, I see Pittsburgh, Boston, LA and Chicago as top-tier. Below them are maybe Vancouver and Minny. Everyone else is sort of in a great big hopper, although I see the Habs and Anaheim as near the top of that next tier.

I don't take it personally. What does tend to bother me is that Habs' players like Subban and Pacioretty, who were developed internally and took a bit of time to reach full potential, tend not to have the Star Power they'd have if they played in a major English Canadian market like, say, Toronto - in which case they'd be absolute national heroes. The same thing happened with Markov; nobody'd heard of him, really, until analysts started emphasizing how much his extended absence hurt the Habs. (I remember a friend of mine who lives in Calgary scorning the Habs for throwing $5.75 mil at an 'unknown' back when Gainey locked him up). The Habs are in a weird place in terms of the national media: a massive NHL market, one of the most valuable franchises in all of hockey, but somewhat under-the-radar to English-speaking audiences because their main market is Quebec. They don't get quite the profile, on the ground, that other big Canadian franchises do IMHO, and are treated more like a mid-to-small market despite being gigantic.

[brobin]

You would think TSN, with the broadcast rights to he Habs would talk aout them at least as much as Ottawa.. In any case, I want us in he cup finals so they can flail around spinning about how they knew we were for real.

[sakiqc]

Listen, it's about Big Names. The Penguins have them, the Bruins have them. Those are the teams that are going to get the breathless coverage - and not unjustifiably, given that they have to be ranked as top-tier contenders, whereas we are a dark horse. Ottawa, meanwhile, gets a bit more respect than Montreal because they were factors last season, so they have some cred in the bank.

As far as contenders go, I see Pittsburgh, Boston, LA and Chicago as top-tier. Below them are maybe Vancouver and Minny. Everyone else is sort of in a great big hopper, although I see the Habs and Anaheim as near the top of that next tier.

I don't take it personally. What does tend to bother me is that Habs' players like Subban and Pacioretty, who were developed internally and took a bit of time to reach full potential, tend not to have the Star Power they'd have if they played in a major English Canadian market like, say, Toronto - in which case they'd be absolute national heroes. The same thing happened with Markov; nobody'd heard of him, really, until analysts started emphasizing how much his extended absence hurt the Habs. (I remember a friend of mine who lives in Calgary scorning the Habs for throwing $5.75 mil at an 'unknown' back when Gainey locked him up). The Habs are in a weird place in terms of the national media: a massive NHL market, one of the most valuable franchises in all of hockey, but somewhat under-the-radar to English-speaking audiences because their main market is Quebec. They don't get quite the profile, on the ground, that other big Canadian franchises do IMHO, and are treated more like a mid-to-small market despite being gigantic.

I don't think there's a conspiracy to undervalue our players. We don't have big names yet. Patches hasn't scored 50 goals, 100pts. Subban hasn't won the Norris yet. Markov's great, but so is Oliver Ekman-Larsson who makes the same salary and that I've no idea what kind of player he is because he played once in Montreal in his career and apparently I didn't notice him and I never saw him on highlights on TSN or RDS.

I don't listen to Habs coverage from outside QC, but if we're not taken seriously, could it be because we finished dead last last season? Could it be because we didn't make any significant move since? Could it be because we have no superstars or that we did nothing extraordinary to draw media coverage? We're not here for a popularity contest. Let's just hope the whole league doesn't take us seriously, that is until it's too late for them.

What I like so much about hockey - vs baseball or basketball or football - is that the team concept is much more important than the number of superstars you have. This year is a great example. The Habs finished last in the conference last season, and are now battling for first, without any significant addition from outside the system. I'm ok if we don't have the profile of a top team. I think Bergevin is ok with it too, and don't seek the spotlight. It was surprising to me to hear him say today that their objective is to make the playoffs, while they are battling for 1st place in the East. He didn't say anything arrogant or that they want to show off to other teams. They are bulding something nice, piece by piece, and the only recognition they want, and that we want, is to finally celebrate a 25th Stanley Cup in Montréal.

[PMAC]

You would think TSN, with the broadcast rights to he Habs would talk aout them at least as much as Ottawa.. In any case, I want us in he cup finals so they can flail around spinning about how they knew we were for real.

Actually, during last night's game Ferraro, McKenzie and Duthie had a disucssion of top 5 Cup contenders and MTL was ranked in the top 5. What really rankles me is the undeniably racist attitude towards PK. Do you really think an over-exuberant white TML player that was this talented would take so much flak? No way.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Actually, during last night's game Ferraro, McKenzie and Duthie had a disucssion of top 5 Cup contenders and MTL was ranked in the top 5. What really rankles me is the undeniably racist attitude towards PK. Do you really think an over-exuberant white TML player that was this talented would take so much flak? No way.

I guess the golden word is "white" because Nazem Kadri has dealt with some of the say BS that Subban dealt with. The Leaf organization was actively trying to destroy his character. Dallas Eakins was calling him fat, out of shape and playing him on the AHL third line until it was absolutely ridiculous to do so. Carlyle plays him with big tall lugs with no talent because he has a size fetish and Kadri isn't big enough for him. It has only been with the return of Lupul where Carlyle didn't want to break up his other lines that Kadri finally got a good winger and the two have been tearing it up for Toronto.

That said, and I know it's silly because I just talked about Kadri but I don't believe it's a race issue. It's a culture issue, which some might be bringing their personal racism into it. You might notice now that Subban was "humbled" with his contract and by Therrien, it is now nothing but praise for him even though I've seen him play dirtier than he ever has this season. Subban never used to pull the Eric Lindros strong arm on guys and he's been doing it now. But no word on that because he's been humbled to Canadian hockey culture. So he can now be a legend. It's an old guard poison that might not ever be worked out of the game.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

There is such a thing as subtle or subliminal racism, and that's what I think PK has been a victim of. Very few of his critics, I'm sure, would consciously endorse racism and would probably be genuinely horrified at the accusation. And there is indeed an 'old guard' NHL culture that frowns on all expressions of ego and exuberance as unacceptable 'showboating;' the robotic Jonathan Towes is exemplary according to this mindset. I maintain, though, that the backlash against PK was more extravagant that it would have been against a white player of the same character, because PK's exuberance grinds against TWO sets of cultural norms - the 'hockey' culture that frowns on displays of personality, and the wider, subliminally racist culture that is suspicious or frightened of 'uppity' or rebellious black males.

You can rattle off a list of white players who showed similar exuberance but never faced the ferocious criticism PK did. Brad Marchand, Phil Esposito, Darcy Tucker and Tiger Williams spring to mind right away.So I think subliminal racism is part of what shapes the gut response of PK's critics. Now that he has agreed to tone it down and play by the unwritten rules, they are of course happy to praise him; after all, by praising him when he obeys, they are 'proving' they were never racist in the first place.

[illWill]

There is such a thing as subtle or subliminal racism, and that's what I think PK has been a victim of. Very few of his critics, I'm sure, would consciously endorse racism and would probably be genuinely horrified at the accusation. And there is indeed an 'old guard' NHL culture that frowns on all expressions of ego and exuberance as unacceptable 'showboating;' the robotic Jonathan Towes is exemplary according to this mindset. I maintain, though, that the backlash against PK was more extravagant that it would have been against a white player of the same character, because PK's exuberance grinds against TWO sets of cultural norms - the 'hockey' culture that frowns on displays of personality, and the wider, subliminally racist culture that is suspicious or frightened of 'uppity' or rebellious black males.

You can rattle off a list of white players who showed similar exuberance but never faced the ferocious criticism PK did. Brad Marchand, Phil Esposito, Darcy Tucker and Tiger Williams spring to mind right away.So I think subliminal racism is part of what shapes the gut response of PK's critics. Now that he has agreed to tone it down and play by the unwritten rules, they are of course happy to praise him; after all, by praising him when he obeys, they are 'proving' they were never racist in the first place.

Great post. Except that you forgot to mention the other thing P.K has against him....he is a Hab! Generally those who are not a fan will despise anything that is blue , blanc et rouge. I find it hard to get non-Hab fan friends to even admit that P.K is good, let alone a Norris trophy candidate.

[BlueKross]

I am surprised that we didn't go after a piece with a little more upside given our seeding. I think Lovett makes a good point about the expectations of this market. I guess the surprise comes from the fact that historically we would throw picks away which amounted to pissing in the wind. I am not saying if MB is right or wrong given our seed, but I will give him that he has the nads to not be pressured by the media and/or expectations. I think this is a refreshing approach, but i don't think Lovett is wrong either.

[JoeLassister]

Great post. Except that you forgot to mention the other thing P.K has against him....he is a Hab! Generally those who are not a fan will despise anything that is blue , blanc et rouge. I find it hard to get non-Hab fan friends to even admit that P.K is good, let alone a Norris trophy candidate.

I wonder what this looks like...

[illWill]

I wonder what this looks like...

It can be a very hateful existence at times. I would say that 30% of people are Habs fans here, 30% Leafs, 30% Bruins and 10% miscellaneous. Constant trash talking everywhere.

[JoeLassister]

It can be a very hateful existence at times. I would say that 30% of people are Habs fans here, 30% Leafs, 30% Bruins and 10% miscellaneous. Constant trash talking everywhere.

Not so bad.

[JMMR]

It can be a very hateful existence at times. I would say that 30% of people are Habs fans here, 30% Leafs, 30% Bruins and 10% miscellaneous. Constant trash talking everywhere.

Come on 30% only habs fans no way.

[illWill]

Come on 30% only habs fans no way.

I wish we had more where I lived. The number of Bruin fans have sky rocketed after hometown player Adam McQuaid brought the cup back. I'm also seeing a lot more Leaf fans popping up lately.